Racial Equity Dialogue Series- Environmental Racism

Ashley Denise “A.D.” Skaff

Ashley Denise Skaff is a licensed clinical social worker and supervising attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. She worked in mental health and advocacy for 12 years before becoming an attorney in 2019 and utilizing her background as a social worker to provide client-centered, zealous representation for residents of North Carolina. For the past 4 years, she has worked with the Disaster Relief Project and recently began also working with the Fair Housing Project. Both projects cover the state, giving her the opportunity to meet and connect with people all over. She lives in Durham with her husband and two very spoiled cats.

Curtis Hill is the son of the Late Nancy Hill. Curtis graduated from Whiteville High School in 2000. Curtis furthered his
education at North Carolina State University where he studied political science. Curtis Hill joined Disability Rights North Carolina in April 2019 as an advocate for the agency’s emergency management and disaster relief efforts where he assisted people with disabilities affected by Hurricane Florence. In 2020, Hill expanded his role to focusing on helping North Carolinians with disabilities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Based in Columbus County, Hill provides local support to help overcome barriers, access funding, and secure much needed services. Hill is committed to DRNC reaching underserved communities across the state. Curtis is also the President of the Columbus County Branch of the NAACP, Council Member on the Town Council in Brunswick North Carolina and Executive Director of the Columbus County Forum Inc which is a civic engagement non-profit and disaster preparedness. Curtis is also a member of Cherry Grove Missionary Baptist Church where he serves as adult Sunday School teacher. Hill is often seen marshalling collective action on community issues and advocating for local policy changes to advance the ideals of equity and social justice through various civic organizations in his community.

Mario Vargas is the Lead Organizing Development Coordinator Covering OH, NC, VA, KY, and
Mexico for the Campaign for Migrant worker Justice (the 501c3 of FLOC) based in our Dudley, North
Carolina office. Vargas was born in Harlingen, Texas as one of nine children. Starting at the age of 12, he
began working in the fields with his family as migrant workers. They started the year in southern Florida,
then traveled throughout the United States following different harvests, all through word of mouth.
With his parents and siblings, he picked tobacco in the Carolinas, blueberries in Michigan, tomatoes in
Florida, and everything in between. After dropping out of school at the age of 14 due to his need to
work and help support his family, he returned to school through a diploma program specifically aimed at
low-income, farmworker children. He was the first in his family to get his high school diploma. As he
grew older, he settled in Florida, continuing to work in some capacity in agriculture. After hurricane
Andrew destroyed his home; he moved up north to Michigan. In Michigan, Vargas transitioned to factory work where he was introduced to the labor movement and the power of collective action. After joining his workplace union, Vargas quickly became an organizer. He became a safety coordinator and eventually interim safety director at a large steel company in Toledo, Ohio. After working here for five years, Vargas became an international organizer for the Ironworkers International (IW), utilizing his bilingual skills. At IW, he received various awards,
including the Community Organizer Achievement Award and being named the Lead Organizer, and
underwent numerous organizing trainings. At FLOC and CMWJ, Vargas brings his lived experience as a migrant worker together with his training as an international union organizer. He currently oversees FLOC and CMWJ's organizing strategy where he focuses on meeting community needs, strengthening coalitions and partnerships, and carrying out the organization’s mission to build worker power in the region. Vargas is the proud father of 9 children and is motivated every day to bring changes to the fields and to his community that he would have wanted for his family growing up.