Soon after he started a magazine for local youth activists called FPS.
[2] In 1979 Hefner moved to New York City, and after gaining inspiration from a new youth-driven newspaper in Chicago, founded Youth Communication.
[3] Hefner has received a great deal of recognition for his work in the fields of youth development, foster care and youth-led media.
In 1986 he was a Charles H. Revson Fellow on the Future of New York City at Columbia University.
In 1997 he received the Luther P. Jackson Award for Educational Excellence from the New York Association of Black Journalists.