Officers
Christina Howe, Chair — Christina resides in Valle Crucis where the Watauga River forms the western boundary of her property. She came to Boone after living and working in Miami, Fl. She was senior vice-president of a very large development company, which built, managed and sold shopping centers, office buildings and airport hangers. Christina became a commercially rated, single and multi-engine pilot with an instrument rating. She founded and still owns two real estate companies. She went on to assist her late husband in building a 350,000 sq.ft. terminal in Sanford, Fl. now known as the Orlando-Sanford International Airport or OSI. Christina is a sailor, an avid tennis player, and enjoys golf. She was the President of the High Country Conservancy for 4 years. Christina is presently President of the Shull’s Farm POA. She is a passionate environmentalist and Green has always been her favorite color.
Heidi Binko, Vice Chair – In October 2008, Heidi Binko joined Rockefeller Family Fund (RFF) as associate director of Special Climate Initiatives. In this position, she works closely with national and regional advocates and foundations working at the nexus of climate and coal. Since joining RFF, Heidi has played a leading role in creating strategic partnerships between funders and advocates interested in helping the nation move beyond a coal-based economy. Prior to joining RFF, Heidi was the executive director of the WestWind Foundation, a family foundation based in Virginia. She currently serves as a board member of the Environmental Grantmakers Association, Appalachian Voices, and as a co-chair of the Climate and Energy Funders Group. She holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame and the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Cale Jaffe, Secretary — Cale is a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, focusing on clean air advocacy, energy, and climate change. He is also a Lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Law, where he teaches a seminar on Environmental Law and Federalism. Cale is on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Conservation Network, and is a past chair of the Board of Governors for the Environmental Law Section of the Virginia State Bar. In 2007, he was part of the legal team that won a unanimous victory before the Supreme Court of the United States in Environmental Defense v. Duke Energy. In 2008, Cale was a co-recipient of the Virginia Conservation Network’s Blue Ridge Award. Cale is a graduate of Yale University and earned his law degree and a Masters in Legal History from the University of Virginia.
Bunk Spann, Treasurer– Bunk Spann is the founder of the National Center for Developmental Education at Appalachian State University, a former member of the Boone, N.C. town council and current chair of the Boone area Planning Commission.
Board Members-At-Large
Clara Bingham — Clara Bingham is an award winning journalist and author. She is a former Newsweek White House correspondent, and the author (with Laura Leedy Gansler) of Class Action: The Landmark Case that Changed Sexual Harassment Law (Doubleday 2002). Her book was adapted into the 2005 film North Country (Warner Bros.), staring Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand. Both actresses received Oscar nominations for their roles. Class Action was a Los Angeles Times best book of the year and won the AAUW Speaking Out For Justice Award. Bingham is also the author of Women on the Hill: Challenging the Culture of Congress (Times Books 1997), and she has written for many publications including Vanity Fair, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Talk, The Washington Monthly, Ms., and United Press International. While reporting a story in West Virginia, Bingham, a Kentucky native, witnessed the destructive effects of Mountaintop Removal coal mining for the first time. Since then she has dedicated her time and energy to producing The Last Mountain, which was in competition at that Sundance Film Festival January 2011.
Jim Deming — Rev. Jim Deming is the Minister for Environmental Justice for the United Church of Christ where he is involved in grassroots environmental justice programs, education, and advocacy. For three years, he was the Executive Director of Tennessee Interfaith Power and Light, educating congregations on environmental stewardship, renewable energy, and energy conservation. He also served as the Executive Director of the Kentucky/ Tennessee Water Environment Association. He is excited about working with Appalachian Voices and members of the faith community to draw attention to environmental injustices like mountaintop removal.
Dot Griffith — Dot Griffith earned her BFA in Photography from the University of Georgia and is the founder of the Banner Elk Advocates for Responsible Expansion (BEARE). She is the mother of two and loves to cycle, hike, camp, cook, dance, and now spread awareness about mountaintop removal coal mining.
Silas House — Silas is an award-win- ning author of four novels, two plays, and a number of other works. He serves as the NEH Chair in Appalachian Studies at Berea College and on the fiction faculty at Spalding Univer- sity’s MFA in Creative Writing Program. He is a former contributing editor for No Depression magazine and is one of Nashville’s most in-demand press kit writ- ers. He is also the creator of the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival.
Mary Anne Hitt — Mary Anne Hitt is director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, which is working to eliminate coal’s contribution to global warming by preventing the construction of new coal-fired power plants, accelerating the retirement and replacement of existing coal plants, and ensuring the massive coal reserves in the US remain underground and out of export markets. She previously served as executive director of Appalachian Voices, where she was one of the co-creators of iLoveMountains.org. She was also previously the executive director of the Ecology Center and the Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project. She grew up in the mountains of east Tennessee and now lives in West Virginia.
Brenda Sigmon — Brenda is a retired school teacher and former member of the North Carolina Textbook Commission. Brenda helped co-found the Catawba County Litter Task Force in Newton, N.C. She is a long-standing volunteer for Appalachian Voices, including delivering The Appalachian Voice newspaper to two counties in western North Carolina. She currently teaches part-time at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, N.C. Brenda is an avid hiker and an active member of Catawba Valley Outing Club, and enjoys helping to maintain hiking trails in the area.
Landra Lewis — Landra is a native of eastern Kentucky. She has a BA in Political Science and a certificate in mediation from Duke University. She is involved in a variety of professional associations and environmental organizations. She is dedicated to ending mountaintop removal coal mining and bringing about positive change in her home state of Kentucky.
Rick Phelps — Rick is a retired consulting environmental chemist experienced in air and water quality analysis, combustion source assessments and industrial waste treatment technologies. He was a founder of the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy in Asheville, N.C. focusing on endangered land and watershed protection. Rick has also served on several EPA advisory and regulatory development groups as well has a num- ber of environmental and outdoor recreation organizations.
Kathy Selvage — Kathy, daughter of a coal miner and Wise County, VA resident, has brought local, regional, and national exposure to the destruction that mountaintop removal coal mining is wreaking on her native land, its people, and their culture. As a strong advocate for herself and others, she was instrumental in the fight against Dominion’s Wise County coal-fired plant and the mile-long petition delivered in Richmond, VA, the recipient of the 2006 St. Francis Ecological Award for innovative work; was named in Blue Ridge Country magazine as one of 14 individuals shaping the region, and appeared in the Evans/Gellar documentary “Coal Country” as a path to bring the devastation of the Appalachian region to the consciousness of every American. In 2010, she emerged in another documentary, “Electricity Fairy”, to be utilized to support work against future coal-fired plants and mountain top removal and instead promote energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energies.
Lauren Waterworth — Lauren is a native of Boone, N.C. She has a background in geology as well as studio art, and she earned her JD from Tulane University Law School with a certificate in Environmental Law. After finishing law school, Lauren returned to practice law in Boone, where she discovered a passion for criminal defense work. She also practices in the areas of Environmental Law, Land Use and Planning. When not in the office or in the court room, Lauren enjoys walking her dogs with her wonderful husband, skiing as a member of the National Ski Patrol, gardening, hiking and painting.
Willa Coffey Mays – Board Member, Ex Officio — Willa has over 25 years experience leading environmental and non-profit organizations. Prior to her work with Appalachian Voices she was Director of Operations and Development for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition in Bozeman, MT; Assistant Director of the Center for the Environment at Catawba College, and Director of Development for the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
Advisory Councils
Chair’s Advisory Council
Jonathan C. Allen, CPA CFP, CLU — Jonathan is a financial advisor in Boone, N.C. He began his career at Ernst & Young, LLP in Manhattan where he worked as a tax consultant. He currently holds three professional certifications – Certified Public Accountant, Certified Financial Planner®, and Chartered Life Underwriter. In addition to working at Allen Wealth Management, Jonathan has taught Financial Planning at Appalachian State University and Accounting at Wake Forest University. An avid outdoorsman, Jonathan enjoys hiking, golf, and fly-fishing the local trout streams. He is married to Stephanie and the couple resides in Boone with their dog, Deacon.
Jessica Barba Brown — Jessica is Vice President for Program Development at Faith in Public Life, a strategy center advancing faith in the public square. Most recently, she spent three years serving as communications director and senior aide for former Rep. Tom Perriello on his election campaigns and on Capitol Hill. In just a short time, Perriello went from long-shot congressional hopeful to one of the highest-profile and widely watched political stories in 2010. Before her career turned to politics, Jessica worked in the nonprofit sector as communications director for City Year New York and communications and marketing manager for CancerCare. During the 2004 elections, she was one of the founding board members of the Catholic Voting Project, which went on to become Catholics United. A native of the Washington, DC, region, Jessica holds a bachelor’s degree in Gender and Sexuality Studies from New York University.
Alfred Glover — Community leader and businessman, Alfred is President of Boone Ford Lincoln Mercury Dealership.
Randy Hayes — Director of the U.S. Liaison Office for World Future Council, founder and board member of Rainforest Action Network.
Liz Riddick — Liz is a graduate of Appalachian Sate University where she studied Appropriate Technology and Sustainable Development. Liz has served on the Mountain Keepers Board, Boone Planning Commission, Affordable Housing Task Force and the Boone Town Council. Liz is currently a Real Estate Broker. Liz loves to be in nature and especially enjoys river adventures.
Van Jones — Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. Van is a co-founder of three successful non-profit organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All. He is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009. Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress. Additionally, he is a senior policy advisor at Green For All. Van also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
About App Voices