Elliot Margolies was the founding executive director of Mid-Peninsula Access Corporation, the organization that helped establish what became the Midpeninsula Community Media Center in Palo Alto. Hired as MPAC opened its doors in 1990, Margolies helped build an early community television operation from a small office with limited equipment into a center where residents could produce programs, follow local government, and participate in civic discussions.
Working closely with Annie Folger, Margolies developed programming that treated the television studio as an electronic meeting place. Early projects included live community conversations during the Gulf War, election forums, coverage of public meetings, youth media activities, community forums, and partnerships addressing local cultural and social issues. After his executive leadership role, he remained involved with Midpen as a consultant and project manager, facilitating storytelling workshops and community-based media projects.
Margolies also created Made Into America, an extensive online archive of immigrant experiences developed through interviews, classroom projects, and partnerships with schools, libraries, writers, and community organizations. His work broadened the idea of community media beyond television production, using personal narrative, public dialogue, education, and archival preservation to connect people across generations and communities.
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Here’s a story from the Midpen Media blog that former Executive Director, Elliot Margolies wrote about his friendship with George a few weeks before he died. It involves an active Palo Alto community member, Bernard Coley.
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