Santa Cruz Diversity Center has an impending leadership change

Sharon Papo honored by City Council

SANTA CRUZ >> The Santa Cruz Lesbian and Gay Community Center, more commonly known as the Diversity Center to locals, will experience a changing of the guard, as Sharon Papo will step down from her position as executive director after eight years.

“It’s just putting one foot in front of the other and its hard. it’s a big chapter of my life that I’m so grateful for and proud about,” Papo said. “I’m trying to wrap up as strong as I can.”

The Diversity Center accomplished many things under Papo’s direction. One of the biggest accomplishments for the local center, and one of the most recent, was the completion of the Diversity Center’s Capital Campaign in December.

The Capital Campaign allowed the Diversity Center to secure the funding it needed to buy the building it uses at 1117 Soquel Ave. outright. One-third of LGBTQ+ centers across the country could close down over the next several months due to economic instability, according to Papo. However, that is not a concern of the Diversity Center’s anymore.

“By owning our building outright, we doubled our space and also provided economic stability for the Diversity Center,” Papo said. “Because the Diversity Center owns our building and has no debt, we are in a much better place to ensure we are here for the community, and strong today and tomorrow.”

Papo was also instrumental in the training and education of health care and jail workers on the providing a safer environment for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The education wasn’t limited to health care and jail workers, however.

The Diversity Center also helped educate students and community members.

“We provided over 90 trainings and triangle speakers last year alone,” Papo said. “By providing these trainings, the diversity center was instrumental in creating a more welcoming community for LGBTQ+ individuals, whether they set foot in the diversity center or not.”

Papo has seen the outlook around the LGBTQ+ community change a lot of over her tenure at the Diversity Center.

Impacts from Papo and the Diversity Center extend beyond just Santa Cruz County.