Board of Directors

H. Dwayne Davis, originally from Hemingway, SC. I moved from Wooster, OH to Portland, OR in 2000 to work at Reed College. As a past PGMC board member I served as Fund Development Chair, Vice-President and President of the Board.

In PGMC I found community and purpose. While serving the chorus as a volunteer (never a singer) I created lasting relationships that I continue to value. I also found a home for my need to give back to my community. I concur with Ed Segel, a long-time supporter of PGMC, when he says, “I am never prouder to be gay than when I listen to PGMC sing.” I was proud to represent PGMC to potential supporters of the Chorus. The importance of the mission and the quality of the music are worthy of the effort.

PGMC is a local treasure and a national leader. The work and mission of PGMC remains valid and is as important today as it was at our founding. I am honored to again serve as a member of the PGMC Board of Directors.

Gary Beagle (he/him/his) is President and CEO for InTRUSTment Northwest, Inc. a Washington State and an Oregon Out of State Chartered Trust Company with its corporate office in Vancouver, WA. A Northwest transplant for the last 30 years he is originally from Texas where he grew up on a ranch. He is a college football, basketball, and rugby fan with a fondness for bourbon, reading, and travel. He has watched how music has touched his life and that of others; unfortunately, he cannot carry a tune.

Grant Vermillion (he/him) is a long-term supporter of PGMC, having attended nearly all of PGMC’s performances over the last decade; and is excited at the opportunity to officially join the organization as a Board member. Professionally, Grant works in the Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML) space as a Senior ML Scientist, where he helps companies, organizations, and governments leverage state-of-the-art AI/ML techniques and their existing data to solve problems and streamline processes. Grant has also served as Board Treasurer for Transpose PDX–a gender-affirming community choir in Portland–for the past two years. He hopes to bring this diverse skillset and his advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community to PGMC to help the chorus find new data-driven opportunities and to build and strengthen relationships with other queer organizations in our community.

Luigi Boccia (he/him) is a previous PGMC singer, professional musician, and Co-owner/Business Development Director for Brooklyn Tweed since 2013. He grew up in Southern Italy among a family established in the craft of leather manufacturing and tailoring, and moved to New York in 2005. Nurturing a lifelong passion for operatic singing, he earned a Master’s Degree in Musicology, then studied performing arts at the Juilliard School and served as resident artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia for two years. He went on to teach Italian through Operatic Libretti at Columbia University as an associate, while continuing to perform professionally through 2012. During the performing years, Luigi worked with and served on the board of arts organizations. His strong suites are public relations, community building, marketing, strategic planning and fiscal responsibility.

Matthew Woodburn (he/him) is the Senior Account Manager at Kaiser Permanente and has been a member pf their marketing and development team for more than ten years. Matthew’s introduction to PGMC came when he had the opportunity, as a high school student, to play the role of Bobby in Prayers for Bobby. Matthew is passionate about exploring his authentic and sober self and helping others find ways to live their best lives. Matthew’s favorite piece for PGMC to sing is For Good, from Wicked.

Carmen Rubio (she/her) is the first Latina elected to Portland City Council, and previously served as a staff member to the Multnomah County Commission and Portland City Council. She is a past Executive Director of the Latino Network. She has expertise in community centered program development and fundraising.