Board & Staff
Our Board
Devin L. Hughes, CFA
Founder, GVPedia; Board President
Devin Hughes is the founder and President of GVPedia, Inc. He is also the founder of Hughes Capital Management, a registered investment advisor. He has taught Advanced Topics in Investments at the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with dual majors in Finance and Risk Management. He attended OU as a National Merit Scholar. He has been published in The Hill, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Politico, Slate, ThinkProgress, Vice, Vox, and The Washington Post. He is the 2008 Oklahoma State Chess Champion.
Po Murray
Co-founder, Newtown Action Alliance
Po Murray is a co-founder, chairwoman, and spokesperson of the Newtown Action Alliance (NAA) and the Newtown Action Alliance Foundation (NAAF). She is an organizer for the Connecticut Chapter of the Women’s March and board member of GVPedia, Guns Down for America, and Survivors Empowered. She served on Governor Ned Lamont’s public safety transition committee in Connecticut, was a recent board member of States United to Prevent Gun Violence, and co-chaired the Swing States & Messaging Subcommittee for the Biden/Harris Gun Violence Prevention Policy Subcommittee.
Po and her family have lived in Sandy Hook for over 22 years, and her four children are graduates of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Po joined the gun violence prevention movement after her neighbor killed his own mother then gunned down 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Patricia Oliver
Co-founder, Change the Ref
Patricia Oliver grew up in Venezuela. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in business administration and an Associates degree in public relations. She and her husband Manuel, and their children Joaquin and Andrea, immigrated to the United States in 2003. They chose Parkland, Florida for its reputation as a safe and family friendly community and its excellent schools.
After the shocking events on February 14, 2018, her ordinary life changed forever, when she lost her son Joaquin in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Patricia has now become an activist. She devotes every single day to fighting for common sense gun reform, so nobody has to endure the pain and suffering of losing a loved one to gun violence.
Patricia is incredibly proud to work alongside the many young activists who share her passion, like those who founded the March For Our Lives Movement. She and her husband founded Change the Ref in honor of Joaquin.
Kristin Song
Co-founder, The Ethan Miller Song Foundation
Kristin Song is a mother, activist, and attorney. On January 31, 2018, her world shattered into a million pieces when her son, Ethan, walked to a neighbor’s house, where he and his friend had access to three guns belonging to the friend’s father. The boys were posing with them and a gun went off. Ethan was killed.
From that day on, Kristin promised to honor Ethan every day. She and her husband, Mike, created The Ethan Miller Song Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to develop and support programs and causes that keep kids safe, rescue neglected animals, and honor veterans, all of which were close to Ethan’s heart.
The foundation has partnered with numerous organizations since its inception including CTVIP in New Haven to support the most at-risk children. They also worked with All The King’s Horses to create a sanctuary for animals and people. In honor of our veterans in Guilford, they have started Wreaths Across Guilford, where they place a wreath on 1200 veteran’s graves in Guilford every Christmas.
Kristin has also taken the lead on critical advocacy work. She worked with many gun violence groups to pass “Ethan’s Law” in Connecticut, which requires gun owners to secure their weapons if they are not in their immediate control. She is currently working with Newtown Action Alliance to pass this bill on a national level.
Her advocacy work has also been instrumental in establishing an annual gun buy-back in Guilford, developing a school gun safety curriculum to increase education and support the “End Family Fire” initiative, and getting “Say Something” adopted by the Guilford School System.
Allison Jordan
Board Member
Allison Jordan is a research associate for Gun Violence Prevention at the Center for American Progress (CAP). Prior to joining CAP, Jordan graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and peace and conflict studies, with a focus on Latin America. Allison enjoys spending time outdoors and pursuing creative endeavors in her free time. She believes in building a future with safer communities and freedom from violence and fear at the hands of guns.
Our Staff
Caitlin Clarkson Pereira
Executive Director
Caitlin has been Executive Director of GVPedia since 2020. Living 30 minutes from Sandy Hook, she got her start in gun violence prevention work in 2012, and made it a key issue during her race for State Representative in 2018. During this race, she was named a Moms Demand Action “Gun Sense Candidate,” received an endorsement from LEAP Forward, and was given an A rating from Connecticut Against Gun Violence.
In 2019, Caitlin served on the Lamont-Bysiewicz Transition Team for Women’s Policy Issues, and in 2020, she won a lawsuit that she brought against the State Elections Enforcement Commission regarding campaign funds and childcare. In 2021, this was codified into state law.
Caitlin earned her Masters of Science degree in Counseling, and her full-time employment is professional firefighting. Of all her credentials, she is most proud to be a mom.
Shannon Van Esley
Research Director
Shannon is thrilled to be a member of team GVPedia. Her involvement in the gun violence prevention movement began with supporting the advocacy efforts of a dear friend and survivor of gun violence. She’s since organized and worked with The New York Coalition to End Gun Violence, Concert Across America to End Gun Violence, NYC Mayor’s Office to Prevent Gun Violence Survivors Advisory Council, Women’s March, and the NYS Executive committee (and former NYC chapter leader) of Brady United Against Gun Violence.
Shannon splits her time at GVPedia as a decades-long professional actor (and theatre educator) on stage, camera, in the voiceover booth, and even portrays med school training patient simulations with NYC area universities and hospitals.
Her favorite things include cats, diners, and non-violence. https://
Eric Davidson
Senior Editor, Armed with Reason
Eric Davidson is Senior Editor for GVPedia’s Substack page, Armed With Reason, where he schedules, edits, and writes daily content. He began his music journalism career writing for various Ohio weeklies; went to college at Ohio State University; formed a punk band (New Bomb Turks) that ended up releasing 10+ albums of material and touring around the world, while continuing to write for various publications.
He moved to NYC in 2004; wrote for the Village Voice, Time Out, and numerous record labels, and eventually served as Managing Editor at CMJ, an independent radio industry magazine and music festival. He released his first book, We Never Learn, in 2010. Since then, he’s continued writing/editing for Please Kill Me online, Rock and Roll Globe, Creem and more.
Inspired by a friend who is a gun violence survivor, and increasingly concerned with America’s gun violence epidemic, Eric volunteered with Brady United Against Gun Violence, then began working with GVPedia in April, 2023.
