With co-producer Olga Talamante, the San Francisco Bay Times will present the inaugural Honoring LGBTQ+ Bay Area Latine Leaders on October 24, 2025, from 6 pm–8:30 pm in the Mission District. Talamante will co-emcee the event with Rev. Miguel Bustos. Both are legendary leaders in their own right whose LGBTQ+ activism has made a significant positive impact, not only here in the San Francisco Bay Area, but also internationally.
Olga Talamante
Olga Talamante recently completed her position as Interim President and CEO of the Greenlining Institute, where she served for the last eight months. She will now continue to serve on the institute’s board. She is additionally the Executive Director Emerita of the Chicana Latina Foundation (CLF).
She became the first Executive Director of CLF in January 2003, serving in that position until March of 2018. CLF’s mission is the Empowerment of Chicanas/Latinas through their personal, educational, and professional advancement. In her position, she oversaw the granting of thousands of dollars to Latina college students and founded the organization’s pioneering Leadership Institute that has graduated over 700 Latina social justice leaders.
Prior to those fifteen years with CLF, she held various positions, including Regional Vice President, from 1986–2002, at INROADS, a career and leadership organization for students of color.
Talamante’s family migrated from Mexico to Gilroy, California, in the early 1960s where they worked in the farm fields for several years. Those formative years formed the basis for her activism as an organizer and supporter of the nascent United Farm Workers labor union.
She is widely respected for her community activism and leadership. During the mid-seventies, she became well known for her experience as a political prisoner in Argentina. As a result of a successful grassroots campaign, she was released after spending 16 months in prison. Since her return to the United States, she has remained active in the Chicano, Latin American Solidarity, LGBTQ, and progressive political movements.
Some of her awards include the Cesar Chavez Legacy Award, the San Francisco Latino Heritage Award, the GLBT Historical Society Award, the Horizons Foundation Visionary Award, and the Commonwealth Club Distinguished Citizen Award. She served as co-chair of the Horizons Foundation Board, the National Center for Lesbian Rights Board, and, in addition to now serving on the board of the Greenlining Institute, currently serves on the boards of El Concilio of San Mateo County and the CLF, and is co-chair of Caravan for the Children, which advocates for the reunification and healing of children who are separated from their families at the border. She holds a B.A. from the University of California Santa Cruz, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of San Francisco.
Rev. Miguel Bustos
Rev. Miguel Bustos was installed as Archdeacon of the Diocese of California on Sunday, September 29, 2024, at Grace Cathedral. Earlier that month, he began his role as Director of the School for Deacons. He also serves as Cathedral Deacon at Grace Cathedral and Manager for Racial Justice and Reconciliation for The Episcopal Church.
Bustos is one of the diocese’s two archdeacons, along with the Ven. Cn. Nina Pickerrell. The archdeacons coordinate the work of the diocese’s deacons, help active and retired deacons stay connected, and serve as chaplains for the Bishop of California.
As Director of the School for Deacons, Bustos works closely with the Ven. Hailey McKeefry, Director of Deacons Formation at Bexley Seabury.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Bustos was an appointed official to local and national elected officials. He served as Policy Advisor for former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore at the White House, as Deputy District Director for former Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Director of Boards and Commissions for former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for former Oakland Mayor Ronald Dellums.
His nonprofit and philanthropic career highlights include serving as Executive Director of the California Latino Civil Rights Network, and serving as Program Officer for the Marguerite Casey Foundation (MCF). As a member of the MCF team, he held responsibilities that included researching and evaluating potential grantees, working with Latino, Native American, Asian, African-American, and LGBT communities and organizations, and analyzing and educating grantees on public policy. His regions included California, the Southwest, U.S./Mexico Border, and Native American reservations and communities. He also worked as Community Relations Advisor at the California Community Technology Foundation of California (later renamed ZeroDivide).
He served as Senior Vice President, Community Relations and Outreach Regional Director at Wells Fargo in San Francisco. He also was the Senior Program Manager for the Americas for the Levi Strauss Foundation. There he managed grantmaking in the foundation’s global giving areas of HIV/AIDS, asset building, and workers’ rights in the regions of Latin America and Canada. He was additionally responsible for HIV/AIDS grantmaking domestically in the United States and for Levi Strauss & Co.’s Community Involvement Teams in Latin America and Canada.
Bustos still lives in San Francisco, with his partner Alexander Rivera, in the house he grew up in.
The San Francisco Bay Times is grateful to these remarkable leaders, and to the 12 honorees who will be celebrated at the inaugural Honoring LGBTQ+ Bay Area Latine Leaders on October 24. For information, including sponsorship opportunities, contact publisher@sfbaytimes.com
National Hispanic Heritage Month
Published on October 9, 2025
Recent Comments