Karen Hanrahan

Karen Hanrahan is the former president and CEO of the Glide Foundation, a social justice organization based in San Francisco, California. GLIDE is recognized for its humanitarian work, serving more than 2,500 people daily through addiction services, trauma recovery, poverty reduction, and homelessness programs. Under Hanrahan’s leadership, GLIDE expanded its impact and was named among the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by San Francisco Business Times.

Before joining GLIDE, Hanrahan held senior roles in social justice organizations and the United States government. She has served as a leader in international human rights and capacity-building organizations, including the United States Agency for International Development in Iraq, Amnesty International, Search for Common Ground, and the United Nations. Hanrahan’s career includes work in war zones and unstable regions across Afghanistan, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Hanrahan was a White House appointee, serving in the State Department as the U.S. coordinator for international assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan, and later as deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor. She was selected by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to design and lead the inaugural Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, a comprehensive effort to redefine U.S. international development and diplomacy.

Hanrahan’s expertise includes human rights, rule of law, security sector reform, gender and protection, and organizational change. She has also served as chief innovation officer for the UK Department for International Development and as vice president for international peace and stability at a Fortune 500 company, leading global organizational change initiatives.

Hanrahan holds a political science and journalism degree from Indiana University, a Master of Arts in international politics with a concentration in peace and conflict resolution from American University, and a law degree from the University of Washington School of Law, graduating with honors in the top 5 percent of her class. She is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and has studied Arabic and French.