Cece Cox, the longtime chief executive who helped turn Dallas’ Resource Center into a regional anchor for LGBTQ and HIV services, is planning her exit. Cox announced she will retire in early 2027, closing out nearly two decades in a role that expanded the center’s footprint with an affordable senior housing complex and a new health campus in Oak Lawn. She said she will spend the coming year helping oversee a national search for a successor.
Cox shared the news in a wide-ranging interview and said the timing reflects both personal and organizational realities. “I’ll be 65 next year, and this is a job that’s 24/7,” she told reporters, adding that the Resource Center expects to run a national search through 2026 and keep her involved during the transition, according to The Dallas Morning News.
A National Nonprofit Grown at Home
Cox joined Resource Center as associate executive director in 2007 and stepped into the CEO role in 2010, a one-two move that set the stage for the organization’s rapid growth. Today, the center lists nearly 100 staff members, more than 1,200 volunteers and says it serves upwards of 60,000 people each year. Her career timeline and those figures are detailed by SMU Magazine.
Landmarks in Oak Lawn
Two of Cox’s most visible projects sit just blocks apart in Oak Lawn. Oak Lawn Place, an 84-unit affordable senior housing building, opened in 2024 with a roughly $31 million price tag and an 18-month waiting list for units, according to Dallas Innovates. The complex, at 5723 Sadler Circle, was designed to keep LGBTQ seniors in the neighborhood that has long been a hub for the community.
A One-Stop Health Campus
Right across Sadler Circle, Resource Center Health pulled together primary care, mental health services, HIV care, a food pantry and an on-site pharmacy into roughly 20,000 square feet when it opened in 2025. The idea was to cut down the number of doors people have to walk through, especially those who have faced discrimination in other health care settings, and to centralize care for people living with HIV. The layout and services are described by D Magazine.
The Environment Her Successor Will Face
Cox’s tenure of growth has unfolded even as nonprofits that provide gender-affirming and HIV care navigate a tense legal and political environment in Texas. State restrictions on transgender health care for minors and laws that limit the reach of local ordinances have complicated how providers plan services and advocate for clients. Reporting by The Texas Tribune has outlined those pressures and their impact on clinics and community organizations statewide.
After she steps away, Cox says she is looking forward to slower mornings with her wife and son, time to archive queer community history and tending a backyard planter that has been competing with her inbox for attention. She has also stressed that the Resource Center’s strong leadership and finances should ease the handoff. Cox is married to Shelly Skeen, the South-Central regional director for Lambda Legal, who brings her own long record of civil-rights advocacy to the household. The center says it will lean on its board, donors and community partners during the upcoming national search, as noted by Lambda Legal.
