Openhouse hires transgender leader as new executive director

An LGBTQ senior services nonprofit in San Francisco has hired a former board member to be its first transgender male executive director. Morey Riordan will begin in his position with Openhouse next month.

Interim Executive Director Vinny Eng will remain on staff for a “short” transition period once Riordan starts September 16. Eng, who had been a co-chair of Openhouse’s board, took over leading the agency on a temporary basis last November following the departure of former executive director Kathleen Sullivan, Ph.D., in October last year.

“I think the organization is poised to write a significant new chapter with Morey at the helm,” Eng, who is gay and queer, told the Bay Area Reporter in a brief phone interview Monday shortly after the hiring of Riordan had been announced. “I am delighted and excited to welcome Morey back home.”

Eng served with Riordan for several months on the board of directors in 2022 after joining it in July that year. Riordan spent six years on the Openhouse board from 2017 to 2022 and was one of more than 250 candidates vetted by the search firm hired to help with the search process for the executive position.

“As a 63-year-old transgender man, I think a lot about what kinds of support are available to me and my community as we age,” stated Riordan in the news release announcing his hiring. “I've wondered where I will be safe, cared for with my unique needs in mind, and treated with dignity and respect as I age. When I first came into the Openhouse community I began to breathe easier – I could see the path forward. This is the kind of support that every LGBTQ+ older adult deserves.”

Speaking to the B.A.R. by phone August 4, Riordan said his hiring “definitely does” feel like a homecoming of sorts. His first involvement with Openhouse was attending its annual Spring Fling fundraisers, which led to his eventual joining its board.

“I felt drawn to this work and this particular organization, having know it so well and known it is really exceptional in terms of a sense of community and really holding up our older adults in our community,” said Riordan, who grew up in Aptos, an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz County. “It felt like a great fit.”

Riordan, who also identifies as queer, lives in Berkeley with his wife, Liz Pearlman. Married seven years and together for a decade, the couple has a 22-year-old trans femme daughter, Cyan, and a 17-year-old cisgender son, Giona.

Openhouse’s hiring of Riordan comes as the trans community has come under fierce attack by the Trump administration and Republican-controlled statehouses across the U.S. Riordan told the B.A.R. he wants to serve as a role model to trans and gender-nonconforming youth in particular that no matter your gender identity you can find success and potentially one day lead a high-profile service provider like himself.

“I think this is a time when trans voices are really important to be heard weighing in on issues directly impacting our rights and our wellbeing and health. I plan to be really clear about that and I know that is important to Openhouse,” said Riordan. “Obviously, a lot of time the trans community feels like the bullseye on the dart board. Frankly, the LGBTQ community more broadly has been under some attack; I am not sure that is going to change anytime soon. I bring that broader lens, as well, because we are in this together.”

He has been serving as a board member for the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, formerly known as the National Center for Lesbian Rights until changing its name earlier this year. According to his board bio, Riordan currently serves as the CEO of Mind Share Partners, an organization dedicated to changing the culture of workplace mental health.

He is the founding director of the Transgender Strategy Center, which provides capacity building and grantmaking to trans and gender-nonconforming communities throughout the U.S. At the Oakland School for the Arts, Riordan co-chaired the PTA. In 2021, he served as the lifetime achievement grand marshal for the San Francisco LGBTQ Pride parade.

For six years in the 2010s Riordan was vice president of access and innovation for AIDS United, a national HIV advocacy organization. In 1998, he was hired as the executive director of The Sperm Bank of California, a feminist founded nonprofit assisting LGBTQ+ families and individuals with family building. 

He graduated Chico State with a B.A. in social work in 1984. Three years later, Riordan earned his Master of Social Work from CSU-Sacramento.

According to his board bio, Riordan currently serves as the CEO of Mind Share Partners, an organization dedicated to changing the culture of workplace mental health. He is the founding director of the Transgender Strategy Center, which provides capacity building and grantmaking to trans and gender-nonconforming communities throughout the U.S.

At the Oakland School for the Arts, Riordan co-chaired the PTA. In 2021, he served as the lifetime achievement grand marshal for the San Francisco LGBTQ Pride parade.

For six years in the 2010s Riordan was vice president of access and innovation for AIDS United, a national HIV advocacy organization. He has a Master of Social Work from California State University, Sacramento and in 1998 had been hired as the executive director of The Sperm Bank of California, a feminist founded nonprofit assisting LGBTQ+ families and individuals with family building. 

“I am thrilled to be joining Openhouse,” Riordan stated. “In these uncertain times, I look forward to providing steady and trusted leadership while helping the organization meet this moment strategically. With an eye on sustainability, I am focused on strengthening the collective voice of LGBTQ+ older adults on issues that directly impact their health and well-being.” 

Openhouse board Co-Chairs Shireen McSpadden and Mark Buchanan called Riordan “truly the right leader to meet this moment for our community. His lived experience and passionate leadership on the local and national levels will be invaluable as we continue providing the best direct programs and services for our growing LGBTQ+ older adult community.”

 
McSpadden, a bisexual woman, is executive director of the city’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. Buchanan, a former longtime employee at tech giant Apple, is the founder and an executive coach of his firm Buchanan Advisory that he launched in late 2022.

Openhouse co-founder Marcy Adelman, Ph.D., noted that “Morey brings to Openhouse his broad leadership in the nonprofit sector, and his genuine concern for LGBTQ+ elders and our aging community. I look forward to the new leadership he will provide. Congratulations to Morey and the Openhouse Board, staff and community.” 

The agency provides direct services to the city’s rapidly aging LGBTQ community at its campus on Laguna Street just off Market Street in the city’s LGBTQ Castro district. Between 55 and 95 Laguna Street Openhouse has its administrative offices and a community center bookended by two buildings of affordable housing affirming to LGBTQ seniors totaling 119 units.

Built in partnership with nonprofit affordable housing developer Mercy Housing California, Openhouse is working again with Mercy officials to construct 187-units of affordable housing aimed at LGBTQ seniors at the corner of Market Street and Duboce Avenue. Former mayor London Breed's administration bought the labor union-owned property for $12 million in 2020.

It has been delayed as Mercy officials try to secure governmental funds to help pay for its construction. As the B.A.R. reported last September, a state agency that funds housing projects for the second year in a row rejected Mercy's application, though it said it welcomed it applying again in 2025.

The two organizations did submit a reworked application, said Eng, which is now being scored among ones from other applicants by the California Strategic Growth Council. A decision on those to be funded is expected in December, Eng told the B.A.R.

“We believe we submitted a very strong application for this cycle,” said Eng, who lives not that far away from the site in the Castro.

Eng told the B.A.R. he isn’t sure when his last day with Openhouse will be but will not be staying on long-term in a paid role or be returning to its board. He expects he will take some time off before deciding on his next move.

“I think it is appropriate, and the best thing to do, to give Morey and the organization some space,” said Eng. “I will continue to be a part of the community. This mission is so important to me.”

As for Riordan, Eng said he is a “beloved” figure in the local LGBTQ community whom he expects will make quite a mark in his new leadership role.

“I think he is going to have a profoundly special impact on our community,” said Eng. “I know a lot of people are really excited that Morey will be taking the helm.”

Riordan’s salary will be $225,000. Openhouse’s 2023 IRS Form 990 showed that Sullivan earned $183,980 in compensation plus $25,405 in other compensation. Openhouse’s budget is about $5.7 million, according to the 990 and its 2024 annual report.

Riordan told the B.A.R. that he “is thrilled” to work with Eng again. Riordan praised Eng for doing “an exceptional job” in a role that is not easy to do on an interim basis.

“I think he has done really well in keeping in touch with Openhouse’s stakeholder community and being transparent with staff,” said Riordan. “I feel very lucky to be tag-teaming with him.”

His plan is to hear from various perspectives and community members once he starts in the role next month.

“I am going to be on a listening tour, if you will, and looking forward to people reaching out who want to connect with me,” said Riordan.

Updated, 8/4/25: Openhouse's annual budget figure has been corrected. The article has also been updated with comments from Morey Riordan.