When the position of executive director of San Francisco Pride suddenly became available in 2022, Suzanne Ford — an award-winning advocate for trans and gender-nonconforming communities — took on the role. That year, she successfully led the org through its first Pride parade and celebration after a two-year pandemic hiatus.
Ford did such an amazing job as the interim director that she was hired permanently to lead SF Pride forward. This move also made her the org’s first transgender executive director.
One of the biggest obstacles SF Pride faced this year was “the financial pullback of corporations in the current political environment,” she says. However, it still raised $2.3 million in sponsorships and donations. Her proudest accomplishment of 2025 was putting on “the most unifying Pride in years in the face of the Trump administration’s treatment of the LGBTQ community.”
“The LGBTQ community must find a way to stand together while maintaining our ability to express our internal differences with each other,” she adds. “We can and must do both!” @suzanne.ford
