MEET
GISELLE
Giselle Hale is a mom, advocate and businesswoman who is currently the Mayor of Redwood City.
She has built a reputation for hard work, collaboration and effectiveness, with the courage to take on tough problems – and gets results.
She is running for Assembly because we face big challenges and we need results-oriented, forward-looking leaders to solve them. She is not afraid to roll up her sleeves to find common sense solutions that ensure California is a place everyone can succeed.
At an early age, Giselle learned from her Dad the importance of taking an active role in her community that has inspired her path to public service. Her Mom taught her that “actions speak louder than words” to give her a commitment to taking real action when she sees a problem.
Through a series of circumstances, Giselle's family went from being middle class to below the poverty line, facing food and housing insecurity and often relying on social programs to get by. Her experiences gave her a deep, personal understanding of the issues that too many local families face daily.
With the support of and inspiration from her family and teachers, along with hard work and perseverance, education was her pathway to success. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin and received her MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.
Like her, Giselle’s husband Brian grew up struggling and living in poverty and was in-and-out of the foster care system for several years. They both could have been left behind if not for the generosity of their extended family, communities, and the support of the social safety net.
Giselle and Brian moved to the Bay Area after they were married to seek opportunity. Saddled with student loans, they soon learned the realities of our longstanding housing crisis when they were evicted by a landlord deciding to sell, leaving them without a place to live. They were lucky to find a way to buy their first home – but saw firsthand how easy it is, even for working professionals, to fall victim to housing insecurity.
An accomplished, experienced local leader, Giselle was called to public service to help ensure local families and future generations have the same opportunities as she and her husband did.
Before being elected to City Council, Giselle served on the Redwood City Planning Commission and on the Board of the Redwood City Education Foundation. She was also a leader with a national organization, helping secure sick days and parental leave for workers across the country.
Giselle and Brian live in Redwood City with their two daughters, who they are teaching the importance of giving back to their community.