STAFF

Tomás Aponte
Director of Program Outreach & Impact
Tomás (he/him/his) joins the Greater Boston PFLAG team with a vast array of interests and experiences. Tomás was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico and grew up in Central Massachusetts. He is a proud graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance & Secondary English Education. Upon graduating from UMass Amherst, he’s had the honor and privilege of working in the non-profit sector and serving in leadership roles at The Boys & Girls Club, City Year, the YMCA, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts. In September of 2018, Tomás moved back to Boston from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tomás is passionate about youth development, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and criminal justice reform work and is thrilled to bring his educational and professional experiences to Greater Boston PFLAG. During his free time he enjoys getting involved in musical theater productions, working out, and taking dance classes.
Pronouns: he/him/his

René Rives
Program Manager
René is honored to join GBPFLAG and is excited to combine their 15 years of experience in youth work, education, & public health to support educators, community organizations, companies, and communities of faith in partnering with LGBTQ+ populations to meet their needs & challenge oppressive systems. René graduated from Lesley University with a B.S. in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Expressive Arts Therapy. They are particularly passionate about advocating for BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth populations. The ocean, chosen family, and their two cats are essential parts of their self-care that help sustain them in doing the work.
Pronouns: they/them/theirs

Kavi Kaushik
Program Manager (part-time)
Kavi Kaushik is honored to bring their facilitation experiences, nonprofit background, and love for trans communities to GBPFLAG. They graduated with a B.A. in biology and women, gender, and sexuality studies, and have since worked in public health education and outreach, youth facilitation, legislative and community advocacy, and mutual aid projects. They have always found a lot of joy in talking about gender and sexuality, and look forward to being able to be a foundational part of those conversations in so many different settings! Kavi is passionate about youth-led programs, imagining possibilities outside of the criminal legal system, and art as a means of self-care.
Pronouns: they/them/theirs

Mallory Hubbard
Director of Operations & Human Resources
Mallory joins the team with over a decade of operations and finance experience in various industries from engineering to data science. She holds a bachelors degree in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Mount Union and is currently pursuing her MBA from Southern New Hampshire University. Mallory has spent several years organizing volunteer events in and around Boston and Philadelphia focusing on underserved populations within each city respectively. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her partner at the beach, exploring local restaurants and breweries, and going on adventures with their four-legged sons Diesel and Blitz.
Pronouns: she/her

Ian Whalen
Member Services & Engagement Manager
Ian started their professional career young at the age of eleven, as a soccer referee. After six dedicated years they pursued a college degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst combining the subjects of Psychology, Political Science, as well as Civic Engagement & Public Service. While attending college they interned for the American Friends Service Committee as well as the UMass chapter of the Student Labor Action Project working on pacifist research and labor campaigns. Post-graduation, Ian supported clinical trials for rare neurological disorders at the Neurological Clinical Research Institute within Massachusetts General Hospital. Prior to joining GBPFLAG, Ian had the pleasure of working with Upstream USA, a national nonprofit initiative which aims to address the disparities found within the American reproductive healthcare system. Ian is thrilled to combine their experience in grassroots organizing and public administration to work with GBPFLAG to promote sustainable change within our local communities.
Pronouns: All Pronouns

Julia Paget
Communications Manager
Prior to joining Greater Boston PFLAG in 2019, Julia (she/her/hers) volunteered for the Yes on 3 campaign, the MA state-wide campaign to uphold legal protection from discrimination for transgender people in public places. Starting as a walk-in data entry volunteer, she became more involved as the campaign progressed until she held the position of Data Program Lead for the Greater Boston area, ending the successful campaign as the on-site Data Lead at the Arlington Get Out The Vote site.
Before Julia’s time with the Yes on 3 campaign, she worked for five years as an IR/PR Communications Specialist in the rare disease biotech sphere. Her broad background includes computer programming, graphics design, web design, and communications, particularly information architecture and technical writing. Julia is driven by a belief that by connecting and collaborating, we are greater than the sum of our abilities. She is excited to be a part of empowering people through knowledge and advocating for change in our communities to create meaningful progress for LGBTQ+ people. Julia’s personal passions are stories in all forms, playing games, creation in all forms, and exploring the outdoors.
Pronouns: she/her/hers

Oscar Oliveira Soens
Social Media Coordinator
& Program Assistant
Oscar grew up in Massachusetts and studied sociology before coming to work at Greater Boston PFLAG in early 2020. Since joining our team, Oscar’s primary focus is coordinating Greater Boston PFLAG’s social media and working to energize and diversify our digital content. He also assists the Programming team by providing support for virtual programs and trainings. Oscar is excited to use his time with Greater Boston PFLAG working towards making a real difference in people’s lives. Outside of work, Oscar enjoys creating collages and other visual art and playing with his pet cat and pet rats.
Pronouns: he/him/his

Jules Bertaut
Development Coordinator & Salesforce Administrator
Jules has a BA in religion from Swarthmore College. He has in the past held a number of various volunteer and professional positions working with databases and record-keeping, including his work with the Yes on 3 campaign and with several churches. Jules is passionate in his work around improving systems for efficiency and ease of use. When not working in his professional and volunteer roles, Jules enjoys reading, sewing, and any work involving power tools.
Pronouns: he/him/his or they/them/theirs