ABOUT US: BOARD MEMBERS

Mikayla Connell
President

Mikayla joined the board in May, 2005 and was elected President in November, 2006. She joined the board because of love for San Francisco Pride; one of Mikayla’s first truly positive experiences as a transgender woman was her first Pride Parade in San Francisco during which she rode on a float with Transgender San Francisco. As she rode down Market Street she experienced not discrimination or derision, but love and celebration for everyone’s diversity. This was the first time that she felt accepted and the first time she felt like she belonged to a larger community. Pride has meant so much to Mikayla that now she serves on the board so she can give something back to the community that has given her so much. She would like to make sure the celebration goes on and that others will always have a place they can come out and be accepted for who they are just as she was. Of course, she also just likes throwing a little party for a million or so of her close, personal friends.

Mikayla has also served on the board of directors for the Transgender Law Center, including 2 years as its Board Chair, and has served as a member and Vice-Chair of the California State Bar Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Discrimination. By day she is an attorney for the Judicial Council of California but by night she is an activist, actress, gamer and mom. Though she works and volunteers, her first love is her family, namely, her son Mick, her cat Firefly, and her partner of 4 years, Melinda.

Nikki Calma
Vice President

Nikki joined the Board on March 2, 1999. Known to many in the Asian Pacific Islander Community as Tita Aida, she is Community Events Specialist for the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center and is very active in the Transgender Community.

Kelly Hart
Secretary
Kelly Rivera Hart is a Latino/Irish native San Franciscan, proud Bi leatherman and Interfaith minister. He believes that his passion and ministry is for community service and taking a stand for social justice. His involvement in community service and activism over the last 20+ years includes volunteering with Queer Nation, Shanti, Latino Equality, Ministries of Light, Latino Leather, Soulforce Colorado and the Radical Faeries.

Kelly is mostly known for being a chapter leader for Marriage Equality CA in 2004 and 2005, as an outreach volunteer to the Leather Community for Stop AIDS Project, the organizer for Turning The Tides and the person that led the interfaith blessing at the opening of the LGBT Center back in March of 2002.

Belinda Ryan
Treasurer

A Welsh native, Belinda is an immigration activist and is president of the board of Out4Immigration. She was a key member of the San Francisco chapter of Immigration Equality when they were voted by the community to serve as the Community Organization Grand Marshal of the 2004 Parade.

Joshua Hardwick

Joshua is 25-years old and was born and raised in Southern Alameda County. He is the youngest of 4 children and comes from a very diverse family. His father is Irish and Scottish with ancestry going back to England, Scandinavia, and Central Africa; his mother is German, British, and Mexican with ancestry going back to England and the Tejas Indian Tribe from Southern Texas.

Joshua began his community service involvement back in elementary school. While other kids were enjoying their summer breaks, Joshua was helping teachers clean up and close the school during the first week of summer and then would return two weeks before the start of the school year to help set up for a new school year.

Joshua's first leadership role was in eighth grade, when he became the first male President of the Caring Cougar Club at Alvarado Middle School in Union City. The Caring Cougar Club is the peer support and new student ambassador program for the campus. The following year, he became the student representative to the Service Learning Youth Committee of Southern Alameda County for his high school. In 1999 Joshua was selected to represent all male students in California to the National Service Learning Conference and the National Youth Service Committee. He also served as a Presenter at the Conference on Service-Learning 101. Since then, Joshua has put in almost 5,000 hours working with various AmeriCorps Programs in the Bay Area as a Classroom Teacher, Site Supervisor, Community Beautification Projects Leader and Donations and Logistics Manager for a non-profit organization.
Joshua gained experience in LGBT politics lobbying Congress on issues of education and LGBT rights, serving as a student voice on the California Teachers' Association LGBT Caucus, and being elected in 2006 as the Student Representative Alternate to the National Education Association LGBT and Gender Issues Committee.
Joshua is always committed to reaching out to the members that he was elected to represent—The Youth Voice. He is ready for the challenge of being on the Board of Directors and is open to the experiences still to come.

Johnson Livingston
Johnson Livingston is a proud member of the Dine' Nation. Since 1989, Johnson has been a professional hairstylist, and recently became a certified Swedish massage therapist. In 2006 Mayor Newsom appointed Johnson to the Ryan White Care Council, and in 2007, Johnson was privileged to serve as Miss Royal Bunny for the Ducal Court. Johnson is an outstanding member of Gay American Indians and a current member of Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits (BAAITS).

Joshua Maximillian Smith

A former president and vice-president of SFLGBTPCC, Joshua also co-produces the dance venue at the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration at Civic Center. He also serves as board president for San Francisco Lovefest. As a person of color Josh is proud of his contribution to the board representing people of color. He is currently employed by Washington Mutual.

Todd Torr

Todd joined the board in the spring of 2008. He is an avid traveler, and is interested in expanding SF Pride’s cooperation with international partner organizations. Todd lives in San Francisco with his partner, Emil Martinsek.

Lisa Williams

Lisa is the President and owner of One Source Consulting, a firm which does political consulting and community advocacy. She has served as Regional Director for the California Democratic Party’s Every Vote Campaign, Regional Director for Governor Gray Davis, and Field Representative for Mark Leno for Assembly. She is the Co-Chair of Lesbians and Gay of African Decent for Democratic Action (LGADDA), a Board member of the Alice B. Toklas Democratic Club, and PAC Chair for Black Women of Political Action.

Soni Wolf

Soni arrived in San Francisco in 1976 after driving across country from Rhode Island. She has been here ever since with no desire to move anywhere else.
Soni first rode with the Dykes on Bikes in 1978 when there were only 25 bikes. She has ridden in every parade since, except one, when she was recovering from elbow surgery. But she was still part of the contingent, riding in the helmet truck.

She has been secretary of Dykes on Bikes since 1990. She has seen the club go through severe growing pains when at some meetings she was the only one to show up. Dykes on Bikes now has about 15 core members and from 25 riders on parade day to over 400.

Recently, Soni has helped guide the club in the fight to register the mark "Dykes on Bikes" to keep it from being used for monetary gain and for inappropriate reasons.

She has been a member of SF Pride for many years and has served on the Board before. She looks forward to serving the community again, being reinvigorated to do so. She brings her dry wit, logical thinking, organizational skills, energy and love of all facets and faces of her community.

In the private sector of Soni's life, she enjoys reading, bowling, billiards and her partner of 8 years, Raven. For 8 years she has worked for the same law firm starting as a copy operator and working her way up to assistant office administrator and facilities coordinator. According to those who claim to know, she is loyal, honest and a trusted employee, friend, volunteer and partner.