PRIDE WEEK Jackie “The Mixtress” Mason Jackie The Mixtress represents the beautiful island of Barbados, and is one of five island babies who, by normalizing the LGBTQ lifestyle by melding it with their culture, form the group Island Pride Boston. Jackie The Mixtress is one the world’s most versatile FEMalE DJs. From the Club to STREETS to THE RADio, The Mixtress has been mixing since the tender age of 13, specializing in soca, dancehall, hip-hop, EDM, and trap music. The Mixtress brings years of experience to the Boston Black Pride team for 2016. Danny Matos Danny es de Puerto Rico. Es diseñador de ropa, makeup artist, diseñador arte gráfico, promotor de Escándalo Latin Nights en Machine Boston. Actualmente es el dueño oríginal de Império Gay Boston y productor de eventos. Su importancia en este ambiente es la lucha y diversidad de derechos para l@s latin@s en la comunidad LGBT. Es por eso que decidió ser parte de la organización para el Boston Pride, porque es una manera de acercarnos más como comunidad y crear vínculos para una sociedad major en este ambiente que incluya a tod@s por igual y crear eventos de importancia dentro de la comunidad LGBT. Vionet Montano Vionet Montano was born in NYC and raised in the Dominican Republic. She loves merengue, bachata, salsa, reggae – you name it. While going to college in Boston, she discovered a lack of diversity in events that she could attend as a lesbian. She had to go to straight clubs in order to get a taste of her roots. Accordingly, for the last five years Vionet has been hosting events to cater to the Black and Latin@ communities under the promotional name Buenas Entertainment. She later became part of the group Island Pride Boston, along with four other Caribbean women, who, like her, want to bring diversity to the Massachusetts club scene. In 2015, she had the pleasure to be a part of Black and Latin@ Pride Boston and looks forward to “mashing up the road” for Boston Pride 2016. Henry Paquin Henry was born and raised in Boston. A local event planner and community organizer, he has been a member of Boston Pride for over five years. During that time, Henry has worn many hats and organized several Pride events, among them the royal pageant, youth dances, and Pride Day @ Faneuil Hall. He is currently working to debut a new fundraising event in the fall: the Diva Dash - High Heel Race 2016. Henry is also a member of the Imperial Court of Massachusetts, serving as Director of Special Events. Through his annual Drag Divas event, he has raised over $10,000 to benefit the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition.
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Deborah Pierre A longtime straight ally, Deborah has volunteered for Boston Pride for the past six years. This is her first year as a member of the Committee, serving as Beverage and Ice Coordinator. She enjoys seeing all the smiling faces during Pride Week. Deborah works at Massachusetts General Hospital as a Patient Service Coordinator. She has loads of fun watching anime and has twice joined Boston Pride’s contingent at Anime Boston, most recently in March. Ziggy Pijewski Ziggy is excited to be serving as Logistics Manager this year. At previous Boston Pride celebrations he could be found volunteering as security or riding aboard a parade float. Since 2010 he has also volunteered for the Pan-Mass Challenge, an annual bike-a-thon that raises money for essential cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is an enthusiastic traveler; he particularly enjoys spending time with friends in Spain and Peru. With a history of managing the effective daily performance of the busing services at Logan International Airport, in addition to his current work as a systems engineer at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Ziggy is seeing to the successful coordination and operation of Boston Pride 2016. Martha Plaza Martha is returning for her sixth year as Parade Chair. She joined Boston Pride as a Parade Section Leader in 2008 and in 2010 joined the Parade Committee, quickly taking on the role of Parade Chair that same year. Beyond her commitment to Pride, Martha works at Veristat, a full service CRO that services pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. As Director of Project Management Martha oversees 14 employees and works closely with clients to manage their clinical trials. She also does volunteer trail work at Acadia National Park and brings the skills she learns there back to Massachusetts, where she volunteers at the Trustees of Reservations as well as the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge. Tammy Plaza Tammy has been a member of Boston Pride since 2008. For Pride Week 2016 she is serving her second consecutive term as Youth Dance Chair. She also collaborates with her wife Martha as Parade Coordinator, a role she has performed since 2010. During the daytime, Tammy is Clinical Counselor at Grafton House group home for You, Inc., where she works with female youth. She also attends Worcester State University part time, where she is pursuing a BS in Urban Studies with a concentration in Human Services. She and her wife have been married for nine years, have three cats, and try to carve out time (when possible) to spend outdoors.
