5 New San Mateo County LGBTQ Commissioners Appointed

SAN MATEO COUNTY CA — Five individuals recently were selected and sworn in, from a pool of 33 applicants, to fill open seats on the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer Commission of San Mateo County, according to officials.

The commission makes recommendations to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on issues regarding policies, programs, procedures and legislation affecting LGBTQ individuals in the region.

“We were thrilled to receive such an extraordinary number of applications for the LGBTQ Commission from very qualified residents, which demonstrates the continued excitement about the commission’s efforts to improve the quality of life and well-being of LGBTQ county residents,” said Supervisor Dave Pine, who serves as board liaison to the commission.

The applications were reviewed by a panel comprised of two county supervisors, commission co-chairs and staff.

"The large applicant pool reflects the on-going interest in the commission that was initially created as a nine-member body in 2014 and expanded shortly after to 11 members due to the large number of initial applicants to serve on the commission," county officials said.

The five new commissioners are:

Steve Disselhorst (member for an initial term ending June 30, 2022). Disselhorst, along with his partner and daughter, lives in San Bruno and has experience working and leading diversity initiatives at Genentech Inc. and Abbott. He also has volunteered with Our Family Coalition and the SF LGBTQ Speakers Bureau.

Dana Johnson (member for an initial term ending June 30, 2022). Johnson, currently with the County of San Mateo‘s Probation Department, has volunteered with the LGBTQ community for many years. Johnson has been with the SMC Pride Initiative for 14 years and helped to coordinate the annual Pride Celebration since 2012.

Giuliana Garcia (member for an initial partial term ending June 30, 2020). Garcia is soon to be a homeowner in East Palo Alto and has lived for 10 years in San Mateo County. She currently works for Oculus/Facebook and was a founding member of Amazon’s Glamazon Group, while also part of Lesbians Who Tech.

Carmen O’Shea (member for an initial partial term ending June 30, 2020). O’Shea is a parent and advocate for transgender youth in San Mateo County schools. She is an Air Force veteran with 20 years of experience in marketing, human resources, diversity and inclusion, and currently is SVP, HR Culture & Engagement at SAP. She also serves on the board of the East Palo Alto YMCA.

Krystle Cansino (member for an initial partial term ending June 30, 2021). Cansino is a member of the Filipino community from South San Francisco. Cansino has more than 10 years of experience working in mental-health services and the LGBTQ community, along with volunteer and civic experience and currently works for the City/County of San Francisco as Mental Health Rehabilitation Specialist.

Among the LGBTQ commission's activities was the first wellness-assessment in 15 years, along with participation in Transgender Day of Remembrance, the San Mateo County Pride Initiative and Pride Center.

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