Janice Mirikitani: A Life Lived with Passion, Discipline, and Authenticity

I’m grateful to the NY Times for this beautiful story about the life and impact of my dear friend and mentor, Janice Mirikitani, who passed away almost a month ago unexpectedly:?Janice Mirikitani, Poet and Crusader for People in Need, Dies at 80 - The New York Times (nytimes.com).

I met Jan and Rev. Cecil Williams at age 21 when I interned at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District.?I had received a Ford Foundation summer fellowship to do research on how Glide had created such a diverse community.?This included people living on the streets with mental health challenges, people recovering from years of addiction, children without access to food or housing, and people like Oprah Winfrey, Robin Williams, and Bono who were drawn to the community for its vibrant pulse, rawness, and beauty.

The first week of my internship, I started my work serving where I was needed and interviewing Glide’s clients along the way to fulfill the research I had been funded to do.?On my third or fourth day, one of the men who had recently left prison and served in the meals program said, “Girl, if you really want to know how things work around here, put down your clipboard and go work in the stockroom this summer!”?I followed his lead and spent the summer working underground where boxes of donated cereal, pasta, and bananas were received, organized, and prepared for meals with 17 men who had recently come out of prison and were getting on their feet again.?At the end of the summer, Jan and Cecil, Glide’s founders, whom I had met in passing a few times, asked me to work in their office for a week and cover for an assistant who was on vacation.?They told me later they were curious about the student from Carleton College who spent the summer in the stockroom.

I returned to Glide after graduating from college that year and spent five years working for this formidable couple.?Jan and Cecil were often asked by urban and suburban churches how they could boldly serve the poor and marginalized effectively and develop such unconditionally loving communities open to all in their home cities.?I was asked to develop and lead a program, we called the Empowerment Journey, where Glide partnered with and supported these churches as they took on the challenge.?

Working daily with two phenomenal leaders was the greatest experience I could ever have.?I often tell young people now to pay attention to who they work for and learn from, as much as the name or prestige of the organization.?

As a third-generation Japanese American, Jan spent critical years of her childhood literally enclosed in the internment camps during World War II.?While there, Jan was sexually abused.?These traumatic early experiences led Jan to seek her own recovery in community with people who had also lived through trauma.?Jan became known internationally for her brilliance as a community organizer, fundraiser, and leader who launched and led Glide’s many programs including housing, job training, and child and youth care.?She was also recognized for her incredible poetry and became San Francisco’s second Poet Laureate.?

What most impacted me working so closely with Jan was seeing the energy, discipline, hard work, and constant renewal needed to be an effective leader.?For every major victory of an important donation or critical partnership, there were many disappointments along the way.?For every powerful speech that left people with tears, on their feet applauding, there were hours-long brainstorming sessions and sleepless nights.?What made Jan unique and such a fearless leader was that she worked through the insecurity and discomfort and kept going.?She didn’t allow the internal self-doubt, that holds so many back, to win.?Since leaving Glide in 2003 to pursue my MBA and then start my career with Boys Hope Girls Hope, I’ve had many talks and meals with Jan where she continued to share and model that life and leadership take work and courage, and encouraged me to keep going.

I will be forever grateful that in her last year of life, Jan met virtually with hundreds of Boys Hope Girls Hope scholars and collegians, through our ALL In (Act. Learn. Lead.) program.?She shared her passion for justice through her life experiences, stories, and vulnerability, and encouraged our young people to take their unique struggles and channel them into loving courageously, living boldly, and leading with their authentic voices.

Thank you, Jan, for the great blessing you have been in my life, for living and leading and loving with authenticity and open arms.?May you rest now knowing the deep impact you’ve had.