Carlton Fields COO Anastasia “Annie” Hiotis Elected to Equality Florida Board

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Carlton Fields is pleased to announce that its Chief Operating Officer, Anastasia “Annie” Hiotis, was elected to serve on the board of Equality Florida for a three-year term.

Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) community.

As a board member, Ms. Hiotis will provide overall strategic and policy formulation, direction and guidance to Equality Florida, serving as an ambassador, and assisting in the establishment of the fiscal budget and its approval as well as raising funds to support the organization.

"We are thrilled about the addition of Annie to our board of directors," said Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida. "Annie has been a long-time advocate in the St. Petersburg community and she and her colleagues at Carlton Fields have provided countless hours of support for our work to advance LGBTQ equality. Annie's experience and energy on Equality Florida's board will help us continue to achieve our mission."

As Carlton Fields’ COO, a position she has held since 2001, Ms. Hiotis oversees the law firm’s operations of more than 600 lawyers and professional staff, which has five offices in Florida, and offices in Atlanta, Washington DC, New York, Hartford, and Los Angeles. She has been with the firm since 1992 and previously served as its Director of Office Operations and Human Resources.

Ms. Hiotis has been openly gay at Carlton Fields since 2008, and she is an advocate for the firm’s longstanding diversity initiatives, which are recognized at a national level.

Specifically, Carlton Fields consistently ranks as a top law in the country firm for Diversity by Vault, and the firm has received the distinction of “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality” for eight consecutive years by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. Additionally, the firm’s efforts to promote LGBT equality in the workplace are evidenced by its offering of domestic partner benefits to attorneys and staff since 1999; establishing the firm’s LGBT Alliance; and representing LGBT individuals and families pro bono in significant same-sex marriage and adoption cases for all LGBT Floridians — including working with Equality Florida and the National Center for Lesbian Rights pro bono in Pareto v. Ruvin, which allowed same-sex couples in Miami-Dade County to receive marriage licenses.

Ms. Hiotis has been extensively involved with Equality Florida since 2009 and to date, either chairing or being an active member of the St. Petersburg Equality Florida Steering Committee. As a result of years of activism, she was honored to serve as a Grand Marshal at the St. Pete Pride Parade in 2016, was recognized by the Tampa Bay Business Journal as an Outstanding Voice in their 2016 Business of Pride edition, and in 2014 was presented the Voice of Equality Award from Equality Florida at its St. Petersburg Gala.  Ms. Hiotis and her partner of 25 years, Connie Lancaster, have been staunch supporters of the Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, sponsoring its annual launch party each year since 2011. They were also significant benefactors to the St. Petersburg LGBT Welcome Center.

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