Gay PA man to lead Spahr Center in Marin
After an impressive career in building community and services for LGBTQ Pennsylvanians in Allentown, Adrian Shanker has set his sights on California, specifically, the Bay Area.
Shanker, a gay man and New York native, is the new executive director of the Spahr Center, Marin County's "nonprofit community agency devoted to serving, supporting, and empowering Marin's LGBTQ+ community and everyone in the county living with and affected by HIV," according to its website.
The center serves 600 clients per year. He will start work April 1, replacing the retiring Dana Van Gorder, a gay man who has held the post since 2019. "As a passionate advocate for the health and wellness of LGBTQ+ and HIV communities, I am deeply motivated and beyond excited to join the team at the Spahr Center as its next executive director," Shanker, 34, stated in a news release. "The Spahr Center has a strong history of providing essential services for Marin County's LGBTQ+ and HIV communities, and I'm thrilled to become part of its next chapter." Denny David, the Spahr Center board president, stated that Shanker has the experience the organization was looking for.
It began a search for its next executive director last year, after Van Gorder announced he would be stepping down. Van Gorder previously led Project Inform until 2018 and, prior to that, held a leadership role at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
