Anne Sterling Dorman, a Consulting Chief Financial Officer for venture capital backed start-up companies in Silicon Valley and beyond, died on July 19, 2025, just three months after the passing of her wife, Annette Tracy. Dorman for many years had suffered from primary progressive aphasia. Before her illness, she was a regular guest at “Betty’s List” events. Both she and her wife, who shared a home in the Castro, were supporters of the San Francisco Bay Times.
A 1974 graduate of Prescott College in Arizona, Dorman went on to serve on Prescott’s Board of Trustees from 1997–2009 and 2017–2021. That latter year, 2021, she received Trustee Emerita status at the college. She and Tracy helped fund remodeling of a central building at the campus that is now called the Anne Sterling Dorman Center.
Dorman established a very successful CPA practice in San Francisco after spending nine years with Arthur Young & Company, where she was a founding member of the firm’s Entrepreneurial Services Group. Prior to Arthur Young, she was a co-founder of three diverse ventures including a nonprofit educational enterprise, a 220-acre farm, and a mobile auto body frame shop.
In the Bay Area, she soon became a sought-after Consulting CFO for companies such as Automatic (the company behind WordPress), Bandcamp, Keep Safe Software, Coraid, Kii, RelayRides, SuVolta, Turo, and others.
WordPress Co-Founder Matt Mullenweg said of Dorman: “I don’t know how we would have made it through the early years of Automatic without Anne. She helped us navigate funding, HR acquisitions, and more as we grew from an idea and a dream to a real company having a real impact on the web.”
She contributed time, energy, and financial support to the LGBTQ+ community and more for decades. In addition to her volunteer service at her alma mater, she served as a board member of the Boojum Institute, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Metropolitan Community Church, and Resourceful Women. Additionally, she was a longtime supporter of Horizons Foundation and provided volunteer consulting to many of the Bay Area’s other nonprofit enterprises.
“One of her lasting gifts is an annual award established at Horizons, which celebrates the recipeint’s extraordinary dedication to the foundation,” said Roger Doughty, Horizons President. “We will be proud to carry on this legacy for many, many years to come.”
With an adventurous spirit and boundless curiosity, she extensively traveled throughout the world, enjoyed all things outdoors, and had a passion for deep canyon whitewater experiences. She is survived by her daughter, acclaimed concert pianist Elizabeth Dorman; Elizabeth’s husband, fellow pianist Michael James Smith; and their family. Elizabeth
has played with multiple symphonies and in music festivals around the globe (https://www.elizabethdorman.com/).
A memorial is being planned by the family for December 6, 2025, at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco.
In Memoriam
Published on September 25, 2025
Recent Comments