San Diego’s first-ever race and equity chief is leaving

The city of San Diego’s first-ever head of race and equity is leaving three years after taking the position.

Chief Race And Equity Officer Kim Desmond was the first person to lead the office that’s tasked with dismantling what the city describes as unfair policies, procedures and budget decisions “that perpetuate inequity and systemic racism.”

But her tenure comes to an end this month after she was recruited to continue similar work with a global nonprofit organization, according to a city statement. Desmond told inewsource that her new employer will announce her hiring “when the time is right,” but she disclosed in a social media post that she was headed to Washington, D.C. 

“I was presented with an opportunity to further my career that I could not pass up,” Desmond said in an email, adding that she “thoroughly enjoyed” working for the city.

The race and equity office was created in 2020 under efforts led by then-Councilmember Monica Montgomery Steppe, and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and a national demand for racial justice.

Mayor Todd Gloria appointed Desmond in 2021. On Tuesday, the city honored her work and declared Aug. 6 “Kim Desmond Day.”

“Thanks to her work, equity is engrained in everything we do — from policymaking to budgeting,” Gloria said in a statement.

Desmond’s departure comes after her office faced significant budget pressures. The mayor had initially proposed eliminating the more than $3 million Community Equity Fund, a grant program that Desmond’s team had yet to launch, to help close San Diego’s budget deficit.

Among other departments, Gloria also proposed cuts that would have eliminated youth programs, shelters, rental assistance, infrastructure projects and more. 

Community groups were vocal opponents of his proposal. Ultimately, the City Council unanimously passed a budget preserving many of those programs. The Community Equity Fund, originally meant to assist as many as 10 organizations focused on improving disparities in employment, child care and education, is now being used toward helping people recover from the region’s Jan. 22 floods.  

Desmond said her decision had “nothing to do with this year’s budget process.”

Since joining the city, Desmond led key tasks, such as training employees on race and equity, collaborating with other departments to identify disparities in resource distribution and advising on council policies.

In 2022, for instance, her office helped revise a policy to prioritize infrastructure projects in the city’s historically neglected neighborhoods. More recently, her office updated a city policy to waive library fines for children trying to reinstate their accounts.

Desmond has said her department started with just three staff members to support the city’s 12,000 employees, and has since grown to seven employees and some interns.

Desmond made about $200,000 a year, according to data compiled by the website Transparent California. Gloria will announce an interim chief and will conduct a national search for a permanent replacement.