The Diversity Center

Our Board of Directors

Grace Gallego, President

Grace Gallego was born in San Francisco, raised in the Philippines and, at age 20, returned to the Bay Area to attend The California College of the Arts Environmental Design program. Her professional career was in Technical Education designing training programs, a field where she is regarded as somewhat of a pioneer.

Grace's interest in the Santa Cruz LGBT community began when she moved to Ben Lomond in November of 2003. Accustomed to Bay Area activities and opportunities for community interaction, the Santa Cruz LGBT activities seemed to fall somewhat short for lesbians 40 and over. So, with her knack for organization, in the fall of 2007, Grace founded LezCruz, a social netoworking group for the 40+ lesbian community. LezCruz has already very quickly blossomed to over 300 active members!

Grace is employed at UCSC and enjoys being retired from the high tech world. She shares her home in the mountains with her two Cockapoos; Angus and Abbe, and her cat Bill. She is in a relationship of 20 years. She has a married daughter, a former SC resident, now living in Berkeley and finishing her doctorate studies in psychology.

Derek Wolf, Treasurer                               

Derek Wolf is a long time Santa Cruz County resident.  He attended Cabrillo
College and San Jose State University. For the past 20 years, Derek has held
the position of Controller of a privately held Corporation in the city of
Santa Cruz.  Outside interests include landscaping, pets, tennis and
volleyball. He joined the board of The  Diversity Center after the passage
of Prop 8 because he felt so strongly about gay marriage rights.

 

 

Joe Eugene, Secretary

Joe has lived in Santa Cruz county since enrolling at San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1963. He has lived in Big Basin, Aptos, Santa Cruz and Live Oak. He has a BA in Inter-American Studies, with half of his undergraduate courses taught in Spanish. Travels in Latin America have included Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru, Chile, Argentina and an afternoon in Brazil. Joe is Retired from a 30 year career with the County of Santa Cruz, mostly as a mainframe programmer and systems analyst.

As a gay man, Joe is proud to have been with one partner for 17 years and another for 10 years. Joe has been a Triangle Speaker for about 5 years and a Triangle Speakers board member for 2 years.

Tara Sawyer, Board Member

Tara is an optimistic individual who thinks loving everyone and everything is possible. When she's not volunteering, you can find her trying to fit in more beach time, talking about butterflies or desperately trying to make sense of, and love this big wide world. As a transgendered person with genderqueer sparkles, formerly homeless and sex worker, she struggles to serve these communities. Her favorite snack is raw almonds. 

 

 

 

Adam Spickler, Board Member

My name is Adam Spickler and I have been living, working and very involved in Santa Cruz County for 18 years. I'm politically active and hard working, I volunteer in the community quite a bit, and I enjoy being as social as I can in my down time. I identify as transgender, and have been out in the queer community for 15 years. My identy in the larger community as trans is relatively new, though it is not as new to me personally. But I have been fortunate to recieve a tremendous amount of support in coming out as transgender, and feel honored to be held up so positively by my local community.

I currently work as theSenior Field Representative for Assembly member Bill Monning. My responsibilities include assisting local agencies challenged by state budget or legislative limitations, providing casework management to scores of constituents who experience challenges with a variety of state agencies, acting as a representative on behalf of the Assembly member at events and in regular meetings with various local groups and agencies to convey issues of concern and provide information on state legislative or budgetary topics, and act as the first point of contact for constituents contacting the districtoffice. I have worked for Assembly member Monning in this role for 15months. I also worked for former Assembly member John Laird in this role for 2 years. Previous to my work in politics I was the Executive Director of Simcha Preschool at Temple Beth El for 5 years, and became adept at running a large, local nonprofit.

 

Thadd Liszkowski, Board Member

Thadd was born in Chicago and relocated to Santa Cruz in 1994 to attend UCSC, where he completed his BA in Sociology while working as a computerprofessional.

In 1997 Thadd co-founded Bi-Friendly Santa Cruz, whose contingent in the Santa Cruz Pride Parade made the front page of the Santa Cruz Sentinel that year.

Thadd recently completed his MA in Counseling Psychology at John F. Kennedy University, and is now working as Program Coordinator for LGBT and HIV-impacted mental health services at a nonprofit counseling agency in Monterey County.

 

Jennifer Wildman, Board Member

Jennifer was born in San Antonio, Texas and lived in North Dakota before moving to Carpinteria, California in the third grade. She has lived in the Santa Cruz area for the last 19 years.

Jennifer graduated from California State University Northridge with an M.A. in special education in 1987. As an elementary school teacher and now a principal, she has worked with students of all ages and walks of life. Jennifer is an American Sign Language interpreter, presents educational workshops, and has been a contributing author to educational books, resources, and curriculum.

Jennifer is the mother of two amazing children and has a menagerie of pets, including two cats and a cattle dog. She enjoys singing in a fledgling a cappella group, cooking, belonging to her book group, a good road trip, and anything that has to do with the ocean.

In her elusive spare time, Jennifer makes her voice known politically through "armchair activism": letter-writing, email campaigns, and phone calls to elected officials about important causes. She is a creative party-planner and hopes to bring her skills at making connections, organizing fundraising, and planning social events to The Diversity Center.

 

Dalton Godwin, Board Member

 

 

Jose Ceja, Board Member  

 

 

 

 

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The Diversity Center of Santa Cruz