As I begin my tenure as chair of The San Diego LGBT Community Center’s Board of Directors, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about those who came before me – our Center founders, all those who have given of their time or resources to keep this organization going and all the people we’ve served over more than 36 years. I have particularly had in mind some of those great individuals who have helped lead The Center over the past decade of transformation: former board chairs Jim Zeigler, Jennifer LeSar, Brian Bazinet, Kevin Tilden, Robert Gleason, Richard Valdez, Todd Gloria, Bob Nelson and our amazing chief executive officer, Delores Jacobs. I’ve been fortunate enough to serve with many of them, and I hope that I can live up to the standard of excellence they’ve carried forward.

I have been honored to be a part of this vibrant and vital community organization. Under the leadership of the board and with the creativity and commitment of an amazing staff, led so passionately and ably by Dr. Jacobs, we have done incredible things – sometimes things people previously thought would be impossible. Over the past few years we’ve launched both the Hillcrest Youth Center and the Youth Housing Project, established targeted, community-supported programs like Latino Services, Senior Services and the Women’s Resource Center, and brought Family Matters back home to The Center.

Because The Center’s founders were so visionary, we have a mission that is both necessary and challenging: to serve our community, to fight for our full equality, and to ensure that we always keep in mind the intrinsic link between our health/well-being and our human rights.

Our 36-year record of service does, in many ways, speak for itself through the countless lives made better because they connected to The Center. Our fight for social justice and equality was given added muscle with the development of our Public Policy Department and a separate entity, The Center Advocacy Project.

We’ve accomplished all that and, even in this very difficult economic climate, have continued to run a financially sound organization. We have had to make some tough choices to do that, but are proud that 80 cents of every dollar goes directly to programs and services, and that we’ve been able to maintain a 75 percent donor retention rate. And that, even in this past year when so many have lost their jobs or seen their incomes fall, new donors continue to join in the effort. As a board member, and simply as a member of the community, I am truly grateful for that kind of sustained community support, which is exactly what makes these invaluable programs and services thrive.

I remain inspired and humbled by our founders and all those who have been leaders in our community, but this is also a time to do more than just look back. I’m looking forward to this next year with a great sense of hope, excitement and purpose. This year, Dr. Jacobs and The Center’s board of directors will be engaging the community in a strategic planning process.

This process is vitally important to The Center and our community to help guide us to the places we’d like to reach in the next few years. It is absolutely critical to me – and the rest of The Center leadership – that we gain the input of the full diversity of our community for the planning process to have meaning. The truth is a lot has changed since we moved into this new millennium. It is incumbent upon each of us to thoughtfully and strategically incorporate the enormous changes in our landscape, and to use what we’ve learned over these past few years to make The Center even better.

Consider this your first invitation to join us in this process to help envision how we move The Center, and our community, forward. Our founders never could have foreseen the impact their thoughts and opinions would have nearly 37 years ago. Make this your moment in our history as we work to carry on their vision in the context of this new day.