San Diego Pride is undergoing another leadership shakeup— with less than 90 days until its flagship parade and festival.

The board announced Thursday, May 1 that Executive Director Leanne Marchese resigned. Already, an interim executive director has been brought on board: Kristin Flickinger.

She had leadership roles at other LGBT organizations in California, including the Los Angeles LGBT Center, AIDS/LifeCycle, and the Pacific Pride Foundation. Pride’s announcement also noted Flickinger is the “Principal and Founder of Flickinger Consulting, LLC, specializing in executive support, transition planning, and leadership coaching rooted in joy and sustainability.”

The last time San Diego Pride was without a top leader, in 2023 after the termination of Fernando Lopez, two top staff members became co-executive directors. Sarafina Scapicchio and Jen LaBarbera were well respected in their shared role, with community members at a December 2023 town hall asking if they would stay on as co-leaders after the 2024 Pride Parade and Festival. At the time, they answered that they both wanted to return to their original jobs and would not apply to be executive directors when the search began. Being executive directors was a matter of guiding the organization through a difficult period without Lopez, who had been at the non-profit for 12 years.

However, after Marchese was hired in August 2024, Scapicchio left her position as deputy executive director two months later to become programs director at Stepping Stone. More recently, LaBarbera, director of advocacy and education, was removed from the SD Pride website. No announcement has been made about their abrupt departure.

Meanwhile, the SD Pride board has continued to shrink.

In 2023, the board started at 19 members then shrunk rapidly amid accusations of a toxic environment filled with interpersonal conflict and bias against non-white members. Seven different co-chairs were elected within a few months amid a flurry of resignations.

Board meeting minutes have not been posted regularly on the website, so it is difficult to track the turnover. The website currently lists eight board members, two of whom are People of Color, down from 40% in 2023. There are also no publicly listed transgender or non-binary members, an issue raised in the town hall.

Pride staff numbers have gone down too.

At the December 2023 town hall, the board said there were 22 staff members. Listed today are 15 people including Flickinger, some of whom are part-time staff. At one point, San Diego Pride had one of the largest staffs of any Pride in the world due to its focus on year-round advocacy and programming.

Some of those programs have chosen to separate from San Diego Pride, including the LGBTQIA+ Survivor Task Force and She Fest.

In April, She Fest announced it would become an independent community-run collective after the canceled Pinkwashing Workshop last year conflicted with its values.

Marchese’s departure before guiding the organization through a single parade and festival season shows the simmering chaos behind the scenes of San Diego’s flagship LGBT event may not be over yet.

(Top photo: 2024 San Diego Pride Parade by Drew Sitton)