A Letter From Our Executive Director, Cheryl Fraenzl
To Our Beloved Community,
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on the old but on building the new. - Socrates
For me, the last 90 days have been a deep dive into the commitment and resiliency of The Diversity Center community and I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the warm welcome and to share my reflections on where I believe we are and where we might go together.
I recently accepted the Executive Director position of The Diversity Center and in my short time with all of you, I can see both the grit and enduring nature of The Center along with the committed community that supports it. The dedication I have seen from all contributors who have decades of history showing up for The Center is profound. My career has been all in medium to large nonprofits, most of whom deliver their mission through volunteers, so I really understand what volunteer dedication means, what it looks like and how it feels.
The thing that stands out the most to me is the deep loyalty and commitment many, many people have to the well-being of The Center, and all who wish to see it thrive once again. The pandemic was not an easy time for most of us, The Center included. The pandemic brought great change to the way we can support the community, volunteers and even the staff. Kudos to the team that brought programming into the virtual space and kept connection going with those that could participate.
I will say frankly that the impact of the past year and a half has brought the center to an important and potentially historical crossroad, not to be ignored or minimized. As employees move on and the workforce undergoes its own transformation, the staff is down to a minimal skeleton crew who will not have the bandwidth to conduct business as usual. The challenges of finding contractors, ordering equipment, and navigating several iterations of COVID best practices has slowed the transformation of the recently purchased building and delayed its opening. The universal exhaustion for all that we as a community are processing in the world has hit home and impacted the bandwidth of even the most effective and energetic volunteers whose efforts are essential to the success and well-being of The Center.
What I know to be true is that The Diversity Center is resilient. “It has seen many moments.” as Bob Correa, the original Executive Director and early community builder shared with me. It is impossible to ignore that this moment is demanding us to take an organizational pause and reexamine ourselves and our direction. We now own our space (with plenty of free parking!)—a resource that can be transformed into so many things.
I believe that we are at the beginning of a necessary shared exploration. What are we supposed to be actioning in this moment? What priorities and values do we most want to focus on? What are the possibilities and innovations we have not thought of for The Center? What do we mean by “diversity” and who do we serve? Where do we find the most relevancy today? How do we more closely align with our allies to better provide support for the most vulnerable of us? How do we build a stronger internal foundation and infrastructure? And last but not least, who needs to be involved in these discussions?
To answer one of these questions, YOU need to be involved in these discussions.
Additionally, those in our community who don’t know about nor find themselves using The Diversity Center need to be involved in these discussions. Leadership, staff, donors, volunteers, community organizations, participants, and allies need to be involved in these discussions. So during this necessary pause, we will work on creating in person, virtual and electronic opportunities to collect your thoughts. Not every need can be met—but what are the common themes? Is there a revolutionary idea of what The Center could offer and how it might evolve? Can we uplift our collective spirits and create a true experience of belonging in community?
The queer community and its allies are immensely generous, heartful and compassionate people. If we build a compelling vision, you will show up in support, I am confident of it. So I hope you will help us build this compelling vision. It will take a moment to get our feet under us but please walk by our side as we transform ourselves. And in the meanwhile, please keep your eyes open for more announcements and invitations to share your thoughts.
One of the first opportunities will be October 30, 2021 3-5pm where we’ll open the doors for you to peek at the remodel of the building as it currently stands. We’ll create an opportunity for thought contributions there as well as at many other times and places.
Thank you once again for being beacons of light representing historical progress and actively holding the vision for future possibility both for The Diversity Center and for the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. I look forward to discovering this next phase of our history, together.
In solidarity,
Cheryl Fraenzl
