Elaine Forbes

Elaine Forbes is the Director of the Port of San Francisco. In October 2016, the mayor of San Francisco appointed her to that job. In the whole United States there are only twelve female Port Directors.

Childhood and Family

Born in San Francisco, Forbes is the great grandchild of a Port worked. Her parents met in high school but divorced when she was three. Forbes lived with her mother. She admired her mother very much because she was a hard worker. She went to public school. Forbes liked singing. She was a member of the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

Because it was the 1970s, Forbes experienced hippie culture. She participated in the Civil Rights Movement and lived in a commune in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of the city. Because she lived in a commune, she looked forward to having her own apartment when she grew up. Her mother died when Forbes was 19.

Now Forbes lives in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood with her partner, Angela Calvillo, and their dogs.

Education

Forbes went to Skyline Community College and Mills College. She went to graduate school at University of California, Los Angeles to study Community and Economic Development.

Career

Forbes had many jobs in non-profit land use and development. She was a planner for the city of Oakland, CA, USA. She then was an executive manager for the City of San Francisco’s planning department and the San Francisco International Airport. She was a policy advisor for the city of San Francisco’s budget office. In 2010 she started working at the Port of San Francisco as the Deputy Director for Finance and Administration.