About Sia’s Involvement in her Community
Sia Glafkides
Real Estate Advisor and Community Servant
Peninsula native Sia Glafkides, the daughter of a prominent local physician, Sia strives every day to uphold the same standards of excellence that have become a family tradition. For Sia, the drive to excel—in her work, her life and her community—is more than just a personal calling. It’s a family legacy Sia strives to exemplify - living daily the lessons she learned from her father.
With her life-long love of the Peninsula and strong personal and professional heritage here, the most rewarding ways in which Sia lives her father’s legacy is in her community service. “One of the greatest lessons I learned from him,” she says, “is to have dreams and work hard to make them happen”.
Sia’s father was a very graceful man caring deeply for people, and treating everyone equally, with the same level of dignity and respect. The wisdom and high standards of behavior he offered and exemplified have proved substantive and lasting for this talented professional—in fact, they’ve become Sia Glafkides’ personal heritage, one that she’s carried on in her life and work.
After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Psychology, Sia entered the world of real estate in 1977. A successful Real Estate Advisor, Sia’s real estate expertise spans residential home sales, land sales and acquisitions, commercial office building development, leasing, project management and property management.
Early in Sia’s career, one of her biggest accomplishments was partnering with her father to construct a new medical building that became one of the largest Medical Centers on the Peninsula. She was personally responsible for developing and managing San Bruno Professional-Medical Center, quickly making it one of the most successful medical complexes in San Mateo County.
A commitment to lifelong community service has been a calling for Sia. She has served on the Board of Directors for quite a few foundations including 5 years on the Board of Directors for the Family Service Agency in San Francisco with a primary focus on fundraising.
What Sia treasures most is the opportunity to carry on her father’s legacy in the medical community. In 2000 Sia was a founding member of the Women’s Health Council for Mills-Peninsula Hospital. She served on the Board of Directors to build The Women’s Breast Center and helped facilitate raising $1 Million for the first digital mammography machine to be installed in San Mateo County. For three years, Sia co-chaired the Annual Luncheon Gala that began with 120 guests and has now grown to 1,000 patrons.
Sia continued her fundraising efforts with SolMateo (formerly Community Service League), a nonprofit organization of dedicated volunteers committed to "shining light on mental health" in our community. Sia served on the Board of Directors for 8 years and was a Chairperson of two annual fundraising events, The Holiday Luncheon (selling out every year) and the Signature Kitchen Tour – chairing the Tour Book through sponsorship and advertising.
Her participation as a member of San Bruno’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee for the U.S. Navy Site led to a community planning process that was developed and adopted by the City Council in January 2001. This site included detailed development standards and design guidelines for the former U.S. Navy Site, now referred to as The Crossing, a 20-acre mixed-use master planned development, which is a landmark project that has received national attention for both its transit-oriented development characteristics and its potential to redefine the City of San Bruno. The project involved demolition of a former U.S. Naval administrative facility and installation of roads, utilities, open space, and a playground. The Crossing development includes a total of 1,063 multifamily rental units in five buildings, including 228 affordable senior units and 97 other affordable units, a recreation center and commercial building.
Sia sets exceptionally high standards for her work with her clients that she saw her father demonstrate daily in his devotion to his patients. “My father had a saying,” she explains. “Be available, work hard, and success will follow.” Sia considers the first of these qualities to be the most important of all. She’s diligent in her communication and follow-up throughout the process, keeping her clients apprised of every development and remaining accessible to address any concerns that may arise. Sia is equally driven to excel in the quality of service and support she provides her clients, working hard to ensure that every last detail of their transaction is covered.
You can expect honesty, integrity, service, excellence and commitment working with me. My greatest treasures are family values, traditions and community and being able to share these with my community.
Best,
Sia Glafkides
