APPALACHIAN VOICES - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of Individual Giving
Adam is a Virginia transplant with roots in Northwest Ohio. Prior to joining the Advancement Team at Appalachian Voices, Adam held various positions across the nonprofit sector. Most recently, Adam provided fundraising leadership as Associate Director of Development for Hospice of the Piedmont, the second-largest not-for-profit hospice care provider in Virginia. Adam is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where he met his wife Caroline. Adam and Caroline live in Charlottesville and love getting outside to enjoy the natural beauty surrounding them.
Job Titles:
- Regional Director of Community and Economic Development
Adam first worked with Appalachian Voices as a volunteer while earning his B.A. at Appalachian State University. He happily rejoined the team in 2015 when he was hired to open our office in Norton, Va., and launch the New Economy program. Under Adam's leadership, the program has made a deep impact in Southwest Virginia and across the state by building successful broad-based coalitions and connecting resources to fulfill economic and community development needs. Adam has over a decade of experience working with Appalachian-based nonprofits. He lives with his family in Wise, Virginia, where his roots go back many generations.
Alfred Glover - A native of Charlotte, N.C., community leader and businessman Alfred Glover has served as president and owner of Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury Dealership in Boone, N.C. since 2003. Following four hears in the U.S. Navy, Alfred obtained a bachelor's degree in automotive dealership management from Michigan's Northwood University and completed special training through Ford Motor Company's Dealer Development Program. Alfred lives in Ashe County, N.C., with his wife and two children.
Job Titles:
- New Economy Program Coordinator
Amanda comes to Appalachian Voices after many years of working on economic and community development projects throughout Central Appalachia. A native of Southwest Virginia, Amanda is keenly passionate about advancing Appalachia and has done freelance fundraising and grant-writing work for numerous nonprofit entities and municipalities throughout the region. Amanda has considerable experience in downtown revitalization and served as the Executive Director of Tazewell Today for many transformational years. She believes that the road to economic development and diversification in coal-impacted communities begins at a local level, and works to actively engage community members, stakeholders and business leaders to help see impactful projects through to fruition. Amanda lives in Tazewell, Virginia, with her four amazing children, Kayleigh, McKynzie, Kyndall and Asher.
Job Titles:
- Middle Tennessee Organizer
Angie was raised overlooking the Cumberland River in north-central Tennessee, and still resides on her family farm from which you can see the Cumberland City smokestacks. Her love of nature began as a child raising farm animals and crops and playing in the woods. This love of the outdoors grew into a life-long passion. Angie most recently taught Biology at Austin Peay State University for 10 years. She currently represents Appalachian Voices in Tennessee as community organizer, supporting the community members affected by the Cumberland City plant closure. She also advocates for TVA to make sustainable, long-lasting changes that are better for the environment, economy and health of the people.
Brenda Sigmon - Brenda is a retired school teacher and former member of the North Carolina Textbook Commission. She helped co-found the Catawba County Litter Task Force in Newton, N.C, and currently teaches part-time at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C. She is a long-standing volunteer for Appalachian Voices, including delivering The Appalachian Voice newspaper to two counties in western North Carolina. Brenda is an avid hiker and an active member of Catawba Valley Outing Club, and enjoys helping to maintain hiking trails in the area.
Job Titles:
- Tennessee Campaign Manager
Born to a family of eight in a small village in southern Ohio, Bri's passion for rural solutions was formed through her upbringing in a community struggling with economic, social and environmental issues faced by many rural places across the U.S. She obtained her B.A. in sustainable development from Wilmington College of Ohio, where she spent three years as an assistant to the Curator of a Quaker Heritage Center. Through engaging in multiple service-learning projects, interning and working for local nonprofits, and serving on an environmental conservation corps, Bri has cultivated her approach to intersectional problem solving. She is excited to be working with Appalachian Voices and the people of East Tennessee to address their energy efficiency needs.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board Officers Team
- Vice - Chair - Milton G. "Bunk" Spann
Bunk Spann, Vice-Chair - Milton G. "Bunk" Spann is the founder of the National Center for Developmental Education at Appalachian State University. As a former member of the Boone, N.C., Town Council, Bunk was instrumental in establishing the Boone Water Committee and for several years chaired the town's Water Conservation Committee that developed several water conservation programs. Following his tenure on the Town Council, Bunk was appointed to the Planning Commission and shortly thereafter was elected chair. During his 36 years in Boone, Bunk led the effort to establish the town as a "Smart Growth" community. He and his wife Nancy now live in Asheville, N.C., at the Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community where he is working to help make Deerfield and Asheville an even more environmentally friendly and sustainable community.
Job Titles:
- Director of Government Affairs and Strategy
Originally from Ohio, Chelsea holds a B.A. in Biology from the College of Wooster and a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University. Chelsea remained in North Carolina for more than 10 years after graduation, where she worked on clean energy policy, education and outreach at NC State University, eventually launching a policy consulting business with her colleagues in order to advance strong renewable energy policies across the country. Chelsea joined Appalachian Voices in 2019 and is based in the Norton, Va., office. She enjoys baking, gardening and hiking in the mountains with her husband any chance she gets.
Christina Howe - Christina resides in Valle Crucis where the Watauga River forms the western boundary of her property. She came to Boone after living and working in Miami, Fla., where, with her late husband, she founded two real estate companies that managed, built and sold offices and airport hangers, including the 350,000 sq.ft. Orlando-Sanford International Airport. Christina is a commercially rated single and multi-engine pilot, a sailor and an avid tennis player, and enjoys golf. She served as the president of the High Country Conservancy for four years and fills the role of president for Shull's Farm. She is currently a partner and the assistant director of Boone Healing Arts Center, a holistic health facility with 14 alternative medicine practitioners. Christina is a passionate environmentalist whose favorite color has always been green.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board Officers Team
- Treasurer
Christopher Scotton, Treasurer - Christopher grew up outside of Washington, D.C., in what was then undeveloped countryside - a place of cornfields and tree houses, dammed-up creeks and secret swimming holes. It was a magical place to be a kid, something that Christopher recaptured in his debut novel, The Secret Wisdom of the Earth, which is set in a fictionalized eastern Kentucky town. As a teenager, developers bought up most of the land and the idyllic bounds of Christopher's childhood became one big construction site - creeks were backfilled and swimming holes ran to mud. By the time he went to college, the countryside of his youth was solidly suburban. It was in college that Christopher first fell in love with Appalachia. Initially for the music - the spinning lilt of a fiddle reel, the compact fury of a mandolin run, the plaintive harmonies - then, for the beauty, as he came to know the region with little more than a backpack and a camp stove. Christopher currently lives near Washington, D.C., where he is president and CEO of a software company.
Dan, who grew up in rural Missouri, worked as an opinion journalist for 20 years in Illinois, West Virginia, Florida and Virginia. As editorial page editor of the Charleston Gazette, he fought hard against mountaintop removal mining and other abuses of the coal industry. Before coming to Appalachian Voices, Dan worked as a media consultant for a number of environmental nonprofit organizations, including Earthjustice, National Resources Defense Council, Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates. He lives in Roanoke with his wife, teenaged son and two cats.
David Hairston - David is a North Carolina native, born and raised in Stokes County, North Carolina. David is an active and outspoken community member of Residents for Coal Ash Cleanup (RCAC), a group of Stokes County residents founded in 2012 around coal plant discharges and pending EPA rules. RCAC has grown from six original members, to nearly 40 members who meet monthly. David is a founding member of the ACT Statewide Alliance, a statewide group of residents impacted by coal ash, and since 2015, the President of the Walnut Tree Community Assoc., a community of color that has been fighting a 40-year battle against racism and environmental injustice against the nearly all white town of Walnut Cove. In 2016 David testified in front of the North Carolina Advisory Council to the US Commission on Civil Rights on behalf of Belews Creek residents' and their concerns over their contaminant readings in their wells. David is President of the Mildred S. Hairston Youth Mentoring Center, which provides guidance to students in Stokes County, assistance with school work and skills training to prepare them for the future. David is also an active member of the Stokes County NAACP.
Job Titles:
- New Economy Field Coordinator
Originally from Bell County, Kentucky, Emma has spent the last few years bouncing between Southwest Virginia and the University of Tennessee, where she completed her B.A. and M.A. in cultural anthropology. Her research focuses on human rights and environmental justice in Appalachia and has been centered around equitable collaboration with local communities. She has worked on various community outreach projects as a research and teaching assistant for the University of Tennessee, a seasonal interpretive ranger at Natural Tunnel State Park and an outreach intern for the Register of Professional Archaeologists. She is passionate about bringing in as many voices as possible to help build a sustainable and just future for Appalachian communities from the ground up. Emma currently lives in Lee County and loves hiking, gaming and spending time with her husband and cat.
Job Titles:
- Central Appalachian Senior Program Manager
Originally from Pullman, Wa., Erin earned a B.S. in biology from the University of Washington, where she also minored in philosophy. After college, she traveled through South America and Africa to research strategies in protected-area management. She completed an M.E.Sc. at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she researched the ecological and social aspects of mountain lion depredation of livestock. She joined Appalachian Voices in 2011 as part of our Appalachian Water Watch program, and focuses on Clean Water Act enforcement and citizen water monitoring in coal-impacted communities throughout Central Appalachia.
Job Titles:
- Tennessee Energy Democracy Field Coordinator
Gabi's passion for energy democracy has guided her work since 2015. Gabi received her B.A. from Syracuse University and M.A. from the University of Georgia. In her graduate research, she studied the uneven harm caused by PG&E's "public safety" power shutoffs and how organizers envision using microgrids for utility justice. Gabi also has experience with energy governance research, labor organizing in the South and working for a public electricity agency in California. She is committed to transformative change led by impacted communities. Gabi was raised in Upstate New York, where she developed her love for mountains and dramatic autumns. She is thrilled to now call Tennessee home and to support communities in their pursuit of just energy systems.
Job Titles:
- Director of Finance and Operations
Genevieve joined Appalachian Voices in June 2022 as Director of Finance & Operations after a 25-year career in banking, finance and executive leadership roles. She most recently served as CEO of Nexus Louisiana, a quasi-governmental organization, where for over 14 years she provided coaching, capital and connections to high-potential, technology-focused companies, in addition to designing and launching several inclusive programs to advance high-technology and entrepreneurship in the state of Louisiana.
Born and raised in South Louisiana, Genevieve received a B.A. in history and political science from Louisiana State University, a M.A. in international finance and banking from Columbia University, and a pre-CPA certificate from University of New Orleans. She is very excited to be trading Mardi Gras for mountains, moving with her husband Philip and two children to the beautiful Appalachian region to pursue her dream of working full-time to help protect the earth's environmental assets.
Though born in Tennessee, Jackson has spent most of his life in Virginia and is eager to be able to give back to Appalachia and the Blue Ridge Valley. Jackson has lived in Charlottesville since graduating from UVA in 2019 and joined the Appalachian Voices team in 2023 as the Executive Assistant to the Executive Director and Deputy Executive Director. Jackson is grateful for the opportunity to engage with his region and to work within the organization to help make a difference.
Job Titles:
- Communications
- Director of Digital Innovation and Technology
A western North Carolinian with Appalachian roots stemming back to the early 1700s, Jamie holds a B.A. in English literature and minor in technical photography from Appalachian State University, and has over 20 years of experience in print and online media and digital communications technology. She earned two National Newspaper Association awards with Mountaintimes.com, co-founded High Country Press newspaper and Shout! magazine, and helped establish Appalachian State University's Web Advisory Council to the Provost in 2005. She found her home in environmental work at Appalachian Voices in 2008, originally filling the role as editor for The Appalachian Voice in addition to working on web and print communications for the organization. Jamie has a serious soft spot for all creatures great and small, and is passionate about using her skills to help save the mountains she loves.
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator
Jen Lawhorne is a multilingual former Fulbright scholar and seasoned activist. Virginia has always been her home, but Jen has ventured abroad to live in California, Mexico, Spain and Italy. Richmond, however, is the community closest to her heart and where she attended undergrad and graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University. She currently lives there with her son and dog. Jen believes in the power of using media to drive social change and dabbles in photography and videography. She loves whipping up recipes she learned from her travels, crafting with fabric and textiles, and kicking it with her little family.
Job Titles:
- Virginia Field Coordinator
Born and raised in Central Virginia, Jessica holds a lifelong passion for protecting Virginia's waterways. Fine art degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and UNC - Greensboro led her to the nonprofit world, where she volunteered extensively with Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the James River Association and as President of artspace, a gallery in South Richmond, before working at the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter on their pipelines campaign. Jessica enjoys singing in a klezmer band, creating artwork and canoeing on the James River with friends and family. She is thrilled to join Appalachian Voices and to help fight against fracked-gas pipelines.
Job Titles:
- Graphics and Digital Communications Coordinator
Jimmy has over 25 years of experience in graphic design, photography, illustration and web design. Hailing from the Atlanta area, Jimmy lived in Michigan, Texas, Montana, Pennsylvania and New Zealand before finally settling in the mountains of North Carolina. He earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Georgia and makes photographs, infographics, maps and illustrations. He spends a good bit of his free time hiking and mountain biking with his daughter, as well as playing music. He maintains an interest in native Appalachian flora, fauna and fungi and their preservation.jimmy [at] appvoices.org
John Dezember - John developed a love and respect for nature early in life through frequent outdoor excursions as a member of the Boy Scouts in Kentucky and Tennessee. He earned a degree in information technology while living in Knoxville, Tenn., and worked as a systems integrator for a document imaging company while honing his web development skills. He went on to work in higher education as a web developer where he also gained experience in social media, video production, and live streaming. John recently relocated to Virginia where he is the Director of Strategic Communications at Southwest Virginia Community College. His interests include working with electronics, home gardening, solar and using those interests to build a sustainable lifestyle.
Jonathan C. Allen, CPA CFP, CLU - Jonathan is a financial advisor in Boone, N.C. He began his career at Ernst & Young, LLP in Manhattan where he worked as a tax consultant. He currently holds three professional certifications - Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner®, and Chartered Life Underwriter. In addition to working at Allen Wealth Management, Jonathan has taught financial planning at Appalachian State University and accounting at Wake Forest University. An avid outdoorsman, Jonathan enjoys hiking, golf, and fly-fishing the local trout streams. He is married to Stephanie and the couple resides in Boone with their dog, Deacon.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Executive Director
Originally from the small town of Cashiers in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Kate has more than fourteen years of experience campaigning on energy issues at the national and regional level. Kate joined Appalachian Voices in 2010 and became Deputy Executive Director in 2017. Prior to Appalachian Voices, Kate worked in Washington, D.C., with Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network.
Katharine joined Appalachian Voices in November 2022. She holds a B.S. in accountancy from Northern Illinois University and is a licensed CPA in Illinois and North Carolina. She has a diverse background in public and corporate accounting and has been fortunate to be able to focus in recent years on what she cares most about, nonprofit work. She is a farm girl from Indiana who loves travel, gardening and swing dancing. Having lived in small and large towns from the suburbs of Chicago to the coast of North Carolina, planting trees at every house along the way, she settled in the Raleigh-Durham area, close enough to visit both the mountains and the sea.
Kathy Selvage - Kathy is a Wise County, Va., resident and daughter of a coal miner who has brought local, regional and national exposure to the destruction that mountaintop removal coal mining is wreaking on her native land and its people. Kathy was instrumental in the fight against Dominion's Wise County $1.8 billion coal-fired plant and the mile long petition delivered to Virginia's top government officials. She is the recipient of the St. Francis Ecological Award of the Ecological Network of Sowers of Justice, and has appeared in the nationally distributed Evans/Gellar documentary "Coal Country" to focus the nation on the struggle of mountaintop removal as well as the "Electricity Fairy", an Appalshop/Tom Hansell film that follows the long controversy over the Wise county coal-fired plant in light of national energy policy. She participates in numerous community groups and organizations to promote the public and a sustainable future for Appalachia. Read Kathy's op-ed published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2014: From Southwest Virginia, a path for less pollution
Growing up across the U.S, South Korea and Japan, Katie did not find home until she set foot on Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg and became completely enamored with the mountains of Southwest Virginia. After graduation, Katie worked in public affairs and education with Planned Parenthood in Roanoke and the New River Valley. With a passion for addressing the social determinants of health, she moved to work in HIV research at a large LGBTQ community health center in Boston. Katie is thrilled to be back south with her husband, daughter and cat (Asparagus) and to work as a steward for the place she loves most. On any given day, you can find her trying to keep her houseplants alive, cheering for the Hokies and spending time with her family.
Job Titles:
- Human Resources Generalist
Upon completion of her bachelor's degree in psychology from Appalachian State University, specializing in industrial-organizational psychology and human resources management, Kelsi entered the nonprofit sector in Boone, N.C. During a four-year tenure with a local organization, Kelsi served in various advocacy and leadership capacities and led the initiative to implement HR best practices for the agency. Kelsi then served as Executive Team Lead of Human Resources for Target, where she created and executed multiple successful culture efforts to promote a vibrant, inclusive employee experience.
Professionally, Kelsi thrives when spending her time and energy on meaningful, impactful endeavors, and she is passionate about creating exceptional work environments that empower employees and the organizations they work for. As a former long-term resident of Appalachia, Kelsi is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the ecology of the region and is honored to be part of the Appalachian Voices team.
Landra Lewis - A native of eastern Kentucky, Landra has a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Kentucky and a certificate in meditation from Duke University. She is involved in a variety of professional associations and environmental organizations. She is dedicated to ending mountaintop removal coal mining and bringing about positive change in her home state of Kentucky.
J. Haskell Murray, J.D. - Haskell was raised on the rural, Georgia-side of Lookout Mountain near Chattanooga, Tenn., and has enjoyed the outdoors his entire life. At Rhodes College, he majored in business administration, concentrating in international business and finance, while also competing as a member of the varsity football and club rugby teams. While at Georgia State University College of Law, Haskell was elected to the editorial board of the school's main law review, graduated second in his class, and received high honors for his pro bono work. Haskell served as a judicial clerk in Wilmington, Del., and practiced corporate law at two global law firms: King & Spalding LLP (Atlanta) and Weil, Gotshal, & Manges LLP (New York City). Currently, he teaches corporate law and alternative dispute resolution courses as a tenure-track professor at Belmont University's business school in Nashville, Tenn. His research is focused on corporate governance and social enterprise related legal issues, including business practices aimed at preserving the environment.
Job Titles:
- Director of Strategic Advancement
Raised on a former tobacco farm in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, Leigh received a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. Prior to joining Appalachian Voices in 2022, Leigh worked more than 10 years in advancement and communications - most recently in Charlottesville as director of development for one of the University of Virginia's support foundations. He lived in Washington, D.C., for more than a decade before that, where he secured resources for the arts, capital projects, environmental sustainability and anti-racism initiatives at Washington National Cathedral and George Mason University. He serves on the governing board of The Daily Poetry Association and lives with his wife, Carrie, and two children, Damien and Raiya, in a heavily wooded section of eastern Albemarle County.
Lorelei holds a B.S. from East Tennessee State University in interdisciplinary studies with concentrations in journalism and environmental science. Her journalism experience includes editorial positions in lifestyle and education, as well as news reporting and feature writing. She is an alumna of the Marine Biological Laboratory Logan Science Journalism Fellowship.
She served as an intern with The Appalachian Voice while earning her degree and continued writing for the publication as a freelancer until joining the team in January 2023. Lorelei has lived in the Appalachian region for nearly three decades. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, hand drumming and volunteering at city and state parks. She holds certifications as a yoga instructor, a drum circle facilitator and a Tennessee naturalist.
Job Titles:
- North Carolina Field Coordinator, Energy Democracy Program
Maddy grew up in Boone, N.C. She has a B.A. in media and communications and is an M.A. candidate in political science from Appalachian State University. Her academic concentration is in environmental policy where her research interests cover the conceptions of nature and environmentalism and the valuation of the non-human world. She is excited to be a part of the Energy Democracy Program and have the opportunity to stay in Appalachia while working towards making it a more equitable place to live. Maddy loves hiking, running and spending time with her partner, Mike and their two dogs and adventurous cat.
Job Titles:
- Central Appalachian Environmental Scientist
Originally from Bath County, Va., Matt received his B.A. in geography from Virginia Tech with a concentration in Geographic Information Systems and environmental resources. After working in the GIS field for five years, he spent two years in the master's program at Appalachian State University, focusing on hydrology. Matt returned to Virginia to work for the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards in Wise County, leading the group's water program and helping develop litigation strategies against coal companies. He joined Appalachian Voices in 2017, and is based in our Norton, Va., office. Matt is a hiker and square dance caller, and he loves spending time on the rivers of Central Appalachia.
Matt has worked at Appalachian Voices since 2001 and has served in various capacities ranging from Executive Director to the editor of The Appalachian Voice. As Director of Programs, Matt provides the long-range vision for the direction of our program work. He received his B.S. in zoology from the University of Washington, and Ph.D. in ecology from Cornell University. Since his time doing research at Cornell on the impacts of acid rain on birds, Matt has worked on all aspects of the "coal cycle" - from mining, transportation and combustion of coal to the disposal of power plant waste. Matt designs and builds web-based databases with sophisticated search functions for use by professionals and citizens working on coal-related issues. Matt also oversees the award-winning online campaign to stop mountaintop removal coal mining, iLoveMountains.org. A nationally recognized authority on mountaintop removal coal mining and coal economics, Matt has testified before Congress, appears frequently on expert panels and is a contributor to high-profile media outlets including Huffington Post, Grist, and Daily Kos.
Meredith "Mayzie" grew up in the intentional community known as The Farm outside Nashville, Tenn, a community that works to help insure that all people have access to clean water, sanitation, nutrition and "right" livelihood. The philosophy from The Farm has been at the core of her life's work ever since. Meredith received a nursing certificate from Caldwell Community College and is also a certified community herbalist. She co-owned an eco-friendly fair trade store in Boone, N.C. More recently, she worked with the non-profit, Go Conscious Earth, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to document and facilitate the installation of seventeen clean water wells that now serve 34,000 people. Meredith lives on a portion of 165 acres she helped preserve along the Blue Ridge Parkway, where she has raised her three children.
Job Titles:
- Director of Program Communications / Editor, the Appalachian Voice
Molly is from the Midwest, where she earned journalism and religious studies degrees from the University of Missouri and wrote for several newspapers and magazines. She also holds an executive education certificate in Environmental Communication through Duke University. Molly served two years with AmeriCorps Project Conserve at Appalachian Voices, assisting with print and online communications, before joining the staff in 2013 as editorial communications coordinator. Since 2016, she has also served as editor of Appalachian Voices' wide-reaching publication The Appalachian Voice.
Job Titles:
- North Carolina Field Coordinator
Originally from a small farm in Wisconsin, Naomi is currently located in Wilmington, NC. Prior to joining Appalachian Voices in 2023, Naomi worked with a nonprofit in rural Maine to support community-driven projects with transitioning to clean energy. In this role, she supported municipal climate action planning, led community engagement programs and supported the energy transition efforts of small businesses. She has also worked with municipalities in California to support their efforts to plan for the impacts of climate change. Naomi holds a B.S. in Natural Resource Planning from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board Officers Team
- Secretary
Peggy Mathews, Secretary - Peggy has over 40 years experience working with environmental and social justice organizations, primarily in the Southeast. Over those years Peggy worked as an action researcher, community organizer, fundraiser, executive director, and for the past 25 years as a fundraising and organization development consultant and trainer. For eight years Peggy worked as a coalfield community organizer and then as the first grassroots fundraiser for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) an environmental justice organization fighting strip mining and mountaintop removal in the coalfield communities of east Tennessee. Peggy went on to found Community Shares, a statewide federated fund for social, environmental and economic justice organizations raising funds together through employee giving campaigns in the workplace. She was instrumental in the start-up and was a founding board member for three public foundations in the Southeast (Appalachian Community Fund, Southern Partners Fund, The Fund for Campbell County). Peggy received her Bachelor of Science degree in community organizing and community development from the University of California at Davis. Peggy and her husband live in an intentional community on the Clinch River in far southwest Virginia with their two dogs.
Job Titles:
- Director of State Energy Policy
A native of northern Virginia, Peter developed an appreciation for mountains and mountain music while earning his B.A. in philosophy at James Madison University. He began pursuing his interest in environmental policy while earning his J.D. at George Mason University. While there, Peter served legal internships at Resources for the Future and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After graduating, he worked on climate change adaptation issues for Environmental Defense Fund and for the Society for Conservation Biology. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar. Peter joined Appalachian Voices' Virginia program to work on opposing new fossil fuel investments and promoting a clean energy economy.
Phylicia Lee Brown - Phylicia (she/her) is a Ph.D. student at Rice University majoring in Environmental Sociology. She received her B.A in Sociology from the University at Buffalo, New York, and M.A. in Sociology from Rice University. Her work as a spatial-quantitative scholar broadly focuses on the social production of environmental inequalities - especially as they pertain to the intersection of toxic industrial hazards and climate change impacts. Much of Phylicia's ongoing work also investigates the social inequities that arise from the Federal Flood Buyout Program. She currently lives and works from her home in Banner Elk, North Carolina, with her husband Trevor, and dog Mowgli. The pandemic has taught Phylicia to enjoy a slower pace of life, and she enjoys gardening, beekeeping, embroidering, and camping with Trevor and Mowgli when she's not reading and writing research papers.
Job Titles:
- Federal Legislative Specialist
Now residing in Charleston, West Virginia, Quenton is originally from the state's eastern panhandle. He earned his bachelor's degree from West Virginia University and his Master of Public Health from Columbia University in 2019, where he did a summer fellowship at Appalachian Voices. Quenton returned to West Virginia to work in criminal justice reform at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and helped lead a bipartisan statewide coalition of criminal justice practitioners and advocates. Most recently before returning to Appalachian Voices, Quenton worked at Dream.Org Green for All, supporting their Transformative Communities team to help local governments and nonprofits access federal climate funds.
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator
Rance Garrison is a lifelong resident of Southwest Virginia, having spent most of his childhood and teenage years in Pennington Gap. He holds an MBA with a concentration in organizational leadership from Milligan University, along with a M.A. in ministry from Milligan's Emmanuel Seminary. Rance has held several communications, public relations, marketing and data analysis positions in private tech and start-up industries and proudly comes from a blue collar background, having worked as a bartender, delivery driver and warehouse worker while pursuing his education.
After earning his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Virginia's College at Wise in 2014, Rance served two terms as an AmeriCorps VISTA at WMMT-FM, the community radio station owned and operated by Appalshop, Inc. in Whitesburg, Kentucky, where he was also the host of a weekly music program. Rance is also a songwriter and producer who has independently released several albums of original music since 2012. He currently lives and works in Norton, Virginia.
Job Titles:
- Rainforest Action Network Founder
Randy Hayes - Rainforest Action Network founder Randy Hayes has been described in the Wall Street Journal as an "environmental pit bull." He currently serves as executive director for Foundation Earth, an organization focused on bringing an earth-centered economy into reality through a major rethinking of society implemented via outreach campaigns. As a former filmmaker, he is a veteran of many high-visibility corporate accountability campaigns and has advocated for the rights of indigenous peoples. He has served as president of San Francisco's Commission on the Environment, and director of sustainability in the office of former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. As a wilderness lover, Hayes has explored the High Sierras, the Canadian Rockies and the rainforests of the Amazon, Central America, Congo, Southeast Asia and Boreno.
Rick Phelps - Rick is a retired consulting environmental chemist experienced in air and water quality analysis, combustion source assessments, and industrial waste treatment technologies. He is a founder of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy in Asheville, N.C., focusing on endangered land and watershed protection. Rick has also served on several Environmental Protection Agency advisory and regulatory development groups, and also on numerous environmental and outdoor recreation organizations. A resident of Tennessee, Rick received a degree in chemistry and has over 40 years of experience in environmental chemistry.
Job Titles:
- North Carolina Program Manager
Ridge studied environmental biology and toxicology at Appalachian State University. Ridge joined Appalachian Voices in 2015 and has worked on the "Cleaning up Coal Ash" campaign which facilitated the statewide coalition group "ACT Against Coal Ash" and resulted in a settlement to remove 80 million tons from unlined dumps in communities and waterways across the state - the largest clean up of coal ash in the country. Ridge now works with communities across the region on stopping unnecessary interstate pipelines, like the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the now-canceled Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and on changing our energy industry to better protect our air, water and health.
Job Titles:
- New Economy Program Manager
Robert Kell joins Appalachian Voices after interning and volunteering with the New Economy Network. He is a native of Southwest Virginia and a trained community organizer with experience building issue and policy campaigns at the local, state and federal levels. Robert has a master's from Vanderbilt Divinity School, where he studied social and economic ethics and wrote his thesis on social and environmental justice in Appalachia. Robert has served on the board of several social-impact nonprofits and is passionately working with those most directly affected to make sustainable change in the region.
Taryn Tindall - Taryn received her B.A in Anthropology from University of Colorado at Boulder and is currently pursuing a M.B.A from Western Carolina University. She is a registered nurse specializing in geriatrics, senior living, community health, and infection prevention. As a licensed nursing home administrator, Taryn recently joined the senior leadership team at Deerfield Episcopal Retirement Community as Director of Resident Services. Taryn's work reflects her vision of a world free of ageism and builds on her passions for aging services and her interest in the intersections between community health, socioeconomic inequities, and environmental justice. Taryn enjoys a beautiful life in Asheville's mountains with her husband and two cats.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Ex Officio
Tom has served as Executive Director at Appalachian Voices since 2013. The organization has expanded under his leadership to include a major emphasis on solutions - advancing clean energy and sustainable economies by working successfully to transform federal, state, and local policy while simultaneously driving on-the-ground project implementation - plus winning campaigns to oppose new gas infrastructure and address the legacy impacts of coal. Appointed by President Biden in 2021, Tom is an inaugural White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council member. He received his J.D. from U.C.L.A. and a B.A. in political and social thought from the University of Virginia. His previous experience includes serving as Virginia Director and Deputy Director of Programs for Appalachian Voices, clerkships with the Southern Environmental Law Center and the U.S. Department of Justice, and researching endangered terns in South America. He lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his wife, Heather, whom he met while working as a whitewater and climbing guide in West Virginia, and their three children.
Tom Cormons, Ex Officio - Tom was hired to open Appalachian Voices' first Virginia office in 2007, and he took the reins as Executive Director in early 2013. The organization has expanded under his leadership to include new programs advancing energy and economic solutions for the region, new offices in Southwest Virginia, Knoxville, Tenn., and Durham, N.C., and new initiatives to address the harmful impacts of fossil fuels. In February 2021, Tom was appointed by President Biden to serve on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Tom received his J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. in political and social thought from the University of Virginia. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar, and his experience prior to joining Appalachian Voices includes clerkships with Environmental Defense Fund, Piedmont Environmental Council, Southern Environmental Law Center, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Tom also worked with endangered migratory terns in South America for six seasons, overseeing aerial radio-tracking of the birds. He lives in Charlottesville, Va., with his wife, Heather, whom he met while working as a whitewater and climbing guide in southern West Virginia, and their children, Brooke, Kai, and Cassie.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of the Board Officers Team
Tracey Wright, Chair - Tracey is a native of Dickson, Tennessee, who currently calls Russell County, Virginia, home. During her career in higher education, Tracey has served in the administrations of three regional institutions. She spent 12 years at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, where she became more interested in sustainability efforts. As an educator, Tracey strives to assist college students in developing into engaged citizens who care about their community and their environment. Tracey, a wife and mother of two daughters, describes herself as an average citizen who is seeking meaningful ways to have a positive impact on our environment. She also seeks better ways to help motivate others to do the same. Tracey graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor's degree in science in mathematics and master's degree in educational leadership. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Leadership and Professional Practice from Trevecca Nazarene University. Tracey joined the Appalachian Voices board in 2015, serving on the Strategic Planning Committee, Board Development Committee and on the Executive Committee as secretary before becoming Chair in 2020.
Van Jones - Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. He co-founded three successful non-profit organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All, and is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009. Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress. Additionally, he is a senior policy advisor at Green For All. Van also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
Job Titles:
- Central Appalachian Field Coordinator
Willie grew up in the piedmont and the mountains of Virginia. He graduated from Berea College with a degree in Appalachian Studies. Since 2004, Willie has been organizing for environmental and social justice in Appalachia with such groups as the Southern Appalachian Mountain Stewards, the Southern Energy Network and the Mission and Service Board of Union Church in Berea, Ky. He lives in Wise County, Va., and is an old-time and not-so-old-time musician, a forager of wild foods and medicines, and a sucker for any grey-haired person who wants to tell a story. He genuinely likes people, even ones with whom he disagrees about everything.