“Lover of details, organization, reading, and travel.”
“Lover of details, organization, reading, and travel.”
Gabriella joined the Healthy Places by Design team as Events and Meeting Coordinator in January 2020 – right before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. To recognize adaptations to her role, Gabriella now serves as Project and Events Coordinator. In addition to both virtual and in-person events and meeting planning, Gabriella provides various types of project support. She works with project leads to develop, coordinate, and update project schedules and contact databases, track assigned project-related tasks and activities to ensure deadlines are met, and supports communications-related tasks.
Gabriella graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Management and Society. Prior to joining our team, Gabriella served as the Director of Carolina Athletic Hospitality, a sub-branch of Colonnade Group. In this role, Gabriella oversaw game-day hospitality and premium seating management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for all home football, basketball, and baseball sporting events.
An eastern North Carolina native, Gabriella enjoys walks with her husband (Sid) and dog (Toby), international travel (when safe), true-crime podcasts, and reading. When it comes to her personal connection to our work, Gabriella explains:
I grew up Hispanic in a predominately white community in eastern North Carolina, raised by my white single mother. As a result (which I was not aware of at the time), I did not fully identify as Hispanic. When I arrived at UNC-Chapel Hill, peers in classes would ask “What are you?” in terms of my ethnicity. I didn’t understand why I was asked this question—didn’t I look white, just with dark hair and eyes? It was then that I began to truly understand my diversity and the role it would play in my social interactions, among other things. Since joining the Healthy Places by Design team I have learned how my lived experience isn’t so unique. I am grateful to be on a team that values my identity and allows me to be my authentic self.