Kristin Flickinger

An activist at her core, Kristin began her career in the LGBTQ+ arena as an intern for the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force in the ‘90s, and cut her teeth in politics managing a field office during the same-sex marriage campaigns of the 2000s. Never afraid to voice important questions, Kristin’s style of leadership is transparent, bold, and collaborative. As Director of AIDS/LifeCycle, she led a team of high-performing fundraisers toward goals viewed as “impossible” by others, achieving a $1 million (20%) increase in fundraising in her first year. 

Before her current role with Pacific Pride Foundation, Kristin brought her passion for advocacy and inclusion to the C-suite Director of Programs role for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, where she oversaw a portfolio that included 150 staff and a $15 million budget. In that role as a senior leader for the world’s largest LGBT organization, Kristin served as an inclusion champion, overseeing organization-wide efforts to improve services to and employment practices for lesbian and bi women, and cross-departmental collaboration among providers of services to the Trans community. Kristin also played an instrumental role in the creation of an intergenerational culinary arts training program designed to provide LGBTQ+ youth and seniors at risk of homelessness with the skills and opportunity for careers in the culinary arts - including at the Center's flagship social enterprise, Liberation Coffee House.

In her current role as Executive Director of Pacific Pride Foundation, producer of the Pacific Pride Festival in Santa Barbara, CA, Kristin oversees a broad suite of services, including peer support programs, training and education, counseling, and harm reduction, including Narcan and fentanyl test strip distribution, as well as the county's only syringe exchange.