This Week in Leadership: COVID-19 and LGBT+ Events

Join us for a live broadcast of This Week in Leadership: COVID-19 and LGBT+ Events

Thursday, April 30th  |  12:00 PM EDT

Out Leadership Managing Director, Global Events Chris Frederick will be broadcasting a live discussion around LGBT+ Events in the age of COVID-19 and the importance of continuing the celebration.

Watch the full episode here.

Special Guests
• Eric Lewis, Group Marketing Director Coca-Cola Freestyle and President of the LGBTQA business resource group at The Coca-Cola Company
• Madonna Cacciatore, Executive Director at LA Pride | Christopher Street West Association, Inc.
• Ariel Palitz, Senior Executive Director NYC Office of Nightlife at Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment

Eric Lewis
Group Marketing Director Coca-Cola Freestyle
The Coca-Cola Company

Eric Lewis is the group marketing director on Coca-Cola Freestyle. Within this role he has launched the Freestyle brand vision and several new dispenser platforms. He has a passion around understanding what consumers want and bringing it to life. He is the current President of the LGBTQA business resource group at The Coca-Cola Company. According to Lewis, “Coca-Cola believes in the power of bringing people together. Whether it was the struggle for human rights in the United States in the 1960’s to a group of young people from many nations on a hilltop in Italy in 1971, around the world we’ve always stood up for diversity, inclusion and equality.” He lives in Atlanta with his husband Derek Robison and their dog, Hannah.

Madonna Cacciatore
Executive Director
LA Pride | Christopher Street

Prior to joining LA Pride, Madonna was Director of Special Events for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the largest LGBT organization in the world. During her tenure there, starting in 2012, she worked on record-breaking projects such as the 2017 Anniversary Gala Vanguard Awards and 2018’s Simply diVine. Before that, Madonna worked at AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), joining the organization shortly after losing her brother Johnny to AIDS-related complications in 2006. Madonna’s activism for women’s rights and the LGBTQ+ community started in 1973 when she came out as a lesbian and has included grassroots work for marriage equality and volunteering at The NAMES Project – AIDS Memorial Quilt. With a background in and passion for dance, theatre, and acting, she strives to find projects that advance social justice through creativity and artistry. Madonna now lives with her partner Robin McWilliams in Los Angeles.

Ariel Palitz
Senior Executive Director NYC Office of Nightlife
Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment

A lifelong New Yorker and nightlife professional, Ariel was the first-ever to be appointed to her current position, and she came with deep experience in both nightlife and community building. She owned and operated Sutra Lounge, a nightclub on the Lower East Side, for ten years; served on Manhattan Community Board 3’s liquor licensing committee for more than six years and spent the three years prior her appointment helping nightlife entrepreneurs open their own establishments through her consulting company Venue Advisors. Ariel’s office serves as a central point of contact for the nightlife industry, community, and City agencies. It works to support nightlife’s important contributions to New York’s economy (nearly 300,000 jobs and generating $35.1 billion in economic impact) and culture by coordinating City services and programs to help ensure a more vibrant, viable, safe, fair nightlife that works for everyone.

Chris Frederick
Out Leadership
Managing Director, Global Events

Chris was the Executive Director of NYC Pride, the 501(c)3 non-profit organization behind New York City’s annual LGBTQIA+ Pride Events. Under Chris’ leadership NYC Pride more than quadrupled its annual operating budget to $12 million and raised over $15 million dollars for the organization. Chris establish a number of new events within the NYC Pride roster, including Family Movie Night, Youth Pride, Pride Island, Human Rights Conference, and more. NYC Pride grew its roster of events in June from 5 in 2010 to a record 25+ in 2019. More than 5 million people attended NYC Pride’s events in 2019 making it the largest LGBTQ event in history. Prior to NYC Pride, Chris worked in Marketing, Sales, and Events for Out and The Advocate magazines. He hails from suburban Ohio, is a graduate of Ohio University, and lives in Manhattan with his husband Jeff and their French Bulldog, Haus.