Career Brief
Gladys W. Mack is the deputy executive director of the United Planning Organization (UPO), a private nonprofit agency that delivers human services to low-income citizens of the District of Columbia through a large citywide network of programs and agencies.

Through her work at UPO, Mrs. Mack helps citizens gain self-sufficiency through the provision of services in the areas of education, day care, employment, housing, nutrition, health, homelessness, welfare reform, and senior citizen support.

In addition to her work at UPO, Mrs. Mack serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The availability of safe, dependable, and convenient transit services is vital to a strong and healthy community. Mrs. Mack is a well- respected leader on the Board, where she has worked to expand minority contracting and improve ethnic and gender diversity within the Authority.

Other Activities
In 1979, she became the first woman and the first African American to serve as the budget director for the District of Columbia; in 1985, she became the first woman to chair the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Board; in 1990, she became the first woman to serve as president of the Paroling Authorities, International; and in 2003, she was inducted into the Washington, DC Hall of Fame. She is also credited for introducing a number of innovative programs in the various leadership positions that she has held throughout her tenure in the District and the federal governments. She also serves on the board of the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, where she is immediate past president and finance committee chair. She is secretary/treasurer of the Board of Directors of the DC Agenda, and finance committee chair of the Mayor’s Healthcare Reform Commission.

Mrs. Mack is a graduate of Morgan State University, has pursued graduate studies at Catholic University, and completed the Program for Senior Managers in Government at the JFK School of Public Policy at Harvard University. She is certified as a Community Action Professional by the Community Action Partnership and she is listed in Who’s Who Among Black Americans, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in Law Enforcement.