Meet our Team
Christina Vazquez
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Following an unexpected visit with her mom at 13 to drop off donated items to a residential maternity home for teen girls, Christina has dreamt of running her own program for women & families facing unplanned pregnancies. Then, at 15, she faced her own unplanned pregnancy. Both these and other events would mark her and eventually lead her to co-found Shining Hope Pro-Solution Ministries. The ministry of Shining Hope is a call that Christina very strongly believes God has been preparing her for her entire life. “I always knew that God had created me with a purpose and a destiny that involved crisis pregnancies, which began that day many years ago at that teen residential home, I just didn’t know exactly how it would play out. In retrospect, I can now see how God’s hand has been at work in all of it, all along. ‘I am convinced that every detail of my life is (and has been) continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into my life, for I am His lover who has been called to fulfill His designed purpose.’ (Romans 8:28) My past TOTALLY defines me only because of His goodness throughout it all!”
Christina began her work in the non-profit sector in 2004 serving as a Volunteer Coordinator of Fundraising and Special Events as well as a Curriculum Writer/Developer for a large church plant in Cape Coral, Fl. She and her husband have owned and operated several successful small businesses over the years including one that provided support services to pregnant women. In 2012, while living in Orlando, Fl. she was the Program Director for C.A.R.E.S. Treatment Center, a teen residential rehabilitation organization. After her and her family’s move to Bradenton, she took a position as an Advocate and Case Manager for Selah Freedom, a Nationally recognized anti-trafficking organization. While working with that organization she received a Victim Service Practitioner Designation from the Office of the Attorney General. Most recently, she has served as the Grants and Development Director for Marriage and Family Works, an organization dedicated to the restoration of families through skills and relationship education/training and currently serves on their Board of Directors as Secretary.
As Co-Founder and Executive Director for Shining Hope Pro-Solution Ministries, Christina will be focused on leading the organization, hands on, towards fulfilling our mission of “making adoption available to more families by providing financial, social and emotional support and resources to both birth and adoptive parents. Christina also serves as President of the Board and Interim Board Treasurer.
Her and her husband Eloy of 20 years attend Kingdom Life Christian Church in Bradenton and are the current Youth Pastors of Twelve Eleven Youth. They have 6 wonderful children and 3 gorgeous grandbabies. And the child that she became pregnant with at 15? She is now a thriving, successful 25 year old lover of God and testimony of God’s goodness!
Ashley McEwen
Co-Founder & Director of
Programming & Awareness
It takes less than 5 minutes with Ashley to realize that she was created to pioneer and lead Shining Hope. Her passion and love for the broken is what drives her while her heart for families to know the unity and unconditional love that adoption brings sustains her. Ashley pours her heart and soul into shining light in the darkest areas and has brought new meaning to the term “gold digger!” She knows that every person has gold inside of them and through prayer, ministering and the leading of the Holy Spirit she helps people to discover that precious gold within.
Ashley is a co-founder of Shining Hope Pro-Solution Ministries and serves as Board Vice President. She is also the organization’s Director of Programming and Awareness. In that role she will be developing, implementing and have oversight of all our programs, or as we like to call them, solutions. She is the lead mentor for our Surrender Birth Mom Mentorship Solution and oversees the curriculum and discipleship of birth mom clients. As a birth mom herself, Ashley has first hand knowledge on the key to unlocking the greatness in everyone. Ashley is a vital part of bringing awareness to adoption and Shining Hope’s mission through networking and speaking at community events and churches.
Ashley lives in Bradenton with her amazingly supportive husband Dustin and their daughter Alexis. Ashley and family maintain an awesome relationship with their extended adoptive family and their little girl ‘Hope.’ They all enjoy regular visits to the park, aquarium or anywhere else they can have fun together as a family. When Ashley’s not pouring into others you can find her and her family shark fishing or just relaxing poolside, pouring into each other.
Sabrina Estrada Martinez
Director of Engagement,
Marketing & Events
Sabrina joined the Shining Hope team as a working member of our Board of Directors in 2019 and has taken on the role of Engagement, Marketing and Events Director. In this role Sabrina focuses on building relationships and partnerships within the community and with local churches, overseeing the planning and execution of special events and volunteer activation. Sabrina also leads the development and maintenance of our website and social media accounts.
Sabrina has a bubbly personality and absolutely LOVES PEOPLE. She comes to us with experience as an Employee Engagement Director and Culture Ambassador for United HealthCare. In those positions she utilized her talents to coordinate special events and activities, developed and implemented protocols that enabled staff to be effective in fulfilling the company’s mission, fostering strong work culture and company morale which facilitated the retention of employees and attracted top talent.
Her experience, compassion, creativity and outgoing personality make her a vital part of Shining Hope’s mission and we are so excited to have her on our team!
Sabrina is a new resident to Bradenton along with her husband Bobby and their 3 year old daughter Cali Quinn. If you’re looking for them during football season they can most likely be found tailgating at UM home games! Go Canes!!
Stephanie De La Paz
Human Resources Director &
Prophetic Intercessor
At Shining Hope Pro-Solution Ministries we believe that every decision and move we make should be guided by God through the Holy Spirit in relationship with Jesus. We also believe that having someone dedicated to standing in the gap in intercession for our organization, helping us to make prayerful decisions as it relates to our work, is of vital importance. We are so blessed to have Stephanie in that role for Shining Hope. She is an anointed prayer partner and prophetic voice that takes the needs of our organization, the needs of the people we serve and those that partner with us to the throne room continually, bringing back heavenly strategies for us to run with!
Stephanie is a Veteran Staff Sergeant for the U.S. Army, HHC 82nd Airborne Division, and the Florida National Guard. She holds a B.S. in Social Services and a Masters Degree in Sports Administration. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Administration. She brings many years of experience to the team in personnel management and the development and implementation of policies and procedures both from her time in the military and as a civilian. Stephanie has worked in the non-profit field for many years and served on several Board of Directors. She currently serves as Vice President of the board for Body of Christ Ministries and serves as Shining Hope’s board Secretary. She is also the Director of Upwards Sports, a youth sports program.
Stephanie currently lives in Orlando with her husband of 13 years, 4 children by blood and 2 by grace. She is a certified Holy Yoga instructor and leads a class weekly.
Pastor Don Sturiano
Board Director & Pastoral Care
Don Sturiano is the Senior Pastor at Kingdom Life Christian Church in Bradenton, Fl., founded in 2006.
He serves as a Board Director for Shining Hope Pro-Solution Ministries and Pastors our team. We rely on his wisdom and experience as we carry out our mission. Pastor Don brings a wealth of knowledge and community connections from his many years serving our community.
Pastor Don is deeply committed to his relationship with Jesus Christ, believing that the light that shines the brightest at the core will shine furthest into darkness. For this to take place, he has devoted himself to intimate personal worship, prayer, fasting, and dedicated study of the Word of God. His passion is loving The King, demonstrating His Kingdom. With a mission to cultivate a culture that manifests the atmosphere of Heaven so to perpetually demonstrates the love, wisdom & miraculous power of Jesus Christ within the church, our community and the earth.
Loving God, loving people, proclaiming and demonstrating the Gospel of the Kingdom has been his heart's desire for over 35 years.
He was a successful karate school owner and a state, national and world ranked competitor in the late seventies to the early eighties. In 1984 he gave his life to Jesus Christ. He served from the mid-eighties to the early nineties as a full-time Youth/Young Adult Pastor at Harvest Temple Church in Largo, Florida.
Prior to pioneering Kingdom Life, he also was a Lay Pastor, using his gifts to support a local church, while maintaining a full-time career as President of a large telecommunication equipment distributor. With seasoned experience in the ministry and in the marketplace, Pastor Don has a unique ability to minister to people from all walks of life.
For over 10 years he has also served as the Chaplin for the Bradenton Police Department, was the Chair for the Faith Based Alliance and is a writer for the Bradenton Herald's Faith Section. He also oversees various city initiatives in partnership with the city Mayor and Chief of Police.
Pastor Don is a member of The Bethel Leaders Network & Global Legacy in Redding Ca., Global Awakening in Mechanicsburg, PA., with his ordination through Roberts Liardon's, Embassy Global Network in Orlando, Fl.
He and his wife Trish have been married 32 years and have raised two amazing children. He is an avid Harley rider and enjoys home cooked Italian meals with his family!