The Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus, which works to make the city a top destination for LGBT travelers, came under new leadership recently.
The agency’s board of directors approved both new officers and members at its annual election meeting Nov. 18 at the Loews Hotel.
Carlos Estela, former treasurer of the board, will serve as the new president beginning Jan. 1, while former secretary Jimmy Contreras will take over as vice president and Joey Ly was confirmed as secretary.
Estela will carry out the duties of the treasurer until the position is filled.
Estela takes over for former president Tami Sortman, the board’s first president who has served six years at the helm.
“I’m stepping down as president because it is important for a board and organization to have new blood injected into it after a period of time, and six years is a good amount of time,” Sortman explained. “I’m leaving the presidency in excellent hands with Carlos leading us into the next two years. He believes in the mission of the PGTC and has a true vision in where he sees the PGTC going in the next few years.”
Sortman will remain a board member and said she’ll help with the transition process.
Estela, vice president of field marketing for Citizens Bank, served as PGTC treasurer for three years and said he’s eager to put his own talents to good use.
“I think the caucus is a great opportunity to impact the experience for LGBT travelers and to be able to bring more travelers into the city,” he said. “I thought that with my skill set, with a structural-organizational background, that I could be helpful in that effort.”
Estela said he has numerous ideas to help the organization continue to build its list of successes.
Fundraising is going to become an important component in the next year, and Estela plans to work with the board to create a fundraising plan that is more multi-faceted, encompassing additional grant-writing and revenue-building opportunities. The agency is also going to work to attain its 501 (c)(3) status and enhance its website.
In terms of programming, Estela said he’s going to focus on expanding the reach of the Gay Sensitivity Training, an LGBT-awareness-building activity for hospitality agencies in the area.
“We’ve done a great job in developing the program and leveraging it with several venues and hotels,” he said. “Tami leads a lot of this and does an incredible job, so we’re going to be working together to get more structure on the training committee and to find additional venues to have training. And I definitely want to identify ways to increase our revenue through these trainings to help this program become more self-sustaining.”
Estela said he also plans to forge partnerships with other hospitality-centered agencies in the region.
“We want to develop more mutually beneficial partnerships and increase the opportunities we have through our existing partners. I’m really shocked by the number of different organizations who are doing similar or complimentary work to us, and I’m not sure that we as an organization have taken full advantage of the opportunities that [situation] presents.”
One of Estela’s first lines of business, however, will be networking.
“I’m going to have some big shoes to step into because Tami’s done a phenomenal job and has so many connections,” he said. “I’m going to take advantage of the many relationships she’s built to help us continue our work. I think I’m going to be spending a lot of time meeting people over the next few months.”
In addition to the officers, returning and new board members include, besides Sortman: Bruce Yelk, Mark (Chumley) Singer, David Jeffreys, Demetrio Celaya, Greg DeShields, James Evans, Jeff Liebreich, Malcolm Lazin, Marian Conicella, Marion Joy, Martin Jakubczak, Michael Sheridan, Russell Kice, Steve Duross and Steve Rosen.
The board members will serve two-year terms.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].