Who
We Are
Our
Staff
Meet the dedicated staff and interns who work hard to make sure that the Pride Center operates as an inclusive safe space for necessary resources.
Interim Executive Director
Lex
They/She
Lex is a queer justice activist, community health educator, and mental health professional whose work focuses on improving access to mental health care for LGBTQ+ individuals.
Lex has more than 12 years of experience working in sexual health education and advocacy, curriculum development, and training facilitation aimed at supporting queer and disabled youth, adults, and their families. They have spent the last six years serving the Pride Center, first as a Community Empowerment Coordinator and the first ever paid staff member of the Center, before moving into the roles of Community Health Manager and Community Health Director. They became Interim Executive Director in June 2024. Lex is currently the Co-PI of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded “Queer Health is the Ultimate Wealth” research project exploring LGBTQ+ health equity in south Texas.
Lex started her career as a youth activist and co-founder of Not Your Average Sex Talk (NYAST), a peer-to-peer health advocacy network that used a harm reduction, trauma-informed framework to discuss sex and intimacy in ways that are often neglected in traditional sex education settings. She spent a year as a Public Policy and Government Affairs Fellow at the National LGBTQ Task Force where they worked to disseminate the findings of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. As a graduate student, Lex interned at the Alamo Area Rape Crisis Center and the Community Counseling Services, providing trauma-informed therapy services to couples, families, children, and teens with a specialization in LGBTQ+ affirming care. They are grateful to have dedicated their career to the pursuit of queer liberation and are proud to continue that work at Pride Center San Antonio.
Lex received their BA from American University in Washington D.C., with a degree in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Journalism and their MS in Psychology- Marriage and Family Therapy from Our Lady of the Lake University. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, but with deep roots in San Antonio, they now live in Austin, TX. They serve on the board of the Texas Harm Reduction Alliance and run the community based programming at The Little Gay Shop. She enjoys cheering on the Spurs, searching for the best coffee in town, and uplifting the voices of her queer and trans sisters, brothers, and siblings.
Director of Clinical Services (Pro Bono)
Rev. Naomi B., LCSW
She/They
Naomi is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 20 years of experience in Social Services. Naomi started her education at City College in New York, later completing her Master’s degree at Our Lady of the Lake University in Social Work Clinical and a minor in Administration. Currently working as a Hospice Social Worker, Naomi worked in Homeless services for 7 years.
She is also a poet and educator on motivational interviewing, trauma informed care, recovery orientation and LGBTQIA Safe Zone Training. Naomi works as a Trauma Therapist; her clinical hours are spent seeing many gender queer individuals who live with PTSD and other traumatic experiences. Naomi is a Certified SAGE Educator (Senior Aging in a Gay Environment) a National Training Program based in New York.
In addition, she serves on the Board of National Association Social Workers Texas for Region 8 Alamo Area representing over 600 Social Workers in 12 counties and three schools of Social Work. Naomi is a Field Instructor with University of Texas San Antonio, Army FSU, Our Lady of the Lake University, and Texas State University.
She values mentoring and challenging the next generation of Social Workers. Naomi worked as an Adjunct Professor at Our Lady of the Lake University. For the past 12 years she has been a Safe Zone trainer, speaker, and teaches LGBT sensitivity at Universities, Colleges, Corporations and most notably the San Antonio Police Department. Naomi is a Licensed and Ordained Minister and currently Clergy in Residence/Outreach Minister at Metropolitan Community Church. Naomi is a founding member and has been working with the Pride Center since 2009.
Clinical Services
Nelson H.
He/They
Nelson is a queer/neurospicy immigrant, licensed therapist, and cat parent; their background is in social services and mental
health, focusing on single session therapy, conflict resolution, intergenerational trauma, and storytelling.
He’s excited to work with folks in the community toward building power and collective care!
Board of
Directors
Chairperson
Cristian S.
He/Him
Cristian was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. He has a lifelong commitment of service to marginalized populations especially the LGBTQ+ and immigrant community. Cristian graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2017. During law school he worked at the ACLU of Southern California’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. He also led a pro bono program that assisted transgender people in correcting their names and gender markers on their identity documents.
Cristian now works as a supervising attorney at RAICES in San Antonio. He leads the removal defense team, which represents clients in removal proceedings and stops them from being deported. Cristian is dedicated to providing high-quality legal and wraparound services to his immigrant clients. He is also passionate about finding novel ways to advocate for his clients in a changing immigration policy landscape. At RAICES, Cristian defends immigrants who are detained or non-detained from deportation. A focus of his work has been representing LGBTQ+ asylum seekers. He led a project assisting transgender women detained at South Texas Detention Complex with access to counsel and advocacy. Recently, he developed and ran an emergency shelter in Tijuana for a self-formed group of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers that were part of the caravan, as well as a temporary shelter for released trans women in San Antonio. Cristian enjoys horror movies, board games, and time spent with friends.
Vice Chairperson
Rick G., Jr.
He/Him
Rick is the Director of Program Support and Campus Sexual Assault Specialist for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (TAASA). Prior to working at TAASA, Rick served as Deputy Director of Education & Development and Director of Prevention Education for The Rape Crisis Center in San Antonio. Rick started his career in the anti-sexual violence movement 20 years ago as a dedicated hospital advocate and hotline operator.
Understanding the need and the importance of education, Rick eventually started working with neighborhoods, other nonprofits, professionals, and schools by engaging them in dialogue surrounding the prevalence of sexual violence in our community and the ways we can prevent it. In addition to training on issues related to sexual assault, Rick works daily to ensure that communities across Texas understand the impact of sexual violence and its effect on the people of our state.
Secretary
Matthew F.
He/Him
Matthew is a dedicated U.S. Army Officer with 18 years of military service, currently stationed at Fort Sam Houston’s Medical Center of Excellence. He holds a Master’s in Public Administration/Healthcare Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Interpersonal Communications.
Beyond his military career, Matthew is deeply committed to community service, with 15 years of experience serving on nonprofit boards at local, state, and national levels. He has led community outreach and fundraising initiatives and previously served as a youth advisor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Ohio for a decade. Passionate about mentorship, he has coached youth CrossFit and supported young officers in their academic, emotional, and professional growth throughout his military career.
An active member of the Diablos Outsports in San Antonio and a Lifetime Member of the American Legion, Matthew is a strong, outspoken leader dedicated to empowering others—especially youth—to embrace their authentic selves.
Board Member
Eduardo J.
He/Him/His
Eduardo, a San Antonio Westside native, was a Supervisory Trial Attorney (from 2001 to 2021) with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, San Antonio Field Office, where he litigated lawsuits under the federal civil rights statutes prohibiting employment discrimination.
Before the EEOC, Mr. Juarez was a Trial Attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and began his legal career as an Associate with the law firm of Sidley & Austin in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Juarez is currently a sole practitioner focused on legal representation of artists.
Eduardo received his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from the University of Michigan School of Law. He has served in leadership positions in various professional organizations, including as President of the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association and Chair of the LGBT Law Section for the State Bar of Texas.
Mr. Juarez was Chair of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program Committee in 2021 and served on the ABA Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs for several years.
Board Member
Lisa M.
She/Her
Lisa is a Senior Product Designer at BECU with a passion for designing intuitive, equitable experiences that empower people in their financial lives. As a queer Latina in tech, she leads with empathy, creativity, and a commitment to building more inclusive communities both inside and outside the workplace.
Board Member
Mike C., Jr.
He/Him
Mike C., Jr., MS, SHRM-CP
Director of Human Resources, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
Mike is an experienced human resources leader with more than 14 years of progressive experience in organizational development, talent strategy, and workforce engagement. As Director of Human Resources at Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc., Mike leads initiatives that strengthen workplace culture, advance pay equity, and foster a thriving workforce across the organization’s diverse programs and communities.
A proud product of San Antonio’s Southside, Mike is deeply rooted in the city’s culture and values of community, compassion, and connection. He is passionate about contributing to San Antonio’s continued growth as a more inclusive and caring city for all. His work with the Pride Center reflects his belief that thriving communities begin with belonging, understanding, and shared purpose.
Mike holds a Master of Science in Organizational Development & Leadership from the University of the Incarnate Word and is a SHRM-Certified Professional (SHRM-CP). He continues to champion people-centered leadership that honors authenticity, compassion, and purpose.
Board Member
Stephanie M.
Stephanie (J.D. ’18) is the staff attorney for the Family Law Clinic at the Center for Legal and Social Justice at St. Mary’s University School of Law. Medellin represents clients in divorce, adoption, name change and probate cases in court. She also co-teaches clinic seminar classes and assists with the supervision of clinic student attorneys.
Before being a staff attorney, Medellin served as the Law School’s Director of Pro Bono Programs, where she oversaw the implementation of the service graduation requirement for J.D. students at St. Mary’s Law and served as the supervising attorney for the Identification Recovery Program, a law student-powered outreach effort at Haven for Hope, San Antonio’s largest homeless services provider.
Prior to joining St. Mary’s, she was a legal aid attorney and the director of the Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault (LASSA) Project with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she primarily represented survivors of domestic and sexual violence in divorce, custody and protective order cases but also represented clients in education cases from elementary school to college and transgender and nonbinary clients in name and gender marker corrections. She was also the shelter attorney for The Purple Door, the Coastal Bend’s domestic violence shelter, taking direct referrals regarding clients in shelter or receiving shelter services who need legal assistance, and she represented the shelter and staff to quash subpoenas or find alternatives to protect survivor privacy.
Medellin received her law degree from St. Mary’s School of Law, where she was a student coordinator for the Pro Bono Program and a student attorney with the Civil Justice Clinic. She is a first-generation college graduate who received undergraduate degrees in mathematics and biomedical science and a master’s degree in counseling from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
Board Member
Jen N.
She/Her
Jen is a seasoned professional with more than two decades of experience driving impact in both the nonprofit and business sectors. She blends strategic thinking, community engagement, and business management expertise to inspire teams, strengthen organizations, and deliver measurable results
Currently the Executive Assistant at DreamOn Group, Jen also owns Imagina Consulting & Solutions, partnering with organizations to design strategies that drive growth and foster development.
Her career includes 17 years at Security Service Federal Credit Union, where she excelled in staff development, operations, compliance, and community outreach. She also has a background in academic enrichment, having served as an ACE Tutor at Texans Can Academy, where she built meaningful relationships with students and developed enrichment programs that enhanced learning and engagement.
A proud first-generation college graduate, Jen holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the Incarnate Word, a Master of Science in Digital Marketing and Analytics from St. Edward’s University, and a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Our Lady of the Lake University. She also earned a Certificate in Effective Grant Proposal Writing from the University of Notre Dame.
An active community advocate, Jen has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Pride Center San Antonio, San Antonio Cultural Arts, Conjunto Heritage Taller, and the University of the Incarnate Word Alumni Board. She has organized large-scale events, spearheaded fundraising initiatives, and championed programs benefiting military families, youth, and underserved communities.
Known for her ability to bring people together, Jen thrives in spaces where collaboration meets creativity. Her leadership style combines mentorship, vision, and an unwavering commitment to making a difference.
Advisory Board Member
Jill N.
She/Her
Jill N., LPC-Associate, supervised by Dr. Shawna Corley Ph.D., LPC-S, LCDC, CCTP, NCC, is a counselor with a heart for community and a drive to make mental health care more accessible and human. Having earned her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Jill is now pursuing her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision—continuing her studies as a proud (and slightly over-caffeinated) doctoral student.
Jill currently practices in a private practice setting in San Antonio, where she provides counseling to adolescents, adults, and families. Her clinical work focuses on supporting survivors of sexual violence, individuals experiencing depression, and those navigating life transitions, identity exploration, and relationship challenges. Guided by a multicultural and trauma-informed framework, Jill integrates evidence-based interventions to meet the unique needs of each client.
Whether she’s supporting clients, mentoring students, or diving into research, Jill brings warmth, curiosity, and a deep belief in the power of people helping people
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This page last updated: 3 / 11 / 25.