Meet Laura Montgomery Peña, M.Ed., BCBA – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s community engagement manager. Laura leads community engagement for the Foundation. She has a master’s degree in education specializing in early intervention and is a board-certified behavior analyst. After a personal loss to suicide, she is dedicated to cultivating strong community involvement surrounding mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
Meet Shauna Barnes – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s mental health education manager. Shauna’s background in child psychiatry research has given her a passion for mental health awareness and advocacy. She’s motivated by the desire for adolescents, parents, teachers, and community members to have the knowledge and resources to recognize and support those struggling with a mental health condition.
Meet Blanca N. Garcia, LCSW-S – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s director of mental health resources. Blanca’s leads the Foundation’s Here For Texas program. A licensed clinical social worker, she has worked with children, teens, and families for more than 10 years as a bilingual mental health clinician. Blanca understands that navigating mental health services is a challenge and was critical in implementing the Foundation’s Here For Texas Mental Health Navigation Line to increase access to mental health resources in North Texas.
Today marks the first day the Grant Halliburton Foundation staff officially begins working at Pegasus Park —the new home of the Foundation. The Foundation was selected to be part of the renovation development off Stemmons Freeway – named in homage to the old ExxonMobil building with the iconic red-winged Pegasus symbol at its top.
Grant Halliburton Foundation continues to experience organizational growth propelled largely by the continued need for mental health education and mental health resources in North Texas. The education and outreach team welcomed several new staff members last fall and early this year to reach more people with vital mental health and suicide prevention training.
Meet Sonya Parker Goode – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s director of outreach and education. Sonya’s passion for helping people led her to pursue a dual career in education and nonprofit work almost 25 years ago. As a certified life coach and anger management specialist, Sonya enjoys developing and equipping people with tools to increase their confidence, set and respect boundaries, and use effective communication and conflict resolution techniques.
Meet Jessica Look – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s Thrive Strategy and Education Manager. Jessica has a master’s degree in educational psychology and brings 20 years of experience working in public and private school settings. As a mother, educator, and mental health advocate, she’s committed to changing the conversation around mental health and providing resources to children and teens in North Texas.
I’ve written a lot of blogs during my time at Grant Halliburton Foundation. Blogs about stress, depression, trans youth, mindfulness – things in my comfort zone. Goodbyes are not in my comfort zone. The thing about homes is that sometimes they change. Sometimes you move to a different city or just down the road. Sometimes what you need from a home changes, but almost every time moving homes really sucks.
Meet Connie Chin – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s Here For Texas Program Manager. Connie leads the recruitment and coordination of volunteers for the Here For Texas Mental Health Navigation Line. She also manages the development and maintenance of HereForTexas.com. Connie is also a polyglot who loves video games and musicals.
Meet Ashley Gordon Prater, LMSW – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s Mental Health Resources Manager. Ashley works to connect North Texans to vital resources through the Foundation’s Here For Texas Mental Health Navigation Line. A licensed master social worker, she has nearly a decade of direct practice experience working with vulnerable populations, including crime victims, persons with different abilities, veterans, immigrants, and families experiencing poverty.
Vanita Halliburton co-founded Grant Halliburton Foundation in 2006 after her son, Grant Halliburton, died by suicide following his battle with severe depression and bipolar disorder. When Grant was struggling, Vanita searched for resources and found little. Later, she resolved to provide critical mental health resources, so that other families wouldn’t have the same outcome as hers.
Meet Hannah Kennedy – Grant Halliburton Foundation’s newest team member. Officially, Hannah is our office manager and events support. She manages the Foundation office, including day-to-day office activities, donor relations, and volunteers coordinating. Unofficially, Hannah is our resident theater kid.
