Gloria Johnson-Cusack

Board Chair

Gloria Johnson-Cusack, adjunct faculty member at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Firelight Foundation, brings more than 25 years of expertise in executive management and training, advertising, communications, public policy, and lobbying. Her work is informed by leadership positions in the private and philanthropic sectors, as well as significant time spent in the U.S. Congress, federal and municipal agencies, presidential campaigns, and the White House.

Among other positions, Gloria was Executive Director of Leadership 18, an alliance of CEOs responsible for leading the largest nonprofit organizations, including American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and United Way Worldwide.  

She served as a Senior Vice President at GMMB, a strategic communications and advertising firm; Director of the Office of Congressional Relations at the Peace Corps; Special Assistant to the President in the White House Office of National Service; and Director of Constituent Relations at the Corporation for National and Community Service. She also was policy advisor to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Senator Albert Gore, Jr.

 Gloria was for six years a member of the federal Presidio Trust’s Advisory Council for the Presidio Institute, focused on service and cross-sector leadership. She holds degrees from American University and Columbia College, Columbia University.