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Linda DeMarco – Co-President
Linda is the Vice-President of the Board of Directors of Boston Pride. She joined Boston Pride in 1998 as a festival coordinator and brings expertise in business and finance to the Board. She was President of Boston Pride from 2000 to 2013. Professionally, Linda is a successful entrepreneur and has been the owner of Boston Pretzel Bakery Inc. for over 18 years. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Faneuil Hall Merchants Association and the Small Merchants Association of Boston’s Downtown Crossing. Linda was elected as Co-President of InterPride at the 2017 AGM & World Conference in Indianapolis, IN, USA.
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Julian Sanjivan – Co-President
Julian is originally from Malaysia and left for New York City in August 2012 to be part of a fellowship funded by the US Department of State. Upon completion of the program, they applied for asylum due to their life-threatening experience with a group of police officers in Malaysia due to their sexual orientation. Prior to arriving in the United States, they were the Human Resources Director at PT Foundation, one of the largest non-profit organizations in Malaysia focusing on HIV awareness, education, care, and support for most-at-risk populations including men who have sex with men (MSM), sex workers, transgender individuals and injecting drug users. Besides managing an organization of over 70 employees and 700 volunteers, they advocated for issues affecting the marginalized communities that PT Foundation worked very closely with. In 2013, they became the Director of Strategy & Communications at the Refugee & Immigrant Fund (RIF), an organization that provides support services for asylum seekers in New York City. Julian's asylum was granted in April 2015 and later obtained their Green Card in May of 2017. They are also a former Executive Board Member with Heritage of Pride as the NYC Pride March Director heading the annual Pride March in NYC. They were responsible for all aspects of one of the biggest Pride events in the world including the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and the 2019 WorldPride held in New York City. Julian was also one of the producers for the 2019 NYC Dance Parade and the former Director of Visitor Services at the LGBT Community Center in NYC. Currently, they are on the advisory board of AsylumConnect, a tech nonprofit providing the first and only resource website and mobile app for LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. An avid globetrotting news junkie, Julian is extremely passionate about the movements for civil rights of the LGBTQ+ and immigrant communities.
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J. Andrew Baker – Co-President
He is an educator, administrator, artist, counselor, and activist from Simcoe County, Ontario. For the past 20 years, Andrew focused his career and volunteer work within Indigenous and LGBT communities. He worked as the Rainbow Health Ontario Community Outreach Worker for the North Simcoe Muskoka Region from 2008 to 2014. He is a founding member of the Simcoe County LGBTQ Network. He is the Vice President of Governance for Fierté Canada Pride, the President of Fierté Simcoe Pride, the LGBT representative on the Simcoe County Suicide Awareness Council, and the faculty advisor for Georgian Pride at Georgian College.
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Frank Van Dalen – Vice Presidents of Global Outreach & Partnership
He is a former chair of the Dutch LGBTI organization COC Netherlands and Gay Pride in Amsterdam. For many years he has visited, and advocated for, numerous Prides in hostile environments (e.g., Warsaw 2007, Moldova 2008, Belgrade 2010 and Uganda 2013) and in pressured environments (e.g., Hong Kong 2014, Cuba 2014, Sofia 2015 and Belgrade 2015). Frank is now chair of the global operating LGBTI Human Rights workgroup of Liberal International and chair of PrideUnited. PrideUnited specializes in programs based on high profile politics - combining advocacy, visibility, and mass events. Human Rights and strategizing LGBTI policies are his specialty. Frank is a global representative for Copenhagen Pride.
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Marsha H. Levine – Vice Presidents of Global Outreach & Partnership
A Pride-organizing veteran since 1980, she has the distinction of being the Founder of InterPride and a co-founder of CAPI, Inc. (Consolidated Associations of Pride, Inc.). Currently, Marsha also serves as InterPride's Governance Committee Co-Chair. For 18 years, she was San Francisco Pride's Parade Manager, on top of a similar period as a volunteer for the organization in a variety of roles, including President and Vice President on their Board of Directors. In 2018, Marsha accepted the role of Community Relations Manager for SF Pride, responsible for coordinating community partners, volunteers, politicians, VIPs, and Grand Marshals. Prior to 1985, she was a member of Boston Pride for five years, the last three of which she served consecutively as their President. An activist since high school, Marsha has always been a strong advocate for human and civil rights.
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Emmanuel Temores – Vice Presidents of Global Outreach & Partnership
Since 2015 Emmanuel is a member of the executive board of Guadalajara Pride, focused on creating strategies and alliances. He served as Regional Director of South America in InterPride for two years. In 2007 Emmanuel started to collaborate as a journalist on LGBTI culture for independent newspapers, blogs, and magazines. From 2009 to 2014 he worked as Editor in Chief in Urbana Revista, an LGBTI publication distributed in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. He has participated in lobbies and campaigns to promote awareness of HIV and gay marriage in Mexico. Professionally, Emmanuel is a freelance Digital Advertising Professional; he develops successful campaigns for small, medium, large businesses, and startups.
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Natalie Thompson – Vice Presidents of Global Outreach & Partnership
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James Hermansen-Parker – Vice President of Member Services
James is a former Board Member and President of Hampton Roads Pride, serving from October of 2007 until August of 2013. James also served as the Membership Chair and Treasurer of the Hampton Roads Business OutReach, Virginia’s first LGBT Chamber of Commerce. James moved to the Hampton Roads (Norfolk, Virginia) area in June of 2001 while serving in the U.S. Navy as a Nuclear Machinist Mate onboard the USS Montpelier. He was discharged honorably under «Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell» and decided to make the region his new home. James is now a Registered Nurse at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital where he coordinates education and quality improvement projects, as well the orientation of new nurses and the creation of policies used by nursing staff and serves on a system-wide committee on LGBT issues. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Master’s Degree specializing in nursing education, with plans on obtaining a Doctorate in Nursing Practice in the future. He currently works with an interfaith group based in Norfolk, Virginia who plans and coordinates the annual InterFaith service for Pride week. James is a Regional Director for Region 5, Prides of the SouthEast, with InterPride, the International Association of Pride Organizers. James serves as co-chair of the Member Services and Methods & Standards committees, having previously been the Vice President of Member Services for a one-year appointment, and has helped formulate and constitute the bylaws changes for the last five years. James and his husband Josh were married in October 2010 in Washington, D.C. and currently reside in Norfolk, Virginia. James was elected Vice President Member Services in 2018.
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Sherri Rase – Vice President of Development
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Michele Irimia-Bernabe – Secretary
Michele is a life long advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. She is of Cuban descent. Michele has been involved in the pride movement for 20 years. She is a long-time member of Heritage of Pride, Inc. (HOP), aka NYC Pride. She has served on the board of NYC Pride in many capacities including March Director, Co-Chair, and most recently Development Director. Michele has also been a long-time member of InterPride where she served as Regional Director for Region 6, North East Regional Prides (NERP). At InterPride, she currently serves as Board Secretary and Co-Chair of the Scholarship Committee. Ms. Irimia was one of the speakers at NYC Women’s March in January 2017 and has spoken publicly on LGBT rights around the world. Michele is both thrilled and eager to be part of Capital Pride Alliance.
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Dave Wait – Treasurer
Dave began his involvement with the pride movement in 2004 when he first volunteered for a ‘shift’ at Motor City Pride. That led to serving as Chairperson of the festival since 2009. He began his involvement with InterPride in 2008 and became co-chair of the Conference Integrity and Structure Committee in 2014 and regional director in 2015. In additional to Motor City Pride, Dave served eight years on the board for Equality Michigan: Michigan’s statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization, one year as treasurer, one as vice president and three as president. On a national level, for the past eleven years, he has been a member of the National LGBT Task Force Creating Change Conference’s Management Team. When not volunteering, Dave is employed by Eastern Michigan University where he serves as the Executive Director of three career and technical student organizations: DECA, SkillsUSA and FCCLA, which annually provides leadership and career development conferences for over 14,000 Michigan high school students.
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