The Los Angeles LGBT Center is pleased to share three outstanding leaders who have been elected to join our Board of Directors: Scott Parra-Matthews, Jocelyn Loren, and Eric Shore.
Our Board serves as the Center’s governing body: setting strategic direction, providing oversight and accountability, ensuring our long‑term fiscal health, and acting as trusted ambassadors for our mission.
Scott Parra-Matthews (he/him)
Scott is a senior executive at Vesta Food Service who began his career there in an entry-level role and rose through the ranks. He and his husband, Jairo, are among the Center’s most generous donors and are especially committed to our Culinary Arts program and Liberation Coffee House.
How did you first get involved with the Center?
I’ve been a donor to the Center for several years, but in 2024 I attended the Center Gala and was incredibly moved by the stories shared during the program. Susan Feniger, a longtime colleague from my professional industry, is on the Board of Directors. As I got to know the people who run the day-to-day operations of the Center and learned more about all the different programs the Center offers, I felt compelled to get more involved with my time, rather than just financially.
Which of our programs or services are you most passionate about, and why?
I’m particularly fond of the Culinary Arts program, as that is an industry that’s near and dear to my heart. I attended the graduation ceremony last year, which was one of the most moving experiences I have ever had. My husband and I were beyond moved listening to the graduates speak and hearing about their lived experiences.
As you join the Board, what impact do you hope to help make in the coming years?
I sincerely hope the nearly four decades of experience I have running a successful business will help me make a meaningful impact at the Center. At the end of the day, the Center is also a business, and it’s important to make efficient and prudent financial decisions so that our fundraising can have as wide of an impact on our community as possible.
Jocelyn Loren (she/her)
Jocelyn is an inclusion operations leader with more than 17 years of experience across nonprofit healthcare, public health policy, and global corporations. She leads Global Inclusion Strategy Operations at Netflix and previously helped build the Center’s Healthcare Quality Improvement program, bringing a systems-level, health equity lens to governance and culture.
How did you first get involved with the Center?
In my very first experience with the Center, I was holding my resume and practicing my best responses for why I wanted to work in Health Services with no prior background in health care. I had just moved to Los Angeles, and I couldn’t believe a place existed where almost everyone was queer. It’s where I found community, confidence, and my love for business and management. The Center is where my career—and my understanding of what it truly meant to belong to something much greater—really began.
Which of our programs or services are you most passionate about, and why?
Health Services will always hold a special place in my heart—HIV care, trans health, mental health, primary care. But what inspires me most are the people who deliver that care—the staff at the Center who commit their professional lives to serving our community. The staff’s compassion and commitment embody what our community is all about, and the work they do continues to change lives across our community every day.
As you join the Board, what impact do you hope to help make in the coming years?
I hope to bring a fierce commitment to protecting the Center’s mission and ensuring it remains strong and sustainable for the future. The Center’s impact extends far beyond direct services; it extends into the lives of everyone who walks through its doors. For me, I found a sense of belonging and possibility. I want to help ensure that future generations can experience that same life-changing impact.
Eric Shore (he/him)
Eric is a Los Angeles–born interior designer and principal of Eric Mitchell Shore Design. A longtime donor and former Board member of 32 years, he helped guide major capital campaigns that created the McDonald/Wright Building, The Village at Ed Gould Plaza, and the Anita May Rosenstein Campus, alongside his husband, Fred Paul.
How did you first get involved with the Center?
I first came into contact with the Center when I was in college, back when headquarters were located on Highland Ave. I had friends volunteering at the Ed Edelman STD Clinic, and knew that the Center was a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people. I started volunteering in the counseling department while in college. My husband Fred and I later became sustaining donors, started attending events, and felt incredible pride and hope in what the Center could provide for the community—including visibility and leadership in the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ equality.
Then AIDS came, and life changed. When I first joined the Board in 1987, the Center was a national leader and provided critically needed help to the sick and dying at a time when the federal government wouldn’t even acknowledge the crisis. Even in the darkest times, the Center never lost focus, continuing to providing an incredible variety of services and programs.
Which of our programs or services are you most passionate about, and why?
I am so proud of all of the services and programs that the Center provides. They are all so intertwined with the specific purpose of saving lives. From Youth Services to Senior Services, the Center offers stability, safety, and community for everyone. Our medical and mental health services are nationally renowned, we are leaders in transgender services and advocacy, and we provide legal services to some of the most vulnerable in our community—the list goes on. There’s truly nothing else like this organization out there for the LGBTQ+ community.
As you join the Board, what impact do you hope to help make in the coming years?
I’ve been involved with the Center for most of my adult life. Returning to the Board of Directors after a six-year break, I am excited to help raise the dollars needed to secure the Center’s future. Being the largest and greatest LGBTQ+ organization in the world also makes us the number one target of the current administration. The Center has always been heavily dependent on government grants, and I look forward to working with our donors to create a way for the Center to remain stable regardless of changing political winds. Our fight for equality and inclusion and acceptance has made great progress, but it will be a long-term struggle like all great civil rights movements.
