2022 Board Members

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Jason McCarty serves as the Executive Director of Capital City Pride and is a Public Health Care Consultant/Activist. He serves on the Board of Directors for Grace House, MS Center for Justice's HIV Council, MS HIV Planning Council, Pearl Community Theatre,  the Co-Founder of MS Positive Network and was the first openly gay candidate for the MS Legislature.

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Lucas Posey, who currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Capital City Pride, is a graduate of the Mississippi State School of Architecture. They work as a Project Manager at WBA Architecture where they get to use their passions of creative place-making and problem-solving to improve the built environment. They are excited to use their energy to help strengthen the LGBTQ+ community. 

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Kim Lewis is Chair-Elect of MS Capital City Pride and the Tourism and Destination Development Manager for Visit Jackson. Most of her time is spent working on community-based projects.
 She serves on the Board of Directors for Keep Jackson Beautiful and the MS Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities. She is an ally and advocate for all, believing that everyone deserves to feel loved and supported.Kim is a mom to a blended household that includes her husband, their six boys and three rescue dogs. She attends St. James Episcopal Church. 

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Ashlee Pitts is the Secretary for Capital City Pride. Ashlee is an educator currently working with Teach for America in Jackson. When she thinks of Capital City Pride, she is most excited about the opportunity to celebrate diversity and togetherness in the community. 

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Brandi Westbrook is the Treasurer of Capital City Pride. Brandi is a native Mississippian and lives in Jackson. She began her career in public accounting, joined state government in 2008, and currently serves as Deputy Director of Volunteer Mississippi. She is actively involved in her community and has volunteered to serve on the boards of multiple nonprofit organizations. She has a passion for volunteerism and advocacy, with a special emphasis on empowering members of marginalized groups.

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Tyler Griffing is a Jackson native and a graduate from Mississippi College with a degree in Computer Information Systems and is currently a Software Engineer in Oean Springs, MS. This is Tyler's second year on the Board of Directors and is passionate to continue to serve the LGBTQ+ community to create safer spaces in Jackson.

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Sherry Cothren is a Jackson Musician/ Songwriter who currently works at a Software company in Ridgeland. As well as playing music and promoting bands, she is a founding member of Unity Mississippi. As a longtime LGBTQ+ activist, her passion for the community and its celebration is infectious 

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Kim Robinson is a social justice, access to health for all policy supporter and advocate currently working with the Mississippi Center for Justice. A Cajun/Creole Country transplant, Kim moved to the Jackson Metro area 22 years ago. She is thrilled to work with Capital City Pride and to be leaned on as a thought leader who gets to work on building cool events that offer true community inclusion – where every single person attending can be exactly who they are openly and without fear of judgment or shame. Kim wants her daughters and nieces to look at this body of work and say, "my mom/nanny is doing this for me too". 

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Fabian Nelson is a native of Yazoo City, MS and a nearly 2 decade resident of Jackson. Professionally, Fabian has found his passion in first-time homebuyer education, access to affordable housing advocacy and parity in housing ownership for low-income populations. Fabian is also a proud advocacy champion for people living with HIV, where he serves on the Mississippi Department of Health’s HIV Planning Council, a Client Instructor for HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) and is the current Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee for Capital City Pride.

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Merry Barnes is currently the Associate Curator of School and Teen Programs at the Mississippi Museum of Art. She has taught middle school Art is JPS for 9 years, and is devoting her life to support expanding Art Programs and ways to build a better and more united Mississippi.

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Wiley Smith is a Loan Assistant by day, and passionate photographer off the clock. Wiley believes in living life to the fullest and capturing beautiful memories and inspiring snapshots for his clients. He's engaged to the love of his life, Aaron, and is the proud doggie dad of Zara, Tucker, and Khaleesi. Originally from Florence, MS, and now living in Brandon, the South has always been his home and he is committed to working towards a more inclusive and loving environment for all of the LGBTQ+ and ally community.