Our Staff
ADRIAN PARRA (THEY/HE/SHE), EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Adrian is a non-binary, latinx individual who uses they, he, and she pronouns fluidly. They have been serving in executive leadership at Youth OUTright since January 2018. Adrian feels honored to build power with the LGBTQIA+ youth of WNC, cultivating a culture of consent, equity, and compassion. He prioritizes self-determination and facilitates intersectional and intergenerational dialogue within their youth organizing. She comes to social justice work from a background in fine art photography and printmaking and celebrates creative approaches to organizing for Justice. Outside of youth organizing, you might find them on a hiking trail chasing waterfalls with their pup DandyLion or dancing in their living room to anything from clarinet to dubstep.
ASH MARQUIS, (HE/HIM/HIS, XE/XIM/XYR), YOUTH FELLOW
Ash Marquis (he/xe) is a gay, trans teen who’s spent the entirety of his life thus far in Western North Carolina. He’s always been passionate about social justice and has spoken out about trans issues in an op-ed piece as well as the Trans in Trumpland docuseries. He’s glad to have witnessed a few trans-inclusive changes to the state’s systems and hopes to be part of the movement that pushes for more of these policies. Creativity and the consumption of art continue to grow as important facets of his identity and expression. He’s a writer who loves discussing and analyzing music and literature. The work of LGBTQ+ artists is especially of interest to him. Incorporation of more art in xyr activism is currently one of xyr goals. YouthOUTright has been a vital part of xyr support system over the past year and a half, so xe’s excited to be contributing to this important work.
BECK MARTENS (THEY/THEM), YOUTH PROGRAM DIRECTOR
My name is Beck! I am a white, neurodivergent, fat, nonbinary and transgender, bisexual, and queer southerner; an organizer, an educator, a painter, a musician; a believer in autonomy and self-determination. I'm currently the Youth Programs Director where I get to build programming with and for queer and trans youth, but I began with the organization as a volunteer in 2018. Some of my favorite programs I get to work on as Programs Director are our annual events like the GSA Summit and Queer Prom. It's so inspiring to see queer and trans youth provide accessible education to each other in a conference space like our GSA Summit and Queer Prom is pure queer joy at its most magical. Alongside our larger annual events, the programs team, which includes two part-time Youth Fellows, implements monthly programming in Buncombe County that focuses on creative expression and comprehensive wellness such as queer sex ed and healthy relationships and virtual programs on Discord 3 days a week. Beginning in 2023, we have expanded monthly programs to rural counties and it has been such a joy to collaborate with local organizers to bring programming to Madison, Jackson, Yancey, and other Western North Carolina counties with the aspiration of reaching all 18 counties of WNC annually. I visit GSAs at middle schools and high schools across Western North Carolina to provide programs such as Queer History and Coming Out Support, as well as provide technical assistance to groups like leadership building, power mapping, and program design. As trans and queer youth in particular are under political attack, this work feels crucial and sometimes scary, but it's such a privilege to work with the next generation of queer and trans leaders and see them shine exactly as they are.
Emma Anderson (she/her), Fund Development Director
Emma Anderson is a white, queer, autistic individual who grew up on a farm in rural Virginia where there were no resources available for LGBTQIA+ people, let alone youth. Seeing a similar gap in WNC, Emma was inspired to volunteer with Youth OUTright following college and then pursue a full-time position with the organization.
Emma received her B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies at UNC Asheville. Her professional background includes working with the Center for Diversity Education, the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges, and UNC Asheville in varying communication and fundraising-based roles.
As the Fund Development Director at Youth OUTright, Emma is dedicated to ethical fundraising strategies that centralize youth voices on their terms. You can connect with Emma by emailing her at emma@youthoutright.org.
REAGAn (They/them), YOUTH FELLOW
Reagan is a relatively recent Asheville transplant who is thrilled to work alongside their WNC Queer and Trans community through Youth OUTright and beyond. As a Queer and non-binary young person, they recognize the challenges youth face in finding peers who hold similar values, identities, and experiences as their own. It is because of this that they take pride in their involvement with Youth OUTright through planning, facilitating, and working with other young people who are part of YO's programs. They are passionate about comprehensive and inclusive Queer sex-ed and work to move others away from a more binary and heteronormative understanding of safer sex to that of an inclusive, empathetic, and Queerly informed conversation. Art has been a large part of their life in multiple forms throughout the years, and they find great pleasure in exploring new ways of creating and being in community with others.