By Amanda Strouse

Joyce Marieb knew that with money comes political stature. The phrase “money is power” was an ideal she held close to her heart. And she felt this idiom could be used to improve the clout of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender community — people whom she holds close to her heart.

She was right.

Her determined power-through-good-business mindset landed her the position as the fifth chief executive of the Greater San Diego Business Association in 2000. After nine years dedicated to increasing membership, programs, revenue and political power, Marieb has decided to retire.

She felt it was the right time for her to retire because she accomplished the goals that she had for the organization, she said.

“I really think it’s time for someone else to bring new, fresh ideas and a new vision and really different talents to the organization,” she said.

The GSDBA, also known as San Diego’s Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, was founded in 1979 to promote interaction and support within the gay and lesbian business community. The association successfully published a business directory every year and became the third largest gay and lesbian business association in the country in only its second year. During Marieb’s tenure, it grew to 800 members strong and is now the second largest gay and lesbian chamber of commerce in the country.

An unpaid board of directors initially ran the GSDBA but with limited time, so it, therefore, had limited room to grow. In 1993, after realizing that a staff was needed, the board hired the first chief executive. Marieb became the first long-term chief executive.

“We are the business arm of the equality movement,” Marieb said. “This is business with a cause. It is business to help LGBT people be competitive in this society.”

The GSDBA is the umbrella organization that allows the LGBT business community to have a larger venue for getting information, networking and building relationships, Marieb said.

“I think money is power,” she said. “Power used for the good results in equality.”

She has recently been recognized for her accomplishments – she won the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement award in May.

“She’s been a great CEO,” said Jon Borgeson, the board chair for the GSDBA. “She’s been out there fighting for our community for a long time and she’s made a difference in the community and goes to people in the general market and general community and shows them the value of marketing to the LGBT market.”

Marieb has a background in business and education and a desire to intertwine the two. It was her eclectic experience in the education and business fields that made her viable to head the GSDBA.

She grew up in Massachusetts and earned her undergraduate college degree in English and Journalism from Elms College, a small women’s college in Massachusetts. She received her Master’s Degree in theology from Marquette and Ph.D. in philosophical thought from Boston University. She taught philosophy and theology at three different colleges (one of which was Notre Dame) and taught English, speech and drama at three different high schools. Around 30 years ago, she said, she decided to move to San Diego because of the weather. And she insisted she’s not planning to leave.

“I had one winter too many,” Marieb said.

While in San Diego, she and her partner owned a natural ice cream store called the Amazon Sweet Shop from 1978 to 1984. Then she worked for 7/11 as a corporation representative for almost 10 years.

“She brought a perspective as a former business owner herself, so she always did things with that in mind so that businesses involved with GSDBA would grow,” Borgeson said.

Marieb said part of her mission at the GSDBA was to offer programs that make a difference to small businesses, because they have a low success rate.

The GSDBA offered many training and social events during her tenure, including business expo exhibits, consulting programs that offer one-on-one training, networking groups, social mixers and skills workshops for networking and social marketing.

Marieb said the GSDBA didn’t have much money when she first got on board, but she is proud to say she was able to create a healthy reserve so the association can rest easily and be able to try new things.

She started the Affinity for Business Groups two years ago, which has been successful in providing in-industry support and professional advice. Additionally in her tenure, the GSDBA’s Web site was revamped, the association’s directory was published in full color, the “Friends Do Business with Friends” billboard and TV campaign was launched and the association won Chamber of the Year by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in 2006. She also was highly involved in the national LGBT equality movement and was the Western Regional Chair for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

She said that along with taking on new projects, she’ll miss being a public figure and having the political power that came with the job.

“I’ve always been an activist,” she said. “That’s not going to stop until I stop breathing. I like to be involved in supporting causes that work for people’s rights and for peace.”

She was an activist with the peace movement, the women’s movement, civil rights movement and now the LGBT movement, she said. After leaves the GSDBA, she said she’ll mostly be engaged in promoting marriage equality and ending the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy.

But she doesn’t have a solid plan for her retirement. She said she’s going to take at least six months to relax in her La Mesa house and find out who she is.

“I’ve been working since I was 8 years old,” she said. “I want to see what it’s like not working.”

Marieb will also pour more energy into her creative hobbies, which are wood carving, sculpting stone and writing poetry.

But for the next couple of months, Marieb will be sticking around the GSDBA office to ensure the new chief executive, Tom Luhnow, has a smooth transition into his new position.

“I am thrilled that Joyce will be staying on for a couple months to train Tom,” Borgeson said. “That’s something that’s hugely appreciated. It shows how much she cares about the mission of the organization.”

Being passionate about the GSDBA’s mission is shared by Marieb and Luhnow, both of whom said they have a lot of qualities in common.

“I’ve heard nothing but praise about everything she’s done,” Luhnow said of Marieb. “I hope I can live up to those big shoes and carry the organization on.”

Luhnow worked in the nonprofit industry, wrote screenplays and, for the last 12 years, was the executive director of Flying House Productions, home of the Seattle Men’s Chorus, which became the largest gay men’s chorus in world and one of largest community choruses in America during his tenure.

Luhnow was the only applicant recommended for the chief executive to the board of directors by the GSDBA’s search committee, and the board voted unanimously to hire him.

He said CEOs must have an eclectic set of skills to be successful.

“I like to work at strengthening an organization and also I’m good at enlarging outreach to others outside of the organization,” Luhnow said. “I really am passionate about keeping the vision and mission of the organization so you don’t go astray.”

And a large part of that mission is to strengthen the LGBT community’s muscle.

“I think that through the GSDBA, the community can have economic clout that gets political action; and it’s important that we use that,” he said.

Marieb said it’s exciting to have played such a big role in increasing the power and support of the LGBT community.

“It’s exciting, of course, because so much of this is new,” she said. “Not only is it just the fact that we have great numbers now and more numbers involved in the movement, we have a level of acceptance in society that we never had before. The rate at which change is happening is very inspirational.”

She has herself to thank.

Amanda Strouse is a freelance journalist in San Diego.