CONTACT

to receive more information or sign up

DON McPHERSON
ENTERPRISES, LLC

Paul Grafer, Director

info@safe-skills.com

P. (516)750-3908
F. (516)542-5912

Also Visit
donaldmcpherson.com

About

Introducing the SAFE Management Team

Donald G. McPherson

Activist, Educator, Feminist, Entrepreneur,
College Football Hall of Famer

For more than 25 years, Don McPherson has used the power and appeal of sports to address complex social justice issues. He has created innovative programs, supported community service providers and has provided educational seminars and lectures throughout North America. As an athlete, Don was a unanimous All-America quarterback at Syracuse University and is a veteran of the NFL and Canadian Football League.  As captain of the undefeated 1987 Syracuse football team, Don set 22 school records, led the nation in passing and won more than 18 national “player of the year” awards, including the Maxwell Award as the nation’s best player, the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award and the inaugural Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.  He was second in the Heisman Trophy voting.  In 2008 Don was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Don has delivered school and community based programs addressing issues such as drunk driving, alcohol and substance abuse, bullying, youth leadership and mentoring.  Upon retiring from pro football in 1994, he joined Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society as national director of Athletes in Service to America.  In 2002 he founded the Sports Leadership Institute at Adelphi University, for which he served as executive director until 2007.

In 1995 Don turned his focus to the issue of “men’s violence against women,” as director of Sport in Society’s Mentors in Violence Prevention Program, taking over for the program’s founder, Jackson Katz. Don emerged as a national leader and advocate for the prevention of sexual and domestic violence.  He has conducted workshops and lectures for more than 200 college campuses, community organizations and national sports and violence prevention organizations.  His programs and lectures have reached more than 1 million people. Don McPherson has twice testified before the United States Congress and has worked closely with the U.S. Departments of Education and Defense on issues of sexual violence in education and the military, respectively.  He has provided commentary on numerous news programs and was featured in O Magazine and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show.  Don also created and hosted “Training for Life” on MSG Varsity, a life skills TV show that examined a myriad of social issues and sports.  In 2012, Training for Life's episode on "Sports Parenting" was nominated for an Emmy Award.

Don has worked as a college football analyst for ESPN, BET and NBC and is currently the studio analyst for Sportsnet New York’s coverage of Big East Football.  In 2000, while a board member of the Nassau County Sports Commission, he created the John Mackey Award, which recognizes college football’s outstanding tight end. 

Don McPherson has received several honors in recognition of his service, including the Frederick Douglas Men of Strength Award, given by Men Can Stop Rape, Champions for Change, presented by Lifetime Television, the Creative Vision for Women’s Justice, presented by the Pace University Women’s Justice Center, and a Leadership Award from the National Center for Victims of Crime.  Most recently he received the George Arents Award, Syracuse University's highest alumni honor and “Letter Winner of Distinction, the highest honor bestowed a former student-athlete.

Don has served as a board member, consultant and advisor for several national organizations including the Ms Foundation for Women and the National Football Foundation. Recently, he joined the board of directions of the US National Committee for UN Women.

Paul Grafer

SAFE Director

After spending four years serving the United States Soccer Federation as a coach of the Under-17 National Soccer Team, Paul Grafer returned to Long Island, New York in 2012 as Director of the SAFE Project. Paul oversees all day to day operations of SAFE, including the design and development of programmatic content, implementation, evaluation, marketing, sales and communications.

Paul began his career in student athlete support services as a trainer for Athletes Helping Athletes in 2001 and continued as Program Coordinator for the Student Athlete Leadership Team Program in 2004. From 2004 to 2007 at the Sports Leadership Institute, Mr. Grafer implemented programs emphasizing leadership and character development in over 40 school districts in the New York Metropolitan area. He managed a professional training staff of amateur and professional athletes, coaches, educators, counselors and collegiate student-athletes. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at Adelphi University, teaching sports management and physical education courses on leadership development.

Paul played eight years of professional soccer for the NY/NJ Metrostars, Colorado Rapids and Long Island Rough Riders. A graduate of The College of William and Mary, he received All-American and Student-Athlete of the Year honors in 1997. He was inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame in 2007.

Paul has coached at the club, collegiate and U.S. Youth National Team level. He currently coaches at the Long Island Junior Soccer League’s Player Development Program, serves on the United States Goalkeeping Education Committee and is a FIFA Instructor for its international Goalkeeping Development Program.

Throughout his career, Paul has served various organizations in leadership, advisory, or consulting positions. He adjudicated player, coach and staff behavior while on the Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee. He served as an Executive Coach and Organizational Development Consultant for CorpTalk, LLC. Paul has volunteered at Safe Horizon Mediation Center and was a founding member on the Advisory Board of the GET.A.VOICE Project, a character education program which addresses bullying and promotes respectful language in schools. Committed to raising awareness around issues of fair play in sport, he won USA Today’s 2005 Sportsmanship Essay Contest.

Paul holds a B.S. in Kinesiology from The College of William and Mary and earned an M.B.A. at Adelphi University in 2007. He is certified as a Mediator by Columbia Law School's Mediation Clinic and is a USSF “A” Licensed Coach.