Co-creator of the GrassROOTS Community Foundation (GCF), a health advocacy organization that develops, scales, and funds community health initiatives for impoverished women and girls, Dr. Johnson Dias is dedicated to devising research-informed, innovative solutions to the challenges facing the urban poor.
Women’s Issues

Joan Garry
Former Executive Director of GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), Garry is widely recognized as one of the most vocal, passionate and effective civil rights leaders in America. She is a featured blogger at The Huffington Post, and frequently contributes commentary to major news publications and TV networks.

Valerie Boyd
Award-winning author of the acclaimed biography Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, and the forthcoming Spirits in the Dark: The Untold Story of Black Women in Hollywood — a groundbreaking study tracing the history of black women in film and TV from the 1920s to the present.