Fall Art Auction & Fundraiser: Expresiones
Cheers, and see you next year!
Every year, El Futuro hosts an Art Auction & Fundraiser in order to attract new supporters, raise funds for organizational sustainability, and uplift local artists and businesses. This 2024, we met again at The Rickhouse to celebrate El Futuro’s 20 years of history and raise money for the mental health of Latinos in North Carolina. Thanks to the collaboration of local Latino artists, donors, sponsors, and the El Futuro’s board members, we were able to fill the room with art, color, and joy, all for one reason: to build the capacity to provide services to more families in need.
We are inexhaustible thanks to all those who made this night possible: Thank you to Azteca Grill for providing such a delicious dish accompanied by clean and fast service. Thank you to our DJ Rang for contributing with his experience and quality. Thank you to Autumn Locklear for bringing Brazilian culture and teaching us how to dance samba. Thank you to Pintamar for beautifying the place with handmade centerpieces and a chalkboard full of carnival colors. Thank you to the volunteers and staff of El Futuro who arrived on time to welcome the guests and ensure that everything was organized. Thank you to The Rickhouse for providing the perfect venue for a perfect evening. And of course, THANK YOU to the supporters and donors, thank you for believing that our work has a real impact on the families we serve, thank you for adding your affection to the Latino community, and thank you for giving us a hand to walk together for another 20 years.
Why this is important
El Futuro is North Carolina’s leading nonprofit organization seeking to transform Latino-serving mental health care through bilingual and culturally-responsive behavioral health services including therapy, psychiatry, substance use treatment, and case management. We serve more than 2,500 Latino youth and adults every year through outpatient clinics in Durham and Siler City and we also work to build statewide capacity for mental health providers through our La Mesita Latinx Mental Health Professional Network which has 2,000+ members serving every county in North Carolina and beyond. By supporting Expresiones 2024, you will be joining a community that believes in ensuring quality, culturally-sensitive mental health services for all.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Art Auction Committee
Angie Mejia Bob Healy Dalila Rodrigues Ed Blount Eliza Hueda Frania Bodan Hope Williams Kathy & Rich Bruch Kerry Brock Lizbeth Turrubiartes Luis & Monica Alvarez Madison McNair Marina Fela Castillo Mary Coffman Mary Hondermann Melida Colindres Ruby Bahkshi Sharon Mujica Tiana Hooker Wenny Wigley
Alvely Alcántara, LCSW
Rossy C. Garcia, MEd 
Katy Sims, MD 
Everardo Aviles, LCSW, LCAS (Eve)
As a medical anthropologist and social work researcher, Dr. Gulbas’ research embodies interdisciplinarity through the integration of applied theories of health and human development with qualitative and ethnographic methodologies. Her work seeks to understand how people—children, families, and providers—navigate complex sociocultural landscapes in the pursuit of mental health. Most of her work, to date, focuses attention on developing more robust interpretations of suicide risk. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, this body of research has contributed to advancements in theoretical and empirical knowledge of the broader contexts within which youth suicide risk is situated. 
R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a study that examines the impact of immigration-related threat and stress on school communities. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and hold a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first gen college student.
Dr. Parra-Cardona is an Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) at the University of Texas at Austin. At the SHSSW, he serves as Coordinator for Mexico and Latin American initiatives. He also serves as Area Director for Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute. Dr. Parra-Cardona’s program of research is focused on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based parenting interventions for low-income Latinx populations in the US and Latin America.
Bianka Reese, PhD, MSPH is a research scientist and program evaluator specializing in adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her previous research in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her work as the Research and Evaluation Manager at SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led largescale evaluations of multilevel, community-based sexual health promotion initiatives and research projects aimed at elevating the voices of diverse youth in North Carolina. Dr. Reese is currently the Senior Research Strategist at Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning national evaluation, research, and assessment firm.
Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH is an independent researcher focused on adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her interest in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her previous work with SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led the training and evaluation department, conducted capacity-building workshops for youth serving professionals including on the topic of how to be more affirming of LGBTQ youth, and from her extensive experience working with the Latinx population in NC.
Maru Gonzalez, EdD is an Assistant Professor and Youth Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her areas of inquiry include youth development with a focus on activism, social justice, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people across familial, school, and community contexts. 
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD
Hector Y. Adames, PsyD