Television News Anchor • Communications Manager for Mervyn’s Department Stores • Mayoral Representative • First Vice President of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation Board of Directors • Civic Board Member • Clinic by the Bay Co-Founder • Wife and Mother of Two Daughters

Janet’s determination to help others took root at a young age. The youngest of six children, she grew up in a family where hard work was a way of life. Her father was a renderer, working his entire life in an industrial plant on the outskirts of Sacramento.

Janet attended St. Francis High School before moving on to the University of California at Los Angeles where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After UCLA, Janet received an MA in journalism from Medill at Northwestern University in Chicago – one of the nation’s premier journalism schools.

Janet began her career as an on-air television reporter and anchor at KGWN TV-5, the CBS affiliate in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Later, she was tapped as a district representative for Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan. Through her work with Riordan she met her future husband, Clint Reilly, who ran Riordan’s campaign for mayor.

After the Reillys married in 1995 at Saints Peter and Paul Church in North Beach, Janet moved to San Francisco and quickly became director of public relations for Mervyn’s department stores. At Mervyn’s, she managed the communications strategy of an iconic 266-store national retailer with more than $5 billion in sales. During this time, Janet immersed herself in her community.

She became a strong supporter of Catholic Charities CYO and she provided leadership for many vital programs such as Shanti, Mount St. Joseph’s – St Elizabeth’s, San Francisco Suicide Prevention, the St. Vincent De Paul Society, Caminos Pathways, St. Anthony’s Foundation and the Milton Marks Richmond Library.

Janet Reilly has been faithfully serving San Francisco for well over a decade. A committed public servant, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District for six years and currently serves as the board’s First Vice President. A strong advocate for culture and the arts, Janet also served on the boards of the Asian Art Museum and the San Francisco Film Society.

Clint, Ava, Janet and Jill Reilly

For years, Janet has pushed for expanded access to health care for the city’s underprivileged residents. To that end, she co-founded Clinic by the Bay – a Volunteers in Medicine health clinic – where retired doctors and nurses will provide free health care to uninsured working families. The clinic will open in the Excelsior District of San Francisco in the summer of 2010, and Janet remains deeply involved in the project as President of the Board.

Janet and Clint Reilly live in San Francisco’s Sea Cliff neighborhood and have two daughters: Jill, 10, and Ava, 8. The Reilly Family is the proud owner of one of San Francisco’s landmark office buildings – The Merchants Exchange Building on California Street, which houses the famous Julia Morgan Ballroom.

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