Meet our leadership team
spreading awareness, building resiliency, sparking change
|
YOLANDA ADAMSEvents CommitteeYolanda Adams, originally from Bogota, Colombia, came to the High Country in 2002. She holds a 2-year degree in Business Administration from Broward Community College in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, her original home when she moved from Bogota, Colombia, in 1992. In 2020, she completed a certification program from Cornell University on Diversity and Inclusion. Adams worked for 5 years as a Spanish Interpreter for the Watauga County Health Department. In 2012, she was hired as the Spanish Interpreter and Translator for Watauga County Schools (WCS). Her passion and service to the Latino community lead her to apply and receive her new position as the Family Resource Coordinator for WCS. She has implemented the Juntos program, promoting higher education for the Latino Community, a program developed by North Carolina State University. She has worked tirelessly to build bridges between the Latino Community and Law enforcement by helping set up meetings between communities with programs such as Coffee with a Cop and the Latino Fair.Adams also serves as a Spanish Interpreter for Child Protection Services, Daymark, the Department of Social Services, and the Children’s Advocacy Center. She has also assisted with interpretation for Watauga County Sheriff’s Department and the Boone Police Department. Adams currently serves as the Chair for High Country Community Health, Board Member for Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, Chair for Manos Latinos Unidas, which she helped form, and member-at-large for the Immigration Justice Coalition. She has been a member of the American Translators Association since 2017. She is also the Co-Founder of the podcast and video outreach program Q' Pasa Appalachia on Facebook. A program developed to empowered and built bridges between the Latino Community and the High Country. She and her husband, Jay, and four children, Alejandro, Christian, Joshuah, and Hannah, enjoy working with the Latin community and experiencing all the outdoor activities the beautiful High Country provides.
|
MARISA CORNELLEvents CommitteeMarisa serves as Executive Director of the Mediation & Restorative Justice Center, a non-profit providing mediation and other restorative justice-oriented programs in courts, schools, and communities across 10 counties in Western NC. MRJC's programs include Juvenile Mediation, District Criminal Court Mediation, Drug Treatment Courts, Sentencing Circles, and Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD.) Marisa received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida, as well as a Master’s Degree in Counseling (Expressive Arts Therapy) and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Appalachian State University. She has an extensive history of advocacy around restorative processes, community-building, human rights, interdisciplinary collaboration, conflict resolution, and experiential learning.
|
|
|
RANDY FEHDRAULeadership TeamI feel very fortunate to be able to call many of you friends! I moved to Newland in 2016 and thoroughly enjoy living here. My days are occupied by working at the Health Department with some kind, amazing and accomplished colleagues. They allow me to do the work for which I have the most passion, working with people. I get to work with parents, people struggling to find housing, people using substance, grandparents raising children and as many others as possible. It is reassuring to know that there are so many folks here dedicated to making the world a better place!
I have one son, Ande who lives in Eden, NC. He has taught me a great deal about how to structure my life and find enjoyment in unexpected places. |
KELLIE REED ASHCRAFTData & Policy CommitteeKellie Reed Ashcraft is a Professor with the Department of Social Work in the Beaver College of Health Sciences at Appalachian State University. Dr. Reed Ashcraft (Kellie) has been involved with the WCCI since its early beginnings. She also is a co-lead for the WCCI’s Ad Hoc Structures and Program Models Committee. In addition, Kellie is interested in various community and social issues, and she has volunteered with varied organizations and communities. She served for two years as the Board Chair for a non-profit community development organization. Her previous volunteer work includes working as a direct service hospice volunteer; a board member for a domestic violence shelter; a mentor with a non-profit agency serving at-risk youth; a big sister with a foster care agency; and a victim advocate with a non-profit agency serving crime victims. Kellie's current research interests include study of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resiliency skills among helping professionals involved in a local community ACEs initiative; development, implementation, and evaluation of an inter-professional course on trauma-informed practice; and ACEs-based, community-driven practice research. Her previous research has focused on family support, family preservation, and intensive family preservation services; child welfare; Latino health, and needs assessment and evaluation.
|
|
|
ROBYN SEAMONAwareness Committee
Robyn Seamon is a Registered Nurse and owner of Appalachian Healthcare Training & Consulting. She has been attending WCCI and been part of the Awareness committee since 2020. Robyn’s passion is to see the health and well-being of all residents in Watauga County continually improve. Having a very high ACE score from a very dysfunctional childhood, she recognizes how important this work is to advance health outcomes. Robyn obtained an Associate Degree in Nursing many years ago and after she and her husband moved to Watauga County in 2006, she received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from ASU. During this process, she became very interested in improving health and healthcare outcomes in the rural Appalachian region. In 2017, Robyn, a lifelong learner, received a Master’s Degree in Appalachian Studies from ASU and launched Appalachian Healthcare Training & Consulting. As a Certified Transcultural Nurse, Robyn has combined her nursing knowledge and experience with her love and understanding of the Appalachian region. Her passion is to help health and human service providers improve communication and interactions with people who live in rural Appalachia in order to improve outcomes. In 2022, Robyn will obtain an Advanced Certificate in Cultural Competence from The College of Staten Island. Robyn and her husband enjoy every opportunity they can to be outside hiking, biking, camping, and kayaking and enjoying all the beauty in this wonderful place we call home.
|
CANDIS WALKERWCCI Lead, Events CommitteeCandis Walker is a Professional School Counselor who serves as the Prevention Counselor for Watauga County Schools. As a founding member of WCCI, she sees how understanding adversity and teaching resilience are important steps to increased success in school for all students and their families. Additionally, she serves the youth of our community through Children's Ministry at Boone United Methodist Church and Cub Scout Pack 109. Candis is a Boone native who, with her husband and two sons, enjoys hiking, camping, and reading.
|
|
|
TIFFANY WILLIAMSLeadership Team
Tiffany is a social worker who specializes in macro level systems change. She began attending WCCI in 2019 as part of the Policy Committee. Tiffany is passionate about removing barriers and creating access to resources so that communities can thrive. She is a political social worker from Texas where she spent her early career advocating and writing state legislation to protect the rights of vulnerable populations such as youth with developmental disabilities and/or mental health issues. She saw legislative advocacy as part of the solution to protecting youth from trauma after working in a treatment center for minors who were trafficked.Tiffany specifically worked on special education laws and mental health policies in schools. Currently, She is part of the Community Health Team at Western Youth Network, she loves getting to work on the local level, community mobilizing to bring change. Tiffany leads the Watauga Substance Action and Prevention Coalition, which is a group of community leaders whose goal it is to reduce youth substance use and build resiliency to make healthy choices. In her free time, she takes ballet classes, teaches yoga, and spends time outside with her daughter and husband.
|
Suzi WoodardAwareness Committee
The framework of ACES and resiliency for individuals and communities is a perfect fit with Suzi’s personal values and professional career. She brings a holistic health and wellness background to her current work as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor & Supervisor, with Blue Mountain Center for Integrative Health in Boone. She has specialized in work with trauma survivors and clients from dysfunctional family backgrounds since the mid-1980s and enjoys an eclectic counseling practice with a wide range of clients and issues, with individuals and couples. Since back in the days when it was a radical idea, Suzi has been known for incorporating evolving research on brain functioning and brain plasticity, along with research-based complementary modalities such as specific mindfulness practices, medicinal botanicals, breathwork and other yoga practices, homeopathics, aromatherapy, nutrition, physical activity, and nature into more mainstream psychotherapy modalities. In addition to offering community education and consulting on mental health, resiliency, and relationship topics, Suzi has volunteered locally with many local non-profit boards and community coalitions over the years.
|
|
FOUNDERS & PAST LEADERSHIP TEAM
DENISE PRESNELLFounder, WCCI Lead 2017-2022
|
|
A HUGE Thank You to the following people for previously serving on the Leadership Team. Your work and devotion to WCCI is appreciated.
Emily Harwood
Graham Aiken
Stephanie Thomas
Crystal Kelly
Lindsay Sullivan
Adam Hege
Jennifer Warren
Hayley Bayne
Graham Aiken
Stephanie Thomas
Crystal Kelly
Lindsay Sullivan
Adam Hege
Jennifer Warren
Hayley Bayne