Giant Steps to the Future of SFJAZZ
Photograph by Joseph Fanvu.
Donna Franklin Hunter
Member since 2008
Wherever she sees a need, 62-year-old Donna Franklin Hunter jumps in with both feet and sees to it that she makes a difference.
Putting her values into action has won her recognition from the California Senate, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and the California Bar Association for her volunteer work, mostly for the homeless, disabled, and mentally challenged. It’s a trait that, in a way, also led to her becoming an SFJAZZ Leaders Circle Member and then eventually, a Legacy Circle Member.
We sat down with the career Legal Assistant/Notary and born-and-raised San Franciscan to find out more about where her idealism, love of music, and appreciation for the SFJAZZ Center comes from. As it turns out – it’s all intertwined.
For Donna, it started in the St. Francis Square Cooperative, the affordable housing complex built in the Fillmore-Western Addition in 1963, by the ILWU Teamsters Union. This was an experiment that mixed racial integration with affordable middle-class home ownership a very far-out concept in the early sixties.
“I was six years old when we moved into the Square; we are original cooperators. Thankfully, my mother, Loretta Franklin, a divorced single parent of three girls, was ahead of her time and very progressive. I grew up with people of all races, creeds, and colors, and growing up in “The Square” helped shape my world view, which I am very grateful for today.”
Donna remembers the Fillmore Auditorium being right down the street and Winterland Ballroom (the erstwhile legendary rock venue booked by Bill Graham that was home base for the Grateful Dead) was just a few blocks away.
It was the Summer of Love. “In ’67, I was ten years old and – I wanted to be a hippie so bad!”
But Donna’s mom, a social worker, was a jazz purist and pianist. “All I heard at home was Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Charlie Parker, just to name a few – I remember hearing Miles Davis ‘Sketches of Spain’ as a child. I grew up listening to all of that beautiful music.”
Donna summarizes her wild musical journey this way: “In the ‘70s I went to Winterland, and when I got out of high school I snuck into discos and all the trendiest clubs in the city.” In the ‘80s (her 20s), she was involved in the punk scene, the new wave scene, reggae scene, and then hip-hop. Donna came back to jazz in earnest when her mother died unexpectedly in 1990. That same year, Spike Lee released “Mo’ Better Blues,” the movie featuring a full jazz soundtrack with Terence Blanchard. The movie, she says, “brought me back to my roots jazz music.”
During that time, a friend introduced her to SFJAZZ and convinced her to volunteer as an usher. Donna spent much of her 30’s attending concerts across the city presented by SFJAZZ, and it’s been her musical home ever since.
“I have seen the late great Ravi Shankar, Mary Lou Williams, Etta James, and Bobby Hutcherson, just to name a few, and seeing these artists perform made me think of my mom.” Donna continued to volunteer for SFJAZZ through her 40s.
“I continued to volunteer throughout many of life’s challenges, and no matter what has been going on in the world, SFJAZZ has continued to present the most amazing artists and music, and here we are today celebrating and experiencing for me a beautiful sacred musical space.”
SFJAZZ Center opened officially on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 21, 2013. “Which for me, as an African-American, felt very significant, and I was so happy knowing that I will have a musical home for the rest of my life. This fact still feels amazing.
SFJAZZ for Future Generations
As time went on, thanks to her longtime job at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, her financial situation grew in tandem with SFJAZZ. That was when Donna decided to participate in the SFJAZZ Giant Steps campaign and made a three-year commitment to the building campaign.
“I was so excited when the center opened up – it was like I was fourteen again seeing Santana at Winterland for the first time – and by joining and contributing, I knew this was a worthy cause.”
But Donna went a step further. She also wanted to support SFJAZZ for tomorrow, so she made a planned gift by designating SFJAZZ as the beneficiary of one of her existing life insurance policies.
Many may be intimidated by the idea of making a legacy gift because it sounds daunting and complicated. Donna is happy to report how easy it is, “All you have to do is make SFJAZZ one of your beneficiaries. I was able to do it through my company – it was really easy.”
Donna explains, “As a legacy donor, my support goes beyond my lifetime. I’m getting ready to work on my trust as a way to expand on what I feel is necessary to help the SFJAZZ Center grow. I’m doing my part to help the programs that help the youth.
I feel SFJAZZ needs to keep going and growing – and I am grateful I can be a part of that. I want to feel as if 20, 30, or 40 years from now, new generations continue to enjoy the SFJAZZ. Center and all that it has to offer.”
When you place a specific bequest in your will or living trust and notify SFJAZZ, you are invited to become a member of the Legacy Circle. There are simpler ways of setting aside money in your estate. Still, for Donna, the trust is the way to go, “I’d rather SFJAZZ benefit from my hard-earned money as opposed to paying the State of California or the Federal Government.” Donna says it was important to her to help ensure the center’s viability into the future.
Filling needs where she sees them will always be a part of Donna’s legacy.
“I can never forget my silent partner, my husband Riley, who supports my support and love of SFJAZZ.”
Donna Hunter receives a Certificate of Honor from Mayor London Breed for her volunteer work
When we ask her about the multiple volunteer recognition, she says, “I love keeping a low profile by volunteering and giving back to society, this is what my parents would want. I’m from the civil rights era, and I marched with my mother protesting the Vietnam War, I watched my father, James Franklin, fight for rights that I enjoy today. For me helping others and combining this with my joy of music makes the next chapter of my life feel like it is and will be beautiful.”
In four years, she’ll be retired. In the meantime, Donna will continue to enjoy life and give back to the music with her SFJAZZ Leaders Circle Membership and Legacy gift.
“Again, I feel like I’m doing something special for the next generation, and I am thankfully in a position to pay it forward in a way that makes sense to me,” she says. “I guess I’m still stuck on making the world a better place; this will never change, especially in today’s world. Music makes the world go around and brings the people together.”
This article is part the SFJAZZ Leaders Circle stories. The Leaders Circle is SFJAZZ’s premier philanthropic group of individuals who believe in the transformative power of the arts.
Support SFJAZZ by joining the SFJAZZ Legacy Circle.