Our Future Campaign
What you will find here:
Welcome! This page is designed to give you an easy place to find the materials, updates, and tools you’ll need as we move the Our Future Campaign forward together. Here, you’ll find helpful background, discussion guides, timelines, donor engagement resources, and next steps so you can stay informed, prepare for meetings, and help champion the campaign with confidence.
List of Materials
- Campaign Overview (1 pager): A high-level summary of the Our Future Campaign, including its purpose, vision, and intended impact.
- Case for Support: The central narrative explaining why the campaign matters now and how donor investment will advance the organization’s future.
- Board Role in the Campaign: A summary of how the Board can provide leadership, oversight, visibility, and support before and during the campaign.
- Campaign Timeline: Key phases, milestones, and decision points to help leaders understand what happens when.
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Short answers to common questions that committee and board members may hear from donors, partners, or community members.
- Size of Gift Chart: A giving framework that shows the range and number of gifts needed to reach the campaign goal and guide donor strategy.
- Story Cards: Brief, shareable examples that illustrate the campaign’s impact through real stories, community needs, and future possibilities.
- Strategic Plan (1 pager): The organization’s roadmap for priorities, goals, and growth, showing how the campaign supports long-term direction and impact.
- Commitment Form: A simple form donors can use to confirm their campaign pledge, gift intentions, payment schedule, and recognition preferences. This document is available for secure electronic signature through DocuSign. Please email Campaign Manager, Angie Mejia, amejia@elfuturo-nc.org
- Board and Campaign Volunteer Leadership: A reference outlining key volunteer leaders.
- Campaign Stewardship Letter: A donor communication template used to thank supporters, reinforce the impact of their commitment, and maintain campaign momentum.
- Campaign Brand Guide: Guidance for using the campaign name, tone, visuals, and key messages consistently across materials and outreach.
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