BERKELEY, CA – August 9, 2021 – The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is pleased to announce the selection of William D. Glenn as Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Golden Gate Chapter (AFP Golden Gate). The AFP Golden Gate Chapter presents this award to an individual who has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills in coordinating other volunteers for major fundraising projects for more than one nonprofit organization.
Mr. Glenn’s extensive service to the Bay Area includes advancing causes impacting the AIDS and LGBTQ communities, supporting resilience among incarcerated populations at the San Quentin State Penitentiary, and serving as a senior administrative leader for more than 10 years at an inner-city elementary school in Oakland and at Mercy High School in San Francisco.
“Seeing Bill’s commitment and service recognized in this way is a source of deep pride and joy,” said GTU President, Dr. Uriah Kim. “His leadership on the GTU’s Board of Trustees has been invaluable. We are one of many organizations in this community indebted to his experience in development, administration, and advocacy, along with his robust wisdom and pastoral care.”
After maintaining a clinical psychology practice for several decades, Mr. Glenn retired two years ago to write a book: I Came Here Seeking a Person: Notes from the Interior, sharing his spiritual journey, accumulated wisdom, experience, and compassionate service to others. Mr. Glenn is a graduate of the Pacific School of Religion (MDiv 2000), a member school of the GTU, where he received the Paul Yinger Award for Outstanding Preaching. Since joining the GTU’s Board of Trustees in 2013, he has led several committees, including launching the Select Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He began serving as Chair of the GTU’s Board of Trustees in June 2020.
“I care very much about the GTU’s interreligious mission,” Mr. Glenn said. “I see its potential for being a place where the enormous problems of the world can be addressed in a rational and thoughtful and even loving way. We are contributing to the spiritual welfare of the world.”
Mr. Glenn is a former member of the KQED board of directors and a co-founder of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Ministry at PSR. He served as president of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and was the executive director of Continuum HIV Services, a multi-service AIDS health care agency in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. As vice president of the San Francisco Foundation, he was instrumental in increasing the Foundation’s resources by more than $100 million. Under Mr. Glenn’s and his husband Scott Hafner’s leadership, the Now and Forever Campaign at Horizons Foundation—the LGBTQ community foundation for the Bay Area—surpassed its goal of $125 million in legacy gifts, a landmark accomplishment.
“I’m honored by this award, and the recognition of my work on behalf of those whose who have such critical needs and little ability to meet them,” Mr. Glenn said. “I’ve been raising money for 35 years, for causes—really persons— I care deeply about. I believe we are called to be philanthropists, regardless of the size of our purse. The grace we receive for our efforts is incalculable.”
Each November, AFP Golden Gate celebrates National Philanthropy Day by recognizing inspirational Bay Area individuals, organizations, and businesses who generously give their time, talents, and resources to all that philanthropy makes possible. The Outstanding Fundraising Volunteer of the Year honor is part of AFP Golden Gate Chapter’s annual tribute to the great contributions that philanthropy—and those active in the philanthropic community—make to our lives, communities, and world. 2021 is the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Chapter’s founding.
Mr. Glenn will be honored alongside other award recipients at AFP Golden Gate Chapter’s annual National Philanthropy Day celebration, held virtually at 11am on Thursday, November 18, 2021. The program will open with a panel discussion on rising trends in philanthropy, facilitated by Michael Krasny, followed by the presentation of awards with brief remarks by the honorees. Tickets to the virtual event are free and available at afpgoldengate.org/national-philanthropy-day-2021.
Read the GTU’s entire conversation with William Glenn about his background as a psychotherapist, spiritual director, activist, and community leader, and about his new book, I Came Here Seeking a Person: Notes from the Interior, on the GTU Voices blog.
###
About the Graduate Theological Union
The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is one of the world’s most comprehensive centers for religious education, and one of the largest and most diverse partnerships of seminaries and graduate schools in the United States.
More than a consortium and academy, the GTU is a dynamic laboratory that provides scholar-innovators with a staging ground to reimagine the future of interreligious life. An education with the GTU equips leaders to translate learning into action that will have tangible impact in the world.
Since its founding in 1962, the GTU has been at the forefront of interreligious education and dialogue, and the work of our eminent alumni, students, and faculty across cultures, traditions, and technologies continues to create new pathways to a truly pluralistic future.
Discover more about our programs and the work of our alumni and community at gtu.edu.