About Asia Hadley

Asia elevates Candid’s presence and impact throughout the South by cultivating relationships with key stakeholders, fundraising regionally, and providing perspectives on philanthropy. For fifteen years she has dedicated her career to advancing an informed and equitable social sector.

From 2002 to 2005 Asia worked in programs, volunteer recruitment, and development at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana. Her fundraising efforts helped raise over $600,000 for the agency. She spent the next two years in the private sector delivering diversity leadership training for high school and college students and recruiting people of color for positions in the social sector.

After honing her training skills in the private sector, Asia applied those skills as Training Coordinator for Foundation Center from 2007 to 2013. She returned to Foundation Center in 2016 after leaving temporarily to focus on her growing family. She held roles as Virtual Assistant and Atlanta Lead where she managed daily operations, focusing on community engagement, strategic alignment, training and programming. Most recently, she managed cross-functional collaboration for global matching funds projects for Habitat for Humanity International.

About Dr. Amy Ubesie

Dr. Amy Ubesie is a recent Penn State College of Medicine graduate where she received her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) degree in Community and Behavioral Health. Her doctoral thesis focused on mental health among African American college students. Prior to receiving her doctorate, she worked in healthcare management and operations for over 9 years. Currently, Dr. Ubesieis also a health consultant at a consulting firm in Washington, D.C.

About Laura Sanchez-Parkinson

Laura Sanchez-Parkinson is the Director for Partnerships, Programs, and Research at The Steve Fund, a nonprofit organization that promotes the mental health and well-being of young people of color. At the Steve Fund she works closely with nonprofits, high schools, and college campuses across the nation to support and transform educational structures for youth of color to thrive. Laura earned a Masters in higher education and a Bachelors in organizational studies and sociology from the University of Michigan.

About Eric McGriff

Eric McGriff (he/him/his) is the Prevention Program Coordinator at the Crime Victims Treatment Center; an organization that offers free services to help individuals and communities prevent, respond to, and heal from violence. As a Preventionist, he works with communities to create comprehensive approaches to reduce the likelihood of harm occurring, while also strengthening communities' ability to respond when harm does occur. Eric has been involved in violence prevention since he was 15 and joined the University of Rochester's Sources of Strength suicide prevention program as a peer facilitator and, at the same time, started volunteering with his local domestic and sexual violence prevention and response agency (Vera House, Inc.), as chairman for their campaign to engage men and boys in ending violence against women and girls.

Eric has a background in working with K-12 schools, colleges, and universities, with men who have been convicted of violent crimes, local governments, the nightlife industry, and more to help create healthier environments that are better equipped to prevent and respond to harm. He has presented and trained for organizations such as the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, the Department of Education, and the United Nations (including at the past 2 United Nations General Assemblies), and Major League Baseball. McGriff has been recognized by the Obama White House for his prevention work, and has supported national governments and localities around the globe in developing and implementing comprehensive approaches to preventing and responding to violence. He has also won a National American Advertising Award for his first, and only, spoken word piece titled To Be A Man, where he and his identical twin brother speak about the impact of mainstream masculinity on their lives.

Eric's hobbies include playing the violin, reading non-fiction books, and learning latin ballroom dance, which are huge sources of self-care. He is a queer person of color, an identical twin, a son, a partner, and happy to be in community with you all today.