Client Advisor, Greater Houston Community Foundation

Ashley Estes currently serves as a Client Advisor at the Greater Houston Community Foundation. She has 15 years of fundraising experience in the Houston non-profit community. She began her development career at the Houston Food Bank where she built from the ground up their Corporate Partnerships program. In 2013, she moved to Lone Star Legal Aid to serve as the Assistant Director of Resource Development, soliciting and managing private foundation and government grants. In 2015, Ashley was recruited to South Texas College of Law Houston (STCLH) as the Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations. In her four years at STCLH, she grew the grant program more than 350% and implemented a formalized corporate partnership program. In February 2019, Ashley returned to the Houston Food Bank to work with the major gifts team as the Prospect Development Manager and then moved to GHCF in 2023 where she manages a portfolio of private foundation and supporting organization clients. Ashley was elected to the Apra Greater Houston board as the Secretary in 2020, and moved into the VP role in 2022. Ashley is a native Houstonian, has a degree in Anthropology from Baylor University and a law degree from the University of Houston. She currently lives in the city with her husband and their pup.

Associate Director of Constituent Strategies, Baylor College of Medicine

Amanda Whiteside currently serves as an Associate Director of Constituent Strategies at Baylor College of Medicine where she supports the foundation, corporation, and grateful patient teams. Prior to joining Baylor College of Medicine in 2022, she spent 6 years at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where she designed and implemented the first prospect management system at the Museum, successfully managed the prospect management system through a database transition, and managed prospect tracking for a $450 million capital campaign that raised more than $20 million over its initial goal. Amanda started her fundraising career as a summer intern at Holocaust Museum Houston, going on to work full-time after college as the Museum’s first Prospect Researcher. There she developed the first prospect management system for the Museum. She graduated Cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a double major in Anthropology and History.

Sr. Development Research Analyst, Houston Methodist Hospital

Natasha Jesudason is a Sr. Development Research Analyst at the Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation, joining the organization in 2017. As a member of the prospect research and strategic analysis team, she is responsible for prospect management and strategic development related to research and database functions. Prior to Houston Methodist, she spent 10 years at Incarnate Word Academy, serving in a number of capacities including being an Education Edge super user (maintained the student information database and provided technical support to staff, parents, and students) and database liaison between the academic office and advancement office. Natasha is a graduate of Houston Christian University (previously known as Houston Baptist University) and earned a BS degree (double majoring in Computer Information Systems Management and English) and an MLA degree.

Prospect Development Officer, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Javi Mares currently serves as the Prospect Development Officer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He joined the MFAH in the fall of 2018, he served as the Annual Fund Coordinator and was promoted to this current role in 2022. In his current role, he is responsible for identifying prospects, conducting research on prospects, prospect management, and integrating data analytics. Prior to his tenure at the MFAH, he served as the Auction Manager at FotoFest during the 2018 Biennial season. He has an ardent appreciation for the visual arts with a special focus in photography and loves the written word. He also volunteers with Trans Lifeline, a non-profit organization that provides trans peer support throughout the U.S., where he facilitates name change microgrants. Javi earned his bachelor degrees in visual arts and psychology from the University of Houston. He lives in the second ward of Houston where he enjoys writing poetry.

Project Manager, Donor & Prospect Engagement, University of Houston

Joshua Marroquin is a marketer, fundraiser, analyst and strategist with a main focus on advancing the digital efforts of Houston Public Media. As a part of the digital team, he helps drive revenue during fundraising campaigns, market and promote content on social media, and helps guide strategy by analyzing the stations digital trends on multiple platforms. Since joining the University of Houston in 2018, Joshua has been instrumental in the execution of highly successful fundraising campaigns and university-wide initiatives and has a robust background in using data and analytics to help guide decision making.

Joshua currently leads the prospecting and research team for the University of Houston's Advancement Division. His team is a key link between the University of Houston System’s front-end fundraisers and the offices responsible for providing prospect management, analysis, data, and research. Our primary responsibility is to set our gift officers up for success by building optimized portfolios, providing moves management support, and collaborating with leadership on strategy as we strive to reach our organizational goals. Joshua graduated from University of Houston – Clear Lake with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business.

Manager, Development Research and Operations, Houston Zoo

Brittani Williams is currently the manager of development research and operations at the Houston Zoo.  Over the past 17 years, she has held various fundraising roles for the University of Houston, ACLU of Texas and numerous local, state and national political campaigns.  She graduated from the University of Houston with a B.S. in both Political Science and Psychology and in 2018 with a MBA with specializations in Global Management and Business Modeling and Decision Making. She also serves as a Trustee on the Apra Foundation with Apra International.  She has served on the Apra Greater Houston Board since 2016. 

Marva Lawrence, At Large

Associate Director, Prospect Research and Management, Baylor College of Medicine

Marva Lawrence joined Houston Community College Foundation in 2020. Prior to joining the HCC Foundation, Marva worked with BakerRipley in several roles beginning in 2012 and finally as Develop Services Coordinator from 2016- 2020. She worked as Director of Finance and Administration with GRACE Community Services (a disaster case management nonprofit) from 2006 to 2012. Since 2006, Marva has held multiple positions with organizations who specialized in or are primarily focused on philanthropic initiatives. Marva is a dedicated and passionate humanitarian who values and respects the acts of charity.  Marva knew as a young adult that she had an innate gift and desire of rendering aid to her community.  Her concentrated effort is on young children and youth but extensively spans to the seniors.  Marva has dedicated over 20 years of service to her church community and local ministries by volunteering with local crisis and outreach organizations and by donating essential items to those in need.  

Marva is active in the community and is a member of APRA Greater Houston, Association of Advancement Services Professionals, the UH-Downtown Chapter of National Society of Leadership and Success.

Preston Jones, At Large

Associate Director of Prospect Research & Management, Baylor College of Medicine

In his current role, Preston supports the major and mid-level giving programs at Baylor College of Medicine. Prior to joining Baylor in July 2023, he spent 4 years at the University of Texas at MD Anderson Cancer Center as first, Development Specialist of Prospect Research, and then as an Assistant Director of Prospect Research. During his time at MD Anderson Cancer, he supported both major giving and planned giving teams as well as assisted in project management and data analysis projects. Preston began his career as a Student Database Research Intern in the Office of Advancement & Alumni Affairs at the University of Montevallo, leading to the creation of the first prospect research role within the university. He assisted the Office of Advancement and Alumni Affairs in the " It's Just About Family" campaign leading to over $36 million raised over the 7-year timeframe and the largest ever recorded gift in Montevallo history. He graduated from the University of Montevallo with a bachelor's degree in Marketing and a minor in Management Information Systems.