Dr. Heather Kilbourne is the director of Faith in Rural Communities. She grew up surrounded by the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in Marion, North Carolina. She previously pastored United Methodist Churches in rural towns and communities including Hamptonville, Morganton, and Statesville, NC. Prior to becoming a minister, she worked as a non-profit administrator for Family Services Center and Teach For America.
Dr. Kilbourne has always felt a calling to serve marginalized families and communities. She assisted in starting three Circles communities, a program to help families out of poverty through building relationships across class barriers and increasing individual social capital. She is a former Bridges Out of Poverty trainer.
She holds her bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina – Asheville, a Master of Divinity and a Doctor in Ministry from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
In her free time she enjoys hiking, reading, and walking her dog, Hanna.