Meet the Board

Emily first worked as a college intern during PAGE's inaugural summer in 2010. After serving as an advisory board member and enthusiastic program volunteer, she stepped into the Board Chair role upon PAGE's 501(c)3 incorporation in 2021. Professionally, Emily spent 10+ years building program infrastructure, student engagement and community collaboration at the Duke Campus Farm in Durham, NC.

Since pivoting out of higher education, Emily has worked in nonprofit development and electoral politics. She currently splits her time between Durham and Madison County, where she can usually be found chatting with a PAGE alum or program friend outside the Spring Creek Community Center, the Zuma coffee truck, or the Hot Springs Dollar General. 

Elizabeth essentially grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, spending every summer of her childhood at the summer camp at which her family worked in Western North Carolina. Her love of the mountains and the people who reside there sparked her interest in working with PAGE. Elizabeth first worked as a PAGE college intern during the summer of 2012. After graduating from Duke University in 2013, she moved to Madison County to work with PAGE full-time, as PAGE’s first program director in partnership with the Madison County School System through the AmeriCorps VISTA program.

After her time with PAGE, she enrolled in law school and now works as an attorney in Miami, Florida. She holds a BA in Public Policy from Duke University and a JD from the University of Miami School of Law.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time in the outdoors and traveling. Elizabeth is excited to continue supporting PAGE and serving the girls of Western North Carolina.

Erica  is the Thomas Howerton Distinguished Professor of Humanities and Professor of English at UNC Asheville. A Western North Carolina native, she writes about food, Appalachia, and the South. Her first book, Negotiating a Perilous Empowerment: Appalachian Women's Literacies, explores the identity conflicts that literacy attainment can cause for mountain women. Her latest book, Appalachia on the Table: Representing Mountain Food and People, investigates representations of mountain food from the late nineteenth century to today. She is deeply committed to this region and is honored to be a part of the work PAGE is doing.

The core question that animates Chris is "Where am I and who is with me?"  Chris Green directs the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College. He serves through his passionate teaching, scholarship and reviews, poetry,  and his encouragement to writers of all types, especially young ones. 

Chris holds a BA in English and Creative Writing at the University of Kentucky (UK), an MA in English from Appalachian State University, An MFA in poetry and MS in secondary education from Indiana University and a PhD in multicultural American poetry. 

 He has taught at Marshall University in West Virginia, served as president of the Appalachian Studies Association, and now is at Berea.  He has edited Coal: A Poetry Anthology and authored Rushlight: Poems and The Social Life of Poetry: Appalachia, Race, and Radical Modernism, which won the Weatherford Award for best Appalachian non-fiction. 

But his great, great passion is walking & being present with the world, especially its trees. He continues to be amazed each and every day by the people he meets.

Sarah first connected with PAGE’s mission as a college intern in 2011 during the organization’s second year. This experience intensified her passion for women’s empowerment and rural economic development through education, which sparked during her childhood in rural Western New York.

Sarah has served on PAGE’s inaugural board since 2020. She currently works as a recruiter and executive coach at a management consulting firm; and she has spent over ten years in higher education, most recently as Director of Alumni Career Services at Emory University.

She holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Environmental Policy from Duke University and an MBA from Emory University. Sarah resides in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, son, and rescue dog. In their free time, they enjoy hiking and spending as much time in nature as possible.

  I grew up on a farm here in Fairview, North Carolina. My grandparents settled here in 1916. We had a dairy for a long time. My father considered all our men friends as potential Milkers! My husband took over running the farm when my Father succeeded in winning a seat in Congress in the 80’s. My son Jamie took over and he and his wife have concentrated on raising grass fed beef and pastured pigs. My sister and I ran camp which is now 40 years old as and  still continues, trying to give children the same kind of experiences we had growing up!