Horizons Foundation President Announces Planned Retirement After 23 Years of Service

San Francisco, CA— Horizons Foundation announced today that its president, Roger Doughty, will retire from his position late this year after more than two decades of service. Doughty will continue to lead the organization through November 2026, working closely with Horizons’ Board of Directors to support a thoughtful and seamless leadership transition.

“Working at Horizons has been an extraordinary privilege,” said Doughty. “Horizons’ purpose has always inspired me: to help our community meet needs, win rights, and celebrate LGBTQ lives – both now and for generations to come. I’m immensely grateful to both the donors and funding partners who have made our work possible, and to the scores of incredible LGBTQ nonprofits that Horizons has the honor of supporting.”

During his tenure, Doughty has greatly strengthened Horizons Foundation’s role as a trusted philanthropic partner not only in the San Francisco Bay Area, but also nationally and internationally. Under his leadership, the foundation’s grantmaking has risen to $12 million a year. Horizons’ assets have grown from $2 million to $72 million. Similarly, the foundation’s endowment – dedicated to future support of the community – has increased from less than $1 million to more than $20 million. Doughty also provided leadership in numerous impactful initiatives, including:

• The highly effective national Civil Marriage Collaborative and sector leadership in the fight against California’s Proposition 8
• Give OUT Day, a national day of giving for LGBTQ nonprofits across the country
• The Global Faith and Equality Fund, which has invested millions of dollars in blunting the impact of the export of religiously based homophobia and transphobia throughout the world
• The multi-year Diversity in Philanthropy initiative, among the earliest nationwide efforts to increase diversity in all aspects of the country’s foundation sector
• The National LGBTQ Legacy Giving Initiative, a pioneering effort to realize the movement-funding opportunity for LGBTQ people in legacy (planned) giving

In addition to Horizons’ on-going grantmaking, Doughty led the foundation in creating special, multi-year funding partnerships to improve the lives of LGBTQ elders, LGBTQ people of color, and transgender people of color, and to improve LBTQ health access and LGBTQ arts and culture. He has also become known in the Bay Area and nationally for his advocacy to amplify legacy (planned) giving in the LGBTQ movement. His efforts have led to millions of dollars in future gifts for LGBTQ organizations, as well as more than $150 million in gifts identified for Horizons’ future work for the community.

“Roger is a visionary who has raised the bar for what LGBT philanthropic leadership can achieve,” said Kevin Jennings, CEO of Lambda Legal. “He focused on strategic initiatives like planned giving, which were rarely prioritized by our movement, and brought tens of millions into our movement as a result. He will be sorely missed.”

"Roger has been a guiding light for the LGBTQ movement here in the Bay Area, nationally, and globally,” said Lance Toma, CEO of San Francisco Community Health Center. “His leadership at Horizons is marked by his unwavering commitment to radically inclusive philanthropy, particularly through his intentional investment in queer- and Trans people of color-led organizations. I am deeply grateful for Roger's mentorship over the years and for the profound, enduring impact he has had on my leadership, my organization, and our movement."

“Roger has been an extraordinary leader for Horizons,” said Horizons Board of Directors Co-Chairs Dipti Ghosh and Shilpen Patel. “Over more than two decades, his integrity, strategic vision, and deep commitment to community shaped the foundation into a nationally respected institution while keeping its mission at the center of everything it does. We are profoundly grateful for his stewardship and wish him all the best in his retirement.”

Horizons’ Board of Directors has launched a comprehensive succession planning process. A search committee has been appointed, and the foundation has retained NPAG, an executive search firm that does extensive work in the philanthropic and social justice sectors, to support the search for the foundation’s next president. The board will share additional updates in the weeks to come, and the community foundation remains fully focused on advancing its mission and serving the community.