The San Francisco 49ers announced that Dr. Harry Edwards has been named as the team's 2024 Inspire Change Changemaker – an award given annually to local leaders who are making a difference in their community across the NFL's Inspire Change initiatives' four pillars – education, economic advancement, community-police relations, or criminal justice reform.
Dr. Edwards has worked with the San Francisco 49ers, and other major league sports organizations, for close to 40 years, serving as a consultant and resource for ownership, along with 49ers players and coaches.
Dr. Edwards is a pillar of the Bay Area community, and has been since starting at San Jose State University as a student-athlete in 1960, where he competed in track & field and basketball. After graduating from San Jose State with a degree in sociology, Dr. Edwards pursued higher education at Cornell University, earning both his master's and his Ph.D. Following his graduate studies, Dr. Edwards became a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he went on to teach for three decades, impacting thousands of students with his dynamic and passionate teaching. Throughout his career, his research primarily focused on the sociological implications of race on student and professional athletes of color.
Due to his background, Dr. Edwards was brought on in 1985 by Hall of Fame head coach Bill Walsh to assist the team in developing a player engagement department, a new concept at the time. Dr. Edwards worked with players, coaches, 49ers executives and support staff to reimagine what it meant to work with athletes. He, along with Walsh, implemented programs that later inspired league-wide initiatives to assist players both on and off the field, including a program that created opportunities for players to complete their bachelor's degree while still playing in the NFL.
Dr. Edwards is also very passionate about diversifying front offices and coaching staffs throughout major league sports. Alongside Walsh, Dr. Edwards helped create the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, designed as a vocational tool to increase the number of full-time NFL minority coaches. All 32 NFL clubs participate in the fellowship each year, allowing participants to assist with coaching throughout training camp.
Dr. Edwards' impact on the 49ers organization, and the NFL at large, has been tremendous. Because of this, he will be recognized at the 49ers Inspire Change game this evening for his extraordinary work in pursuit of social justice. He will also receive a $10,000 donation from the NFL Foundation, which Dr. Edwards has graciously decided to match, that will be paid directly to Heritage Home, an organization Dr. Edwards has been regularly involved with.
For more information on Inspire Change and the Changemaker Award, visit NFL.com/Changemakers.
