MEET THE CREW
FIRST FEMALE believes that participation enriches the experience and deepens the connections between our members. We encourage volunteers and member involvement because it strengthens the community, develops new skills, fosters friendships and broadens perspectives. Participation also increases exposure and visibility making it the perfect opportunity to expand in media and public relations expertise.
Gaby Viteri, Founder
Gaby Viteri is a West Palm Beach local and entrepreneur. Her advocacy and passion for art and community have led her to found various community projects including First Female, Voices, and her latest Women’s Art Week Palm Beach.
Pia Dugger
Administrative Director
Pia Kristina Dugger is a Florida-based painter, who creates intellectual art. Her work fuses wildlife with brightly colored glitch images, illustrating the contrast and struggle between the natural and artificial.
Jess Kirby
Special Projects Coordinator
Jess Kirby is a surrealist painter focused on bringing her art to life through immersive experiences and events. With a background in marketing, design, and animation, she blends her creative skills to craft unique visual storytelling through art. As the Special Projects Coordinator, Jess aims to support initiatives that connect and empower local female creatives.
Gabriela Hidalgo
Marketing Coordinator
Gabriela is a leading graphic designer and a creative soul who has established a remarkable career working with small and medium-sized businesses, bringing her expertise to various projects from branding to comprehensive visual design. She has an outstanding ability to transform ideas into effective visual solutions.
Elizabeth Palace
Creative Strategist
Elizabeth is an emerging photographer with a knack for storytelling and a passion for people. Her origin story began in rural North Carolina, steeped in family histories, and eventually brought her to South Florida through full mini-lives lived in London, New York, and Los Angeles. A queen of adaptation and a champion for strength in vulnerability, Elizabeth has an uncanny ability to immerse herself in varying environments with ease to form deeply personal collaborations with her subjects.
Sophie DeWaal
Financial Analyst
Sophie is the founder of Drink Arya, a tea-based beverage company raising the bar on freshness and quality ingredients in our drinks. She left behind a ten-year career as an Investment Banker on Wall Street to bring Drink Arya to life in West Palm Beach. Outside of modernizing the brick & mortar drink industry, she is an avid equestrian show jumper, competing in Wellington, FL during the winters.
Akina Johnson
Creative Specialist & Book Club Coordinator
Inspired by her passion for color and a love of the Florida lifestyle, Akina's designs are steeped in the vibrant energy of the tropics. Like no two palm trees or seashells are alike, the fabrics she creates resemble nature's uniqueness. Using the ancient binding and dyeing art of shibori, her collection of luxury fashion and home decor are entirely hand-dyed and handmade in South Florida.