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LOVE IN ACTION FOR NEARLY SIXTY YEARS

This is a place of hope, meaning and purpose. Visit and become a part of something bigger – a movement that is changing lives.

Overview

GLIDE is a nationally recognized center for social justice, dedicated to fighting systemic injustices, creating pathways out of poverty and crisis, and transforming lives. Through our integrated comprehensive services, advocacy initiatives, and inclusive community, we empower individuals, families, and children to achieve stability and thrive. GLIDE is on the forefront of addressing some of society’s most pressing issues, including poverty, housing and homelessness, and racial and social justice. GLIDE’s mission is to create a radically inclusive, just, and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization. Our Core Values emerge from GLIDE as a spiritual movement. They are rooted in empowerment, recovery, and personal transformation. Our values inspire and guide our behaviors. They are the ground we stand on.
Learn more about GLIDE's Values

Values

Radically Inclusive

Radically Inclusive

We welcome everyone. We value our differences. We respect everyone.

Truth Telling

Truth Telling

We each tell our story. We each speak our truth. We listen.

Loving and Hopeful

Loving and Hopeful

We are all in recovery. We are a healing community. We love unconditionally.

For the People

For the People

We break through barriers. We serve each other. We change the world.

Celebration

Celebration

We sing. We dance. We laugh together. We celebrate life.

Our story

1929

A beginning

San Francisco philanthropist Lizzie Glide purchases a parcel at Ellis and Taylor Streets and founds Glide Foundation, whose charitable mission includes establishing a church as “a house of worship for all people”.
1960s

A renewed commitment

In 1963, a young African American minister named Cecil Williams joins other progressive ministers at GLIDE determined to bring life into a dying congregation. Welcoming in the diverse community of hippies, prostitutes, chronic drug users, transgender youth, and other poor and the marginalized people of the Tenderloin, GLIDE offers refuge and support, becoming a home for political and cultural change as well as spiritual growth.
1970s

For the People

As the Vietnam War continues to escalate, GLIDE becomes known as the counterculture rallying point in San Francisco. Everyone from Bill Graham to Angela Davis comes to GLIDE Celebrations to speak out and join in community. KMEL and K101 radio begin broadcasting GLIDE’s Sunday message throughout the Bay Area, as the Bay Area increasingly looks to GLIDE for moral guidance, social solidarity and spiritual sustenance.
1980s

Confronting new crises

Guided by Janice’s leadership and Cecil’s steady vision of supporting the disenfranchised, GLIDE programs increase in size and scope. The flagship Daily Free Meals Program kicks into overdrive, and begins feeding the hungry and homeless three times a day. The Generations program holds its first graduation ceremony in 1987. From protesting the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory’s development of nuclear weapons to leading the Northern California Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Observance Committee, GLIDE walks the walk for peace, equality and justice while organizing to address the crack cocaine epidemic and the AIDS crisis, twin scourges on the health of the community.
1990s

Building the beloved community

Not content to let those afflicted by crack find their way to GLIDE, Cecil takes the Facts on Crack movement into the housing projects. Meanwhile, GLIDE’s fame continues to grow as the likes of President Bill Clinton, Sharon Stone and Oprah Winfrey come to Celebrations and commend GLIDE as a model of compassionate community in action.
2000s

A strong foundation

GLIDE enters the 21st century with a surplus of vision, enthusiasm and hope. In 2000, Reverend Douglass Fitch is appointed pastor of GLIDE Church. Janice, as Executive Director and President, restructures GLIDE to meet the ever-evolving needs of the community. In the late 2000s, Willa Seldon comes on as CEO (2007-2010) and two new pastors, Rev. Donald Guest and Rev. Karen Oliveto, join GLIDE Church. Cecil continues as Minister of Liberation and Janice as Founding President.
2010s

Our Time Is Now

The Bay Area is roiled by a historic economic boom that has highlighted an ever-widening gap between those with means and those left behind. Historic racial-ethnic enclaves are disappearing, and the Tenderloin—long a “safe space” for people down on their luck—is part of the fierce citywide competition over space and resources. Through these challenges, GLIDE remains an oasis for those most in need. Under President and CEO Karen Hanrahan, GLIDE is refining its service approach to reach more people and deepen its impact while creating pathways towards better lives. GLIDE’s expanding Center for Social Justice, meanwhile, is at work in the community mobilizing the power of love for personal growth and social betterment.

Leadership

Our organization is lead by a diverse cross-section of dedicated individuals with backgrounds in non-profit, education, business and more.
Karen Hanrahan

Karen Hanrahan​​

President and Chief Executive Officer​​

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Karen Hanrahan
Karen Hanrahan is an executive leader with twenty years of experience advancing human rights and building high-impact global initiatives around the world. Ms. Hanrahan has worked in the public and private sectors to build movements, lead change and build high-impact organizations and initiatives on a global scale. She has served as a senior appointee in the Obama administration, a United Nations aid worker, a corporate and non-profit executive and a thought leader in global development, human rights and public-private innovation. In her efforts to drive social change and spur social innovation, she has partnered with heads of state, global corporations, local communities, religious leaders, and military forces. She has brought creativity and innovation to intractable challenges in economic development, global health and international human rights. Ms. Hanrahan began her career on the frontlines of advocacy in the Middle East, working with Palestinian youth groups to organize and advocate for non-violent change. She worked to free sex slaves in Afghanistan, to prevent child and exploitative labor in Bangladesh, to end torture in Iraq, to free political prisoners in Ethiopia and to reform abusive security forces around the world. A lawyer by training, Ms. Hanrahan has dedicated her career to changing abusive and discriminatory laws and systems, working across lines of politics, race and geography. Ms. Hanrahan served as an appointee in the Obama administration for seven years, including two years overseeing a major project for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Ms. Hanrahan advanced human rights and freedom in Africa and South and Central Asia; she worked closely with global corporations on issues of corporate social responsibility, community engagement and human rights; and she shaped US and global policies on gender, LGBTQI, labor rights and security. Ms. Hanrahan also served in the Obama Administration as the U.S. Coordinator for International Assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan. She went on to design and run the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (the QDDR) for Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, a major strategic planning and organizational change initiative that has strengthened how the United States conducts diplomacy and development. Ms. Hanrahan also served as the Chief Innovation Officer for the UK Department for International Development (DFID), on detail assignment in London, where she built the organization’s innovation capabilities and catalyzed novel solutions to long-standing development challenges. Ms. Hanrahan has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, including serving as the State Department’s Senior Rule of Law Coordinator in Iraq and Senior Consultant to the Iraqi Minister of Human Rights. Prior to this, she served with USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives in Iraq as the Senior Advisor on Human Rights and Transitional Justice. Ms. Hanrahan went on to serve as Vice President for International Peace and Stability in a Fortune 500 company, leading a large-scale organizational change effort and travelling around the world to integrate human rights, rule of law and security assistance. Ms. Hanrahan is an alumna of Harvard Business School, University of Washington School of Law and The American University School of International Service, Master’s program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution. She has studied Arabic and French. In May 2018, Karen was named one of SF Business Times’ “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business.”

Malcolm Walter

Interim Chief Executive Officer

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Malcolm Walter
Malcolm Walter’s career spans more than 40 years and includes serving as the chief operating officer (COO) or chief financial officer (CFO) for several privately held and public companies. In 2016, Malcolm retired after a 17-year career as COO of Bentley Systems, a global software company whose mission is sustaining infrastructure. At Bentley, his responsibilities included sales, professional services and marketing. Malcolm is a CPA and received his undergraduate degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Malcolm’s career provided an opportunity to travel to more than 60 countries and to work with clients and colleagues worldwide. More recently, his travels have been to the least developed parts of the world to observe the unique challenges faced in these communities battling extreme poverty and where empowerment - particularly of women - has proven to unleash the spirits and capacity of these fellow humans to end their own poverty. His mission today is to promote a world that works for all. Malcolm currently serves on the board of the Presidio Graduate School, which offers industry-leading MBA and MPA academic programs in sustainability management. He also serves on the board of Jack London Park Partners - the first non-profit organization to take up management of a state park on behalf of the people of California.

Dr. Holli Joshi

Director of the Center for Social Justice

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Dr. Holli Joshi
Dr. Joshi joins Glide as the new Director of the Center for Social Justice. She is a Bay Area native and has been a community servant and leader in social justice and systems change work for twenty years. Dr. Joshi has worked on issues of racial and gender justice, youth and community development, and criminal justice reform through executive leadership positions with government, non-profit, and private, social impact organizations. A nationally recognized expert on gender-based violence prevention and intervention, she served as the executive director for MISSSEY, a direct service organization providing crisis intervention, long-term supports, and advocacy for trafficked youth. Dr. Joshi served on then Attorney General Kamala Harris’ Task Force on Human Trafficking and Task Force on 21st Century Policing and has worked to implement survivor-centered policy reform and legislation at the local and state level. Before coming to Glide, she worked as the Director of Racial Justice and Systems Change at Bright Research Group, a woman of color owned and operated research, evaluation, strategy, and design firm. While there, she led participatory action research, qualitative inquiry, and capacity-building projects that centered the voices of marginalized communities, and supported government, non-profit, and philanthropic leaders to think deeply and act strategically for justice. Dr. Joshi holds a B.A. in criminal justice, a master’s degree in leadership for social justice, and a doctorate in educational leadership. Her work has been featured in the Bay Area local press, on MSNBC, Anderson Cooper, and in Essence Magazine. Away from work she enjoys spending time with her partner, kids, and French bulldog, taking in the spicy foods and beauty of the Bay, and hiking, biking, and running.
Jean Cooper

Jean Cooper​

Chief Impact and Strategy Officer

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Jean Cooper
Jean Cooper is currently the Acting Chief Finance and Operations Officer at GLIDE, having served previously as Chief Impact & Strategy Officer and Chief of Staff. Her career at GLIDE began in 2005, as Program Manager for the Daily Free Meals program. She became Director for Community Building and then Strategic Initiatives. With her management and research experience, Jean established her own consulting firm for nearly a decade. She supported national nonprofits to develop and implement innovative programs and projects through thinking partnership, operational capacity building and change management. Jean is a passionate nature lover and equestrian.

Val Feldman

Senior Director, Strategic Learning and Impact

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Val Feldman
Valerie Feldman is GLIDE’s Senior Director of Strategic Learning and Impact. As a key member of the Impact and Strategy team, she leads cross-system efforts to align GLIDE’s many strategies to affect change in and for the community. In this capacity, she also provides strategic oversight to GLIDE’s research and evaluation department, the Center for Applied Learning and Impact (CALI), which leads GLIDE in its evolution as a learning organization. Valerie brings more than 15 years of experience in designing and leading mixed-methods research on various social issues including racial justice, sex work politics, and immigrant youth-serving organizations. Prior to GLIDE, Valerie spent several years leading teams in strategic planning, evaluation, and impact assessment for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, primarily in the Jewish community sector. Valerie holds a PhD and MA in Sociology from the University of California, Davis. She lives in the East Bay with her partner and two overly affectionate cats.

Angelo Turner

Chief Development Officer

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Leigh Hanson
James Lin

James Lin

Senior Director, Mission and Spirituality

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James Lin
James Lin is the Senior Director of Mission and Spirituality at the GLIDE Foundation, where he has held several roles since joining GLIDE in 2005, including founding GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice and co-directing Human Resources and Organizational Integration. Prior to working at GLIDE, James directed the Multicultural Resource Center at Reed College. In the community, he has facilitated groups for the UCSF Alliance Health Project and in the Interpersonal Dynamics course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and did volunteer legal intake for Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders GLAD) in Boston. He currently co-chairs the University Council on Community Engagement at the University of San Francisco. James is ABD for the doctorate in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University and was a Fellow in the Center for Molecular Biology at the Universität Heidelberg in Germany. He lives in Oakland, California.

Lillian Mark

Senior Director of Programs

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Lillian Mark
Lillian Mark serves as GLIDE’s Senior Director of Programs. She oversees GLIDE’s implementation of strategic initiatives for the unhoused and portfolio of client service programs to assist marginalized residents in the Tenderloin neighborhood and communities in need across San Francisco. Lillian joined GLIDE in 2004 while an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley through the organization’s Epworth Emerging Leaders Internship Program, and then she never left. Upon graduation, Lillian joined GLIDE’s Executive Office as a project assistant but found herself wanting more, to be “more proximate” to the community. Since then, Mark has worked in multiple and progressively more responsible roles. Lillian has served as Community Safety and Training Manager and Division Manager for Operations, supporting program operations and managing client services. And, most recently, as Deputy Director of Programs, she led GLIDE programs through significant developments, including integrating mental health training with the Community Safety Team, innovating structural changes to holiday events during the pandemic, and leading client services offered through the Tenderloin Community Resource Hub with COVID-19 testing and equity vaccination efforts. Do not let Lillian’s somewhat youthful appearance fool you. If you want good “back in the day” stories about GLIDE—after 17 years of committed service at GLIDE– she’s got some great stories!
Bernadette Robertson

Bernadette Robertson

Chief People Officer

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Bernadette Robertson
Bernadette Robertson leads GLIDE’s Human Resources department and our efforts to modernize and evolve our talent and human resource capabilities as GLIDE grows to meet the needs of our community. Most recently, Bernadette served as the Chief Talent Officer for Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC), so she comes to GLIDE with a deep understanding of the Tenderloin and the people we serve. Bernadette has supported many organizations through significant growth, and has a rich experience combining broad strategic thinking with effective ongoing operational practices. We are proud to have her with us!

Jane B. Zimmerman

Chief of Staff

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Jane B. Zimmerman
Jane Zimmerman has enjoyed a decades-long career in public service, whether as a senior U.S. diplomat, an international nonprofit executive, a college professor, or as a civic leader and volunteer. For more than 25 years, she served as a U.S. State Department Foreign Service officer. Most recently, she was the Managing Director of a family foundation advancing global security and social justice. From 2019 to 2021, Ms. Zimmerman served as the Director of the Dean Rusk International Studies Program at Davidson College in North Carolina. From 2017 to 2019, she was the Executive Director and CEO of the American Research Center in Egypt, and from 2013 to 2016, she was the Executive Director for International Policy & External Affairs at the American Red Cross. As a career U.S. State Department Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Zimmerman served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Her overseas assignments in the Foreign Service included Cyprus, Israel and the Gaza Strip, Tunisia, Brazil, and Mali. Her foreign languages include French, Portuguese, and Arabic. She is the recipient of the Secretary of State’s Career Achievement Award, four Superior Honor Awards, two Meritorious Honor Awards, and an Award for Excellence in Community Service. She has a Master of Arts in Law & Diplomacy from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, and a Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College.

Essential Needs

206

families with children served by GLIDE

176

children received direct care from GLIDE

+1,000

people reached by GLIDE’s Center for Social Justice community engagement and experiential learning programs

+23,005

people participated in Sunday celebrations with GLIDE Memorial Church

Family & Community Building

3,937

people reached with vital services, including harm reduction, essential goods and services, violence intervention, and support for families and children

1,932

people connected to social benefits like CalFresh food assistance and SSI

533,298

meals served to unhoused and low-income community members across San Francisco

7,904

grocery bags distributed to families in need across the city

$24 M

secured in state funding for housing subsidies, shelters, and mental health support through coalition work

$114 M

allocated to California’s state budget for food banks as a result of coalition-based advocacy