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The Board of Directors of Black Lesbian and Gay Pride Day, Inc. (BLGPD) is made of dedicated volunteers who have a passion and drive for BLGPD's mission and vision. Each board member brings special skills, experience and energy to the organization and helps recruit other volunteers to help plan for DC Black Pride and other events.
Maxanne Cheatham
Derrick Dunning
Jimma Elliott-StevensJimma Elliott-Stevens is currently a privacy and data protection attorney. Jimma has worked in the gay and lesbian community for many years, and she has assisted a number of clients who faced civil and human rights violations in the workplace.
Jimma has also served on the Board of Directors for DC Black Pride for past 4 years, where she has assisted the board as an advisor and pro bono attorney, particularly assisting with contractual issues. One of her most significant challenges came in 2010 when rapper, Wale, contracted to perform for a DC Black Pride event and then abruptly canceled his performance upon learning that he was performing for an LGBT organization. Jimma proved herself as a force to be reckoned with when she took on Jay-Z’s recording label, Roc Nation, and threatened legal action. Jimma was ultimately able to settle the matter, which resulted in a performance by the rapper and a large donation to the DC Black Pride organization. Over the years, Jimma has supported organizations such as Women in the Life, Black Lesbian Support Group (BLSG), and the Mautner Project, and she continues to be a strong advocate of LGBT and other human rights.
Jimma is a Washington, DC native. She has a BS from the University of Maryland, and JD from the George Washington University Law School. She also studied Human Rights Law at Oxford University in England, with a special emphasis on the International and Domestic Rights of Children.
Earl FowlkesSecretary & Chief Executive Officer
Earl Fowlkes serves as the President/CEO of the International Federation of Black Pride (IFBP). He founded the IFBP elevens years ago as a coalition of thirty Black Pride organizers the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa formed to promote a multinational network of LGBT/Same Gender Loving Pride and community-based organizations dedicated to building solidarity, health and wellness, promoting unity, and ensuring the development of education, economic empowerment, and individual and collective work, responsibility, and self-determination. Over 350,000 attended Black pride events in the U.S. in 2010. The IFBP is the only Black LGBT international organization in the world. Earl served as the President of DC Black Pride for seven years and is currently a board member.
In addition, Earl also recently served as the Executive Director of the DC Comprehensive AIDS Resources and Education Consortium (DC CARE Consortium) which is an organization that provides emergency assist to Person Living With HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC. He licensed as a Social Worker (New Jersey) and, has worked on HIV/AIDS and LGBT issues for twenty three years. Earl serves on seven non profit boards of directors and community advisory boards.
Earl is very politically active and supports progressive candidates and issues throughout the US. Last year, he was a member of the Obama LGBT Advisory Committee and traveled around the United States to support Democratic candidates running for office. Earl was appointed to the Democratic National Committee as a member at large in 2009. Earl resides in Washington, DC however remains a devoted to his hometown Philadelphia Phillies.
Kenya HuttonKenya Hutton began working in social service 12 years ago, starting at the Gay Men's Health Crisis, in New York City. Since then he has been an advocate for HIV prevention both on a local and National level, brining awareness to LGBT young adults and members of House/Ball Community, receiving a number accolades from the House/Ball Community including The Dorian Corey Wisdom Award, The Michael J. Harrington Humanitarian Award from the Gay Men's Health Crises House of Latex Project and the Award of Excellence from the Washington DC Ballroom Coalition.
He has devoted his life's work to the betterment of the African American community and supports the dream Eradicating the HIV virus.
Mr. Hutton has been a part of DC Black Pride through his affiliations with Organizations in Washington, DC, and is extremely enthusiastic about being on the DC Black Pride Board of Directors, and be a part of the mission of DC Black Pride.
Andrea Woody MackoAndrea Woody Macko is a native of Jamaica. She's a communications specialist by skill and education and is currently an electronic programmer for the Department of Defense. She lives in the Brookland community of Washington, DC with her wife and friend of more than 14 years. She has been long-time and active member of the metropolitan Washington LGBT community and has seen our community grow and evolve with her participation in volunteer work. One of Andrea's key skills is project management and the ability to make order out of chaos. She has volunteered with many organizations and agencies that serve the LGBT community and in many different areas with varied responsibilities.
For example, Andrea volunteered with Friends of Friends, making a weekly commitment to put together safe(er) sex kits and distributed the kits to clubs, Metro subway entrances and on the street. She's worked with PFLAG during its annual conference on the logistical side of professional meeting planning and with the Mautner Project during its annual Gala event, health fairs and outreach activities. More recently she worked with AARP as the volunteer lead logistical coordinator for its National Aging and Law Conference (approximately 1,500 people attend) to ensure all of the workshops were set up appropriately, including signage and audio recordings. Andrea has also worked with the AARP LGBT affinity group at Capitol Pride participating in outreach and recruitment including gathering data for their survey of older LGBT adults. Andrea is an active participant in the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, DC and holds a leadership position in the Welcoming/Ushers Ministry.
Andrea brings a sense of professionalism and enthusiasm to her role as a member of the Board of Directors of DC Black Pride. One of her major tasks for this year's Black Pride event is to organize and coordinate the Film Festival. For her, this is a dream assignment because of her passion to watch and critique films. She says "Organizing the film festival is a great opportunity to be able to view numerous films, talk to the directors and producers of the films and to make film selections consistent with some of the issues that are important to our community including bullying, brothers on the down low and blatant discrimination. She declares that she is committed to making this year's DC Black Pride the best one yet".
Marc Morgan
June Spence