Our Staff & Board
Victor Diaz-Herman
Executive Director
Victor Diaz-Herman was born and raised in Miami Florida. He is a graduate of Gulliver Academy, Gulliver Preparatory, Florida State University, University of South Florida, and the Connecticut School of Broadcasting. Victor has a Bachelors degree in English and a minor in television and radio broadcast journalism.
Victor’s commitment to empowering youth began with a ten year tenure at the YMCA where the majority of his time was spent developing leadership and goal setting programs at sleep-away camps in Tallahassee, Florida and Ellsworth, Maine. His efforts laid the ground work for Camp Indian Springs and Camp Jordan’s Counselor in Training and Leaders in Training Programs. Followed by a three year term at the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Victor served as the Festival Coordinator and Operations Manager, he established invaluable relationship with South Florida’s GBLTQ community.
Victor is no stranger to South Florida’s LGBTQ community; he was raised by lesbian mothers, aunties, and his uncle, the first openly gay Miami Beach Commissioner, Victor Diaz. Victor also has an engaged father who supports his involvement in the LGBTQ community. As a result, he was raised in an open minded community and has since become an advocate for LGBTQ equality and LGBTQ youth.
Victor is the Co-Chair for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Winter Party Festival, a National Action Council member for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the Chair of the Alliance for GLBTQ Youth service providers council.
An employee, volunteer, and donor of the LGBTQ community, Victor believes in the equality of all people regardless of sexual orientation and identity on a local and national level.
Luigi Ferrer
Director of Programs & Grant Development
Luigi is an experienced Bisexual activist, a marine biologist and concerned environmentalist, a nationally-recognized HIV/AIDS activist, and a health care and non-profit consultant. He served as executive director for the Body Positive Resource Center and the Bisexual Foundation and held key management and program development positions with several national HIV specialty pharmacies.
Most recently he worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health HIV/AIDS Bureau overseeing HIV prevention programs throughout the state. Luigi’s involvement with youth began early in his career when he served Boy Scout District Executive for the Florida Keys. He worked with youth at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami and in 2006 was appointed to the Massachusetts Commission for GLBT Youth, an advisory committee to the Massachusetts legislature.
Gabriel Garcia-Vera
Programs Assistant
Gabriel Garcia-Vera was born in Puerto Rico and currently resides in Miami, FL where he is a student at Miami Dade College. Gabriel plans to graduate with a Degree in Human Services and wishes to pursue a career as a social worker. A former youth at Pridelines Youth Services, Gabriel understands the importance of the Pridelines mission and the youth we serve. In addition, Gabriel is the Youth Council Advisor where he focuses on helping our youth develop leadership skills and ensures that they have a voice on our board.
Jose Villar-Portella
Outreach & Health Promotions Specialist
José was born in the city of Habana, Cuba. He is a recent graduate of Florida International University and will soon begin work on his doctoral degree in Spanish Literature and Gender/Sexuality Studies. His work as an activist stems from his experiences as an immigrant and queer-identified Latino living in Miami. He first came to Pridelines Youth Services through his activist work in the local food justice movement and stayed because of his commitment to social justice and HIV/AIDS advocacy. As the Outreach and Health Promotion Specialist for Pridelines, José ensures youth at the center and in the city of Miami at large have access to vital resources such as free and confidential HIV testing and HIV/STD prevention education in partnership with Care Resource. In the future, he hopes to put himself out of work by contributing to a truly just and egalitarian world, in part so he can spend his time writing poetry and tending to his garden in the south of Spain.
Jessica Lam
Program Facilitator
Jessica functions as the Program Facilitator, providing administrative support for youth programs and as a group facilitator for the transgender group, Between Here and Somewhere Else, Becoming Women and Youth Enrichment Activities. More recently, she was invited to join the Aqua Foundation for Women to serve on the Board of Directors. Jessica has a background in Communications and Information Technology.
Her experience as a speaker and advocate for women’s and transgender issues are well known throughout the Community. She is a frequent speaker for the Yes Institute, has presented in panels with Dr. Marilyn Volker and other University Professors by speaking and engaging classes and lectures, and has also appeared nationally with her children on the Larry King Live program in the summer of 2007.
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Bart Armstrong, Esq.
Chairman, Board member
Frank Avila
Vice Chairman, Board member
A Miami Beach resident for more than 16 years, Frank is the co-chair of the Pridelines Adult Gala committee. He has many years of experience in the fashion industry, in both New York and Los Angeles. Frank serves on the Board of 4th Dimension of South Beach, a local community theater, and is an active supporter of the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal Defense Fund. He is also a mentor to a youth through the Big Brother and Big Sister organization.
Pablo Ottado
Treasurer, Board member
Pablo Ottado is a Senior Manager with a global consulting firm, and has more than 15 years of experience in Finance, Enterprise Risk Management, Consulting, and Accounting. In addition to serve as the Treasurer for Pride Lines Youth Services, Pablo volunteers in several local not-for-profit organizations including United Way and Hands on Miami. Pablo has a BA in Accounting from the University of Buenos Aires, is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA – Argentina), and holds an MBA in Finance and General Management from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN). Pablo has been a resident of Miami Beach since May of 2004.
Richard Murry
Secretary, Board member
As a founding partner of The Treister Murry Agency, a Miami Beach-based public relations and marketing firm, Richard directs strategic planning, client service and creative development for the Agency’s diverse roster of clients. At Pridelines, Richard chairs the marketing committee and has also been active on boards and committees for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, St. John’s Church, Miami Beach Gay Pride, Shoes for the Soul, AIDS Walk Miami, Health Crisis Network, Food for Life Network, Super Bowl XXXIII, and Little Acorns’ youth drug prevention programs. He graduated with honors from Southern Methodist University in Dallas with two Bachelor of Arts degrees, one in journalism and the other in broadcast/film.
Abe Hasbun
Board member
Abe Hasbun has resided 26 years in South Florida, the last 10 being in Fort Lauderdale. He attended Miami Killian Sr. High and Florida International University and has been an insurance agent for the last 16 years. Abe has been very active in the Gay Sport Scene in Broward County having served on the Board of Directors for the local bowling and softball leagues. He was South Florida’s representative at Council meetings for the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance from 2005-2008 and currently serves as Treasurer for the SFAAA softball league. In connection with these leagues, he has organized food drives for The Daily Bread Food Bank and Harvest Drive for the last six years.
Michael Inesta
Board member
A Miami resident since 2007, Mike is a devoted child and adolescent psychiatrist with experience in serving LGBT clients. He works on the staff of Miami Behavioral Health Centers, where he provides outpatient and inpatient services for children and adolescents, and is a research consultant at the University of Miami. Mike volunteers with SAVE Dade, an organization that helps safeguard equal rights for Miami-Dade’s LGBT community. Born and raised in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, he has extensive experience in public mental health policy, having implemented mental health services for the Puerto Rican government before moving to Miami.
Martha Sternberg
Board member
It was at the 1987 March on Washington that Martha Sternberg got her activism on, and she has been fighting the struggle for human rights and equality ever since. Through raising awareness about AIDS, gender rights, women’s rights, consumer rights the environment and sustainability, she has worked in political campaigns, on issue campaigns and with grassroots efforts.
She is a founding board member of the Aqua Foundation for Women and has also served on the board of Broward Women in Network (WIN). Martha has more than 15 years of media experience having worked on the news desks of major dailies and community newspapers, managed accounts for public relations and government relations firms and was the publicist for a nationally known meteorologist. She started in media as the news director for AlterNet – Gay and Lesbian Radio for South Florida, the nation’s first advertiser supported gay radio program.
Martha currently works as a copy editor at the Daily Business Review. Prior to joining to the Review, she worked on the copy desk at the Miami Herald and as a managing editor with the Sun-Sentinel Community News, where she won an award from the Florida Press Club. Martha has also contributed to political and features articles addressing issues important to women.
Eda Valero-Figueira
Board member
Eda Valero-Figueira, is retired from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. She has been involved in education most of her life and is very committed to the underserved youth community. While at HRSA, Eda was instrumental in the initiation of the program for youth living with HIV/AIDS—a program that funds 17 institutions across the nation. She is particularly interested in providing support to LGBTY because she believes youth are the future of this world. She currently serves as a panelist for Foster Care, Inc. and is also a member of the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council.