Young Leaders Council

Androniki “Niki” Bida (she/her) is a passionate advocate for mental health and suicide prevention, currently serving as the Suicide Prevention Coordinator at The Family Tree – Jacob Crouch Suicide Prevention Services in Lafayette, Louisiana. She leads various suicide prevention trainings and runs a support group for those grieving the loss of a loved one to suicide. Niki is originally from Massachusetts and holds dual degrees in Clinical Psychology with a focus on Thanatology and Criminal Justice from the University of Rhode Island. Her own life experiences, along with her work with domestic violence survivors, grieving families, and individuals in the justice system, have shaped her empathetic approach and deep commitment to guiding others through their most challenging moments. As she pursues her Master of Social Work at LSU and completes a specialized counseling internship at Thrive Therapy, Niki remains focused on fostering healing and empowering those she serves.

Asia Horne (she/her) is a Senior Coordinator at Grassroots Health, where she works to advance health equity in Washington, DC, by using sports to re-imagine health education in middle schools. With both an undergraduate and a master’s degree in Psychology from American University, she brings a strong academic foundation to her work. As a former Division 1 soccer player, Asia loves that a key part of her role involves training student-athletes to serve as volunteer health educators and role models for middle school youth. Through her work, she helps both middle school students and college athletes gain a deeper understanding of essential health topics, including nutrition, sexual health, and mental health. In addition to her role at Grassroots Health, she is a mentee with the Black Mental Wellness Organization, where she contributes to efforts focused on providing evidence-based mental and behavioral health resources from a Black perspective. Growing up in the Bronx, Asia was inspired to pursue a career focused on improving mental and physical health after witnessing the lack of resources in her community. Her academic background, combined with her personal and professional experiences, has shaped her culturally sensitive approach to health and wellness education. Asia plans to pursue a PhD and become a Child Psychologist, helping children and their families navigate mental health challenges in hospital and school settings. When she’s not on the clock, she likes to come out of retirement and play pick-up soccer across leagues in DC as well as attend music festivals and concerts.

Cadon Sagendorf (he/him) is a 22-year-old from Salt Lake City, Utah. Cadon is a committed expert in child welfare, driven by a deep passion for addressing mental health disparities within the child welfare system. Cadon is striving to create meaningful reforms that improve the lives of children and families.

Chloe Care (she/her) is a third-year undergraduate student at UC San Diego, pursuing a B.A. in Psychology, B.A. in Public Law, and a minor in Law and Society. Her work focuses on the intersection between psychology and the law, analyzing the effectiveness and function of rehabilitative court programs for individuals with severe, diagnosed psychological disorders. Chloe is excited to be at the forefront of advocacy on behalf of a rehabilitative lens on the youth and criminal justice system.

Deborah Coffy (they/she) is a Haitian American mental health and social justice advocate, researcher, and writer based in Orlando, Florida. For 5+ years, she has been involved in mental health, social justice advocacy, and communications. Because of her advocacy, she has been awarded awards such as the Dorothy Walker Ruggles Scholarship, the Legacy Award, and the Dively-Dupuis Award. While out of school, she will continue working in research and eventually apply to Ph.D. programs to become a licensed clinical neuropsychologist while working in political and mental health advocacy.

Elisabeth Chai (she/her) is a mental health advocate and emergency medical technician based in New York City. Observing others’ experiences with inaccessible mental healthcare in her community led to the creation of Kintsugi, an initiative that aims to address increases in risky health behaviors through the distribution of harm-reduction supplies and trauma-informed emergency intervention. She is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in neuroscience and philosophy, where she hopes to dedicate her career to reparative social justice in mental health research and education.

Margaret Garcia (she/her), currently resides in Merced, California and has gained valuable experience working with diverse communities in the area. From her independent research project focused on historical agricultural discrimination in the Central Valley, to her position as a research assistant studying the mental health of Latinx youth, she is passionate about researching methods to improve the mental well-being of young adults and youth. To emphasize this, she has currently taken on a few projects, such as creating a page called @latinapsychology on Instagram to create digestible and accessible research briefs of Latina-oriented publications. She hopes her social media initiative can demystify research and promote other Latinas to pursue higher education. Concurrently, she is also serving as a research member for the student organization Survivors and Allies at UCLA. Here, she has published an Op-Ed discussing the detriments of nonconsensual AI-generated sexual deepfakes on students and is pushing a petition from the organization for UC’s to provide curated mental and legal resources to student survivors. Margaret hopes her lived experiences can provide and educate meaningful initiatives on the Young Leaders Council!

Maximiliano Delgado (he/him) is a freshman majoring in Psychology at the University of Arkansas. His mental health journey began in middle school after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which introduced him to the challenges of managing a chronic condition. Growing up in a low-income area, Maximiliano witnessed many of his peers struggling to access adequate mental health resources due to their socioeconomic status. This motivated him to advocate for mental health services as a basic human right, with a focus on creating a safe and inclusive community where individuals feel supported in sharing their struggles and seeking help.

Maximiliano co-founded the Friends of Rogers, a student organization in Northwest Arkansas schools, and has organized community events with The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. His advocacy work includes supporting 988 centers, LGBTQIA+ rights, and firearm safety at the Arkansas State Capitol. As a delegate for SAMHSA, he contributed to revising the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention 2024. His efforts have been recognized with the 2024 STARR Coalition Stop the Stigma Champion award. An avid hiker and outdoorsman, Maximiliano is passionate about helping others improve their mental health through a deeper connection with nature.

Oleksandr Sharlai (he/him) is originally from Ukraine and currently lives in San Diego, California. He is a second-year student at San Diego Mesa College, where he double majors in psychology and biology. As a member of Psi Beta: Community College Psychology Honor Society, Oleksandr is particularly interested in the impact of social media on mental health. His own experience with misdiagnosing himself with Borderline Personality Disorder based on TikTok content led him to seek professional help, where he was accurately diagnosed with depression and anxiety. This inspired him to research the connection between social media-induced flow states and increased anxiety. He has presented his findings at various conferences and addressed the dangers of self-diagnosis in public speaking events as an honor member of the National Forensics Association (PhiRhoPi).

Currently, Oleksandr is a researcher at Scripps Research, investigating molecular changes associated with alcohol abuse in the field of molecular psychiatry. He has traveled to over 20 countries across four continents and lived in three. Outside of academics, Oleksandr enjoys heavy lifting, skiing, snorkeling, and is currently learning to surf.

Travis Haughton (he/him) is a film director, producer, and screenwriter from St. Louis, Missouri. He’s also the creative mind behind his production company, A Travis Production, which was established in 2016 to address mental health issues within the Black community through film, television, photography, and music.

Haughton’s dedication to storytelling and advocacy shines through his impactful films. In 2021, he graduated from Webster University majoring in Film, Television, and Video Production, minor in Scriptwriting, as well as a certificate in Entrepreneurship. Currently, he’s working professionally in the film industry based out of Atlanta, Georgia. “Can’t nobody tell your story the way you can tell it!” -Travis Haughton