Samuel Gallucci
Sam Gallucci is the senior pastor at Embrace! Church in Oxnard, CA. He is also Founder and CEO of The Kingdom Center, which provides emergency shelter and transitional living assistance for at-risk women and children, and Embrace! Ministries, which helps migrant field workers and their families.
Sam’s career began in 1981 when he was hired after college by IBM. The internet was in its infancy, and Sam, seeing the opportunity, changed jobs to become a pioneer and leader in the burgeoning field known as ‘software.’ He was instrumental in helping to develop the field of Customer Relationship Management.
Sam rose to Executive Vice President and General Manager of PeopleSoft CRM, one of the largest makers of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. In 2004 PeopleSoft was acquired by Oracle for $10.3 billion in a deal that helped make Oracle a key player in the Silicon Valley boom that quickly and forever transformed the California economy.
Sam would soon realize that material wealth left him unfulfilled, so he left the business world and began to follow his passion for helping others. In 2006 he became an Associate Pastor at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, CA. In 2007 he became Senior Pastor of The Harbor Missionary Church, and in 2009 he founded The Kingdom Center Ministries.
Through his pastoral work Sam saw how homelessness ruins lives and how government programs often make the problem worse. The creative business executive wanted to bring a revolutionary new approach to the crisis. To this day Sam remains the CEO of The Kingdom Center, continuing to battle homelessness by encouraging, equipping, and empowering Ventura County women and children caught in this struggle. The Kingdom Center organization has provided emergency shelter and transitional living centers for over 1,000 men, women, and their children over the past 12 years.
Sam was determined to address the suffering in other marginalized communities as well. In 2008 he founded Embrace! Ministries, whose mission provides food and other much-needed resources for migrant farm workers and their families.
Sam loves California and is a lifelong resident who has lived across the Golden State. Sam likes to say, “I grew up in the City of Angels, got my career start in San Diego and left my heart in San Francisco.”
A featured speaker in the areas of business, travel and faith, Sam has authored two books. ‘Road Warrior’, published in 2008, teaches how to protect one’s faith, integrity, and relationships when you travel for work. ‘More than Animals’, published in 2021, chronicles his service to those experiencing homelessness.
He has three adult sons, who are all married, and seven grandchildren. Sam lives in Oxnard with his beautiful wife, Toni.
