Who we are

Click on a heading to learn more about our board, staff, working groups and National Advisory Council.

Yves Averous

Yves Averous is a writer, linguist, translator and project-management professional with an extensive background in journalism, localization and the QA aspects of bringing technology products to market. In 2017, he joined the FinTech company Square in San Francisco as localization project manager following over 10 years working as a language consultant and contractor for a range of Bay Area tech companies including Mindjet, Apple, LinkedIn Sony and E.piphany. From 2000 to 2010, he served on the Board of Directors of the Northern California Translators Association. He has also worked regularly as a French language voice-over artist, and his writings have been published in French Elle, Paris Match, and Tetu, the leading LGBTQ publication in France. As a French activist, he was one of the founding members of ACT UP Paris before moving to San Francisco in the 1990s.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Tali Bray

Tali Bray is head of Technology Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion at Wells Fargo. Previously, she was chief information officer for the Enterprise Technology business unit. She is a recognized leader in driving large-scale, technology-based transformations. Tali has a bachelor’s degree in English from Tufts University and studied classical vocal performance at the New England Conservatory. Tali is currently a Board member for World Institute on Disability. Prior to joining WID’s board, she served as president of the board of directors for the Computer Technologies Program and served on the board of directors for the Randall Museum.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Ben Gilliam (Treasurer)

Ben Gilliam is managing principal and national market leader for Coldwell Banker Commercial. He oversees the corporate real estate portfolio for Realogy Holdings, the parent company of Coldwell Bankers, Sotheby’s and 40 other affiliated real-estate brands. He has served on numerous boards and committees in his 35-year career and was instrumental in getting powerlifting back in the Gay Games for 2022. He holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Colorado and an M.B.A in strategic management from Regis University.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Mason J. (At-Large Member of the Executive Committee)

Mason is a Black and Indigenous San Francisco-born artist, historiographer, media strategist and community organizer. Their focused passions include land use, youth empowerment, LGBTQ senior services, disability justice, intersex rights and gender/sexuality. In addition to previous jobs handing out condoms and hugs as a kid during the AIDS Walk and more recently working with the San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel Center, Transgender Cultural District, and RADAR Productions, Mason takes great pride in their Public Health Nerd, Two-Spirit, Jewish, HIV War Survivor, Nightlifer, Ballroom, Leather, Punk and Soulie identities.

Pronouns: they/them/theirs or he/him/his

Rachel Pokorny

Rachel Pokorny is the studio manager for Hardesty, Dwyer & Co, a bonus second career after two decades of queer community building with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus and Olivia Travel. She also serves on the board of the Queer Chorus of San Francisco (formerly the Lesbian and Gay Chorus of San Francisco). Not the first historian in her family, Rachel knows the power of presenting your own narrative, and is excited to be helping queer history find a greater audience and build personal connections within our family.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Francisco Rosas (Secretary)

Francisco Rosas has worked in art museums for over ten years. He is the creative and content assistant manager at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (encompassing the De Young Museum and the Palace of the Legion of Honor), and is an active leader on the museums’ Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Committee. A Bay Area native, Francisco received his master’s degree in arts administration and policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Emily Rosenberg

Emily has served on multiple non-profit boards in the Bay Area and nationally. She was on the founding board of PAWS San Francisco and most recently served as Chair of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles where she led the board in a three year DEIA initiative and through the lockdown phase of the pandemic. She has a lifelong interest in museums, archives and collecting personal stories to share. Emily is deeply committed to LGBTQ organizations locally, nationally and internationally.  She has a M.A. in Library Science from San Jose State University and is ever curious about people, places and ideas.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Jaime Santos

Jaime is an attorney and partner at Santos Walding LLP, a welcome change after practicing law at big and boutique law firms owned and run by others. Now she can truly say she loves her boss. Jaime grew up in the Bay Area and has been an activist since her move to San Francisco in 1986. She’s helped to raise money and awareness for the LGBTQ+ community ever since. She’s served on the boards of Immigration Equality in New York and the Immune Enhancement Project, formerly in San Francisco.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Finance Director

Daniel Bao

Daniel Bao’s relationship with the GLBT Historical Society began in 1990 as a graduate student doing research in the archives. Since then, he’s taken on many different roles at the society, from Archives Committee volunteer to Board Member to Acting Executive Director. He received his master’s degree in Latin American studies from Stanford University in 1990.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Director, Dr. John P. De Cecco Archives & Special Collections

Kelsi Evans

Kelsi Evans has been working in the field of archives for over 15 years. Prior to her role with the Society, she worked on the AIDS History Project at the University of California, San Francisco Archives and Special Collections and managed archival projects at the Fales Library of New York University, the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, and the Foundation for Landscape Studies. Kelsi holds an M.A. in archives and public history from New York University and an M.A. in history from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is active in professional organizations, including the Society of California Archivists and the Society of American Archivists.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Reference Archivist

Isaac Fellman

Isaac Fellman has worked in archives at the California Historical Society, the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Oregon Health and Science University. He earned his MLS from Emporia State University and his M.A. in English from the University of Oregon. Isaac is also a Lambda Literary Award-winning writer.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Development & Events Coordinator

Sailor Galaviz

Sailor Galaviz is a San Francisco-based genderqueer drag performer, theater artist, filmmaker, and activist, with a background managing several theater companies and arts organizations. Their theatrical work has been produced in collaboration with the queer nightclub Oasis, Ray of Light Theatre, Thrillpeddlers, Circus Center, Peaches Christ Productions, and more. As a filmmaker, Sailor has produced and directed several shorts that have been featured at the Oaklash Film Festival, the SF Trasngender Film Festival, and the Balboa Theater. Sailor also served as the production coordinator on the 2020 feature Shit & Champagne (dir. D'Arcy Drollinger). Their drag persona Piranha Psychotronica produces, along with their partner Franzia Kafka, the drag show Media Meltdown, which can be seen at their residency at the 4 Star and Balboa Theaters and recently a sold-out engagement at SF Sketchfest.

Pronouns: they/them/theirs

Manager of Museum Experience

Leigh Pfeffer

Leigh Pfeffer has held a variety of roles in nonprofits and museums, from program and events coordination to visitor services. Leigh manages the society’s museum operations, public programs and volunteers, and is excited about cultivating relationships with community members who share a passion for our mission. Before joining the GLBT Historical Society, they worked for the Exploratorium and managed a volunteer speakers panel program and operations at the Diversity Center in Santa Cruz. In their spare time, Leigh produces and is co-host of the podcast “History is Gay.”

Pronouns: they/them/theirs

Executive Director

Roberto Ordeñana

Roberto Ordeñana’s career has focused on strengthening local LGBTQ communities at the nexus of equity, economic opportunity, health, well-being and culture for 25 years. In the late 1990s, he worked at STOP AIDS Project, where he developed nationally recognized HIV prevention programs and community organizing projects with Latinx gay, bisexual, and trans youth. Most recently he worked at the San Francisco LGBT Center, where he built direct service, arts and cultural programs and worked to strengthen its organizational capacity and long-term sustainability. At the Center, he served in several leadership positions, including director of community programs, director of development and marketing and most recently as deputy executive director. In addition to his long professional career leading LGBTQ programs and institutions, Roberto has also volunteered his time as part of San Francisco community boards and city commissions, including Bay Area Young Positives, the LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission and the San Francisco Arts Commission, where he served as president from 2019 to 2022.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Director of Development and Communications

Andrew Shaffer

Andrew Shaffer directs the society’s outreach, media and fundraising programs. Prior to joining the society, he led development efforts with multiple local nonprofits including the Immigrant Legal Resource Center and the California Preservation Foundation. He is also trained as a historian, and his academic background includes graduate work at the University of San Francisco and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he helped to build that city’s first permanent LGBTQ archives.

Pronouns: he/him/his

Museum Registrar & Curatorial Specialist

Ramón Silvestre

Ramón Silvestre is an expert in material culture studies. He previously was a Visiting Fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, and has published in many national and international professional journals, including The Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. He holds a Ph.D. in anthropology and a master’s degree in curatorial and museum studies from the University of Arizona, School of Anthropology. He has conducted fieldwork and museum collections acquisitions among the Kalinga and Ifugao tribes in northern Philippines, the Iban in Indonesia and the Dayak in Borneo.

Pronouns: he/him/his