An immediate past board co-chair of LGBTQ senior services provider Openhouse has stepped down to take on the position of interim executive director of the San Francisco-based agency. The nonprofit is also launching a search to hire a permanent leader following the departure last month of Kathleen Sullivan, Ph.D.
Vinny Eng, who is gay and queer and had served as board co-chair since July 2023, has been named interim executive director. He told the Bay Area Reporter in a November 1 interview that he would not seek the job and would step down when a successor to Sullivan was named.
"I was very clear to the board my role is to be a bridge," said Eng, 42, who expects to be in the role through next summer. "I want to give them time to be intentional and deliberate about how to proceed with identifying the attributes they want in the next executive director."
As the B.A.R. first reported online October 18, Sullivan announced her resignation via a post on the professional networking site LinkedIn. Since then, a number of the agency's executive staff had been overseeing the day-to-day operations and programming.
The agency, with a budget of more than $5 million, has a staff of 44. Eng will be serving part-time as interim executive director. While he would not disclose what his compensation will be, Eng expects to work about 24 hours a week or the equivalent of three days.
He said it would be well less than Sullivan's salary, which was $176,109 according to the agency's 2024 tax filing. Eng has advised the board that it have the new executive director hired before July 1 at the start of the agency's new fiscal year.
"It just naturally makes sense to bring in someone at the beginning of the fiscal year," said Eng. "But, who knows, we may be lucky and we find someone sooner."
Along with his deep ties to Openhouse, Eng has been a longtime member and former board member of the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club. He was named a community grand marshal of the city's Pride parade in 2022.
According to a profile of Eng published that June by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Eng's parents escaped Cambodia's violent Khmer Rouge regime to resettle in the United States. Eng, born and raised in Los Angeles' Echo Park neighborhood, "lived for 13 years in a one bedroom rented apartment with 6 relatives," noted the profile.
Following the 2012 killing of his sister, Jazmyne Ha Eng, while experiencing a mental health crisis by four Los Angeles County sheriff deputies, his family sued the county, which paid the Engs $1.85 million to settle the suit, as the Los Angeles Times reported.
In 2019, Food & Wine magazine named Eng one of its sommeliers of the year. He then pivoted careers, leaving Tartine Manufactory as its wine director and general manager to become an organizer with Compassionate Alternative Response Team and push for community policing reforms at the San Francisco Police Department.
During the COVID pandemic Eng co-founded SF New Deal, which helped deliver a million meals to vulnerable community members while also helping to support local businesses whose revenues had been impacted by the global health crisis. Eng currently serves as an adviser to the California Department of Social Services and UCSF's Tuberculosis Research Action Center.
Eng had been employed as director of policy, advocacy, and community organizing at Safer Together, which presses for a more equitable health care system. He had stepped down from that role in May to become an adviser for Physicians for Human Rights, a global human rights advocacy organization.
Eng told the B.A.R. his role with the non-governmental organization isn't full-time and based on a project that is on hold at the moment. Thus, he has the time to serve as Openhouse's interim executive director.
"My focus is to take care of the community and staff, and make sure there are no disruptions to how the organization operates on a daily basis for the next couple of months," he said.
Former leader to start new business
The agency officially announced Sullivan's departure and Eng's stepping in to lead it in a November 1 news release. In it, Sullivan disclosed that she is now focused on launching a worker owned in-home care business "that will support higher pay and advancement for the worker owners," as well as a master training to assist older adults remain independent in their communities.
"It has been such a wonderful experience serving as the executive director of Openhouse," stated Sullivan. "I am so proud of the work we have done together to expand programming in order to better serve the LGBTQ+ community of people age 50 and older in San Francisco."
Board Co-Chair Mark Buchanan stated the agency was "deeply grateful" for Sullivan's leadership over the past three years.
"Her vision and dedication have shaped an incredible team that will continue driving our mission forward," stated Buchanan. "Kathleen has made a significant impact on advancing care for LGBTQ+ older adults, and we are excited to see her continue making a difference in her future endeavors. We wish her every success as she embarks on her next chapter."
The agency received some criticism for how the news about Sullivan's departure was announced, Eng acknowledged to the B.A.R. He said the board waited until Friday to officially send out a news release on the matter once his being named interim executive director had been finalized.
"I recognize the feedback a lot of ... community stakeholders sent us where we could have done better announcing this transition," said Eng.
Sullivan had been hired to lead Openhouse in the summer of 2021, largely based on her experience with building affordable senior housing in the Pacific Northwest.
Surveys and a needs assessment of San Francisco's older LGBTQ adult population have repeatedly found housing to be a main concern among queer and transgender seniors in the city. Affordable apartments and homes built specifically for that population are severely lacking not only in San Francisco but across the Bay Area region and statewide.
Mercy Housing California, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, worked with Openhouse to provide 119-units of LGBTQ-welcoming affordable senior housing split between the buildings at 55 and 95 Laguna Street. It is part of Openhouse's campus of administrative offices and a community center.
The two agencies were selected by the city to oversee the construction of 187-units of affordable housing aimed at LGBTQ seniors at the corner of Market Street and Duboce Avenue. Mayor London Breed's administration bought the labor union-owned property for $12 million in 2020.
The project has been delayed as Mercy officials try to secure governmental funds to help pay for its construction. As the B.A.R. reported in September, a state agency that funds housing projects for the second year in a row rejected Mercy's application, though it said it welcomed it applying again in 2025.
Mercy officials have said they intend to do so, meaning if they are successful in seeking state funds next year then the earliest ground could be broken on the new 15-story tower of rental apartments a short walk from the Openhouse campus would likely be sometime in 2026.
Asked about the hiccup in securing state funds, Eng said he isn't "the only one confused" about the state agency's decision. He remains hopeful it will be selected next year and has offered his help to Mercy's housing developer team.
"My disappointment is around how can we communicate why this project would mean so much for the LGBTQ-plus community statewide and why it is important to build it so we can continue to be a trailblazer," said Eng.
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