2024 San Franciscan of the Year awards: Meet the 40 nominees | The City

The City is a town of innovators, idealists and iconoclasts. We invite you to vote for the individuals who have been transformative leaders of San Francisco in 2024.

Here are the 2024 nominees for San Franciscan of the Year, along with the reasons why residents say they are deserving of the honor.

The 39-year-old entrepreneur leads one of San Francisco’s most consequential companies. He has been a leading voice on AI policy internationally while fostering an emerging industry bringing jobs to The City. OpenAI’s revolutionary chatbot, ChatGPT, paved the way for the AI boom that is sweeping through the tech industry and has made San Francisco “the AI capital of the world,” as Mayor London Breed calls it.

A champion for San Francisco in a multitude of arenas, he is the consummate community leader and has played a big role helping The City recover from the pandemic. His leadership of the Giants has given The City much to cheer about over the years. A fourth-generation San Franciscan, the longtime Giants executive has overseen the team’s business operations through arguably its most successful years, including leading the development of its picturesque waterfront ballpark, Oracle Park, and the signing of Barry Bonds.

Salesforce’s founder and chief executive has been a leading presence in San Francisco for years, calling on other tech companies to follow his lead and invest in The City. Benioff, a Bay Area native and longtime philanthropist, built Salesforce into one of The City’s premier tech giants — literally, in the case of its skyscraper in the heart of the Financial District, the tallest building in San Francisco.

Few restaurants have achieved the legendary status of House of Prime Rib — a reservation so coveted that entire articles have been dedicated to cracking the code for getting a table. Joe is the quintessential restaurateur — after waiting tables at Hoffman’s Grill on Market Street, he bought the restaurant in 1968, becoming the youngest restaurateur in The City at 28 years old. He bought House of Prime Rib 17 years later, guiding it into the legendary San Francisco institution it is today.

San Francisco’s first Black mayor transformed The City during his tenure in political office, but his contributions have continued long after leaving City Hall. As a political mentor, he has shaped the careers of many of today’s leaders, ensuring a lasting legacy of strong governance. Mayor Brown, who turned 90 this year, remains an influential voice in civic affairs, regularly providing political commentary and guidance on critical issues facing San Francisco. His work as a community advocate and his dedication to fostering economic development, housing reform and social justice have made him a key figure in shaping The City’s future. His enduring influence and commitment to public service make him a deserving nominee.

Under Calhoun’s leadership, the San Francisco Opera has experienced a renaissance of vibrancy, diversity and broader accessibility. The former global president at Banana Republic has made extensive commitments to The City’s art scene, including serving on the board of directors for Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Cheng is dedicated to empowering San Franciscans to have a voice in their local government. As the leader of TogetherSF and TogetherSF Action, she spearheads a movement to create a more accountable and efficient City Hall, bringing together residents from diverse backgrounds who believe in a better future for The City. Having immigrated to the U.S. as a child, Kanishka benefited from the opportunities the Bay Area provided, and now she’s working to ensure that future generations can share in those same promises.

Chung is an inspirational, visionary leader who cares about San Franciscans, the more than 40,000 Bay Area seniors she serves, and The City’s diverse immigrant community — including the more than 10,000 new San Francisco citizens helped by her SF Pathways to Citizenship Program. For nearly 50 years, she has built senior housing, served millions of meals to the most vulnerable San Franciscans and delivered on high quality programs to improve the lives of those residents.

Dr. Dana, a third-generation San Franciscan and a second-generation physician, has been a leader in pediatric care for nearly 30 years, including prioritizing early intervention at UCSF and Golden Gate Pediatrics. She delivers up-to-date and cutting-edge advice with an old-fashioned bedside manner. Lisa was a levelheaded voice who kept things together during the pandemic and has never lost her love for what she does for The City.

DeMartini is a North Beach staple. He creates a welcoming community through Salesian Boys and Girls Club and serves as a mentor to hundreds of kids. He spends day in and day out dedicated to the community and fostering the community in North Beach. His organization has provided after-school activities and enrichment programs for youths throughout the historic neighborhood.

As the 21st president of the world-renowned UC system, Drake — now in the 50th year of his career in higher education — led the state’s top schools to a commitment to access, affordability and academic excellence through one of its most challenging periods, the COVID-19 pandemic. He announced he will step down from his role as president at the conclusion of the 2024-25 school year.

In the year of the doom loop, one restaurateur bucked the narratives and opened new establishments to help cultivate community in different corners of San Francisco. Elena Duggan — of The City’s famed Duggan family behind Original Joe’s — spearheaded the opening of two new restaurants this year: Elena’s in West Portal and Little Original Joe’s in the Marina. The two new restaurants, the fourth and fifth in the family’s history, build on Original Joe’s nearly 90-year-long San Francisco legacy.

Under Ehrlich’s leadership, Zuckerberg General has served 108,000 patients annually, provided 20% of San Francisco’s inpatient care, and offered more than a half-million ambulatory-care visits. The hospital’s role as The City’s only level 1 trauma center and around-the-clock psychiatric emergency department underscores its critical importance to public health in San Francisco. Despite her demanding role as CEO, Ehrlich continues to practice primary-care medicine at the Richard Fine People’s Clinic. Ehrlich’s contributions to healthcare, leadership of a vital public institution and commitment to serving vulnerable populations are part of her transformative impact on San Francisco’s public health.

Fang — a celebrity chef, owner of Fang restaurant and the House of Nanking, cookbook author and television personality — has paved the way for Asian Americans and female entrepreneurs who share her drive for success as a minority woman in the hospitality industry and beyond. Kathy’s dedication to community involvement and local business partnerships embodies her love and appreciation for San Francisco and serves as an inspiration for the community.

Dr. Laurie Green has possibly delivered more babies — at least 20,000 — than any other OB/GYN in San Francisco. Her role as president of the San Francisco Health Commission and the founder of the MAVEN Project, which encourages physicians to engage with underserved communities via telehealth to increase equity and access to care, underscores her commitment to public health.

Harrell, a 25-year San Francisco Police Department veteran, was praised as a hero for her actions after San Francisco 49ers rookie wide receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest in Union Square in August. Harrell used her hand to cover his wound and stop the bleeding, and she helped calm Pearsall down while asking him to describe the shooter. Based on the information from Pearsall, Harrell was able to call for backup and direct other officers in the direction of the suspect, who was arrested within minutes.

Dr. Hawgood has helped steer San Francisco and UCSF through some of The City’s most tumultuous days. His leadership has kept UCSF at the forefront of medical innovation. He has spent more than 40 years working at the hospital, starting as a research fellow and rising to the top leadership of the famed medical institution, its 8,000 faculty and staff members, and 3,500 students.

Ive has made significant investments in San Francisco, taking over blocks of Jackson Square and infusing the neighborhood with a kinetic energy that has brought San Francisco back to life. The former Apple executive has bought more than $100 million of properties in the area, though his redevelopment plans for the projects remain unclear.

As a national steward of ethics, humanism and compassion — and head coach of the Golden State Warriors and Team USA’s gold-medal-winning basketball team this summer — few San Franciscans have made both the global and local impact of Steve Kerr. When he isn’t bringing the community together through the poetry in motion that is Warriors basketball, Kerr uses his platform to advocate for gun control, denounce hatred and empower peaceful democratic activism.

The heralded conductor has headed the San Francisco Opera for the last five years, an industry pioneer as the first woman and first Asian person ever appointed to the position at a major opera company in the nation. She was previously named as The New York Times breakout star in classical music and has appeared on the covers of Opera Now and Opera magazines.

The longtime Chronicle urban design critic retired in 2024 after a 40-year award-winning journalism career informing San Franciscans about how The City’s evolving landscape fits into its history, culture and ever-shifting environment. The Chronicle said the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist “doesn’t just critique towers. He helps readers understand the city through its constructed terrain.”

Larsen, a San Francisco native and San Francisco State alumni, has long been a leading Silicon Valley executive. Larsen, a pro-consumer advocate, co-founded the money-transfer platform Ripple in 2012 and has donated millions of dollars to philanthropies throughout San Francisco, including his alma mater and has fought back against narratives denouncing The City. This year he funded a party hosted by San Francisco Mayor London Breed during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “Chris Larsen believes in San Francisco,” Breed told The Examiner about the billionaire investor.

Steve Mayer is a true son of San Francisco. He grew up in Mission Terrace and built multiple businesses in The City, including accounting and wealth-management firms, as well as some of San Francisco’s most popular restaurants and bookstores. One of the most effective aspects of Steve’s advocacy is his 5 Buckets Foundation, an organization which provides personal-finance workshops to people who need it most. He has long been an advocate for San Francisco, serving on the boards of more than 15 organizations, including the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, VetsinTech and Archbishop Riordan High School, his alma mater.

Moritz started his professional career as a journalist covering the tech industry before joining the field as a venture capitalist, investing in an array of the biggest firms in the world, including Google, PayPal and YouTube. He returned to journalism in recent years by funding the startup news website the San Francisco Standard, which has emerged as one of The City’s top news publications. He’s also been one of the biggest investors in local ballot measures that would reform city government.

Larry, a University of San Francisco alum, is one of the builders of our city, with 55 years of experience helping construct projects throughout San Francisco. He has given extensively to the community through his commitments to the Boys & Girls Club of San Francisco along with many other philanthropies.

Nicholson retired this summer after a 30-year career in the San Francisco Fire Department. The first open member of the LGBTQ+ community in the department’s history, Nicholson deserves credit for guiding The City through challenging times, including the COVID-19 pandemic and beefing up The City’s street-crisis response team. “It is one of my most incredible accomplishments to have selected someone who was so beloved in this department and who has worked in every corner of this department in so many capacities,” Mayor London Breed said of Nicholson.

The celebrated dancer and instructor — and the first woman appointed to artistic director of the San Francisco Ballet — has guided the nation’s oldest ballet company into an innovative and progressive future. She told The New York Times this year that her mission is “to make San Francisco Ballet like an arrow to the future” and put it “at the forefront of what a ballet company ought to be, both a support of the standard of the performances in the traditional rep, and the diversity of artistic voices and the innovation.”

Safier leads a firm that is one of the largest apartment owners in the Bay Area, and she heads The Helen Diller Family Foundation, which this year paid $300 million to fund a new housing complex at UC Berkeley called Anchor House, the largest gift in the university’s 156-year history. “Anchor House is truly exceptional and is the best student housing I’ve ever seen,” former university chancellor Carol T. Christ told Berkeley News.

The ageless Semel has dedicated her more-than-100-year life to community service. The San Franciscan serves on a series of nonprofit councils and has been at the forefront advocating on behalf of San Francisco children, education and the homeless. She co-founded the Interfaith Council, which has provided vital services to The City’s most vulnerable population for more than 30 years.

A distinguished sports executive for nearly 20 years, Smith was tabbed this year to be president of the Golden State Valkyries, San Francisco’s first WNBA franchise, which will debut next year. She comes to The City with a catalog of accomplishments, having most recently built the Los Angeles soccer club Angel City FC into a commercial powerhouse.

As managing director of the War Memorial Performing Arts Center, Sofis supervises San Francisco’s largest cultural-arts hub. In addition to overseeing the performances of the San Francisco Ballet and Opera at the War Memorial Opera House and the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, Sofis has cultivated more than 400 diverse performances in the Veterans Building at Herbst Theatre and Wilsey Center.

When creating The Conservatory and Holbrook House, this multigenerational San Franciscan prioritized using his connections and voice to promote all businesses in the Financial District. He has used interviews about his own venue to highlight other small businesses and people in his orbit. He professes that The City can overcome the toll COVID has leveled on its businesses, and the only path to victory is to succeed together. Spiegel doesn’t just talk about caring about The City — he actively and intentionally takes steps to ensure community. Born and bred in The City, Spiegel is today leading the charge to bring back San Francisco’s glory.

Srivastava, a cardiologist and stem-cell pioneer, is regarded as one of the Bay Area’s most influential executives and leaders in nonprofit and medical research dedicated to overcoming disease. This year, the San Francisco Businesses Times honored him as one of the most admired CEOs among Bay Area businesses for his role as president of the Gladstone Institutes, a biomedical nonprofit, and the creation of the Srivastava Lab, which focuses on genetic research.

Sumchai has contributed significantly to the health and well-being of the Bayview-Hunters Point community as a physician, historian and head of the Hunters Point Biomonitoring Foundation, which measures community members’ exposure to toxins. He serves as an inspiration for environmental-justice work nationwide.

Through his nonprofit, Swig tirelessly champions arts and cultural events for the city. His unique events have helped connect young professionals to charitable organizations throughout San Francisco using spirituality, music and arts. Swig is also a board member and consultant for countless nonprofits.

Swig, the personification of the San Francisco spirit, has dedicated her life to increasing access to the arts, empowering women and supporting nearly every aspect of philanthropic engagement in The City. Swig founded the nonprofit SF Partners Ending Domestic Abuse and serves on a series of the biggest boards in The City, including the SF Art Institute, the SF Museum of Modern Art, the University of San Francisco and the SF Contemporary Jewish Museum. She also is a past president of the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Synonymous with San Francisco philanthropy, Dede Wilsey has donated an incalculable amount of money to nearly every cause throughout San Francisco. Most notably, Wilsey personally finances the free Saturdays at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, which has provided access to all 7 million residents of the Bay Area. Among her many philanthropic endeavors, she helped raise $208 million — including $10 million from her own pocket — to repair the de Young Museum following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.

The chief advocate for the broader regional Bay Area, Jim has spent 2024 merging two of the largest community and advocacy organizations in the greater Bay Area. He is the perennial Bay Area leader and constant advocate to ensure the region is the most innovative in the world. The Bay Area Council has followed that lead, becoming a central voice across the region on issues such as housing, transportation and homelessness.

Manny deserves recognition for doing a fantastic job bringing San Franciscans together around issues and people of great import to The City. He has great ideas and gets them done, and he values people not just for what they have done, but what they can do. He created Manny’s Cafe, a civic-activist meeting place. This year, he co-moderated a San Francisco mayoral debate, hosted multiple presidential-debate watch parties and hosted a presidential-campaign fundraiser featuring Vice President Kamala Harris while President Joe Biden was still the Democratic nominee.

SKIP ZIOBRON: Owner, Martuni’s

Skip has owned the famed and beloved Martuni’s bar, an institution and Castro staple, for more than 30 years. Martuni’s, considered the only true piano bar in The City, is known for its blend of live music and a wide selection of cocktails in the heart of San Francisco’s nightlife scene. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that Ziobron created a “magical little oasis” for LGBTQ+ people, talented singers and all those struggling to find a place in the world.