John Buffington
Chair, Merchandise
jbuffington@pridehouston.org

John Buffington is our Volunteer Coordinator. 2008 is John's third year with Pride Houston. He has previously helped manage the entrance gate during the Festival and was our Merchandise Committee chairperson in 2007. During the day, John is an office manager and wellness consultant. He brings to Pride Houston leadership, an energetic personality, and a can-do attitude. He is honored to be playing such an important role in the organization.

Ruth Ann Ethridge
Co-Chair, Outreach
rethridge@pridehouston.org

This will be Ruth Ann's third Pride Houston season as the Outreach Chair. With the new Pride in Action teams, Ruth Ann hopes Pride Houston will be able to bring about the education part of the Pride Houston mission statement to the attention of not only the GLBT community but to the whole community of which the GLBT community is a part. By volunteering with other non-profits and telling our stories, she feels we can change one person at a time and be a bit closer to attaining the equal rights we strive for. She is also one of InterPride's two regional directors and communicates with other Pride groups all over Texas as well as from New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma. These states make up InterPride Region 3.

Mary Alice Ethridge
Co-Chair, Festival
methridge@pridehouston.org

This will be Mary Alice's fourth year as a Pride Houston Volunteer. The first two years she volunteered on Parade Day.  Last year she became the co-chair for the Festival. Mary Alice's day job qualifies her for this position. She does event marketing for one of the world's largest oil and gas service companies and travels the world planning and implementing trade shows and events. Her whole family is involved in volunteering for Pride Houston.

Richard Proto
Chair, Festival
rproto@pridehouston.org

Eric Skains
Co-Chair, Events
eskains@pridehouston.org

Eric is originally from New York, and moved to Houston after graduating from the University of Texas. As a landscaping business owner, he has been recognized in many national publications such as Lawn & Landscape, Forbes and the Washington Times. Eric has served in the past as an assistant to event coordination with the Heritage of Pride, the director of a junior athletics program in Texas and a volunteer with MC Anderson. Networking memberships held by Eric include Metropolitan Who's Who, Business Professionals of America and American MENSA.

Craig Snead
Chair, Parade Chair, Office
csnead@pridehouston.org

Craig is a recent transplant to the Houston area from Atlanta, Georgia. An Electrical Engineer by trade, he began volunteer work with Pride Houston in March of 2006 to meet new people and make new friends in the community. On Parade day 2006 Craig volunteered as a block captain working with Parade entries to ensure safety and fun for all participants. In August, he was asked to co-chair the Office committee where he became an integral part of the Pride Houston Team. In April 2007, Craig was again asked to step up and take on the challenge of Parade Chair for the 2007 Parade. After a successful Parade in 2007, Craig happily volunteered to continue as Parade Chair for 2008

Lynn Sixkiller
Co-Chair, Vendors
lsixkiller@pridehouston.org

Lynn has been involved with Pride Houston for eight years. She started out as Event Coordinator, booking a record number of events. She then served on the Pride board of directors as Co-Chair. The following year she served on the Parade committee assisting with overseeing the Parade production. The next 3 years she spent leading the Parade committee. Last year Lynn chaired the newly created Vendors committee to streamline vendor processes and reduce costs. This year she is co-chairing the Vendors committee.