Bob Lehman is Executive Director of the San Diego Museum Council. He is Vice Chair of the San Diego County Arts & Culture Commission, the current Chair of San Diego ART Matters, and serves on the statewide board of CA Arts Advocates and CA for the Arts. As the leader of the San Diego Museum Council, Lehman advocates on behalf of 80+ museums and cultural institutions throughout San Diego County. Since assuming the leadership role, he has doubled the membership, increased the diversity of the Council’s membership, and improved accessibility for all San Diego families. The Council is now one of the nation's largest associations of regional museums and cultural institutions.Lehman serves on the Arts + Culture: San Diego Task Force and represents museums, LGBTQ+, and veterans’ communities on the Balboa Park Cultural Advisory Board. Lehman was a member of San Diego’s official delegation to the San Francisco U.S. Naval Dedication (2016) and the San Diego Construction Launch (2019) of the USNS Harvey Milk. Lehman previously served as Executive Director of Finest City Performing Arts. He helped create its Youth Pride Chorus and Chamber Chorale which performed at Lincoln Center. Under his leadership, the mission-based group of 500 volunteers commissioned dozens of new choral works and was selected “Non-profit of the Year” in 2016 by the Greater San Diego Business Association. During this time, Lehman served on the board of the Choral Consortium of San Diego.For more than 25 years, Lehman has been a nationally recognized leader in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality. As a combat U.S. Marine veteran, he helped end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and was the first openly gay veteran on a U.S. Congressional military advisory board. He founded San Diego’s American Veterans for Equal Rights chapter and co-founded the Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol. He and his husband led San Diego’s initiatives for marriage equality and made history as the first two men to legally marry in California. Three San Diego mayors and City Councils have named a day in Lehman’s honor. In 2022, he was honored at the State Capital by the California State Legislature. In 2016, the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission named Lehman “Humanitarian of the Year” and UPLIFT San Diego named him “Citizen of the Year.” Lehman also served on the San Diego Pride Community Advisory Council and the San Diego History Center/Lambda Archives LGBTQ+ exhibition Community Advisory Council. He currently serves on the San Diego Police Chief's Community Advisory Board and the City of San Diego AIDS Memorial Task Force.