Board of Directors

Helen Ruth Almond

Helen Ruth Almond is Executive Director of the Alleghany Memorial Hospital Foundation and Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Alleghany Health in Sparta, an affiliate of Wake Forest Baptist Health and Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital. She also serves as… Read more

Andy Anderson

Andy Anderson serves as director of development for Community Based Care. He is currently pastor of Father’s Cup Overflow Ministries and is a William Friday Fellow. He serves on the North Carolina Social Services Commission, the Columbus County Partnership for… Read more

Leslie Boney

Leslie Boney serves as the director for the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State (IEI). Before joining IEI, he was the UNC system’s vice president for international, community, and economic engagement. He serves on the board of the Food… Read more

Charles Brown

Charles Brown is an attorney who lends his expertise to a number of boards, including the N.C. Board of Conservation and Development and the Stanly County Economic Development Commission.… Read more

Lige Daughtridge

Lige Daughtridge is the president of Daughtridge Sales Co., Inc., a family-owned business located in Rocky Mount that distributes pressure and temperature instrumentation. He is also a member of the N.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority, Carolinas Gateway Partnership Board of Directors,… Read more

Patricia Ferguson

Patricia Ferguson is a former chair of the Bertie County Board of Commissioners. She has received the Brock Award as N.C. County Commissioner of the Year, the National Association of Development Organization’s Innovation Award, and the NAACP’s Freedom Fund Award.… Read more

Grant Godwin

Grant Godwin is Chair of the Rural Center Board of Directors and a native of Sampson County. He retired in 2011 from Martin Marietta Materials after a distinguished career in advanced manufacturing. He began his career in North Carolina state… Read more

Debbie Hamrick

Debbie Hamrick is a member of the Public Policy Dept. for North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest general agricultural organization. She works with wide ranging stakeholder groups to shape the state’s agricultural sector for the benefit of all… Read more

CeCe Hipps

CeCe is the president of the Greater Haywood County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development. She has been in that position since 2004 with previous positions at the Asheville and Cary NC Chambers of Commerce. Currently, she serves on the… Read more

Nelle Hotchkiss

Nelle Hotchkiss is senior vice president of association services for the N.C. Electric Membership Corporation. She serves as a board member for a number of organizations, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for N.C. A&T State University, N.C.… Read more

Lenora Jarvis-Mackey

Lenora Jarvis-Mackey is co-founder and president/CEO of River City Community Development Corporation, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization founded 28 years ago. She serves on several boards, including Reinvestment Partners, Elizabeth City Rotary, and Elizabeth City State University. Lenora’s unwavering dedication to… Read more

Ben Knights

Knight is the co-owner of Kinston’s Chef & the Farmer and the Boiler Room Oyster Bar, and Benny’s Big Time Pizzeria in Wilmington. Knight and his wife, chef Vivian Howard, are the subjects of the Emmy, James Beard Foundation, and… Read more

Phil Marion, Jr.

Phil Marion is the president for the southeastern region at BB&T. Since joining BB&T in 1985, he has served as a business services officer in Raleigh, a business services manager for the Piedmont Region in Winston-Salem, corporate banker for the… Read more

John Nelms

John Nelms is senior economic development manager for Duke Energy, coordinating and managing economic development activities for the company in Central North Carolina. John began his utility industry career at Progress Energy in 2005 as a business development executive for… Read more

Alan Rice

Alan Rice is executive director of RFD Community Development Corporation. He also serves as senior minister at Crossfire United Methodist Church, a rural congregation of bikers and working folk. Before entering the ministry, he was an executive in a general… Read more

Juvencio Rocha-Peralta

Juvencio Rocha-Peralta is executive director of the Association of Mexicans in North Carolina (AMEXCAN). A native of Veracruz, Mexico, he has lived in North Carolina since 1980. He has served on a number of task forces and boards, including the… Read more

Jim Rose

Jim Rose is a regional president at United Community Bank. He has more than 30 years of experience in the North Carolina banking industry, including stints with Select Bank, First South Bank, First Union, and BB&T.… Read more

Alice Schenall

Alice Schenall is associate director of the Area L Area Health Education Center. The center provides educational programs and services that bridge academic institutions and communities to improve health.… Read more

Joseph Stanley

Joseph K. Stanley is vice president of Joe & Moe’s Automotive and owner of Joe’s Photography, both in Shallotte. He serves on the South Brunswick Islands Committee of 100, the Advisory Boards for both the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and… Read more

Sarah Thompson

Sarah Thompson is the executive director of the Southwestern Commission Council of Governments in Sylva, NC. In this role, she administers programs in the seven far western counties of the state related to workforce development, aging services, and community and… Read more

Jennifer Tolle Whiteside

Jennifer Tolle Whiteside serves as president and CEO of the North Carolina Community Foundation. She has led the Foundation for more than a decade, more than doubling NCCF assets and grantmaking in her tenure. She loves working every day with… Read more

Dennis Tracz

Dennis Tracz is a serial entrepreneur with experience in technology, sports management and consumer products goods start-ups. He was the founder of the Virginia Financial Group, Inc. a private investment company and served as the first director of the Entrepreneurship… Read more

Patrick Woodie

Patrick Woodie is president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, Inc. From 2006 to 2013, he served as the center’s vice president for Rural Programs. A native of Alleghany County, he is a graduate of Wake Forest University and… Read more