The University of San Diego will host two days of group conversations and seminars, in which attendees will receive a comprehensive resource manual and exposure to business resources. The event will take place Friday, Feb. 2, and Saturday, Feb. 3, at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, located at 5998 Alcalá Park.

Board members and key staff from nonprofit organizations are encouraged to attend. Participants may attend one or both days. This event aims to inspire and educate boards of directors of nonprofit organizations to their purpose, function, role and history in leadership. Space is limited.

Robert Ottenhoff, the president of the nonprofit organization GuideStar, will speak on Feb. 3.

To register or for more information, call (619) 260-7442 or log onto www.2007governancematters.kintera.org.

Southern California photographer David Laurito, fresh from the Manchester, U.K. exhibitions, kicks off 2007 by bringing his unique style of photography to the San Diego Leather Community Awards. The event will take place on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 7:00 p.m. at the Arts and Entertainment Center, located at 3026 University Ave.

Laurito is known for his artistic use of lighting to highlight and accentuate the male nude, for inverted and color-accentuated lighting with heightened affects and for neoclassical poses.

As is his custom, a portion of all proceeds from the sales at these exhibitions will benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation, as well as local AIDS service organizations.

Laurito’s photography will be exhibited in the main auditorium as well as the gallery, and he will unveil an edgier side of his work for this show.

For more information about the show, call (619) 260-1731 or e-mail info@laurito.com.

Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego artistic director Gary Holt will lead an eight-week series of beginning-music classes on Wednesday evenings for interested singers. These classes will take place from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m. beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 7, inside the University Christian Church, located at 3900 Cleveland Ave.

Registration is free of charge to anyone who currently sings in any member chorus of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). There will be a $15 registration fee for all others to cover the cost of course materials.

According to Holt, the goal of these classes is to help people be well-rounded musicians. “We’ll teach men and women how to improve their music skills by teaching sight-singing, rhythms and the basic building blocks of how to read music,” he said.

The 70-member Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego reaches thousands of San Diego County residents each year through its series of main stage concerts and outreach performances.

“This will be a great learning opportunity for choral singers, instrumentalists or people who perform in musical theater,” Holt said. “And we’ll teach all of this in a setting that’s both relaxing and fun.”

A member of GALA, the Gay Men’s Chorus receives support for this program from the San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and from the San Diego County Community Enhancement Fund.

Interested singers who want to register for this series should call (619) 57-GMCSD or visit the Gay Men’s Chorus Web site, www.gmcsd.com.

The San Diego Men’s Chorus will present Our Love is Here to Stay, a Valentine-themed cabaret show at The Center, on Friday, Feb. 9, at 6:30 p.m. and again at 8:30 p.m.

Gay comedian Ant will headline the event, which will also feature solo performances by chorus members and a finale by the entire 65-member ensemble.

Ant gained nationwide attention in 2004 as a contestant on NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.” He is the only comedian to appear in three of that show’s four seasons. The same year, he released a comedy album, Follow My Ass.

Proceeds from the show will help pay for the chorus’ 2008 performance at the Quadrennial International Festival of the Gay & Lesbian Association of Choruses in Miami.

The San Diego Men’s Chorus is the region’s oldest and largest GLBT arts organization, and has been entertaining the San Diego community since 1985.

The cabaret-style show will feature a no-host champagne and cocktail bar. There will also be a raffle to benefit the cause. No one under the age of 21 will be admitted.

General admission tickets for the show are $25. Table seating is available for $40 per person or $75 for couples. Tickets are available from chorus members or by e-mailing tickets@sdmc.org.

Lambda Legal will hold its fourth annual “Love Lounge” event in West Hollywood on Sunday, Feb. 11, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

This year’s theme is “You Choose Who You Love.” The party supports the activities of Lambda Legal, a national legal organization serving the GLBT civil rights movement and persons with HIV/AIDS. Organizers boast that this will be a hip, fun event for the GLBT community, all for the sake of advancing GLBT rights.

“Love Lounge” will feature music by DJ Barbeau from Dirty Sanchez, an open bar and a special performance by the Naughty Bodies. The event will be an opportunity for local leaders and professionals to mingle in a club setting and will feature surprise celebrity guests.

“Love Lounge” will take place at The Standard, located at 8300 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood.

For more information, call (213) 382-7600 ext. 229 or log onto www.lambdalegal.org.

In honor of Black History Month, the WorldBeat Cultural Center will present four weeks of celebration of African culture and history.

“Drum Strong” on Thursday, Feb. 1, at 7:00 p.m. will bring together for the first time San Diego Taiko in collaboration Sene Africa in an explosive performance that will fuse traditional Taiko drumming with West African Djembe drumming.

Stogie Kenyatta from Jamaica will present a tribute to Paul Robeson on Saturday, Feb. 3, at 8:00 p.m. Kenyatta will present his one-man play of Robeson’s life.

The 26th annual tribute to the Reggae Legends Festival will take place on Monday, Feb. 19, at 1:00 p.m.

All events will take place at the WorldBeat Cultural Center, located at 2100 Park Blvd. in Balboa Park. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.

For more information, call (619) 230-1190 or log onto www.worldbeatcenter.org.

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) recently received its largest foundation grant ever – $1.75 million from The Annenberg Foundation, and acquisitions will be made throughout 2007.

“The museum and its board of trustees are honored to receive this wonderful grant, and especially pleased that it will be used to add important artworks to our collection,” MCASD president Mary F. Berglund said. “The grant comes to us at a critical moment in our history, as we open our new Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building and David C. Copley Building in downtown San Diego, and expand our service to the public.”

Looking to follow through on a resolution for a healthier you or to make an important change in 2007? The Center offers a diverse range of mental health support through its Health Services location at 2313 El Cajon Blvd.

The organization’s professional team is trained in a wide range of counseling services that include crisis counseling, individual, couple, family and group counseling. Counseling services are also available for those struggling with same-sex relationship violence, adults 50 and older, transgender persons who are in transition and individuals struggling with HIV/AIDS. Spanish-language counseling services are also available.

“We know that it’s so important for our community to have a place to access competent and compassionate mental health services,” said Dr. Carrie Morrison, clinical coordinator of Mental Health Services. “Too often, LGBT people have shied away from accessing these types of services, whether based on past experiences of discrimination in similar settings or even simply thinking that the practitioners wouldn’t understand them. At The

Center, we do.”

The Center provides professional services to those without health insurance and those with an ability to pay a private practitioner. All groups at the Health Services location require a pre-screening interview. The groups vary in fees, many with no fee or donations accepted and others available on a sliding fee scale.

The Center is also offering a number of new groups. The Women’s Cancer Support Group is available for women with any type of cancer. The group meets the first and third Wednesday of each month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at The Center’s Health Services. This is an ongoing group and not a drop-in group.

A new Man to Man discussion group is forming as well. Focusing on men’s issues, the group is led by a licensed psychologist and is a safe and affirming place to share experiences and learn from others. The Man to Man group meets every Monday from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

“Living With…” is an ongoing support and education group for men living with HIV/AIDS. There are currently two separate groups, with meetings on Mondays and Tuesdays from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Each group is led by a licensed psychologist.

Family, Friends and Caregivers of LGBT People with Cancer is a twice-monthly support group for family, partners, friends and caregivers of GLBT people living with cancer or cancer survivors. The group will take place at The Center’s Health Services location on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

In addition, there are special short-term groups on Intimacy in Relationships for HIV-positive men, as well as a group for men newly diagnosed with HIV.

For more information about The Center’s counseling and discussion groups or to set up an initial interview, call intake and referral specialist Michelle Morrison at (619) 260-6380 ext. 105 or log onto www.thecentersd.org.