Board of Directors
Troy Anderson
Troy is the founder and International Director of Speak Up and splits time between Bangladesh, Thailand and the USA. Prior to founding Speak Up, Troy graduated from the UCLA School of Law and worked as a Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County DA. He has spent the past seven years living and working in Thailand and Bangladesh with Speak Up. Before law school, Troy graduated from the University of Puget Sound and worked for 7 years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Washington. Troy grew up in four countries outside of the United States, has visited nearly 50 countries. He speaks frequently at conferences and on podcasts about issues concerning girls in poverty, child marriage, human trafficking, and other justice issues.
Bradley Bursch
Bradley Bursch, MD, FAAP is a practicing pediatrician and owner of Glendale Pediatrics. Brad trained at New York Medical College for medical school and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles for residency. Named one of the top pediatric doctors in the greater San Gabriel valley the last seven years by Pasadena magazine, Brad is also active in the greater medical community serving on the board of the Los Angeles Pediatric Society and teaching the next generation of physicians as a volunteer instructor for the University of Southern California medical school. Committed to bringing care to those in need Brad has taken part in humanitarian medical trips to Haiti and Mexico. Brad has been married to his wife for over ten years, is a father of two, and lives in Montrose California.
Kathy Christie
Kathy Christie is a freelance website designer who also does marketing and social media consulting. She has a BS and MS in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University. Her career has included stints at Price Waterhouse, Robinson’s, The Disney Stores, eToys.com and USC’s Rossier School of Education. She has been an active volunteer, including serving as a PTA president for five years, President of the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation, small group leader at La Cañada Presbyterian Church and member of the Governing Board of the Stanford Associates. She is currently a Stanford Class Correspondent, is President of the Stanford Club of Palos Verdes/South Bay and is President of the South Bay Auxiliary of Harbor Interfaith Services.
Samuel Girguis
Samuel M. Girguis, Psy.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the treatment of child/adolescent trauma and is currently the Director of the Doctor of Psychology program at Azusa Pacific University (APU). Prior to working at APU, Sam worked in the outpatient trauma clinic at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where he treated children, youth and families experiencing abuse, foster care, community violence, and homelessness. Sam has conducted trainings and research in Cambodia and the Philippines with service providers who are working with youth impacted by sex trafficking and commercial exploitation. Most recently, he has focused on refugee trauma and is conducting trainings and research focused on Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries.
Paula Kendrick
Paula Kendrick has been a claims and loss control professional for over twenty years providing consulting services to both middle and large market clients. After beginning her career as a claim professional for a large national market insurance carrier, Paula was recruited by a consulting firm where she served as a risk management consultant for five years before forming Claims Management Plus. Paula also serves on the board of SOS Mentor – providing underserved students the education and experience they need to make healthy lifestyle choices. Paula is a graduate of California Polytechnic University Pomona.
Debbie Maddocks
Debbie serves on the Board of Directors and as Chief Financial Officer for Speak Up. Debbie began her career in the audit department at KPMG where she was active in the firm’s training program and on national peer review teams. In 1998, she joined her client, PAULA Financial, initially working on SEC compliance and reporting issues and investor relations, eventually becoming Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In early 2010, Debbie leveraged these 22 years of financial and operating experience and her extensive business network to found Green Rhino Consulting, a strategic and financial consulting firm. Debbie graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Finance Degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Hillary McBride
Dr. Hillary McBride is best known as co-host of the Liturgists podcast and host of the CBC podcast Other People’s Problems. But that work has only been possible with years of clinical practice as a counselor and research as a psychologist, a base of expertise that includes work at the intersection of spirituality and mental health, trauma and trauma therapies, body image, eating disorders, perinatal mental health, and the menopausal transition. Her first book, Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image: Learning to Love Ourselves as We Are, was published in 2017; she was the senior editor of a textbook which was released in 2018, Embodiment and Eating disorders: Theory, Research, Prevention, and Treatment, and her next book, This Is My Body: Embodiment and Why It Matters for Just About Everything, will be out in 2021. She has been recognized by the American Psychological Association, and the Canadian Psychological Association for her research addressing our relationships with our bodies across the life span, and her work in feminist psychology. Hillary makes her home in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Allison Hoekstra Weber
After supporting the work of Speak Up for a few years, Allison Hoekstra Weber is pleased to serve on the Board of Directors. Professionally, Allison teaches Business Communication at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. Prior to her current role, she has worked in fundraising/development roles for nonprofits. Additionally, she has lived internationally in both India and Thailand, working for an international school and an NGO providing care for survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation.