Ryan Newcomb arrives as the new leader of the Utah Pride Center as the nonprofit LGBTQ+ organization is trying to pay off what he called “hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt” — accrued, he said, in staging this year’s Utah Pride Festival — and recovering from layoffs of nearly the entire staff.
At a news conference Wednesday, Newcomb said his “top priority … is to be as transparent as possible, restore trust and build an inclusive center that our queer community deserves.”
After that news conference, Newcomb — who grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, in the heart of the “Bible belt” — talked with The Salt Lake Tribune about rebuilding the community’s trust, his vow of financial transparency and his plans for the center.
Many might see this job as a challenge, considering what has happened at the Utah Pride Center in the past three months, let alone the past three years. How do you feel about that?
“I like a challenge. I was upset about what was happening and I wanted to correct it. I do think it’s a challenge, but I wouldn’t have taken it if I didn’t think it was fixable.”
What do you think will be your biggest challenge?
“Our biggest challenge is rebuilding trust and relationships with people where they’ve been broken. … I also think that we have a heavy lift financially, but that it’s completely doable at the same time.”
Critics in the community have used the word “transparency,” and so did you in your first news conference. How will you put that transparency to work?
“At least a quarterly newsletter, that gives some more context to things being done, provides updates on changes being made. We haven’t done an annual report in the past that gives a full overview — and we’ll probably do a Pride [Festival] annual report as well … to show where revenue went. …
“Money made [on the festival] is being reinvested into the programming of the community. We also, in this process, will release anything that we can that is final, when it comes to audits and things like that. …
”We’re talking about creating a more open dialogue and a free flow of information — that to me is also just the basics of nonprofit leadership. … It’s how you have trust in the first place.”
Will there be third-party audits?
“We will continue to have audits as we normally have.”
Have some vendors from Pride 2023 not been paid?
“That is correct. That would be some of the debt that we’re working through.”
There were previous statements that the center put out [on Instagram], where people were commenting about their concerns or what they wanted to see. But now those comments are gone or people are not able to make them. Will that change? Do you know why that decision was made?
“That will eventually change. … If people want to comment, constructively, it’s one thing. If people want to comment to tear down members of their own community that are trying to provide programming for other queer people — I think that we might limit some of that.”
How would you define constructive criticism versus something that’s not constructive?
“[It’s not constructive] if someone wants to say, “Are you bringing the [police] to Pride?”, instead of suggesting an alternative path forward. … What is the solution when we’re required by law to have some type of police presence there for crowd control, or for safety if there’s an attack like in Orlando, at Pulse [nightclub]? …
“There’s been so much hate directed at the community, and the solutions that I’ve heard potentially brought up by other groups are to have armed groups of gay people who aren’t trained. At least it’s something, to be fair. So we could have a discussion around something like that.”
Another common criticism from the community is there are too many corporations at Pride.
“It’s a problem that corporations, in many cases, want to just appear to be allies for the month. … The engagement that I’ve gotten from quite a few sponsorships so far is that they want to be bigger supporters for a longer term, and establish more partnerships that are lasting where they can get their employees involved in volunteering at the center, … outside of [the festival] and outside of Pride Month.”
What role is the board going to play? Will they be keeping track of the finances?
“We have a CPA and a banker on the board. Our board chair [Jessica Couser] is a JD attorney with a 25-person law firm … [who] is well aware of what it takes to run an organizational budget. I’m really impressed with the people on the board, and their desire and ability to help provide fiduciary responsibility, and probably add some extra added measures because of what was allowed to happen. …
“None of [the board members] are straight. Three out of the eight are women. We have lesbian, bi, gay and trans representation on the board. Our vice chair is a trans woman of color. … We need to do better with creating room for more diversity.”
What is your relationship with the B.W. Bastian Foundation? Did they play any part in you wanting to apply for the job?
“I have a relationship with tons of funders that I’ve worked with. … I’ve known Michael Marriott, [the Bastian Foundation’s executive director,] for 15 years socially. … When the board told him I was taking this, he said, “I know nothing about Ryan professionally.” … They didn’t play any role in the hiring.”
How will you address concerns from the community about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)?
“[With the roundtables,] I really want to start to reach out to some of these groups one-on-one directly, to listen to them and to hear them, first of all, but also to let them know who I am, and that I’m here. … We [aim] to establish smart, measurable goals that will implement DEI across the organization, and the board, and in future staffing that we do.”
Have there been any mental health programs happening at the Pride Center in the past year?
“Yes. We’ve had suicide-prevention-type programs happening, and that had resources with tabling. … Direct services have been pretty limited, period. Some of that was around certification and liability. … It’s part of the reason we’re not going to continue forward with it at this time. We also believe other organizations are doing it really well. That’s why we want to elevate them.”
What is the purpose, in your opinion, of the Utah Pride Center?
“Really, [it’s] to empower, celebrate and unify the LGBTQIA+ community in Utah and greater Salt Lake. …
“We envision a thriving community where people are affirmed, loved and accepted for who they are, and enabling programs that do that. Mostly our program going forward is Pride [the parade and festival], and from that we’ll be able to rebuild some of the programming. We do have a grant coming in… to ensure that we can have us on trans programming next year, at a limited basis. … And if we’re not doing the programming, we’re providing the resources to people that need them to get to the program that they do need.”
What inspired you to seek this job?
“One of the things that really got me was [the idea] that the Pride Festival might not happen. … As someone who went to Pride 12 or 13 years ago for the first time on my own, it was such a seminal moment in my life and in my coming-out process — to realize that there are so many people out there that love and support and affirm me in my existence as a gay person or an LGBT person. … You say, ‘These are my people. They love me. They are like me.’ …
“I don’t know if it saved my life, but I think that it was so validating and so consequential and I can’t ever put it into words how that made me feel as a human being. … That has to happen still, and this is the organization with the capacity and the ability to carry it forward. We owe that to people.”
Editor’s note • This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
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