Glenda R Taylor

Biography

Glenda R. Taylor was born in 1955 in Brooklyn, New York. Best known for her pioneering work with philanthropic organizations, Taylor has authored proposals which have resulted in funding of over $50 million. As Deputy Executive Director of Urban Strategies (said by the Ford Foundation in 1990 to be one of the fastest growing non-profit organizations in the country), Taylor’s creative abilities and administrative skills catapulted the organization into a multimillion-dollar corporation consisting of shelters, daycare centers, educational programs, and apartment buildings with a staff of over 250 people. She was responsible for everything from strategic planning to management to acting as comptroller responsible for overseeing government fiscal and programmatic audits. Her ability to recognize human potential and provide tutelage to those under her supervision has resulted in the development of numerous leaders and has had impact upon tens of thousands of lives in the Tri-State area.

Taylor is the founder of Olympic Vision, a charitable organization, which has provided over 5,000 youth and adults with educational, job placement, mental health and social services. She is a proponent of the John Dewey philosophy which emphasizes the importance of experience in education. Taylor organized seminars and forums in which business and entertainment industry executives, bankers, educators and writers such as Walter Mosley and Bebe Moore Campbell interacted with economically disadvantaged youth and adults (New York Daily Challenge). These forums gave the participants access to employment and educational opportunities. Currently, Olympic Vision focuses on providing supportive services to community-based organizations and small businesses.

Taylor has written numerous articles and is the editor of The Secrets of Success: Quotations by African American Achievers and co-editor of The Secrets of Success: The Black Man’s Perspective (New York Network Journal). Her most recent book (co-edited with Mary J. Taylor) is titled, "Truth Beyond Illusion:African American Women 1860s-1950s". Called a visionary by the New York Daily Challenge, Taylor has received a Certificate for Outstanding Service to Youth from the New York State Division for Youth, and is one of the first recipients of the Network Journal's 25 Most Influential Women In Business Award. In 2005, Taylor received the Harriett Tubman Award for her phenomenal contribution to the non-profit sector.

A graduate of Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, Taylor also studied at the University of Ghana's Institute of African Studies in Accra, Ghana; the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana; and Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. She is a cultural historian who has an extensive knowledge of African-American culture and its relationship to American history.