Our Board of Directors
Jill Harris
(She/Her)
Anyone who knows Jill would say she has a zest for life, and for living that life loudly, proudly, and enthusiastically. A single mother and avid gardener, Jill has extensive experience in advertising and fundraising across various sectors. Earlier in her career, she worked as the Los Angeles Advertisement Manager for both USA Today and Forbes Magazine. While raising her daughter, Jill served on the Parent Association Boards for her elementary, middle, and high schools, where her primary responsibility was fundraising. Most recently, Jill has channeled these experiences in advertising and fundraising into the nonprofit sector: she is an active Board member at New Directions for Youth and regularly volunteers at West Valley Food Pantry and Los Angeles Family Housing. Through each of these stages of her life, Jill has lived according to the belief that with a little bit of comfort, love, and laughter, every moment is better. She is honored and thrilled to be co-founding SĀFTY and hopes to bring even a bit of that comfort, love, and laughter to each moment in this role.
Gayle Denny
(She/Her)
For as long as she can remember, Gayle has been certain of two things: she always wanted to be a mother and she is a “people person.” The winding road that brought her to co-founding SĀFTY in 2019 reflects those constancies. After graduating from California State University, Northridge with a degree in Radio-Television Broadcasting, Gayle went on to work in a number of roles across various sectors, including entertainment production at Lorimar-Telepictures and Warner Bros., and recruiting, Human Resources, and event planning at two major law firms. From there, she established her own party planning company, Very Important Parties. Shortly thereafter, she married her husband, and after the births of their three daughters, she brought her professional experience in fundraising, operations, and event planning to her role as a volunteer in their schools. For the last 4 years, Gayle has served as President of Cleveland High School’s Humanities Magnet Parent Association. With her three young adult daughters soon to be out of the house, Gayle is excited to start this new chapter in her life building a safe and nurturing environment for other teenagers and young adults in need of unconditional support.
Samantha Koerner
(She/Her)
Samantha is a married mother of two young adults, and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and Loyola Law School. Through her work as a civil rights attorney for more than 25 years, Samantha has been advocating for victims of police misconduct. Her work has resulted in many policy improvements throughout California and changes in law across the country. Samantha’s quest to help others became even more personal when in May 2017, her teenage daughter came out as transgender. As Samantha began her own journey of understanding, she used her professional skills to advocate for her daughter during her transition. In helping to navigate it, Samantha realized the large numbers of transgender teens and young adults who lack the kind of support, guidance and love that was so important to her daughter’s well-being. Samantha launched SĀFTY as a way to reach those youth and their families, and to help make theirs as positive an experience as it has been for her daughter and family.