Jeff Smith

County Executive, Santa Clara County

2019 Ally of the Year Awardee

As the CEO of a twenty thousand-employee organization, Jeff Smith genuinely cares about all his employees as people. He treats all people with dignity and respect. He does so consistently and without fanfare.

When it comes to supporting the LGBTQ community at-large, Jeff has never feared political ramifications. In fact, he has sometimes acted bolder than we even dared to ask. A couple of years ago, during a routine meeting, Supervisor Yeager lamented that the end of the Pride Month meant that the rainbow flag would stop flying over the County Government Center. Jeff responded that it didn’t have to stop. The County charter gives Jeff the authority to make decisions on which flags to fly, and the rainbow flag has flown daily since that conversation.

Jeff’s support for LGBTQ-friendly programming has produced an array of successes. Just a short list includes:

The Human Rights Campaign designated the County public health and hospital system as a Center for Excellence in their Healthcare Equality Index;
The County opposed Trump’s ban on transgender troops through an amicus filing by County Counsel in partnership with the County Office of Veteran’s Affairs;
A soon-to-be opened LGBTQ-focused emergency shelter and health clinic uniquely focused on the needs of the transgender community;
Juvenile justice reform policies that are a model for other jurisdictions nationwide, including a first-in-the-state procedure to house transgender youth by their gender identity;
A well-funded Getting to Zero campaign that is reducing HIV infections through an expansion of STD clinic hours and an increase in the use of PREP; and
Establishing the first county-level Office of LGBTQ Affairs and making sure it has the resources it needs by increasing its staffing levels from an initial two to eleven.
For all these reasons and more, it is an honor to present Dr. Jeff Smith with Stan Hajduk Ally of the Year Award.