Staff Biographies

Joshua Beety is the Program Manager at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  His responsibilities include assisting the CFO with all Finance, Compliance, Contracts, and HR issues.  Josh also helps coordinate the annual International Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference.

Josh comes to Victory with substantial experience in accounting, operations, and retail management both in Washington, D.C., and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where he attended Salisbury University.

He resides in NW Washington, D.C.

Mr. Dison spent nearly 12 years at The Bureau of National Affairs, a publisher of legal and regulatory news and information, both in editorial and marketing roles. Most recently he worked at SmartBrief, where he was the founding editor of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership SmartBrief, a twice-weekly publication of the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute.

Mr. Dison is a graduate of the University of North Florida. He resides in Washington, D.C.

Ebony Dumas is the Development Assistant at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies, trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  As a member of Victory's development department, Ebony is responsible for gift processing and maintaining the database. Additionally, she corresponds with the financial managers of Victory's endorsed candidates.

Ebony comes to Victory with a strong background in, and commitment to, social justice action. She currently serves on the Board of an international gender-performance organization and is one of the founding members of Girls Rock! DC, an all-girls rock camp.

Ebony holds a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies with a focus on Gender Studies and Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh.  An Oklahoma native, she now lives in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Martin Espinoza is the Development Program Manager at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organizations to identify train and support openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  He is responsible for managing campaign & fundraising events for endorsed candidates along with special events for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute. Martin also serves as the liaison to the Victory Campaign Board, a national board of community leaders located in communities throughout the country.

Previously, Martin worked for six years for former Arizona state legislator Steve May. He has also volunteered much of his time with various LGBT organizations in Phoenix, most significantly with GLAAD, where he co-chaired the first “Thank GLAAD its Friday.”  Martin’s connection to GLAAD is through his long time mentor and former mayor of Tempe, Neil Giuliano.  Martin has worn many political hats throughout his career, dating back to his first job at the age of 16 where he worked on his first ballot initiative to raise sales tax.

Martin was born and raised in Yuma, Arizona, where he is a former organizer and continued sponsor of the only gay organization, Yuma County Gay Rights.

Laura Esquivel is the Senior Vice President at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  She is responsible for strategically expanding partnerships to advance and broaden the base of political support for LGBT candidates and the Victory Fund.

Laura brings a wide range of policy and advocacy experience to the Victory Fund, having fought for the civil rights of racial and sexual minorities for more than 20 years. In 1984 she became President of Gay and Lesbian Latinos Unidos in Los Angeles. Subsequently, she co-founded the organizations Lesbianas Unidas and LLEGÓ – the first national Latino/a lesbian and gay organization.

Most recently, Laura has been the head of her own consulting practice and served as the director of research and issues marketing for People for the American Way.

One of Laura’s greatest strengths is her ability to get diverse interests to agree to support equality for LGBT people. Her resume includes eight years of service as a legislative deputy for Los Angeles City Councilmember Jackie Goldberg - the first openly gay person elected to that to that body. Laura later went on to become Goldberg’s campaign manager in her successful bid for State Assembly in 2001.

A native of Los Angeles, Laura received her Master’s of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University at Los Angeles, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a minor in Labor Studies from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She has resided in the Washington DC area since 2003.

Tressa Feher is the Director of Leadership Network at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute; the nation's leading organization that identifies trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  She is responsible for creating and managing professional development and political programs for LGBT elected and appointed officials.

Ms. Feher brings to Victory a history of progressive advocacy.  From 2003 until joining the Victory team, she served as the External Affairs Director for the National Women’s Political Caucus, a bi-partisan organization committed to recruiting, training and supporting pro-choice women candidates for elected and appointed offices at all levels of government.

Ms. Feher received her bachelor's degree in Women's Studies from Michigan State University and a Master's in Public Policy from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota.  A native of Michigan, she now lives with her partner in Washington, DC.

Stephanie Lurz is the Development Manager at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  She is responsible for managing events and corporate sponsorship.

Ms. Lurz began her work in politics as a volunteer on a reproductive rights referendum in Maryland when she was a sophomore in high school.  She went on to become the President of Young Democrats at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she received her degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 1999.  After college, she completed Field Director training with 21st Century Democrats and worked on a State Assembly race in Wisconsin. Stephanie has worked in the political and development departments of several other DC Area organizations, including Women’s Campaign Fund and Council for a Livable World.  She currently resides in Baltimore.

Tim Meinke is a manager of the Victory Cabinet with the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute; the nation’s leading organization that identifies, trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  He is responsible for managing the political and development work in many of the southern and western states.

Mr. Meinke started at the organization in 2006 and began his tenure as the Board & Development Manager where he oversaw both organizations direct marketing programs and their Boards of Directors.  Before the Victory Fund and GLLI, he spent time at America Votes, where he assisted its political department to implement long term change to the progressive political infrastructure.  He also contributed to the 2005 Virginia Governor’s campaign by participating in an independent expenditure by the Media Fund.  

Mr. Meinke received his bachelor of arts in political science from the American University, in Washington, D.C., and a minor in Communications studies.  While at the American University he received a certificate from the Campaign Management Institute at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies.  He is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and currently resides in Washington, DC. 

Prior to joining the Victory Fund, Dan worked as a staff writer for the National Association of Counties’ publication, County News. At County News, he reported on trends, legislation and best practices pertaining to county government. His experiences with NACo included a trip to the Mississippi and Louisiana six months after Hurricane Katrina to report on the local governments’ efforts to revitalize the area.

In addition to his work at the Victory Fund, Dan is a current editor for TiFaux.com. The Web site was a finalist in the 2006 and 2007 Weblog Awards in the Best Culture Blog category.

Dan majored in English at the College of William and Mary. He has written for the Washington Post Express, The Washington Blade, Quarterlifecrisis.com and Knotmag.com.

Lauren Peters is the Political Assistant at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  As a member of Victory’s political department, Lauren coordinates candidate endorsements.  She is also responsible for coordinating the Leadership Institute trainings.

Lauren comes to Victory with a strong background in politics and the LBGT movement. Lauren worked on recent campaigns for Senator Stabenow and Governor Granholm’s in their 2006 re-elections. She also served as a Legislative intern in Senator Stabenow’s office in the spring of 2006. A recent graduate from college, Lauren served as the President of Hope College’s Gay Straight Forum and with the help of others, broke ground in making headway for LBGT inclusion on her campus. 

Lauren holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hope College in Michigan.  A Michigan native, she now lives in Arlington, Va.

Fred Sherman is Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation’s leading organization that identifies, trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials. Mr. Sherman is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations including finance, human resources, information technology, legal and compliance, and office management.

Mr. Sherman is a certified public accountant and comes to Victory from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he served as Director for Global Tax Technology. He was with PwC for 15 years and was a co-founder of GALE, their gay and lesbian employee group.

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Mr. Sherman is now a resident of historic Mount Pleasant in Washington, D.C., and is past treasurer of Mount Pleasant Main Street, an organization that serves to revitalize the neighborhood commercial district. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and earned his BBA in Accounting and Database Management and Analysis (MIS).

Anne Wallestad is the Vice President of Development at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute; the nation's leading organization that identifies trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  Responsible for guiding overall resource development efforts for the organization, Wallestad works with the fundraising team to reach out to Victory supporters to ensure sustainability, security and effectiveness in all of Victory’s programs.

Anne brings to Victory a history of leadership within and beyond the GLBT movement.  Most recently, she served as the Director of Development at RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.  Prior to that, she spent five years at the Human Rights Campaign, most notably leading the HRC Federal Club, a leadership group of major donors, during its largest period of growth.

Anne received her bachelor’s degree from Drake University in Des Moines, IA, where she majored in English and Sociology and had a concentration in women’s studies.  A native of Minnesota, she now lives with her partner in Washington, DC.

Shawn Werner is a Manager of the Victory Cabinet at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, the nation's leading organization that identifies, trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  He is responsible for recruiting and consulting on political campaigns in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions, as well as growing and strengthening the Victory family donor base.

Shawn served as a Victory intern in the summers of 2004 and 2005.  During the Spring of 2006, he was the President and Founder of The Fight to Give Life, a national collegiate mobilization against the Food and Drug Administration’s antiquated and discriminatory lifetime ban on blood donations by gay and bisexual men.  

Shawn recently received his Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA.  He resides in Washington, D.C.

Paul Zolandz is the Communications Manager at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute; the nation's leading organization that identifies, trains and supports openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender candidates, campaign staff and officials.  He is responsible for maintaining high visual standards for all of Victory's communications products, both print and electronic.  In addition to his graphic design tasks, Paul is also responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of Victory's family of websites and is a point person for on-site technology issues.

Paul comes to Victory with a diverse background in politics, design and technology.  He was most recently employed with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, where he produced distance learning DVDs and collateral for internal physicians overseas.  Additionally, he has been a freelance designer in both DC and Delaware, specializing in providing high-quality materials for performing artists and organizations.

Paul recently received his Bachelors of Music magna cum laude in vocal performance with a minor in French, from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he performed regularly as a principle in opera productions.  Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, Paul currently resides in Washington, DC.