Message from the Board of Directors

The 2008 election year found America in perhaps the greatest financial crisis in its history and the American people demanding change and reform in Washington, DC.

On September 30, 2008, the American people were given a new and powerful vehicle to promote active citizenship and responsive government with the launch of Glide America at http://www.GlideAmerica.org

Glide America provides a direct line to Washington, DC, for ordinary citizens to make their voices heard before decisions are made and votes are cast. Glide America's industry leading technology accelerates the dissemination of information to the American people regarding government initiatives and deliberations and provides citizens with the means (technology) to organize and act including advanced communication and collaboration tools.

Glide America adds a new and dynamic dimension to representative democracy, providing a direct channel between citizens and their elected leaders.

Currently information is accessible on the internet from news sites, blogs and official government sites. Government contacts are available through official government directories. Software exists to prepare documents and communicate. Forums exist to vent frustrations and express opinions in social networking and other web 2.0 sites. Who has time to sift through all of that? Glide America provides a total solution. It brings all of those things together into an active community with the capacity for the ordinary citizen to make his appeal directly to the appropriate government officials with public transparency into the timeliness and quality of the official response.

Presently citizens are expected to have the wisdom to elect wise leaders and hope for the best. If they are unhappy with their leaders, in most cases they must wait for the opportunity to vote them out of office.

Glide America gives citizens active input throughout their elected officials' terms in office. Lobbyists and special interest groups have unlimited access to our elected officials. Why shouldn't the average citizen on Main Street?

We at Glide America believe that you should.

Glide America Features:

• Government Transparency & Accountability - Glide America tracks government officials' responsiveness to citizens through statistical analysis of response times to citizen emails and other online communications. Response times of government representatives are quantified individually and tracked over time and in the aggregate for comparative analysis of representatives and branches of government.
• Government Address Book - is the People's Rolodex of federal government contacts seamlessly integrated with all of your email accounts and other communication and collaboration tools. The Glide America address book contains extensive government contact information (including Members of Congress, Departments of Government etc.) for quick and convenient email or phone call access from your mobile phone or desktop computer to the government officials you need to reach In addition, you can automatically add any new valuable contact information you come across or receive in an email to your address book with one click and share with other citizens if you choose to do so. You can also take advantage of Glide America's advanced social and business networking features to facilitate introductions to interesting people, and engage in information exchanges and discussions.
• Advanced Communication & Collaboration Tools - include integrated email, group organization and online meeting applications to individually and collectively communicate with fellow citizens and Government Officials. You can create or join a group discussion on an issue of personal interest and add any documents, images, videos, audio files, bookmarks, contacts or calendar events to the group discussion. You can assign granular rights to any of the files you choose to contribute. In addition, citizens are provided with their own tools to track whether their messages are being read and how long it takes for officials to respond.
  • You can quickly and easily send large group emails as individual personalized emails bypassing spam filters that are programmed to flag emails that contain many recipients.
  • You can easily manage multiple email lists and group discussions.
  • You can opt in to receive automated email notifications for upcoming legislation.
  • Issue Management Group Discussions are automatically created for upcoming legislation for you to participate in.
• Information Portal - contains the latest news on legislation, politics and business. The Portal provides many links to valuable information sites including official government, candidate, election, news and other sites. From the Glide portal you can bookmark, copy or move articles with one click to group discussions and conferences or share in an email. You can also automatically add any news article or website you receive in an email to your personal bookmarks with one click and share with other citizens.
• Dynamic Desktop/Apps/Hard Drive - You have 10 free GBs of storage in your Glide America account and a free and compatible word processor, presentation application, spread sheet and much much more to do your work. In addition, Glide America dynamically displays right on your desktop automatically updated information on the presidential campaign and pending legislation with links to learn more, voice your opinion (rating/voting and comments) and join group discussions.
• File Synchronization - You can sync your home computer and your work computer for secure access to any file from your mobile phone or desktop in a group discussion, online meeting or email exchange. You can organize and collaborate with others online and offline.
• Powerful Rights Management - Glide America provides you with the tools to protect your privacy including your files and identity. Glide America features advanced information rights management and sharing tools to organize and securely collaborate on issues of interest with fellow citizens.

Glide America promotes active citizenship and responsive government by opening up a new communication corridor between the American people and their elected officials. Glide America is change initiated by the American people through their cell phones and desktops and we are thrilled to provide this innovative service to our fellow citizens.

Sincerely,

Donald Leka
Co-Chair

Claire Leka
Co-Chair

Bios

Donald Leka, Co-Chair

As Co-Chair of Glide America, Mr. Leka draws on his eighteen years of international experience in both the non-profit and for profit sectors to shape the strategic vision of Glide America. Mr. Leka is currently the Chairman and CEO of TransMedia, the company that has developed the Glide OS. The Glide technology serves as a platform for Glide America to provide empowering and philanthropic services for the American people. He is the architect of TransMedia's business model and provides the vision and direction for the company's product development.

Previously, Mr. Leka was a co-founder and the Executive Director of The Open Society Foundation and USAID funded Fultz Foundation in Washington, DC. Mr. Leka developed and directed various international humanitarian projects focused on business development and management training including telecommunications and the internet as well as arranging shipments of badly needed Hepatitis-B Vaccines and other supplies to Eastern Europe.

Mr. Leka holds a Masters in Business Administration as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations, both from The American University in Washington D.C. During his time at The American University, Mr, Leka was a community organizer and a member of the Student Coalition Against Apartheid & Racism. Mr. Leka is also a composer, arranger, and producer of classical and popular music.

Throughout his career, Mr. Leka and his work have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The All Things Digital D6 Conference, PC Magazine, PC Today, InformationWeek, eWEEK, Macworld, and on CNN Financial News, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNET, The G4 Network's Attack Of The Show, he Voice Of America and other media outlets.

Claire Leka, Co-Chair

As Co-Chair of Glide America, Claire Leka draws on her twelve years of experience in broadcast journalism as a General Assignment and Business Television Correspondent & Anchor for Reuters Television, ABC, CNN, NBC and CBS to help shape the strategic vision of Glide America.

Claire's experience in Washington, DC and New York City covering the Federal Reserve, the White House, Congress and Wall Street have given her an up close perspective on how our government and the financial world work uniquely qualifying her for her role as Co-Chair of Glide America.

Currently, Claire is a correspondent for CBS Moneywatch in New York. She provides business reports for CBS affiliates and other CBS news programs and CBSNews.com.

Claire earned two degrees from The American University in Washington, DC. She holds a Masters degree in Journalism and a Bachelors in Communication. Claire also mentors students from her Alma Mater.