Earl Fowlkes - President
Earl Fowlkes serves as the President/CEO of the Center For
Black Equity, Inc. (formerly the International Federation of Black Pride
-IFBP). He founded the IFBP in 1999 ago as a coalition of organizers the United
States, Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa formed to promote a
multinational network of Black LGBT Pride and community-based organizations. There
are over forty plus Black Pride events with over 350,000 attendees each
year.
Prior to working at the Center For Black Equity, Earl
previously served fifteen years as the Executive Director of the DC
Comprehensive AIDS Resources and Education Consortium (DC CARE Consortium) and
Damien Ministries, organizations that provided services to Person Living With
HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC. Licensed as a Social Worker (New Jersey), Earl has worked on health, political and LGBTQ issues in many communities for nearly thirty years. Earl currently serves on seven on-profit boards of directors and serves as
Chair of Washington, DC Mayor's GLBT Advisory Committee. He also serves on the DC Commission on the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.
Earl has always been politically active focusing on voter
registration and getting out the vote activities particularly among communities
of color and LGBT Democrats. In 2009, he
was appointed by then Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as an At-Large member of the
Democratic National Committee (DNC). In
August 2013, Earl was reappointed, and elected Chair of the DNC LGBT Caucus. In December 2014, he was elected President of
the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club which is the second oldest LGBT Democratic
Club in the United States
Earl has received numerous honors and awards for his
community service, and was named one of three 2013 Grand Marshalls of the
Heritage of Pride (NYC Gay Pride) along with Harry Belafonte and Edith Windsor.
In September 2014, Earl was given the 2014 Wanda Alston Democratic Service
Award by the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club in Washington, DC. Earl is considered an expert on LGBT and
HIV/AIDS issues. He has written numerous articles and op-eds, and has appeared on the Roland Martin and Michael Baisden
shows. Earl currently resides in Washington, DC.
ENFP.
Martín Diego Garcia - Vice President for Legislative &
Political AffairsAs Director of Campaigns at the Latino Victory Project,
Martín is focused on encouraging, recruiting and supporting candidates to seek
public office who share Latino Victory's vision and values. He leads the
organization's endorsement process and leadership development programs.
Before
joining Latino Victory's team, Martín consulted on numerous campaigns for LGBT
candidates, candidates of color, independent expenditures, ballot initiatives
and advocacy campaigns at The Campaign Workshop. He advised winning campaigns
all over the country on strategy, messaging, direct mail and digital
advertising.
Prior to joining The Campaign Workshop, Martín was part of the Gay
& Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute's political team, endorsing,
supporting and training LGBT candidates running for office all over the country
and at all levels of government. Martín continues to work with the Victory
Institute's acclaimed candidate and campaign training program, helping to train
hundreds of LGBT candidates and staff.
Martín is a Southern California native
and graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara receiving
degrees in Political Science and Theatre Studies. He's also a graduate of NOI's
New Media Bootcamp, a CLP New Leaders Fellow Alumni, a Congressional Chorus
member and was chosen as one of IMPACT's 2014 Leaders.
Amada Fitzsimmons - Vice President for AdministrationAmada Fitzsimmons is an energetic Democrat from the South
Side of Chicago. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she participated in Colors of Pride - the
university's LGBTQ minority club. She then went on to earn a MBA from Saint
Xavier University. After SXU, Amada became active in the Chicago LGBTQ
community through the Center on Halsted and a variety of intramural sports
leagues. In 2012, she joined the Presidential Re-election Campaign where she
served as Procurement Manager. Following the campaign, she moved to Washington
D.C. to begin her current position as Technology Project Administrator for the
Democratic National Committee. There, Amada has worked in database management
and technology operations. She currently resides in Navy Yard and is very
excited to work with the Stein Club to promote LGBTQ community and activism.
Dwayne Bensing - Secretary
Originally from Arkansas, Dwayne J. Bensing was President of
the Young Democrats at the University of Arkansas and was a Delegate to the
2004 Democratic National Convention. After graduating, he joined
Teach for America and taught in inner-city Philadelphia. After TFA,
Dwayne attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he was
President of Lambda Law. While in Philadelphia, Dwayne was on the board
of the Liberty City Democratic Club. Since moving to DC in 2012, Dwayne
was an associate at a Washington D.C. law firm where he worked on two
asylum matters for gay clients and represented a transgender client in a
federal discrimination lawsuit. Dwayne is now a Trial Attorney with the
Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Educational Opportunities
Section. Dwayne was recognized by the LGBT Bar as one of the "Best LGBT
Lawyers Under 40" in 2014. Dwayne has been active with the
Stein Democrats since 2013 and has served on the Membership Committee.
Dwayne lives in the Logan/Shaw neighborhood with his partner of 9 years,
Christopher.
Jessica Pierce - Treasurer