Leader of SF LGBTQ senior services agency departs

  • by Matthew S. Bajko, Assistant Editor
  • Friday October 18, 2024
Share this Post:
Kathleen Sullivan, Ph.D., has announced her departure as executive director of Openhouse, the LGBTQ senior agency in San Francisco. Photo: Courtesy Openhouse
Kathleen Sullivan, Ph.D., has announced her departure as executive director of Openhouse, the LGBTQ senior agency in San Francisco. Photo: Courtesy Openhouse

The leader of a San Francisco nonprofit that provides services to LGBTQ seniors has resigned after little more than three years in the job. The news comes as the agency's affordable housing development partner has been unable to secure the financing it needs to construct a new tower of apartments aimed at queer and trans older adults.

When Openhouse announced the hiring of Kathleen Sullivan, Ph.D., as its new executive director, it had highlighted her work in affordable housing, as the Bay Area Reporter reported in June 2021. Sullivan had relocated from Portland, Oregon with her wife in order to start in the position that July.

During her tenure, Sullivan helped oversee the opening of Openhouse's community center that had been delayed by construction issues. It is part of the agency's campus on Laguna Street that includes its offices bookended by two buildings of LGBTQ-affirming affordable apartments for seniors.

Working with Mercy Housing California, which it had partnered with on the construction of the housing, Openhouse under Sullivan's leadership had again worked with the nonprofit developer to be selected by the city to construct a third building with 187-units of affordable housing aimed at LGBTQ seniors at the corner of Market Street and Duboce Avenue.

A short walk away from Openhouse's Laguna campus, the site had been purchased from a local union by Mayor London Breed's administration for the purposes of seeing more housing geared for LGBTQ seniors be built. It has been working with Openhouse and Mercy Housing on the project since acquiring the triangular 7,840 square foot lot in 2020 for $12 million.

State funding denied

As the B.A.R. reported in September, Mercy has been unable to secure the funding it needs to help finance construction of the new 15-story residential building. A state agency has denied its funding requests for two years in a row, with Mercy officials planning to reapply in 2025 and hoping their third time will be successful.

The project is estimated to cost $117,673,842. Sullivan had hoped ground would have been broken last year, as she had told the B.A.R. shortly after being hired.

Now a new Openhouse leader will help preside over any groundbreaking ceremony that is held. Sullivan announced her departure via a post on LinkedIn October 16.

"I am so grateful to have led Openhouse for the past three years. I am proud of what we accomplished in a short time — from starting mental health services, partnering with Mercy Housing on a new iconic building that centers the LGBTQ community, doubling the staff, partnering with the state on the first every study of aging of our community and leaving the organization in an exceptional financial position," wrote Sullivan. "I am transitioning to work I love, working with people age 50 and older on health, wellness and building physical strength to promote independence and aging in place."

She did not disclose what her next job or role will be. Sullivan merely teased, "More to come!"

As of last week, Openhouse hadn't disclosed who is leading the agency for now. It hadn't posted anything about the leadership transition on its website or social media accounts.

But it already had deleted Sullivan's name and image from its staff page on its website. In response to an inquiry by the B.A.R. Monday, October 21, about the leadership transition at the agency, board co-chairs Vinny Eng and Mark Buchanan said they would have more details about the search to hire a new executive director later this month.

For the time being, they said the duties of an interim executive director are being shared by Openhouse's Deputy Director Dani Soto, Director of Finance and Operations Matthew Cimino, Director of Development Andrew Shaffer, and Program Directors Sylvia Vargas, Carrie Schell, and Carla Peña.

"We are deeply grateful for Kathleen's contributions to Openhouse over the last three years. Her vision and dedication have shaped an incredible team that will continue leading our mission forward," wrote Eng in an emailed reply on behalf of the board co-chairs, adding that, "Mark, the Board, and I are very fortunate to support this leadership team at Openhouse during this transition period."

Responding to Sullivan's announcement via LinkedIn, Openhouse co-founder Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., praised her for her tenure heading up the nonprofit.

"Thank you for three amazing years of expansion! Much gratitude for you and all your good work. The very best to you in your next adventure," wrote Adelman, a lesbian who is an LGBTQIA aging consultant and policy adviser.

Susan DeMarois, director of the California Department of Aging, also praised Sullivan, who had approached the state agency about conducting a survey into the needs of the Golden State's LGBTQ seniors. Completed in the spring, the first results of the survey are expected to be released sometime later this year.

"Kathleen, you've made an indelible impact! I've thoroughly enjoyed working alongside you. Lead on," DeMarois wrote on the business-focused social media site.

In the mid-1990s Sullivan spent a summer living in San Francisco's Hayes Valley neighborhood while working for an environmental group overseeing its offices in the Bay Area, Hawaii, and Utah. Born in New Jersey and raised in Connecticut, she had relocated from Ohio to the West Coast after being transferred by her employer to its Seattle office in 1991.

By the end of the decade, she decided to pivot her focus toward political causes. In 2000, she managed the campaign that defeated Oregon's Measure 9, which would have prohibited the state's public schools from "encouraging, promoting, sanctioning or instructing on homosexual or bisexual behaviors."

Following the Measure 9 campaign, the abortion rights group NARAL hired her as its executive director in Oregon, where she stayed for several years. In 2004, Sullivan decided to enroll at Portland State University, where in 2011 she earned a doctor of philosophy in urban studies and planning. Working with the school's Institute of Aging, Sullivan had studied LGBTQ senior housing developments across the West, with sites in Oakland; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Los Angeles.

Upon graduating Sullivan landed a job with the Los Angeles LGBT Center as director of its senior services department. During her tenure the nonprofit merged with Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing, which built the 104-unit Triangle Square LGBT senior housing project in Hollywood. When it opened in 2007 it was the nation's first affordable housing development of private, individual apartments for LGBT elders.

After departing the Southern California agency at the end of 2015, the following year Sullivan spent much of 2016 as executive director of Generations with Pride, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing for LGBTQ adults in Seattle. She then worked as a consultant for several years until being hired as a regional director of EngAGE in Portland. The agency partners with developers of affordable housing communities for all ages and has helped bring thousands of new units of intergenerational affordable housing to the Portland metro area and rural Oregon.

Sullivan had stepped down from that position when hired to lead Openhouse.

UPDATED 10/21/24 with a response from Openhouse's board co-chairs on the leadership transition at the agency.

Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.

Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.

Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!