Pronouns: she/her/hers
About:
Leane Marchese is a seasoned non-profit leader with a deep-rooted commitment to the LGBTQ+ community and a passion for social change. A San Diego native, Leane has dedicated her career to fostering community engagement and building strategic partnerships that make a lasting impact. She has served on the San Diego Pride board and as a volunteer and frequently led LGBTQ+ and DEI initiatives throughout her career.
Most recently as the Founding Executive Director of Life Science Cares San Diego, Leane successfully united the Life Science Industry to address poverty and inequity, leading efforts to engage a broad network of volunteers, life science leaders, and non-profit partners. Her extensive experience also includes executive leadership roles at the YMCA of San Diego County and over a decade as the Executive Director of ElderHelp, where she led the effort to secure a collaborative grant for the “Aging as Ourselves” initiative, which supported LGBTQ+ older adults with long term care support.
Most recently, she volunteered at Palm Springs Pride and was thrilled to participate in She Fest for the first time as a volunteer this year. Leane holds a masters’ degree in Community Recreation and Leisure Studies from Clemson University and a bachelor’s degree in Recreation and Tourism from California State University, Chico. She has also completed executive programs in non-profit management from Harvard Business School and holds a CFRE in fundraising. Her leadership is marked by her ability to launch, grow, and scale programs that impact the community while cultivating an inclusive and collaborative organizational culture and streamlined business operations.
San Diego Pride raises funds primarily through festival ticket and beverage sales, and through sponsorships, and exhibitor fees. These funds support San Diego Pride’s community philanthropy which has distributed more than $2.5 million in advancement of its mission to foster pride, equality, and respect for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities locally, nationally, and globally.
