Executive Team

Steve Thurston
Founder, President & CEO

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Integridad Network Inc., Steve Thurston is responsible for developing and executing the organization's global strategy, managing its operations, and expanding Integridad's leadership and reach throughout its markets.

Mr. Thurston, a native of Chile, has over ten years of experience in the broadcasting and new media technologies industry and brings more than six years of extensive strategic business, product development, and marketing experience primarily focused within the Hispanic Christian Internet market.

Most recently, he guides the growth of key Internet business development and helps develop marketing strategies for Integridad Network’s evangelistic and discipleship projects and publications for the organization. He is instrumental and responsible for aggressively creating brand awareness, developing innovative procedures and pursuing strategic implementations of INI’s tools and resources online. During that same time, Mr. Thurston co-founded InterVizion.net and was a major driving force responsible for its key positioning in the online market. He also headed strategic business development and was responsible for traffic, market analysis and expansion, revenue, and content acquisition. He was also fundamental in establishing the organization as a premier and leading online Hispanic Christian community. He oversaw all business and strategic aspects of InterVizion.net and helped develop the organization’s long-range vision and direction. Mr. Thurston was presented the National Religious Broadcasters 2000 Presidential Award for his work in serving Hispanics through InterVizion.net.

Prior to this, Steve was a consultant in Web development, design, strategic planning and research for various organizations both internationally and in the USA. In 1989, Steve started his career as an Executive Producer for Studio JTV in Santiago Chile, where he produced and directed various Spanish documentaries and Christian television programming. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Radio, Television and Film with a concentration in broadcasting telecommunications and mass media from Messiah College.

James E. Thurston
Co-founder, Vice President, Director & Chief Business Officer

Co-founder and Vice President of Integridad Network Inc., Jim currently is the International Director for Ministry Development of Integrity Ministries and Integridad Network Inc. He is an ordained pastor and has been a missions’ executive in Santiago, Chile for more than forty years. Jim is one of the pioneers in mass communications in Latin America and has been producing Christian documentaries, television programming and video Bible classes in Spanish for more than twenty-nine years. He is also the Executive Director of Studio JTV, one of the most modern Christian digital video production house in Latin America.

Jim was also the founder and Country Director of Campus Crusade for Christ in Chile for ten years and since that time, he has held many positions in the local church. For two years he was the National Director of Evangelism for 140 churches and for four years he was the National Sunday School Director for 130 churches. He has also received recognition by the Chilean government and in 1971 received the Outstanding Young American award.

After teaching in the Seattle Public Schools for a year and graduating from the International Christian Graduate University School of Theology, he attended the Mexican Cultural Language Institute. He also attended the Catholic University in Santiago Chile where he studied Television Direction, Production and Broadcasting. He also attended the Bellingham, WA. Vocational Technical Institute where he studied advance supervision and management. He also attended Western Washington University where he studied Introduction to Small Business Management and Business Management as well as Marketing and Sales. Jim holds a BA in Education with an emphasis in Communication from Seattle Pacific University. He has been in the ministry desde 1963.

Paulo César González
Executive Director Interactive Services and Web Development.

As Senior Web Developer & Administrator, Mr. González is responsible for the many websites and properties of Integridad Network. He manages all programming aspects as well as technological design and infrastructure for its master content management system.

Paulo César is a Computer Science and Information Systems engineer. He received his degree in Computer Engineering from the Insituto Profesional INACAP of Santiago Chile.

Veronica C. Smith
Senior Interactive Services Administrator
Integridad Network's Senior Interactive Services Administrator, Veronica Smith is responsible for administering and executing all community interactive areas such as the Chat, bulletin board, discussion forums, prayer requests and testimonies. She also manages all interactive operations and is the liason between the organization and its over 120 people that volunteer in such areas as Chat and forum moderators, counselors, content writers and editors, and prayer intercessors.

Mrs. Smith, a native of Chile with over 9 years of experience in electronic and interactive services, currently works for Amazon's consumer service's department. Previously, Mrs. Smith worked in the Interactive Publishing group of NBCi (National Broadcasting Corporation Interactive) where she managed inbound and outbound interactive resources with the portal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in International Business Administration from The Graduate School of the Pennsylvania State University.

Paul Thurston
Senior Content Media Specialist

Since 1995, Mr Thurston has been a video and film professional with a background in systems design for Broadcast. At Integridad he is responsible for making sure media on demand meets technical standards. He also oversees the broadcasting of many of the live and on-demand international events we cover.

Paul, a native of Chile, has over six years of experience in the broadcasting and new media technologies industry and brings more than ten years of extensive strategic business experience primarily focused within the Hispanic broadcasting and telecommunications market. Previously, Mr. Thurston has consulted on Web development & design ventures and still consults in Broadcast Engineering for various organizations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Radio, Television and Film from Messiah College.

Josefa Marquez
Executive Research Analyst

Josefa Marquez is Integridad Network's Executive Research Analyst. She is responsible for all administrative, marketing and statistical research for the organization. She also oversees all advertising and marketing initiatives and strategic partnerships.

Ms. Marquez holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Production Staff

Marco Antonio Mena
Music Content Director
EnlaceMusical.com

Marco Antonio Mena is a native of Chile, born in the Santiago, and at the time he lives in Temuco, Region of the Araucanía. In 1998 he enters the world of broadcasting by collaborating as musical producer for a youth show called "Música, Poder y Juventud [Music, Power and Youth]." In 1999 he joins David Gómez in reactivating the radio show "Música Joven [Young Music]", founded in 1987, the pioneer radio show of contemporary Christian music in Chile and Latin America. This time, besides being musical producer along with David, he also steps up to the microphone.

The 1 hour weekly radio show is broadcasted through the chain of stations of Radio Esperanza (106.9 FM in Temuco, 98.5 FM in Ancud, 1370 KHz AM in Temuco and in Short Wave, 6090 KHz 49 mt band.) It is also broadcasted through the radios Antillanca FM of Osorno (a general market station) and Radio Luz FM of Lautaro city.

In the year 2000 the idea of expanding Música Joven to the Internet is born, and Mr. Mena creates, along with David Gómez, Música Joven E-zine, dedicated to establish a wider space regarding what was done in radio but aimed to all of Latin America. Música Joven (radio and Internet) garnered great acceptance, being considered a pluralistic and non denominational space, embracing a wide and diverse amount of musical styles, both from the English and Spanish-speaking industries. In Música Joven E-Zine, Marco Antonio worked as webmaster/designer and album reviewer, also participating in many interviews done some artists and/or bands.

Mr. Mena is married with Magdalena Espinoza since 1997 and they have a little baby son.

Dave Gómez
Senior Editor and Content Producer
EnlaceMusical.com

Musician as a hobby, electronic engineer, computer programmer, and teacher of technology, Dave Gómez contributes to EnlaceMusical.com with his years of experience in the musical sphere, both in the Christian and general market, as a fan and from inside the industry as producer of a dozen of albums of local distribution in his native country, Chile. Mr. Gómez is responsible for producing, translating, and editing musical content for EnaceMusical.com

Dave was the creator of the first radio show in Chile and Latin America based on contemporary Christian music, in Spanish and English (with translation of the lyrics), that went on air on September 1987 under the moniker of "Música Joven [Young Music]."

Thanks to his advanced domain of the English language since primary school, Mr. Gómez has been able to develop diverse content areas on the Internet, originally in Música Joven E-zine, and now for EnlaceMusical.com, like the section of translated Lyrics, the translation of News and other articles, and the realization of Interviews to English-speaking artists.

As a guitarist, Dave has been a member of Rock bands as well as worship groups in his church, and so he dominates a broad spectrum of musical styles and demonstrates wide openness to diverse contemporary and conservative musical expressions.

Mr. Gómez does e-work from Temuco city, in the south of Chile, where he lives with his wife Roxana and their three daughters.

Mary Jane Thurston
Public Relations Director

Mary Jane is in charge of all the Integridad Network Public Relations in Latin America. She is also an occasional music programmer for Studio JTV productions. She has also acted and participated in various video and television productions such as Chile's first channel to offer non-violent programming for children, "RC Sports" program at the Rainbow Club station where she co-anchored.

In 2005 she will graduate from UNIACC University in Santiago, Chile with a degree in Public Relations and Translation.

Lina Gallegos de Thurston
Editor

Lina is an active Bible teacher and is also actively involved with a world-wide women's movement dedicated to prayer and evangelizing. She graduated from the following institutions: Santiago University; Campus Crusade's CLAFE (Latin American Center for the of Evangelism Training; and she also has a post graduate degree in Theology from ISUM.

Lina has written a book on Prayer, which is now out of print. For many years she directed a women's prayer campaign praying for Chile. She also has been a Spanish teacher in several Bible Institutes. Lina oversees and edits most of the Spanish corporate articles.

Translators
Dave Gomez
Mike Martinez
Marta Santiago

Chat Moderators
Steve Ibáñez
Martha Ruth García García
Erika Lamia
Angel Edgardo López Fiallos
Elias Canales