Preservation North Carolina Board

 

Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson is the Dean of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities and Professor of Sociology at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.  She recently served as one of the Inaugural Co-Directors of Shaw University’s Center for Racial and Social Justice.  Previously, Dr. Johnson was the Mott Distinguished Professor of Women’s Studies and Director of Africana Women’s Studies at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Dr. Johnson began her faculty career at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as an Assistant Professor in African and Afro-American Studies and adjunct Assistant Professor in Anthropology.

Dr. Johnson holds a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco; M.A. in Sociology from Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta University); and B.A. in Sociology from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.

Her research, conducted in Costa Rica, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, the Seychelles Islands and the US, and publications, center on gender, bioethics, disability, the health of women and girls, environmental humanities, and environmental justice.

In North Carolina, Dr. Johnson conducts research on both African American foodways and African American attitudes toward and experience with “nature spaces” with special emphasis on Black women’s garden clubs. Her speaking engagements include this work as well as public commentary on the issue of confederate monuments on public lands.  Dr. Johnson is co-editor with Dr. Lynn Harris on a published book about maritime archaeology and the slave-trade entitled, Excavating the Histories of Slave-Trade and Pirate Ships: Property, Plunder, and Loss.

Dr. Johnson serves the state of North Carolina as chair of the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission and member of the North Carolina Historical Commission and National Register Advisory Committee.  Other service includes membership on the boards of the Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville, Tennessee; NARAL Pro-Choice NC; North Carolina League of Conservation Voters, Preservation NC (as Vice-Chair), and planning committee for the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network Summit. In addition, Dr. Johnson has been appointed to the Executive Board for the North Carolina Maritime History Council.

Dr. Johnson lives in Oxford, NC with her family.

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With a background in design and a license in general contracting, Claire has a passion for historic preservation and excels in adaptive re-use tax credit restorations.

Influenced by the beautiful urban landscape and historic architecture of her alma mater, The Savannah College of Art and Design, Claire is a passionate believer of downtown revitalization and economic development.

Her design skills paired with programming, project management, and on-site commitment, yield cohesive, detailed, and beautiful restorations.

Her process is well-illustrated on her social media platform (ig: j_claire_edwards) as she is an active voice for preservation and tells the story of the projects she works on- generating influence and understanding that new life can exist in historic structures.

Claire helped lead the saving, redevelopment, and restoration of two important cornerstone buildings on Main Street in Farmville, NC that just a few years ago were slated for demolition.  She now has worked on many upfits for new and existing businesses in her region and is eager to revitalize communities one storefront at a time.

Claire loves being part of Preservation North Carolina and looks forward to building more exciting relationships in the preservation industry and continues to learn from and play a role in preservation projects all over North Carolina.

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Larken Egleston is the Congressional District Director for U.S. Representative Jeff Jackson (NC-14). Egleston previously served two terms on the Charlotte City Council and represented Republic National Distributing Company as a brand ambassador for Western North Carolina. He has also written for local publications including the Charlotte Observer, Elevate Magazine and Creative Loafing.

Egleston serves on the North Carolina advisory committee for the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, serves as an advisory board member for Central Piedmont Community College’s Culinary Arts program, and serves on the board of directors for Preservation NC. He was previously the City of Charlotte’s representative on the Centralina Regional Council as well as the NC League of Municipalities, was a volunteer firefighter for the Long Creek Volunteer Fire Department, a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Carolinas Chapter Board of Directors, and has served the local and state Democratic Party as President of the Mecklenburg County Young Democrats, a member of the State Executive Committee, and a local precinct chair. Egleston was also chair of the City Council’s Charlotte International Cabinet and vice chair of the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission. Egleston served as a delegate to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions and has been named one of Charlotte’s Top 30 Under 30 (2010) by Elevate Lifestyle, Top 40 Under 40 (2020) by the Charlotte Business Journal, and is a Hunt Institute State Policy Fellow as well as a Political Partner of the Truman Project.

Larken received an associate degree from Johnson & Wales University and a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University.

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Carl R. Nold is a nationally-recognized leader for not-for-profit cultural organizations. In addition to serving on the Preservation North Carolina board, Carl is vice chairman of the board of the Frances Perkins Center in Maine, serves on the board of North Carolina Opera, and as a trustee of the new Legacy Fund for Boston preservation foundation. He is also an advisor for Gibson House Museum in Boston.

Carl served as chairman of the twenty-thousand member American Alliance of Museums, America’s national museum association; chairman of the Midwest Association of Museums; vice-chairman for the Virginia Association of Museums; secretary of the Michigan Museums Association; and ex-officio chairman of ICOM-US, the US branch of the International Council of Museums. He is an honorary life fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and elected life member of the American Antiquarian Society and the Colonial Society of Massachusetts.

Carl was registrar for the New York State Historical Association and The Farmers’ Museum, and director of Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, and Mackinac State Historic Parks. For seventeen years Carl served as president and chief executive officer of Historic New England, the oldest and largest regional preservation organization in the United States, founded in 1910.

Among many honors, Carl was recognized by the Boston Preservation Alliance in 2020 with the Codman Award for Lifetime Achievement in historic preservation.

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Tamara Holmes Brothers, Ph.D. was appointed Deputy Director of the North Carolina Arts Council in April 2020. Dr. Brothers is charged with the design, development, and implementation of agency programs; recommends policies that realize the agency’s mission of “arts for all people”; works with the staff and boards to create and implement strategic plans, and provides executive-level support to the agency’s Director. Dr. Brothers leads the work of assessing the effectiveness of institutional equity, diversity goals, and outreach efforts. She works closely with the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources leadership and other state and national arts organizations to prioritize and define strategies that deliver resources to arts organizations and artists to encourage projects and programs of public value—including revitalizing downtowns, helping youth succeed through creative approaches to education in and beyond the classroom, healing the wounds of war for active military service members and veterans, and fueling a thriving non-profit creative sector. Dr. Brothers also organizes and assists in leading the infrastructure to facilitate internal and external community engagement, develop partnerships to bring about transformational change, identifying and supporting target areas to maximize the agency’s impact locally, regionally, and nationally.

Dr. Brothers has experience in the fine and performing arts industry, grassroots marketing, and governance in quantifying the value of brand and philanthropic outcomes. With a diverse background, she previously served as Director of Development & Major Gifts at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations as well as the Assistant Athletic Director for Development & Marketing at Fayetteville State University. While at the Nasher, Dr. Brothers supervised the museum’s development operation, providing leadership for advancement programs and initiatives, and was responsible for planning and directing all fundraising activities, including major gift cultivation and stewardship, individual annual giving, membership programs, corporate giving, and sponsorships, as well as foundation and government grants at the Nasher Museum of Art. During her tenure at Fayetteville State University, she led the University’s corporate, foundation, and athletic development efforts and played a central role in achieving University capital campaign goals.

Giving back to her community, Dr. Brothers has served in multiple capacities. She has served as the second African American female President of the West Fayetteville Rotary Club, Former Board Member for the Second Harvest Food Bank, and former Board Member of the NC Arts Council Foundation Board, Arts NC Board, the City of Fayetteville’s (NC) Historic Resources Commission, the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County Board, Founding Steering Committee Member for the Friends of African & African American Art at the Fayetteville/Cumberland County Arts Council as well as the President of the Hampton University Museum Foundation Board. She currently serves as Vice-Chair of the North Carolina African American Heritage Commission, a member of the North Carolina National Register Advisory Council, the National Advisory Board for Museum Hue, the Advisory Council for the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, and Preservation NC.

Dr. Brothers is a native of Fayetteville, NC, and has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Art from Hampton University, a Master’s degree in Sport Management from West Virginia University, a certificate in Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell, a certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a certificate in Art as an Alternative Investment from Sotheby’s Art Institute, a certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University, & a Ph.D. in Educational Management from Hampton University.

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Andrew Stewart started working at Empire Properties in 2003, bringing with him years of experience in city planning and research, economics and analysis. He leads Empire’s management team, evaluating current and future projects and managing relationships with debt and equity sources. He is responsible for Empire Properties’ financing strategy and asset management of the real estate portfolio.

Andrew is the current chairman and past treasurer of the board of directors of Preservation North Carolina. Andrew got interested in historic preservation because he was interested in what makes successful downtowns. Historic buildings are a key part of what make downtowns eclectic and interesting.  In 2017, he and three other parents founded the Lucille Hunter Elementary School Foundation, and he served as the Foundation’s treasurer for three years.

In 2008, Andrew was named one of the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40, which recognizes top executives and business leaders in the Triangle who are under the age of 40. As a result of Andrew’s financing strategy and execution, Empire Properties received the Triangle Commercial Real Estate Women (TCREW) “Most Innovative Financing Program” Champion award. Andrew also is a regular guest lecturer on Historic Preservation and Development at the University of North Carolina’s Department of City and Regional Planning. Andrew served as a city-appointed member of downtown Raleigh’s Parking Task Force and has served as a member of the board of directors for Raleigh Little Theater and Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

Before joining Empire, Andrew worked with the City of Raleigh Planning Department and was engaged in the creation and management of the Livable Streets Partnership for downtown Raleigh. He also worked for four years as a research economist for Research Triangle Institute International (RTI).

Andrew has a master’s degree in Business Administration and Regional Planning with a focus on real estate development from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also graduated with honors from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., with bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Economics.

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Johnny Burleson is the Chief Advancement Officer at the North Carolina Museum of Art where he leads fundraising and external relations.

When not in Raleigh, he is on his historic blueberry farm in the North Carolina mountains of Ashe County. The farm, which is a National Register property, has an 1890s farmhouse that he and his partner Walter Clark renovated in 2003.

In addition to renovating the Perry-Shepherd house, they more recently restored the old Hart General Store in nearby Lansing NC. The building, which operates today as the Old Orchard Creek General Store, is a contributing structure to Lansing’s Historic District.

 

 

 

 

 

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Mary Boney Clark is a principal at Boney Décor Solutions, LLC in Wilmington, NC where she focuses on residential interior design and repurposing furniture.

In addition to serving on the PNC board, she currently serves as the Chair of The Bellamy Mansion Museum of History and Design Arts, the Interim Chair of A Safe Place, a board member of Lift Up The Vulnerable, a member of the Board of Advisors of UNC Law Institute for Innovation and in other roles with additional non-profits.

Ms. Clark served a five-year term as the U.S. Commissioner for Trademarks and was named one of the “50 Most Influential People in Intellectual Property” in 2019.  Ms. Clark is a graduate of Duke University and the University of North Carolina School of Law from which she received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2016. She is married with four children.

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James Goodnight is a Raleigh native who graduated from UNC with a degree in history and psychology.  In the past he has worked at SAS in various roles in finance and corporate real estate. Currently, he is a real estate developer with a focus on historical preservation and adaptive reuse.

James has preserved numerous buildings in Raleigh, Wilmington and most recently Sanford, many utilizing tax credits. In Raleigh he renovated the Nehi Building and former Raleigh Industrial Bank, now known for Death and Taxes Restaurant.

He has previously served six years on the board of Preservation NC. James lives in Raleigh with his wife Bernadette and daughter Rose.

 

 

 

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Jason Harpe has over twenty years of experience in the field of historic preservation. His experience includes historical research and writing, architectural surveys and analysis, the preparation of National Register of Historic Places nominations and local landmark reports, and facilitating the acquisition, preservation, restoration, and maintenance of historic structures, buildings, cemeteries, and historic sites.

Jason has worked on cultural resources surveys in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and other municipal and state cultural resource regulations. He is also a certified Gravestone and Monument Conservator, Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC), and is a Certified Jahn Mortar Installer through Cathedral Stone Products.

He prepared conditions assessments for cemeteries and has worked on numerous projects involving the conservation and restoration of gravestones and monuments. He recently completed conditions assessments for five cemetery in Nantucket, MA, and conserved Thomas Jefferson’s monument in the Monticello Graveyard at Monticello.

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Irvin M. Henderson is the principal of Henderson and Company, a consulting and development firm specializing in community development finance and capital structure; project design and management; historic preservation development; and urban infill, residential and enterprise development.

He has designed and presented trainings for community nonprofit executives, bankers, government executives and grassroots leadership throughout the United States, from the Bank of America Leadership Academy to the National Main Street Conference in Atlanta 2015. His development career began in 1984 with the development of 24 duplexes in Port Royal, South Carolina. His first commercial development project was the rehabilitation of a downtown block in Henderson, NC featuring the adaptive reuse of a historic J.C. Penney department store in Henderson’s Main Street revitalization area. He is currently developing and restoring the Hotel Hinton in Edenton, North Carolina’s Main Street community, The New Granada Theater in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, the A. G. Gaston Motel National Monument in Birmingham, Alabama and is restoring the historic ICA Greenrise Building in the Uptown community in Chicago.

Henderson’s professional background is varied and has prepared him for the nuances required to implement complex projects. He is the former President and CEO of a financial planning, securities, and insurance full-services company; and former President and CEO of Gateway Community Development Corporation.

Irvin is a founding member of the Board of the National Main Street Center and its Audit and Finance Committee chair.

Serving as Chair and Founding Board Member of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Henderson consulted with and presented to communities, neighborhood leaders, presidents, heads of state, cabinet ministers, executives of the private sector, governors, and many state and federal agencies.

Irvin is a Trustee Emeritus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Past Chair of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Founding President of the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Board Member Emeritus of the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, Trustee of Community Capital Trust – an investment company dedicated to community development, Founding Chair of the Banker Community Collaborative Council, Founding Executive Committee Member of the North Carolina Fair Housing Center, on the Editorial Board for the Novogradac Journal of Tax Credits, Vice Chair of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Audit Chair of the National Main Street Center, and Audit Chair of the mutual fund complex, The Community Capital Trust. He has also served as Chair of the North Carolina Low Income Housing Coalition and is former Vice-Chair of the North Carolina Association of Community Development Corporations.

Irvin is a recipient of the Fannie Mae Maxwell Affordable Housing Award and the National Economic Justice Award. He has authored and/or performed trainings at national and international gatherings including the European Community Reinvestment Annual Meeting, The White House, United States Congress, the French Cabinet, Rainbow Push Wall Street Conference, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Annual Meeting, Enterprise Foundation, NY Funders Alliance, Neighborhood Funders Group, the National Council of Foundations and the National Tax Credit Conference. He is published in the fields of community reinvestment, civic engagement, community development and historic preservation.

As Chair of the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, he has championed the set-aside of $4 Million in New Market Tax Credits exclusively for Main Street projects and overseen $1 Billion in twinned New Markets Tax Credit and Historic Tax Credit projects.

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Matt Hobbs is a Vice President at Blue Heron Asset Management, LLC, a commercial real estate investment and development company based in Raleigh NC.

Outside of this day job, Matt is a restoration carpenter and furniture maker. He has restored two Preservation North Carolina homes, including one in the Edenton Cotton Mill Village and his family’s current home, the Crabtree Jones House in Raleigh.

Matt serves as chairman of the board of the Self-Help Ventures Fund in Durham, NC, a leading non-profit community development financial organization. Matt received a BSE in Mechanical Engineering from Princeton University, an MA in Early American Culture from the University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum, and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

 

 

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April has been a Project Executive at Christman since 2015, with a degree in Civil Engineering and Construction Management from Michigan State University. She is an award-winning trailblazer in the North Carolina region who has been recognized as a member of the 2020 “Forty Under Forty” leaders to watch by the Triad Business Journal and received a “Chix Dig It” Women in Construction Emerging Professional Award.

Outside of her time at Christman, April is involved in Rotary International, the alumni chapter of her sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., and sits on a number of boards in the state of North Carolina dedicated to historic preservation including the executive board of Preservation Greensboro Development Fund and Preservation North Carolina.

 

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Lester Lowe has been working in the civil engineering consulting business for over 35 years. He is a lifelong North Carolinian having grown up in Wilson NC. He currently resides in Raleigh where he has lived since graduating from East Carolina with a MBA and NC State with a civil engineering degree.

When not working, Lester enjoys spending most of his free time at the NC coast and watching his favorite college team play football and basketball and attending his favorite artists concerts.

Having worked in many small communities across NC, Lester has seen firsthand the continued decline, demolition or abandonment of the older historic downtown buildings. This lead him to want to get involved with Preservation North Carolina. His hope is to get development projects that come to these communities to work with the local city governments to save these older structures that cannot ever be replaced.

 

 

 

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Michelle M. McCullough moved to Winston-Salem nineteen years ago to begin a career with the City and County in Historic Preservation after finishing her Masters of Science in Historic Preservation from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. Her undergrad is from Hillsdale College with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Finance and Political Economy.

Passionate about architecture and history, Forsyth County was a natural fit. Through her career she has staffed the Forsyth County Historic Resources Commission assisting with the communities Historic or Historic Overlay Districts and Local Historic Landmarks. However, her greatest talents are seen when she works on larger projects such as organizing opening events for the Winston-Salem Centennial Celebration in 2013; the administrating the architectural survey update for Winston-Salem and the publication of  Winston-Salem’s Architectural Heritage by Heather Fearnbach; Historic Preservation Month calendar each year in May; and working on special projects encouraging community members to  save lesser known buildings and history. She also is on the National Training team for the National Allicance for Preservation Commissions.

In 2017, she won the Cedric S. Rodney Unity Award for Service to the Community given at the annual Juneteenth Luncheon and Service to the Community and American Institute Architect, Winston-Salem Section, North Carolina, Advocate Award. In 2022, she received the Robert E. Stipe Professional Award from Preservation North Carolina. The Stipe Award is the highest honor presented to a working professional, who demonstrated an outstanding commitment to preservation as part of their job responsibilities.

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Jeff Michael is Deputy Secretary for Natural Resources, managing the North Carolina Zoo, Division of State Parks and Recreation, N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina Aquariums, and Division of Land and Water Stewardship.

He was previously director of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute since 2003. Prior to that, Michael was executive director of the Wildacres Leadership Initiative, a nonprofit focused on multiculturalism and collaborative leadership. He previously served as executive director of the Land Trust for Central North Carolina (now Three Rivers Land Trust) and the Yadkin-Pee Dee Lakes Project (now Central Park NC). He has served on the boards of Morrow Mountain State Park Advisory Committee and Preservation North Carolina, among others. Jeff has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and master’s in Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also holds a J.D. from the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Law.

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Natalie Pass-Miller is the owner of The Historic Magnolia House, a historic Green Book site that officially opened in January 2022 as a fully restored new boutique hotel and event space in Greensboro, NC.

A cultural catalyst who has carried her skills and talent from the corporate world in change management and digital transformation to the nonprofit and hospitality sectors, Natalie founded The Historic Magnolia Foundation in 2018, which develops educational resources and programs dedicated to the preservation of Green Book history. Natalie oversaw the renovation and relaunch of The Historic Magnolia House while also serving as an advocate for public education about the history and impact of the Green Book and the African American Traveler.

As a leader in preservation with a focus on historic African American sites, her priority is to reunite history with its communities through preservation, community engagement, the arts, and promoting S.T.E.A.M (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) fields.

A Greensboro native and alumni of North Carolina A&T State University, her mission is fueled by her deeply rooted family heritage and the important contributions they have made in the history of the Triad.

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Andre` Nabors has served as the Partner Relations Manager for the Visit North Carolina (formerly North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film & Sports Development) since 2010. Visit NC a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), supporting sustainable efforts to market and promote the state’s natural, historic and cultural resources for communities, non-profits, and tourism related entities to improve tourism product and visitation across North Carolina. In December of 2012, Tourism was charged to oversee the NC Certified Retirement Community Program to encourage retirees and those planning to retire to make their home in North Carolina. Andre manages that program

Andre` formerly held a similar position with the West Virginia Division of Tourism 1999-2006, where he provided marketing, research, communications and other types of assistance to communities, attractions and CVBs throughout West Virginia. In that role, he worked to develop the state’s first African-American Heritage Guide identifying cultural and historic attractions, as well as foster its Civil War Trail program. Andre` also worked on several projects such as Scenic Byways, Rail to Trails, National Coal Heritage Area, Freedom Trek II and III, Governor’s Black History Month Kick-Off Program, and the Booker T. Washington Institute at WV State University.

Before moving to North Carolina, Andre` was convention sales manager for the Charleston (W.V.) CVB, where he covered the markets of sports, military, group, fraternity and also managed the Charleston Sports Committee. He began his career in tourism in June 1992 with the West Virginia’s Parkways Authority Welcome Centers as a travel counselor and manager. Andre` is a Tourism Marketing Professional (TMP) through the Southeast Tourism Society Marketing College program and has over 25 years of experience in the tourism industry.

Andre` graduated from Concord University in Athens, WV and served on the Concord University Foundation Board of Directors for 12 years. Andre` also serves on the NC Folklife Institute Board of Directors, Civil War Trails Inc. Board and numerous advisory committees focused on heritage tourism and retiree attraction. He currently resides in Mebane, NC with wife Stacy, have 2 daughter’s Malia (21), Morgan (26), son Deion (29) and now grandson Hendrix (14 months).

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Gray Reed retired in late 2021 after serving more than 38 years with Truist and predecessor BB&T. For the past 11 years, Gray led the small business, commercial, and middle market banking efforts for Truist as Triangle Region President, based out of Raleigh, NC.

In retirement Gray and his wife Debbie are enjoying living an active lifestyle in coastal NC. They also enjoy travel and spending time with daughters Deborah, Caroline (Hunter), and grandson Reed, who all reside in the Triangle.

Gray has been involved in leadership positions with numerous charitable organizations over many years and he and Debbie are very passionate Tarheels! Gray currently serves on the Board of the UNC Health Foundation and he is happy to be rejoining the Board of Preservation NC.

 

 

 

 

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Donna is a native of Dunn NC, resident of Lake Waccamaw NC.  She has an Associate Degree in Nursing from Southeastern Community College and a B.S. and Masters of Science Education, N. C. State University. Donna has been a public-school teacher, a museum curator, director of a statewide science student organization, administrative/publicist for a family-owned plumbing and electrical wholesale business, a hospital medical surgical nurse, CPR instructor, and infection preventionist.

Her current community involvements are Preservation North Carolina, Reuben Brown House Preservation Society Historic Landmarks Chair, water quality monitor for Waccamaw Riverkeepers Alliance, Southeastern Community College Foundation Board of Directors, Lake Waccamaw Food Ministry, and Southeastern Oratorio Society.

Donna and her husband were instrumental in organizing the Lumber River Basin Committee which resulted in the establishment of Lumber River State Park. For this work, they received Country Magazine’s first annual Heritage Award and recognition from both N. C. Environmental Management Commission and Fair Bluff Chamber of Commerce.

Historic preservation and conservation of natural areas are entwined in their respect and love for things that have stood the test of time and recognition of what they may have to teach us.  Donna’s heart aches to see wonderful old structures demolished just as it aches to hear the chain saws attacking our glorious old trees.

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Dr. Darin Waters is Deputy Secretary for Office of Archives and History. He oversees the operations of the divisions of State History and Maritime Museums, State Historic Sites and Properties, Archives and Records, Historical Resources (including the State Historic Preservation Office, Office of Historical Research, and the Office of State Archaeology), and commissions (including Roanoke Island Festival Park and Tryon Palace), and Education and Outreach. He is also the secretary of the North Carolina Historical Commission and the State Historic Preservation Officer.

Originally from Asheville, Waters was most recently an Associate Professor of History at UNC Asheville, and the Executive Director of UNCA’s Office of Community Engagement. He previously held other teaching, research, and community engagement positions at UNCA, UNC-Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University. Early in his career he was an Adult Probation Parole Officer with the Department of Public Safety.

Waters received a B.S. in Political Science and Government from Liberty University, a master’s in History from North Carolina State University, and a PhD in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has served on numerous non-profit and state boards, including the North Carolina Historical Commission and African American Heritage Commission.

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Raven Williams is a real estate portfolio manager at Foss & Company. A native of Virginia, she has lived in North Carolina for more than 20 years. As a portfolio manager, her primary focus is on managing real estate investments held in proprietary Historic Tax Credit (HTC) equity funds.

Prior to joining Foss & Company, Raven worked in asset management for a leading tax credit syndicator, as well as with a development firm, both with a focus in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). Before moving into asset management, she was a Senior Commercial Real Estate Underwriter.

Raven holds a Jenkins MBA from North Carolina State University, and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.