Rebecca Rolfe, the longtime executive director of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, will step down at the end of the year. Rolfe made the announcement Saturday night at the center’s annual Soirée fundraising party at City View at Metreon.
The leadership change comes at a pivotal time for the center. Rolfe has already been alerted to city budget cuts, gay San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman told the Bay Area Reporter.
Her decision was also announced just days prior to Lesbian Visibility Week, which the center will be observing next week with the raising of the lesbian Pride flag on Tuesday and hosting on Friday the opening for a photography exhibit in conjunction with The Curve Foundation.
Rolfe, one of the few lesbian leaders of an LGBTQ nonprofit in the Bay Area, has worked at the center for 22 years, first as deputy director. She assumed the executive director position in August 2007.
In a Zoom video call April 18, ahead of her formal announcement, Rolfe told the B.A.R. that she’s been thinking about her retirement for a while. For the last few years, she’s looked at whether she is the right person at the right time to lead the center and if her skills are aligned with the job.
“I’m proud of what I’ve contributed,” she said. “When I started at the center there was a lot of vision, but it was so early in the development. I’m proud of what we built.”
Rolfe, 63, will stay on through December. The center is expected to name Rolfe’s successor later this year. She said that the board has begun discussing what the center needs in terms of its next leader.
MK Johnson and Travis Mitchell, the center’s board co-chairs, praised Rolfe’s tenure.
“Rebecca’s leadership has shaped every part of the center, from laying the groundwork in its early years to growing the programs and services the community depends on today,” Johnson and Mitchell stated in a news release. “She has united LGBTQ+ people and allies while mentoring and empowering the next generation of leaders. Because of her grounded leadership and steady presence, the center is well-positioned to tackle what’s ahead.”
Under her decades of leadership, the center expanded its programs to meet the evolving needs of LGBTQ+ communities, the release stated. Rolfe spearheaded the development of new offerings, including employment and financial services, housing resources, arts and culture programming, and specialized support for youth and trans communities – several of which were the first of their kind in the nation.
Rolfe said that one of her accomplishments is showing the center is an asset for the community. “I think we’ve built deep roots in the community,” she said. “As I look back, I recall sort of a tapestry or web ... we built to sustain the center into the future.”
In 2016, Rolfe led a major state-of-the-art building remodel that cemented the center’s 1800 Market Street building as a prominent city landmark (one half of the center is housed in the old Fallon Building, which is a city landmark) and expanded its role as a multi-service hub for innovative, community-rooted programming, the release stated. Today, the center serves thousands of LGBTQ+ people each year, providing connection, support, and access to essential resources, according to the release.
That remodel was due in part to major financial challenges the center has faced over the years. It opened March 3, 2002 amid great fanfare. But about a year later, then-executive director Brian Cheu, a gay man, was out and the center’s finances were in peril. The board brought on Rolfe as a consultant as Cheu was exiting, she said. Formally named the Charles M. Holmes Campus of the Center, after the late philanthropist and gay video pioneer, the center has weathered the issues. Thom Lynch, a gay man, was then brought on as executive director. When Lynch departed, Rolfe, his deputy director, took over the center’s leadership.
During the $6.5 million renovation, which started in 2016, the center changed some of its spaces so that they could be rented to other nonprofits, as the B.A.R. reported at the time. A staircase named after the late gay disco star Sylvester was demolished, among other changes. All four of the center's floors were significantly reconfigured, and the amount of office space increased from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet. Today, the San Francisco Community Health Center has a clinic at the center. Other tenants include Bay Area Legal Aid and the San Francisco Office of Transgender Initiatives.
AGUILAS, a Latino HIV/AIDS organization, left its space at the center last fall, Rolfe said. The B.A.R. had reported last summer about its financial struggles and decision to end direct services.
Speculation she might step down arose in 2017 when she was selected by O2 Initiatives for one of its paid three-month sabbaticals for nonprofit leaders. It allows them time to reflect on their careers and future goals, though Rolfe had said she planned to remain at the center and would use her time off to both recharge and strategize how the center could respond to the needs of the LGBTQ community during the first Trump administration.
Mandelman, who once served as co-chair of the center’s board, credited Rolfe with helping turn things around. He said he joined the board around 2011 or 2012.
“At that time, things were rough,” he said in a phone interview April 18, explaining the center had been saddled with a loan.
Rolfe led the process to restructure the loan so that the center had more favorable terms. The center financed the renovation project with New Market Tax Credits as well as a $10 million loan from Capital One, as the B.A.R. reported. The center paid interest on the loan "at an extremely generous rate," said Rolfe, for seven years, and then bought it back for $1,000.
Rolfe said that did happen and the center’s now carrying debt of $3.6 million in the form of a 10-year loan, mostly related to the original construction costs.
“She restructured the finances to create a more rentable space,” Mandelman said. “She put the center on a much more sustainable footing. It’s a great accomplishment.”
The center’s budget this year is $6.5 million, Rolfe said, and it has 46 staff members. It has an additional two staff who oversee the Castro LGBTQ Cultural District, of which the center is the fiscal sponsor. Rolfe’s salary is about $189,000, she said.
Budget news
Mandelman, as he has told other organizations, such as the Castro Merchants Association, said that this year’s city budget “is concerning.” Mayor Daniel Lurie has said that city government will have to address an $818 million budget deficit. Lurie recently indicated that figure could more than double to $2 billion, depending on how much federal funds the Trump administration withholds from the city.
“This week, the mayor issued a directive for more cuts” from city departments, Mandelman said. “It’s not a good moment for the city budget or nonprofits that contract with the city.”
Mandelman said that Rolfe is aware the center will lose a “few hundred thousand” dollars that could affect some programs.
Rolfe said the impact of city budget cuts isn’t completely known.
“But yes, there will be significant cuts,” she said. “We’ve heard from less than half of our city contracts.”
As for which programs may be affected, that has not been determined, said Rolfe.
“We fully commit to ensuring core services continue,” she said.
She defined the center’s core services as its youth program, economic development program, information referral services, and community building and arts and culture.
“They’re so critical when the community is under attack,” Rolfe said of cultural programming. “We certainly need to celebrate the things that make us strong.”
Rolfe said the center’s goal at the Soirée benefit is to raise upward of $380,000.
Challenges
Rolfe was candid about the center’s challenges over the years.
“Obviously, the center really struggled early on,” she said. “Financially, it was like a start-up without the start-up funding.”
But she said that the LGBTQ community has been “amazing” and that the center worked with the diverse community, focusing on listening to people.
“We continue to listen and expand the pool of people here,” she said.
Rolfe had some thoughts on the city budget process as well.
“There are hard choices to make,” she observed, urging city leaders to “pay attention to folks who are most impacted and struggling.”
She said she appreciated the leadership of Mandelman, and the intentions of Lurie and the Board of Supervisors.
“Beyond the budget, this is a really important moment for the community, and we need to meet the moment with vision, heart, and strategy,” Rolfe said. “We cannot rely on a few leaders to move it forward.”
Despite the financial strains over the years, Rolfe said running the center has been fulfilling.
“Leading the center has been the honor of my life. I’m proud of how far we’ve come, and I believe the center is prepared for what’s ahead,” Rolfe stated. “But I know the work doesn’t end with me. This is a moment that calls for courage, solidarity, and collective action. I ask the community to keep showing up for each other, and for the generations of LGBTQ+ people who will continue to walk through our doors seeking connection and belonging.”
Mandelman said that the center helps people at different stages of their lives. It has youth programs, employment programs, and is a place where new arrivals to the city can get information.
“A lot of that has been due to her,” Mandelman added. “I’m proud of her. She deserves to be able to step away now.”
The release pointed out that as LGBTQ rights face growing attacks nationwide, the center “is poised to meet this moment with urgency and compassion.”
“Building on Rebecca’s incredible legacy, the center will continue to prioritize support for LGBTQ+ people most impacted by injustice, while deepening its commitment to equity, connection, and service,” the release stated. “Rooted in San Francisco, a city that has long shaped LGBTQ+ culture and activism, the center carries forward a legacy of community leadership at a critical moment. Looking ahead, it is uniquely positioned to drive change and unite a broad coalition of stakeholders to protect the future of LGBTQ+ people.”
As for Rolfe, she said that next year, she and her partner, Susan Mooney, plan to spend the greater part of 2026 traveling across the country, with their two dogs, in a camper van that Moonie completed as a project during the COVID pandemic.
“I don’t feel done,” Rolfe said. “But I feel a break will be nice.”
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