Things Fall Apart. Can The Center Hold Together After Mass Staff Exodus?

Martinez, Drayer, Padilla, Perea, Munoz and Wilkins all out in last six months

By Drew Wilson

The GLBT Community Center of Colorado continues to experience major management changes and staff upheaval as 2013 draws to a close. On the heels of The Center’s recent announcement that Carlos Martinez would be stepping down as CEO, sources say that Amy Drayer, VP of Strategic Initiatives, and Matthew Padilla, VP of Finance, have also left The Center’s employ in recent weeks.

Drayer’s Facebook page continues to list The Center as her place of employment but she is absent from The Center’s online staff directory.

These departees follow in the footsteps of a number of others who have left The Center in recent months. These include Shari Wilkins, director of The Center’s SAGE program, in October; Dani Perea, Communications and Marketing Manager, in July; and Moises Munoz, Rainbow Alley Program Manager, in June.

The exodus leaves interim CEO Deb Pollock in charge of a significantly reduced (and arguably less experienced) workforce with which to accomplish The Center’s mission to “engage, enrich, and advance the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community of Colorado,” while the board of directors works on “identifying Martinez’ replacement.”

Sources close to The Center say the high employee turnover rate is symptomatic of institutional problems within the organization. “They are dropping like flies,” said one insider, citing ongoing internal and interdepartmental conflicts and power struggles.

* Full Disclosure: Drew Wilson worked as The Center's Communications and Marketing Manager from February to August of 2011.