Steve Adkins

Steve Adkins is presently the President of the Greater Miami LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce. In the years since Mr. Adkins took over the reins MDGLCC membership has grown to become one of the largest LGBTQ Chambers in the USA.

In 1999, Steve moved from his native San Diego, California to South Florida and immediately became interested in promoting Miami as a year-round, gay and gay-friendly tourist destination, when he owned and operated the Jefferson House, a South Beach Boutique Bed & Breakfast Hotel.  Prior to his move to the East Coast, Mr. Adkins held several positions in the banking world.  From 1975 until 1998, Steve worked as Vice President for Bank of America, Security Pacific Bank and, Union Bank (a division of Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi) focused in areas of corporate lending, loan syndications, and International Trade Finance. 

In addition to the MBVCA, Mr. Adkins serves on the Board of The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce South Region Co-Chair, and on the Advisory Board for Miami Beach Pride.   Mr. Adkins received the 2009 Eddie McIntyre Community Service Award from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force; the 2010 Bacardi Icon Award, received the Pa’Lante Award from the Gay8 Festival, the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce received Equality Florida’s first “Equality Means Business” Award in 2012 and the South Florida Business Journal Business of Pride Award 2020.

Steve holds a Bachelor of Science, from San Diego State University and a Business Administration Degree with a strong emphasis on Management with a Concentration in Finance.

Lisette Garcia

Lisette is presently the Director of Programming and External Affairs at the Greater Miami LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce (MDGLCC). A native to Miami, Lisette brings over 25 years of business development, community engagement, marketing, management and external affairs experience to MDGLCC. 

Eldest of five sisters of parents that left Cuba in the late 1950's, Lisette (along with her five sisters) were born in Hialeah Hospital and went to Hialeah Miami Lakes Senior High School.  At the age of 18, Lisette moved to South Beach and in the 90's worked at Sony Latin as Marketing and Promotions Manager on Lincoln Road.  From there, she decided to move to Boston to finish her education.  She attended Simmons College and graduated from the Dean's List with a Bachelor's Degree in Management.  She lived in Boston for over 11 years.  In Boston, she worked with three start ups, one of which she was a co-founder of and was the first LGBTQ Wedding Planning business in the state.  She co-founded an all-inclusive publication focused on communities of color called Color Magazine. 

Upon moving back from Boston to be closer to her family, Lisette continued her journey working with start ups and has successfully helped over seven businesses such as car2go, ofo and Lime.  She has a true spirit for entrepreneurship combined with a heart for helping build communities at large.