Before becoming a public official, Achtenberg worked for more than 15 years as a civil rights attorney, nonprofit director, and legal educator. Achtenberg supported the LGBTQ community early in her political career. Her activity included co-founding the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Between 1975 and 1976, she served as a teaching fellow at Stanford University. In 1976, Achtenberg became the Dean of the New College of California School of Law. Additionally, in 1978 Achtenberg represented LGBTQ rights while in the Anti-Sexism Committee for the National Lawyers Guild. While working for the organization, she edited Sexual Orientation and the Law. Achtenberg unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the California State Assembly in 1988. She was elected as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1989, becoming the first open lesbian to serve on the Board, which gave her national attention. While still serving on the San FranciscoBoard of Supervisorsin 1992, Achtenberg was appointed to the committee drafting the National Democratic Party's platform. In 1993, she was appointed Assistant Secretary for the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity by President Bill Clinton, becoming the first 'out,' LGBTQ person to be appointed and confirmed to a position within a cabinet office. Later, she was appointed as the senior advisor to the Secretary of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Achtenberg left the post in 1995 to run for mayor of San Francisco, but lost the election. From 1998 to 2004, Achtenberg helped develop the policies for both the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the San Francisco Center for Economic Development. In 2000, she became the Director of the Bank of San Francisco and Andrew J. Wong, Inc. She served as Senior Vice President for Public Policy at the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce until January 2005. In 2000, she was appointed to the Board of Trustees of California State University by GovernorGray Davis, becoming chair of the board in May 2006, serving on the CSU Board of Trustees until 2015. Achtenberg was in charge of the Housing and Urban Development Department's Agency Review Team that assisted the Obama administration during its transition to office. On January 26, 2011, President Barack Obama named Achtenberg to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.
Personal life and education
Achtenberg's father was an ethnic German who immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union, while her mother was from Quebec. Both of parents were not educated, and neither attending high school. They owned a grocery store in Los Angeles and raised Roberta and her three siblings. After graduating from Morningside High School in Inglewood, California, Achtenberg attended University of California, Los Angeles before graduating from University of California, Berkeley. At Berkeley, she met her husband, David Chavkin. She began law school at University of California, Hastings College of the Law, before eventually receiving her Juris Doctor from the University of Utah. In 1976, her brother, Jack, died after a car accident. Her mother died soon after from heart disease. Amidst this family turmoil, at law school, Achtenberg began exploring her identity and had relations with women, which led to her divorce from her husband in 1979. Achtenberg met her partner, Mary Morgan, a lesbian attorney who would eventually be appointed to San Francisco Municipal Court in 1981. In 1979, Achtenberg adopted Morgan's child, Benjamin.
Awards
2003, awarded the first ever Public Administration Program Award for Public Service by San Francisco State University in recognition of Achtenberg's outstanding career in public service
1997, one of the "50 Most Influential Businesswomen in the Bay Area"
