BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Fiscal Year End 6.30.2023
Chair: Jimmy Cowan, District Field Representative of NC Farm Bureau Federation
Immediate Past Chair: Dean Kanipe, McDowell County
First Vice Chair: Karen Hammett, Haywood County
Second Vice Chair: Craig DeBrew, Henderson County
Treasurer: Bill Yarborough, Haywood County
Secretary: Jeffery Owen, Attorney, McGuire, Wood & Bissette
President: K. Ray Bailey, Buncombe County
Vice President: L.T. Ward, Buncombe County
Chivous Bradley, Rutherford County
Edie Cecil, Buncombe County
Lumpy Lambert, General Manager, Harrahs Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel
Laura Leatherwood, President of Blue Ridge Community College
Joey Owle, Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, EBCI
Bruce Peterson, Buncombe County
Harris Prevost, Vice President of Grandfather Mountain
Kaleb Rathbone, Assistant Commissioner, Western NC Agricultural Programs and Small Farms, NCDA&CS
Randy Rogers, Haywood County
Zeb Smathers, Mayor of the City of Canton
Shelley White, President of Haywood Community College
Roger Wiggins, Jackson County
Ross Young, Madison County
LIFETIME BOARD
- W. Louis Bissette Jr., McGuire, Wood & Bissette
- F. Ed Broadwell, Buncombe County
- E. Charles Dyson, Bladen County
- Jacob F. Grigg, Madison County
- Sam H. McGuirt Jr., Henderson County
- Richard B. Wynne, Henderson County
STAFF
Executive Director: Jennifer Ferre
Director of Community and Agricultural Programs: Terri Wells
Community Programs Coordinator: Susan Garrett
Agricultural Programs Coordinator: Dana Brown
Scholarship Coordinator: Abigail Parker
Director of Hemlock Restoration Initiative: Margot Wallston
Accounting: Amy Tipps
In Memory…
WNC Communities has been fortunate to have great leadership through the years in two of our region’s finest, Morris L. “Mac” McGough and Patricia Brinkley Shulimson. Please see their dedication pages to learn how we continue to honor their lives and contributions to our mountain home.
