Through his work with marketing, media, guest lectures, and serving on a multitude of campaigns, boards, and committees Fernando has been a consistent advocate ensuring the struggles of the LGBT community are ever visible.
Natasha Anderson
Operations Manager
Natasha lives by the motto “Art is Life is Art”. The Brooklyn, New York native loves calling San Diego home. She is also the Advocacy Chair for Rising Arts Leaders of San Diego, and 2018 Center for Policy Initiatives BCLI Fellow. She was recognized for her contribution to the LGBT Center’s Young Professional’s Council with two awards from Senator Toni Atkins, and former mayor of San Diego and assemblymember Todd Gloria. Natasha strives to drive awareness, advocacy, and policy reform in the areas of equality, accessibility, community equity, art and human rights initiatives.
Jen LaBarbera
Education & Advocacy Manager
Jen was the Head Archivist at Lambda Archives of San Diego, where she collected, preserved, and taught the LGBTQ history of San Diego, the Imperial Valley, and northern Baja California. In addition to her work in the library and archives field, she has also worked as a political and community organizer for reproductive justice in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, and Massachusetts. Jen received her BA in the Study of Women and Gender and Government from Smith College and her MA in Library and Information Science from the University of Denver.
Bob Leyh
Programs Manager
A longtime member of the San Diego LGBT community and Pride family, Bob is thrilled to be Pride’s Programs Manager. Come volunteer with Pride and let me show you the wonderful world of San Diego LGBT Pride.
Chance McKee
Director of Development
Chance comes to Pride with a sincere passion for LGBTQ equality and more than 9 years’ experience in creating and executing development programs for statewide organizations. Throughout his career, he has provided senior leadership to non-profits by creating innovative development and outreach programs while serving as a thought leader to move organizations forward. Chance looks forward to strengthening Pride through his experience in full-service fundraising, communications, and development.
Gardenia Partridge
Entertainment Director
Through her commitment to the nonprofit sector and a background in entertainment, Gardenia strives to bring a vibrant community of global artists together through music to celebrate and support the LGBTQIA community.
Alex Villafuerte
Marketing & Communications Manager
Having worked his entire professional career in eCommerce & digital marketing, Alex looks forward to bring innovative strategies to best tell Pride’s entire story. He is essentially a San Diego native having moved from Oahu to Southeast San Diego where he graduated from Morse High School & went on to receive his B.A. in Economics at San Diego State. He received 2016 Pride Volunteer of the Year & a special commendation from City Councilmember Chris Ward for his time as a Pride volunteer.
San Diego Pride Leadership Team
Ryan Bradley
Exhibitor Relations Coordinator
I’m excited to dedicate my time to a cause I hold near and dear to my heart. The 2002 San Diego Pride Festival was the first event I attended at age 17 after coming out to my friends and family. Since that experience I’ve joined Pride yearly. For the third year in a row I’m honored to help our vendors achieve their best, most successful Pride experience.
Vanessa Dubois
Photography Coordinator
I moved to San Diego 14 years ago from France and started volunteering for San Diego Pride as a photographer the following year. Photography is a passion, so capturing the essence of Pride is an honor and it is always a pleasure to connect with staff, volunteers and the entire Pride family.
Dan has been an activist for progressive causes for the past nine years, and he has been a member of the core festival staff since 2015. A recent graduate of UCSD, he hopes to continue his work with Pride far into the future.
McKenzie Jackson
Dispatch Supervisor
McKenzie is an avid volunteer around San Diego & a proud member of the LGBTQIA family. In her free time, she works with different communication groups providing communications to different events in and out of the county & community.
Melissa is currently involved with Young Professionals Council-Executive Committee, San Diego Pride, San Diego Trans Pride and SheFest as their accessibility coordinator, making sure all community events and meetings are accessible through American Sign Language.
Connor Maddocks
Festival Advisor
Connor is a former member of the San Diego Pride Board of Directors and has been an active volunteer for 11 years, now donating his time as the Pride Festival Advisor. He has been doing advocacy and civil rights work in the San Diego Transgender community for the past 12 years.
Mark Maddox
Assistant Parade Manager
Mark moved to San Diego in summer 2013 from Seattle. Since 2015, he has been volunteering with several departments at the Festival, Parade, and in the office. Mark enjoys helping SD Pride put on an amazing weekend of festivities and supporting the community work throughout the year.
Cristy Pastelin
Festival VIP Manager
22 year old, Southern California native, with a passion to serve others. I have volunteered with many other organizations in the past and still active and now volunteering at SD Pride for the past 4 years and hoping to volunteer for many more years to come. Currently studying “the science of business administration” at CCSD. I am ambitious, charismatic, and creative when it comes to work and making everyone enjoy a great and safe time.
Jennifer Restle advocates and educates on issues of disability and bisexuality, which sprang from personal experience and began long before she knew the words to describe any of it.
Volunteering to make a difference, with an incredible team that makes me look good 🙂
Larry M. Sanchez
Festival Ticket Sales Coordinator
Trust the heart of a volunteer.
Joseph Smith
Medical Director
Joe is an RN with the SDPD. He joined the military as a corpsman with the Marine Corps in 2004 where he practiced tactical medicine and care-under-fire as a Fleet Marine Force Warfare Specialist. He’s been volunteering for 16 years & continues to do so with San Diego Pride since 2012.
Tom Urbanski
Parade Finish Line Coordinator
Happily keeping the end of every year’s parade finish line orderly for over a decade
Tyler Vazquez
Digital Marketing Coordinator
Pride has been part of Tyler’s life since he was a teenager. His first year volunteering was in 2017 and it helped strengthen his love for the community & LGBTQ serving non-profits.
Naomi Velez-Mack
Parade Check-in Manager
Throughout her work with the San Diego Unified School District and volunteering with various other organizations, Naomi has been consistent in her desire to help others and ensure that everyone is fully comfortable in their own life.
Marcia Wall
Copy Editor
Marcia has been volunteering with Pride off and on for the past 20 years. She’s volunteered with Pride in the Volunteer Village, at Volunteer Check-in, at the Children’s Garden, and with the Art of Pride group. As the Pride Copy Editor, her job is really cool because I get to work remotely from my home or wherever I’m traveling to. I’m an extra set of eyes on all Pride’s documents and text.
