Delores Jacobs has been named this year’s recipient of the Equality Leadership Award for her role during the past five years as The Center’s chief executive officer.

Equality California will honor Jacobs on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the 2006 San Diego Equality Reception, featuring special guests Doug Spearman of “Noah’s Arc” and Marcellas Reynolds of “Big Brother 3.” The reception will take place at the W Hotel in downtown San Diego from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

During Jacobs’ tenure as executive director, The Center has seen a significant expansion of social services to the GLBT community. Boasting a $3.8 million budget and serving more than 2,000 people each week, The Center has risen to the highest of ranks, presiding as the third largest GLBT community center in the nation.

Jacobs insisted, though, that “as much as we do, there’s still tons to be done,” and was emphatic about the workforce behind The Center’s momentous benchmarks, explaining that “while leadership sometimes means stepping up, more often than not leadership takes place outside the spotlight and is never singular or individual.”

Jacobs cited the Youth Housing Project as a tangible manifestation of effective community collaboration and vision. The 23-unit, tangerine-colored edifice situated in downtown San Diego provides affordable housing for GLBTQ and HIV-positive youth ages 18 to 24. Many of these residents have been estranged from their homes and/or have transitioned out of foster care. Others were homeless previous to The Center’s outreach efforts.

The project came to fruition in 2005, with its inception dating back three and a half years. Spearheaded by Jacobs and The Center, as well as Councilmember Toni Atkins, Jennifer LeSar and many others, this groundbreaking facility is one of the first of its kind in the U.S.

Todd Gloria, chair of The Center’s 18-member board, credited her “as the quiet person behind, holding together a diverse group of people over the span of four years to create something really positive for the community.” He is referring to the coalition of public servants, nonprofit organizations and corporate sponsors that en masse helped realize the Youth Housing Project.

Not only has Jacobs made major strides locally, she’s also allowed San Diego’s GLBT community to act as a key player in California politics, according to Geoffrey Kors, executive director of Equality California. “In addition to her leadership as executive director of The Center, she has done a tremendous job working on statewide LGBT equality issues with EQCA in our legislative efforts and as an executive community member of the Equality for All campaign,” Kors said.

Jacobs said The Center’s work to keep the same-sex marriage ban off the ballot this year is a feat for which she is most proud.

The Equality Leadership Award has in past years been reserved exclusively for prominent GLBT elected officials and presidential appointees, and this year’s honoree will be the first non-elected public servant. The 2006 San Diego Equality Reception will automatically initiate Jacobs as a member of an elite group of past awardees, including state Senator Christine Kehoe, state Assemblymembers John Laird and Mark Leno, and Ambassador to Luxembourg James Hormel; all of whom are pioneers of the GLBT civil rights movement, Kors said.

Hormel’s contentious appointment by President Clinton in 1999 during a congressional recess raised national concerns about the implications of installing an openly gay man to an envoy post, immediately placing him on Equality California’s radar. Kehoe and Laird were commended by the advocacy organization for their work in advancing GLBT rights through public policy. And Leno was given the Equality Leadership Award for being the first openly gay man to be elected to the state Legislature.

Jacobs has already set her sights on next year’s agenda items. She plans to lay the foundation in 2007 for the 2008 presidential election, pointing to voter registration as the hallmark of GLBT political clout. “Our ability to realize our dreams, whether they are marriage or equal treatment in the military, depends on our power at the ballot box,” Jacobs asserted. She confessed that there are “political forces ahead of us in our ability to turn out a vote,” but remained steadfast and eager to facilitate outreach on a grassroots level in a strategic get-out-the-vote campaign.