Gay Valimont

Gay Gillespie Valimont is a mother and gun violence prevention activist in Pensacola, Florida who has devoted her life to improving public safety. Gay earned a bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science from Georgia Southern University, her National Athletic Trainers Association accreditation, and her M.A. in Education from Troy State University before pursuing her career in sports medicine in Atlanta.

There she worked for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and, later, Emory Sports Medicine as an athletic trainer. As Gay built relationships with her players, they told her about their fears around the everyday gun violence some experienced in their neighborhoods. She knew there had to be solutions that could keep her players and community safe and decided then that she couldn’t accept just sitting on the sidelines.