Front row, left to right: Kelvin Young, Frank Ciglar, Yvette Deas, Lorraine Hall, M. Renee Huff, Pedro Rosado, Thandiwe Thomas DeShazor. Middle row, left to right: Joe Hawkins, Amber Todd. Back row, left to right: Jonathan Arnold, Michael Lee.
Photo by Dani Dynes © 2010

Joe Hawkins
Co-Chair
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Joe Hawkins is a noted Oakland California community activist and community organizer. In 2009, he was selected to be a Community Grand Marshall for San Francisco Pride. Mr. Hawkins  was also chosen as one of Click Magazine’s top 25 Elite Black gay men in America.

Joe was the first Black gay man to appear on national television, on the Oprah Winfrey show in 1989, defending his right to parent his then 6-year-old son. Joe as served as a CEO of the Bay Area's first non-profit tech training program for youth of color and Executive Director and Administrator of various non-profit organizations, to inlcude the AIDS Project of the East Bay. He was a founding organizer of the East Bay AIDS Walk and was co-producer of the nation’s first and largest Black LGBT Film Festival in Oakland, California.

Mr. Hawkins also owns one of the nation’s first Black gay lifestyle websites and currently produces the largest weekly GLBT Hip Hop/R&b events in the pacific northwest. He is also the producer of Palm Springs California's first international, annual gay/bi men of color getaway event called "BLATINO OASIS.

A military veteran, Mr. Hawkins’ work in the community has been recognized by the White House and featured on Good Morning America and in numerous publications to include, USA Today and the Wall Street Journal.

Amber Todd
Co-Chair
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Frank Ciglar
Treasurer
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Yvette Deas
Secretary
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Raised in NYC, Yvette was born to actor parents, and herself acted from age 2 to 13. At 17, she moved to Kyoto, then to North Carolina, to fly airplanes. As a flight instructor, she flew out of Newport News and Santa Monica. Yvette moved to Berkeley, CA  in 1996 to go U.C., where she graduated with Highest Honors and Phi Beta Kappa, despite having been a high school dropout. Yvette has held a variety of jobs: working with Alzheimer’s patients, developmentally-disabled adults and children, and as program coordinator and curator at a community gallery.  When she is able to tear herself away from crossword puzzles, Yvette likes to paint, and spend time with her partner, Jazzy. Yvette will be starting her MFA program at Stanford University starting fall 2010.

M. Renee Huff
Counsel
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Renee brings a wealth of experience to the Oakland Pride Board.  In her first life (as she calls it), Renee served as a Texas Peace Officer for five years and patrolled the streets of North Houston, Harris County for Precinct Four. Notably, while with the agency, Renee received two life saving awards, was the youngest Deputy in the Department’s history to be promoted to Corporal, and she was (and as far as we know, still is) the only African American woman ever to serve as a patrol supervisor for Precinct Four. And, we should probably mention that Renee accomplished all of this while attending the University of Houston-Downtown as a full-time student. We think it’s also noteworthy that Renee graduated Cum Laude with a B.S. in Criminal Justice and was honored with the only Outstanding Undergraduate Award issued in her major field of study.  

Always trying to outdo herself, Renee left law enforcement to attend law school.  She began at South Texas College of Law where she again found herself at the top of her class. For Renee’s last two years of study, she attended the University of Minnesota Law School, from which she graduated With Honors. Thereafter, Renee served as a federal judicial law clerk to the Honorable (then-Chief) Judge James M. Rosenbaum for United States District Court in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When Renee’s term concluded, she relocated to the Bay Area and worked as an associate for the prestigious law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC.

And, now, Renee has set her sights on serving on the Oakland Pride Board of Directors and helping Oakland Pride become the best in the Bay Area—and, she can do it in both English and Spanish too!

Jonathan Arnold
Logistics, Volunteer Coordinator
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Thandiwe Thomas DeShazor
PR & Marketing
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Thandiwe Thomas DeShazor is an actor, writer and comedian originally from Detroit. He is also an Account Executive at the East Bay Express and has a passion for working with small business owners. He tries his best to make people laugh and think.  Since moving to Oakland in 2006, he’s performed at The Noodle Factory, The Red Poppy Art House, The Garage, The Shattuck DownLow, Bimbo's and The Best of the East Bay Party.  His one-man show, "Children of the Last Days" was featured in the AfroSolo Arts Festival in 2009 and will be touring later this year.  For more information about Thandiwe and his show contact Nursha Project™, www.nurshaproject.com

Lorraine Hall
Administrative
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Michael Lee
Entertainment
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Pedro Rosado
Fundraising
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Kelvin Young
Communications
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Kelvin Ming Young is a Chinese-American visual artist based in Oakland, California. Kelvin was born in Taiwan and immigrated to the US at age 12. He received his BA from UC Berkeley, graduate certificate from School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and MFA from San Francisco Art Institute. Kelvin’s work is primarily abstract, with media ranging from watercolor and acrylic to mixed media.

Kelvin’s artwork has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including solo and group shows in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, UK, Taiwan and Chile. Kelvin’s art was featured on the San Francisco MUNI poster for the May 2005 Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. His works have also been seen in numerous publications including Studio Visit Magazine (Winter 2008) and Direct Art Magazine (Fall/Winter 2008). Most recently, his work was included in Epic: Visualizing Heroes Within, an exhibit presented by Gay Asian Pacific Alliance in San Francisco, as part of the 12th Annual United States of Asian America Festival in 2009. Kelvin’s artwork is represented by Togonon Gallery in San Francisco, California.

Kelvin has held a variety of jobs including art consultant, graphic artist and web designer. He is also a gourmet cook, and co-owned a catering business in Oakland specializing in Asian fusion cuisine for over 7 years. Kelvin also works as an art instructor with teaching experience from UC Berkeley and SFAI. Kelvin is currently working with Institute on Aging, Center for Youth and Elders in the Arts, in an experimental art program in gerontology research, teaching art and producing cross-generational art projects in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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