Board Member Profiles
The Premier Association Supporting & Enabling Pride Organizers in the United States
Executive Committee
Ron De Harte, Palm Springs Pride
Co-President, Male -, Trans -, Nonbinary -,Identified
Ron deHarte - serves as the President & CEO of Greater Palm Springs Pride and has been a Pride volunteer since 2003. He's held officer positions with Consolidated Association of Pride (CAPI) and InterPride including serving three terms as the InterPride Region 1 Regional Director. He currently serves as a chairperson for the City of Palm Springs Human Rights Commission and as a member of the Palm Springs Police Chief’s LGBTQ advisory board. He’s been the President of Palm Springs Pride since 2010 and previously served as Executive Director of San Diego Pride. He is the founder and Chair of the Cesar Chavez Breakfast Celebration and the Coachella Valley Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Coalition and served on the inaugural San Diego Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast Committee. Ron has been recognized for his community service including CAPI’s 2019 Person of the Year, the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce 2019 Community Spirit Award, Safe Schools Desert Cities Champion of Youth 2018, Human Rights Campaign Advocate for Equality 2017 as well as 2015 Outstanding Community Service Leader by the Palm Springs Desert Business Association, he served as International Grand Marshal of the Tijuana Pride parade in 2007 and 2017 and as the International Friend of the Year 2012. When he’s not advocating for equal rights, Ron's decades-long background in planning, operations, management, and large-scale event production is put to good use on other civic events. He’s a father of two boys and lives with his partner of twenty-two years.
Eve Keller, Indy Pride
Co-President,
Female - Identified
Eve Keller (she/her) has been with Interaction Associates, a 53-year-old learning and development organization, since December 2017 and currently supports the company as the Director of Client Solutions and International Partnerships. She began using her instructional design experience as the product development project manager. By 2019, she was promoted to Director of Project Management after successful project work with the CEO and the leadership team. She successfully created project plans and led stakeholders on high-level strategic business projects surrounding five key results areas: product development, quality leads, sales engine, high-quality services, and performance management. Prior to Interaction Associates, Eve served on various local, state, and federal contracts under two separate consulting firms for over 10 years as an instructional designer. In 2015, Eve obtained her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification and was immediately promoted to project manager on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contract. She successfully completed both Medicare and Marketplace training projects on time and within budget with high yearly performance reviews. With a strong background and passion for education, she brings multiple layers of experience that allow efficient ideas to flow freely, along with the agility to tackle many projects and tasks. Eve continues to have positive relationships with her past supervisors in her network. Eve’s volunteer work includes local, regional, national, and international non-profit organizations centered around human rights activism in the form of organizing LGBTQIA+ Pride festivals, events, protests, and educational opportunities.
Email Eve
Dave Wait, Motor City Pride
Secretary
I am interested in serving as Secretary for United States Association of Prides. I have selected Secretary because I have already coordinated the formation of our bylaws, submitted the corporate documents for us to form as an organization, and the processing of our 501c3 IRS application. Continuing as Secretary will allow me to see the process through to the final formation of the Association. This role will also be aided by serving on the InterPride Board, as a member of both boards I will be in a position to bridge both organizations during this formation process. I also selected the secretary position because it is the shorter two yearposition, this will allow me to help with the formation and then pass the position on for another person to become involved.
Serving as secretary will also allow me the opportunity to provide input into the first conference for USAP. As USAP plans its first conference, we will need to take a close look at the best time to hold the conference so that it is not held too close to InterPride, our existing regional conferences, and when most of our Prides take place. This will need to be a careful balancing act to schedule the conference when there will be the fewest conflicts and when it will allow for the greatest participation from our member Prides. My conference planning experience will also help to offer a program that will also serve the needs of the attendees and our member Prides.
I began my involvement with the pride movement in 2004 when I first volunteered for a ‘shift’ at Motor City Pride. That four-hour shift lead to my serving various roles, and now as the chairperson of the Motor City Pride. With my event planning and advocacy experience, we have been able to grow MCP from an afternoon street fair attracting 10,000 people into a regional weekend festival that attracts over 55,000 participants each year.
In addition to Motor City Pride, I served eight years on the board for Equality Michigan: Michigan’s statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization. At a national level, I have been a member of the National LGBT Task Force Creating Change Conference’s Management Team.
I am employed as 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.
Cristal Robinson, Union County Pride
Treasurer
Cristal Robinson (they/them) is an attorney, business owner, and educator dedicated to championing the rights of neurodivergent, queer, and diverse individuals. As the founder of Robinson Law, Cristal specializes in discrimination law under civil and disability rights, while also advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion across various sectors. With a Juris Doctor, Master of Business Administration, and Bachelor of Business Administration in finance, Cristal brings a wealth of expertise to their practice.
Before establishing Robinson Law, Cristal owned American Real Estate Services in Amarillo, Texas, and held a certification as a Montessori teacher. Upon relocating to North Carolina, Cristal streamlined their legal focus, transitioning away from family, bankruptcy, and criminal law to prioritize their core areas of expertise: education, employment, and entrepreneurship/non-profit. Their firm operates in a paperless, virtual, and mobile capacity, reflecting a commitment to efficiency and accessibility.
Active within various organizations, Cristal holds positions such as Founding President of Union County Pride, Inc., and serves on the boards of RevUp NC, Inc., the National Organization for Women - Charlotte NC Chapter, the Pauli Murray LGBTQ Bar Association, the NCDP Disability Issues Caucus, and the North Carolina Bar Association's SOGI Committee. Additionally, Cristal is honored to be recognized as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a distinction reserved for the top one percent of lawyers in each jurisdiction.
Beyond their legal career, Cristal finds fulfillment in family life, cherishing moments with their autistic son and spouse while navigating their own journey of self-discovery as a late-diagnosed autistic professional.
District Representatives
Central District
Jonathan Balash, Spencer Pride
Jonathan Balash (he/him) is a native-born Hoosier & self-identified gay man who currently serves as President of Spencer Pride, Inc., one of the most successful rural LGBTQ+ organizations in the Midwest. Jonathan received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Indiana University Bloomington and has spent the past 14 years in a variety of leadership roles within biotechnology companies. Jonathan & his husband Jacob are strong, vocal allies of LGBTQ+ equality and are two of the founders of Spencer Pride. Jonathan was also a founding member of USAP.
Mark Liberson, Chicago Pride Fest
Mark Liberson is a Chicago business owner (Hydrate Nightclub, Replay Lakeview, Replay Andersonville, Elixir Andersonville, and Elixir Lakeview) and an active member of the community, serving as the Vice President of the Northalsted Business Alliance, the Chairperson of Chicago’s Pride Fest and Market Days festivals, and is a Board Member of the Andersonville Chamber of Commerce and Howard Brown Health, where he chairs the Development Committee. Mark also serves as one of two elected representatives for the Midwest region to InterPride’s Global Advisory Council and is a member of the WorldPride Committee, Finance Committee, and Scholarship Committee. He serves on the finance and Governance committees for Northalsted and created the audit program for the Northalsted festivals recovering over $200,000 from the detailed review of each event since it began. Mark is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Cornell University with a major in Government and completed his Masters in Education at the University of Chicago. Mark lives in Edgewater with his longtime partner (and husband since it became legal) Rodney Becker, whom he first met over 30 years ago.
Eastern District
Alan Reiff, NYC Pride / OUTAstoria
Alan Reiff (he/him) has volunteered with NYCPride for 38 years: starting with a hefty garbage bag on the clean-up crew. In 1995 he became the Secretary. He’s held various positions, including Community Relations Director, Pridefest Director, Treasurer, and Co-Chair from 2001-2003 and 2011–2013. Today, he is active on the following committees: The March, Community Relations, and Development. His latest incarnation with NYCPride is as a co-writer of the ABC TV March Broadcast script. From October 2013 to September 2017, Alan was active with Queens Pride. He served as Festival Director, Co-Chair, NERP 2015 Programming Director, and Secretary. He is also a member of OUTAstoria, and a founding member of OUTBronx. He has been a part of InterPride for almost 30 years. He was on the first WorldPride Committee in 2000 and worked in Rome on that event. He was elected the first WorldPride committee co-chair and held that position till 2019. Positions held: Executive Secretary for 2 years ending in 2011 and is a member of the Human Rights and Grants Committees. He was the keynote speaker at Budapest Pride 2001, where he brought the first Rainbow Flag to that city. He spoke at Warsaw EuroPride in 2011. He participated in the organization of WorldPride London 2012 and carried the InterPride banner at EuroPride 2013 in Marseille, France. He also organized InterPride’s booth at WorldPride Toronto 2015. He served as a Regional Director for the Northeast region of the USA up to 2019. Past international missions include speaking at CSD Konstanz Pride in Germany in 2013. This was especially moving since his grandparents were forced to leave Europe before WW I, and he returned as an honored guest. Other missions: Vilnus, Lithuania for Baltic Pride 2014 (with Stuart Milk), Riga, Latvia for EuroPride 2015, and the summer of 2016 to Amsterdam Europride 2016. In April of 2016, he co-led the first ever LGBT Youth Activists workshop in Bucharest, Romania. He was very active in helping to plan World Pride Madrid 2017, helping with logistics. He was the international delegates liaison for attending groups at WorldPride 2019 in NYC. He was elected back to the InterPride Board as the Secretary in October 2020: he still holds this position. In 2021 he had the honor of being InterPride’s representative at the WorldPride in Copenhagen, Denmark. He continued his dedication to WorldPride with his participation in the production of WorldPride 2023 in Sydney, Australia. He worked for 30 years and retired in July 2022 from the NYC Department of Education as an ENL Coordinator in the South Bronx. He is multilingual, which he credits for his ability to be able to function in any situation. He has taught high school in Suzhow, China, as well as creating a language protocol for new U.S. immigrants for the International Rescue Center Arizona office. Prior to teaching full-time, he worked for EL AL Israel Airlines based in NYC and was an ESL Adjunct Lecturer for LaGuardia Community College. He has participated in and led many workshops over the years on Pride organizing as well as on ENL education. He has always been proud to be an OUT teacher. He has lived by Harvey Milk’s rule of being authentic and being OUT. In 2019, Alan began facilitating a GSA lunchtime group and a LGBTQ Visiting Writers Program at his middle school. He has found these endeavors to be the most rewarding things he has ever done. “I’m giving these kids something I never had.” This unique combination of Pride experience and being an OUT teacher has made him a role model and advocate. He has been recognized for his work by receiving the 2019 UFT Daniel Dromm Excellence in Educator Award for OUT LGBTQ Teachers, The 2016 PFLAG Morty Manford Award as a trailblazer and role model, the 2018 MOST VALUABLE PLAYER award from his school, The Bronx Academy of Multi-media, and the 2020-2021 UFT Middle School Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to his chapter and school community. He continues his LGBTQ activism as that is “his lifeblood,” and he still has a few hefty garbage bags left to fill.
Jayne Walters, Annapolis Pride
Jayne Walters (she/her) is a Board Member for Annapolis Pride and former Board Member and the Director of Education for Indy Pride. She was the first openly transgender manager in the history of Indianapolis Public Library. Having worked in libraries for over 14 years, she now works for the Anne Arundel County Public Library, her writing has been featured in Library Journal and Children & Libraries. She has spoken on LGBTQ+ issues for libraries, companies, legislature, and on the news, gave a keynote speech at the USAP 2024 Conference, and is a contributing author in the book Trans and Gender Diverse Voices in Libraries (2023). Her passions include LGBTQIA+ representation in juvenile literature; making sure libraries are accessible and equitable for the community and making them a safe and welcoming environment for all.
Southern District
Matt Comer, Charlotte Pride
Hello! I’m Matt Comer (he/him/his). I was raised in Winston-Salem, N.C., but Charlotte has been my home since 2007. I love this city and am proud to call it my adopted hometown. I have more than a decade of professional experience in keeping ideas, communities, and organizations moving and communicating. I've worn many hats over my 15-year career: blogger, reporter, newspaper editor, magazine designer, web designer, event planner, operations and logistics director, media spokesperson, and so much more. From 2007 to 2015, I worked as editor of QNotes, Charlotte’s LGBTQ community newspaper. In 2008, I began my service to Charlotte Pride as a volunteer and board member. In 2017, I became a staff member at Charlotte Pride, ending my staff tenure in December 2022 as director of operations and communications. I currently work as director of communications and digital engagement for St. Stephen United Methodist Church. Outside of work, I continue my volunteer support for Charlotte Pride and serve as a deacon at my home church, St. John’s Baptist. I am proud to serve as a Southern District Representative on the USAP Board of Directors, where I also serve as chair of the USAP Communications Committee. In my free time, I enjoy traveling to the Blue Ridge Mountains, studying history and family genealogy, and tending to my small and humble flower garden.
Vanessa Rodley, Mid-South Pride
Vanessa Rodley is a distinguished figure in the LGBTQ+ community, known for her leadership and innovation. As a board member of Mid-South Pride since 2012 and its Festival Director since 2011, she has impressively grown the event's attendance from 4,000 to 58,000. Her adaptability was especially evident during COVID-19 when she led her team in delivering 20+ hours of virtual content over two years. This period saw the birth of "Drag N Drive," a popular drive-in event combining movies and drag shows. Her activism extends to Friends of George's, a drag-centric theatre company, where she's been a board member since 2011. In 2023, they won a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee to stop a Drag Ban, highlighting her commitment to LGBTQ+ rights. Originally from Los Angeles, Vanessa moved to Memphis, TN, 17 years ago and has been happily married to Jennifer Murry-Rodley for 22 years. Her achievements in LGBTQ+ advocacy earned her the Focus Publishers Award, recognizing her work with Mid-South Pride and her role in the legal victory against the drag ban. Professionally, Vanessa was the Outbound Shift Manager at AWG for a decade, leading a team of about 200. She left AWG for a less stressful role, joining New Urban Media as the Operations Manager in 2021, where she oversees operations at this online business management company.
Western District
Trevor Harder, Henderson Pride Fest
Trevor Harder (He/They) is a fierce advocate for inclusion. They have worked with numerous community organizations and schools to create inclusive youth programming for all students. They have also increased youth engagement at the Henderson Pride Fest by creating programming featuring the youth in the community! Their proudest achievement is championing a bill in the 2021 legislative session to include the histories of all minorities to be included in the Nevada state standards!
Jerry Mai, Henderson Pride Fest
Born and proudly raised in San Jose, California, Jerry knows firsthand the needs of the Silicon Valley community. Previously, he served as a Committee Chair for the San Francisco Bay Area region of the Human Rights Campaign; he bring to our team an extensive background in LGBTQ+ advocacy with other organizations such as Equality Texas, The Trevor Project, and San Diego PRIDE. Professionally, Jerry works in the public safety sector as a Investigator for the County of San Mateo. Outside of volunteering and work, he enjoys traveling, trying new restaurants and collecting shoes. Jerry volunteers because it gives him a great sense of unity being able to connect with our community. His upbringing has been shaped by societal expectations that often come within the traditional Asian cultures. His sexual identity has been a source of internal conflict, as traditional Asian values emphasize heterosexuality and marriage to continue the family line. The pressure to conform to these expectations can be overwhelming, which can often lead to feelings of isolation and self-doubt. However, his experiences have also taught him to be resilient and to find support from within his community. As a result, he has become more vocal about his identity and has found solace in connecting with others who share similar struggles. Jerry’s journey has also taught him the importance of challenging social norms and advocating for greater acceptance and understanding of diverse sexual orientations and identities.
