{{Short description|American nonprofit organization executive}} '''Mimi Halper Silbert''' serves as the chairman of the board, president, and CEO of the Delancey Street Foundation, a residential educational community that provides ex-felons, sex workers, substance abusers, and others with academic, vocational, and social skills.<ref>Costner, Debra, "NAWBO’s award-winning female entrepreneurs”, ''Bay Area Businesswoman'' Vol. 15 No. 7, 2008-04</ref> Silbert was the developer of Delancey Street's headquarters, which houses 500 residents as well as of retail, educational, and recreational facilities.<ref>"Delancey Street Embarcadero Triangle, San Francisco California." Urban Land Institute, Project Reference File July–September 1992: Vol.22 No. 11</ref><ref>Males, Carolyn and Raskin, Julie. "Delancey Street's Road to Success." ''Reader's Digest'' 1989-03</ref><ref>McMahon, Bob. "Rehabilitation center turns opponents into supporters." ''Gannett Westchester Newspapers'' 1985-07-14</ref>
==Early life and education==
Silbert was born in Boston, MA in 1942. She holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (1963), and master's (1965) and doctorate degrees (1968) in counseling psychology and criminology from UC Berkeley.
==Delancey Street Foundation==
{{Main|Delancey Street Foundation}}
As the head of Delancey Street Foundation, Silbert oversees the enterprises staffed by Delancey Street residents, which include a moving company, restaurants and catering, a screening room, and other businesses.<ref>Best of the Bay: "Best Moving Service, Delancey Street Movers”, ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' 2009-07-29 - 2009-08-04</ref><ref>Gross, Jane. "Ex-Convicts are Serving Blintzes Instead of Time." ''The New York Times'' 1989-03-01</ref>
==Awards and recognition==
Silbert has been awarded 10 honorary doctorate degrees, including Brandeis (2006),<ref>Silbert shares secrets of her success”, ''Brandeis Reporter'' June 2006</ref> UMass (1995), Golden Gate University (1997), and San Francisco State University (1993). She was awarded UC Berkeley’s Alumni of the Year in 1991.<ref>Rodarmor, William."Alumna of the Year: Mimi Silbert" ''California Monthly'' 1990-12</ref>
Silbert has also been recognized and honored by federal, state, and municipal leaders. Silbert has received official mentions during sessions of the United States Senate and the United States Congress by Senator Dianne Feinstein,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r103:S20MY3-128:|title=Weekend Maintenance - Library of Congress|work=loc.gov}}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Senator Barbara Boxer,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r102:6:./temp/~r102HyNUOy::|title=Weekend Maintenance - Library of Congress|work=loc.gov}}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and Congressmember Mel Levine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r102:37:./temp/~r102dTRENw::|title=Weekend Maintenance - Library of Congress|work=loc.gov}}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Silbert has received six mayoral proclamations of “Mimi Silbert Days” in San Francisco, most recently in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sfgov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=481989&GUID=FE82097B-72AC-4549-BEC3-7B833FD89DDA&Options=&Search=|title=City and County of San Francisco - File #: 080625|author=Darius Tajanko|work=legistar.com}}</ref> She was awarded the first Minerva Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 from former California First Lady Maria Shriver.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-lady-of-california-maria-shriver-announces-winners-of-first-annual-minerva-awards-75692637.html|title=First Lady of California Maria Shriver Announces Winners of First Annual Minerva... -- re> LOS ANGELES, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ --|author=California Governor's Conference|date=6 December 2004|work=prnewswire.com}}</ref> In 2014, the California Museum inducted Silbert into the California Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.californiamuseum.org/inductee/mimi-silbert|title=Mimi Silbert|work=californiamuseum.org}}</ref> Also in 2014, the Port of San Francisco designated a stretch of sidewalk along the San Francisco Bay the "Mimi Silbert Pathway."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/garchik/article/Mimi-Silbert-cherishes-sentiment-but-sign-not-5745738.php|title=Mimi Silbert cherishes sentiment, but sign, not so much|work=SFGate|date=10 September 2014 }}</ref>
She has also received awards and recognition from national organizations and news programs. In 1992, the League of Women Voters named her one of their "Women Who Could Be President."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lwvsf.org/lwvsf-news/past-women-who-could-be-president-honorees|title=Past Women Who Could Be President Honorees|work=lwvsf.org}}</ref> In 1989, she was featured on ABC's ''20/20'' in a segment entitled “The Power of Mimi”.<ref>"The Power of Mimi" ''20/20'' (ABC) 1989-12</ref>
In the business world, Silbert has been featured in books and articles on the subject of social entrepreneurship, including profiles in the ''London Financial Times'',<ref>Howard, Bob. "Life on the outside begins with a haircut and a job." ''The London Times'' 2000-09-05</ref> ''Fast Company'',<ref>Mieszkowski, Katharine. "She Helps Them Help Themselves." ''Fast Company'' 1998-06 - 1998-07</ref> and ''Worth Magazine''.<ref>Schuerman, Andrew. "Hands On Learning" ''Worth'', 2000-12 - 2001-01</ref>
From religious organizations, Silbert received the Pope John XXIII Award<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icf.org/awards.html|title=Italian Catholic Federation: Charitable Programs|work=icf.org|access-date=2015-08-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815120305/http://icf.org/awards.html|archive-date=2015-08-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> from the Italian Catholic Federation and the Valor Award from the Jewish National Fund.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2002-07-31/html/CREC-2002-07-31-pt2-PgS7739-3.htm|title=Congressional Record, Volume 148 Issue 107 (Wednesday, July 31, 2002)|work=gpo.gov}}</ref>
==Criminal justice work==
In addition to her work with Delancey Street, Silbert is also a recognized national expert in criminal justice. Silbert has served on federal and state corrections commissions and advisory boards, including: the National Institute of Justice Advisory Board, appointed by President Jimmy Carter (1980); the California Board of State and Community Corrections, appointed by every California governor from George Deukmejian (1986) through Arnold Schwarzenegger;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bscc.ca.gov/s_thebsccboard.php|title=Board of State and Community Corrections - The BSCC Board|work=ca.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=17725|title=Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. - Newsroom|work=ca.gov}}</ref> the State Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency, appointed by Governors Gray Davis and Schwarzenegger;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bscc.ca.gov/s_sacjjdpmembership.php|title=Board of State and Community Corrections - SACJJDP Membership|work=ca.gov}}</ref> the Blue Ribbon Commission in Inmate Program Management, appointed by the California Legislature;<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 1990 |title=Blue Ribbon Commission on Inmate Population Management Final Report |url=https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/123706NCJRS.pdf |website=US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs}}</ref> and the California Expert Panel on Corrections.<ref>{{Cite web| title=A Roadmap for Effective Offender Programming in California | publisher=California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Expert Panel on Adult Offender Reentry and Recidivism Reduction Programs | url=http://ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/files/2007/06/Expert_Panel_Report.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092750/http://ucicorrections.seweb.uci.edu/files/2007/06/Expert_Panel_Report.pdf | archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref>
She also wrote, designed and implemented a revamp of San Francisco's juvenile justice system.<ref>Stiles Askew, Judith. "Helping Others Help Themselves: An Interview With Mimi Silbert." ''United Airlines Hemispheres'' 1996-02</ref><ref>Stehle, Vince. "Vistas of Endless Possibility." ''The Chronicle of Philanthropy'' 1995-11-02</ref>
== Selected bibliography == * {{cite book | last1 = Silbert | first1 = Mimi H. | last2 = Pines | first2 = Ayala M. | last3 = Lynch | first3 = Teri | author-link1 = Mimi Silbert | title = Sexual assault of prostitutes: phase one | publisher = Delancey Street Foundation, National Institute of Mental Health | location = Washington D.C. | series = Grant No. RO1-MH-32782-01 | year = 1980 | oclc = 45111118 }} * {{cite journal | last1 = Silbert | first1 = Mimi H. | last2 = Pines | first2 = Ayala M. | author-link1 = Mimi Silbert | title = Entrance into prostitution | journal = Youth & Society | volume = 13 | issue = 4 | pages = 471–500 | doi = 10.1177/0044118X82013004005 | date = June 1982 | s2cid = 144906858 }}
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == * [http://www.delanceystreetfoundation.org/ Delancy Street Foundation]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silbert, Mimi}} Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:People from San Francisco Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni