BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chris Jones / Chair
Chris Jones has been a resident of St. Petersburg since 2002. He has been active in many events over the years as a market vendor as well as fundraising event coordinator with King of Peace MCC while serving on their board of directors from 2005-2008. He attended Sunstate Academy in Clearwater for massage therapy and became a licensed massage therapist in 2011. He has owned his own private massage practice now since 2011 and currently has a studio on 7th Avenue.
He became involved in Come Out St. Pete in 2017, participating as a vendor with his wood carvings and was elected onto the board of directors in 2018, in which he was the coordinator for the vendor market. He is currently chair for Come Out St. Pete and is looking forward to the opportunity to attempt to make a difference and become more involved within our LGBTQ community! He draws inspiration by his late husband, Fred Burns in that we may never know what a difference we may have made in someone's life, but we should at least do our best to help them in any way we can!
Bill Kody / Co-Chair
Bill was born and raised in West Michigan. He has one daughter that lives in Ohio. From a very early age, Bill knew he had a love for music. In 1986 he decided that he wanted to play music for other people. In 2012 he decided to move to Saint Petersburg to DJ year round. He loves the Grand Central District and decided to join the Come Out St Pete board in 2018. Bill got married to the love of his life, Jeremy Kody in 2019. In 2021 Bill & Jeremy started to manage Casa Del Merman @ Gay St Pete House. He loves his community and 100% believes in equality for everyone.
Chris Gorman
Christopher has been born and raised in the Pinellas County area. His first introduction to Come Out St. Pete came after attending Seminole High School, Christopher came out as gay and had his family attend Come Out St. Pete’s Pride Night at the Rays, where he remembers feeling so empowered that there were organizations trying to promote positive change in our community.
Shortly thereafter, Christopher had to struggle with what many youth are facing, where he was forced into a situation where he had to struggle with the still ongoing low-wage and non-affordable housing crisis’, which has since inspired him to do whatever he can to help those in need. Currently, Christopher resides in St. Petersburg, going to St. Petersburg College as a full-time student studying Political Science, and is committed to working to better the area to make a more diverse and loving community for all.
Mick Ferrari
MICK FERRARI GREW UP IN ST. PETERSBURG AND HAS HAD A VARIED PROFESSIONAL LIFE AS A BUSINESS OWNER, PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER, MEDIA PERSONALITY, AND AN EVENT PRODUCER/HOST AND IS AN ORDAINED PASTOR. IN ADDITION TO HIS WORK ADVOCATING FOR THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY WITH COME OUT ST PETE, MR. FERRARI ALSO SERVES ON THE BOARDS OF A LOCAL FOOD PANTRY AND A STATEWIDE STUDENT VOLUNTEER PROGRAM AND SERVES AS CHAIR OF THE ADVISORY BOARD FOR TRADE EDUCATION FOR OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. MICK'S PHILANTHROPY HAS ALWAYS FOCUSED ON THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE UNDERSERVED OR FROM DISADVANTAGED BACKGROUNDS. APPOINTED TO THE BOARD OF COME OUT ST PETE IN 2021, MR. FERRARI HOPES TO CONTINUE HIS MISSION SUPPORTING LGBTQ+ YOUTH HERE IN TAMPA BAY. MICK HAS 6 ADOPTED CHILDREN, 19 NIECES AND NEPHEWS, AND PROUDLY RESIDES IN ST. PETERSBURG
Michael Wertheim
Captain Michael Parks Wertheim, USAF (Ret) relocated to St. Petersburg Fl after retiring from the military but has been a long-time resident of Pinellas County and surrounding Tampa Bay area. After graduating from Largo High School, Michael enlisted in the United States Marine Corps serving for 5 years before transitioning to the Air Force and commissioning as a Cyber Operations officer. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Business Administration and attended Saint Leo University for a master’s in business administration and Cyber Security. Michael currently works as Director of Operations and owns a private consulting firm specializing in optimizing business operations .
Michael is a proud ally and supporter of the LGBTQ community and became involved with Come Out St. Pete in 2022. As a parent, Michael has experienced many of the highs and lows faced by families when a member comes out and does not feel fully supported or safe to be who they are. He wanted to be more involved with the LGBTQ community in hopes his experience and relationship with his son will help promote positive success stories and opportunities to address some of the issues faced by the LGBTQ community and their families.
