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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.

Malcolm Walter

Interim Chief Executive Officer

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See Full Bio
In December 2022, Malcolm stepped in as Interim CEO after having served on the GLIDE board for several years. Malcolm’s career spans over 40 years and includes serving as the COO or 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 over 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 where empowerment - particularly of women - has proven to unleash the spirits of these fellow humans to end their own poverty. Malcolm’s mission today is to promote a world that works for all. Malcolm currently serves on the board of the Presidio Graduate School offering an industry-leading MBA and MPA 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.
Rosalia

Rosália Aquino McMillen

Chief Financial Officer

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Rosália Aquino McMillen
Rosália Aquino McMillen ensures that GLIDE has revenue growth mindset and deploys effective technical tools and sound controls to support GLIDE Forward. She is committed to tell the purpose and mission of GLIDE in financial terms. Prior to Becoming CFO for GLIDE, Rosália was the CFO/COO at Bay Area Community Area Community Services, Sonoma Valley Community Health Center, Davis Street Community Health Center Inc and a subject matter expert in fiscal and governance compliance for federally qualified health clinics. She has over 30 years serving the nonprofit sector and the underserved communities. While in New York City, Rosália held senior level roles to prominent and large nonprofits - MoMA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, AFM US & Canada, and VNA. She was recruited to become the controller at NNU/CNA. She lives in East Bay with her husband, Ken McMillen, and 2 pups. She loves to dance, an experimental cook, plays and opera, architecture design. She is a pro-bono consultant and was volunteer board treasurer with community-based organizations.

Dr. Holly Joshi

Director of the Center for Social Justice

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See Full Bio
In January 2023, Dr. Holly Joshi joined GLIDE. She is a Bay Area native and has been a community servant and leader in social justice and systems change work for twenty years. She 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. She is a nationally recognized expert on gender-based violence prevention and intervention and served as the executive director for MISSSEY, a direct service organization providing crisis intervention, long-term supports, and advocacy for trafficked youth. She 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. Earlier in her career, Holly spent over a decade with the Oakland Police Department. While there, she worked in the patrol division, was a special victims unit and internal affairs investigator, led the child exploitation unit, and became the first female chief of staff in department history. Holly 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. She is thrilled to join the Glide team and honored to work with so many powerful, brilliant, people committed to justice, healing, and love.
karl, headshot

Karl Robillard

Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer

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Karl Robillard
Karl serves as GLIDE’s Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer. He has lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years and has been a leading voice in shaping policy, philanthropy, and story-telling for organizations and residents of San Francisco and beyond. Most recently, Karl was the Global Head of Social Impact at Twitter. In this role, he directed cash and product donations totaling over $20 million annually and led community engagement efforts for 7,500 global employees. These investments focused on racial and economic justice, internet safety and education, freedom of expression and civil liberties, emergency response and disaster recovery, and combating the impact of climate change. Prior to joining Twitter, Karl spent 16 years working in the nonprofit community as the Director of Communications & Marketing at Meals on Wheels and the Senior Manager of Public Relations at St. Anthony Foundation. At these organizations, he played a vital role in creating opportunities for businesses in the Mid-Market to engage with and deepen their understanding of complex socio-economic issues that affect residents and organizations in the Tenderloin, SoMa, and Bayview neighborhoods of San Francisco. Karl has shaped his career on the fundamental belief that when diverse groups of people work together towards positive change, they are an unstoppable force for good. Karl was raised in Ithaca, NY and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the College of Wooster in Wooster, OH. When he’s not at work, Karl is likely in the East Bay Regional Parks or the Sierra Mountains trail-running, cycling, skiing, or snow-camping. Or, he might be on the couch watching the PBS news hour with his husband Bob and their three kitties Boots, Buttons, and Wow.
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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Angelo Turner
Angelo Turner serves as Chief Development Officer of Glide Foundation. Angelo has spent 26 years in development spanning work with the American Cancer Society, UCSF, Scripps Health, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Emanuel Medical Center and St. Charles Health System. He has also worked extensively in criminal justice volunteer roles that include police oversight, inmate reentry services as well as juvenile justice reform panels. Angelo is a native of San Diego and he graduated from National University in La Jolla, CA and the graduate non profit program of Indiana University.

Lillian Mark

Senior Director of Programs

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Lillian Mark
After 17 years of service at GLIDE, Lillian Mark now serves as the Senior Director of Programs where she oversees GLIDE’s portfolio of client service programs and implementation of GLIDE’s strategic initiatives for client services. Lillian joined GLIDE in 2004 while she was 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 to be more proximate to the community. From then, she has worked in multiple roles supporting program operations and managing client services. Most recently, Lillian served as GLIDE’s Deputy Director of Programs where she led GLIDE programs through significant developments including integrating mental health training with the Community Safety Team, structural changes to holiday events, and in the past year, leading the Tenderloin Community Resource Hub with its COVID-19 testing and vaccination efforts. If you want a good story about GLIDE “back in the days,” do not let her somewhat youthful outer appearance fool you – she’s got some good stories!

Nathanael W. Dickinson

Senior Director of Real Estate & Development

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Senior Director of Real Estate & Development
Nathanael Dickinson is a Real Estate Development and Construction Expert with 20 years of experience in California. As a Project & Real Estate Development Executive & General Contractor, Nathanael has experience building and managing Project Teams and directly oversees programs and various projects. He has experience leading large Cap-Ex budgets for Real Estate portfolios with budgets over $350MM annual including hundreds of projects. He is very experienced in developing projects from due diligence, entitlements, pre-construction, feasibility, planning, design/ engineering, construction, close-out, and stabilization for sale or lease/ occupancy. Nathanael has won awards for best repositioned assets and historical preservation in San Francisco, California. Nathanael is a Canadian Citizen and a Permanent Resident in the USA who studied with UC Berkeley, is a father to beautiful twin daughters and strives to make a positive impact on society with his work.
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!

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

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