ETHL Board of Directors
Tony Caravano joined University of North Carolina General Administration in March 2007. Prior to that he served as the Director of Legislative Outreach for State Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight; sharing duties in communications and policy research focused around education and the environment. Caravano earned a B.A. in Criminology from North Carolina State University, where he served two terms as the Student Body President. Growing up in a military family, he lived in multiple states before spending much of his life in Florida. He currently resides in Raleigh and currently serves on several boards and advisory councils for North Carolina State University.Lee Conner is a native North Carolinian who grew up in Wilmington and then attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning an undergraduate degree, a Juris Doctor and a MBA. He currently works as an in-house counsel with Square 1 Bank (www.square1bank.com), which lends to venture capitalists and the companies they fund. In addition to his work with ETHL, Lee is also an active member of the North Carolina Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Association of Corporate Counsel.
Kendra Davenport Cotton is the associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South and a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to assuming this position in January 2008, she was assistant director for programs with the Center's Program on Public Life. She has also worked as a research associate with Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago and for the Duke Endowment's Program for the Rural Carolinas. A native Arkansan, Cotton is particularly interested in exploring the political and policy effects of the burgeoning Latinization of the American South. She holds a master's in public administration from North Carolina State University and a bachelor's in public administration from the University of Oklahoma.
Cary Edgar is a native of Virginia who grew up in Charlotte, N.C. and graduated from Appalachian State University in 2001 with a degree in communications. After working for Capitol Broadcasting in Raleigh, Cary completed post-graduate work in rhetoric at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala. Since leaving graduate school, Cary has worked in communications and public relations roles for the City of Asheville, Progress Energy and Capstrat. Since 2006, Cary has served as communications director for the e-NC Authority - a state authority housed by the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center that is charged with tracking the availability of high-speed Internet infrastructure throughout North Carolina and advocating for deployment in underserved areas. The e-NC Authority also works to create local wealth in rural communities through technology-based economic development programs and entrepreneurship training. Away from work, Cary enjoys running, entertaining, gardening and traveling with her husband Will.
Kristen LeBlanc Feneley hails from South Louisiana and received BA in Political Science from Louisiana State University. She is currently working for the North Carolina Nurses Association as the Director of Volunteer Relations and Services. Prior to her work with NCNA, she worked as Legislative Assistant to Rep. Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg). Kristen was also a Program Director with the Institute of Political Leadership and a Communications Specialist with the NC Progress Board.
Andrew Holton began his work as policy analyst with the Program on Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in December, 2005. A recent law school graduate, Andrew spent the 2005 legislative session clerking for N.C. State Senator Linda Garrou (D-Forsyth). Born and raised in Durham, N.C., Andrew holds a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School where he was a member of the Wisconsin Law Review. As an undergraduate Andrew studied history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In his free time Andrew enjoys running, traveling, history, and watching modern dance.
George Jackson is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care and Epidemiologic Research and Information Center at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. A native North Carolinian, George is from Wilmington and received a BSPH, MHA, and Ph.D. in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His current work focuses on how the structure of primary and specialty healthcare impacts outcomes for patients with chronic illness, especially diabetes and colorectal cancer. Along with Nic Heinke, George began the development of Emerging Tar Heel Leaders in 2003 and has been an active board member ever since.
Catherine Moga Bryant is senior research associate with the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, a non-profit dedicated to improving quality of life in the state's 85 rural counties through sound economic and community development strategies. Catherine, a Virginia native, holds a Master's degree in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a B.F.A. from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Jason Nelson is a proud native of Roxboro, NC, where he was born, reared, and educated. His studies and travels have taken him to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, North Carolina A&T State University, and American University in Washington, DC. After several years as an accountant in Memphis, TN Jason relocated to Washington, DC where he worked for a number of organizations including the Human Rights Campaign and the Whitman Walker Clinic, a non-profit community-based health organization established by and for the gay and lesbian community especially committed to ending the suffering of all those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. After completing his graduate studies in public and nonprofit management, Jason moved to Botswana where he spent nine months as a Peace Corps volunteer in the village of Lerala. Currently, he calls Raleigh, NC, home while he is working as a project manager and coordinator for a statewide biofuels initiative at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. He is also an uncle to the most adorable little girl in the world.
John Quinterno, originally from Long Island, NY, is a research associate at the North Carolina Budget & Tax Center, a nonpartisan think tank in Raleigh. His work at the Center focuses on issues of economic policy and workforce development. Earlier in his career, John wrote for and edited the political magazines SouthNow and NC DataNet, published by the Program on Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. John's writing on politics and public policy appears frequently in state and regional publications, and he regularly undertakes consulting work for other public policy organizations. John holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Notre Dame.
Justin C. Smith is the coordinator for Project STYLE (Strength Through Youth Living Empowered) an HIV/AIDS program serving young Black men based at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. In this capacity he organizes an ongoing college HIV testing campaign that has helped thousands of North Carolina college students learn their HIV status. Justin also organizes community-based educational events to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, and serves as the co-facilitator of two support groups for men living with HIV. Prior to joining STYLE, Justin worked at the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, where he researched policy options to strengthen New Jersey's health care safety net. A native of Montclair, NJ, Justin holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University with a dual concentration in Sociology and Community Health.
Joey Stansbury of Raleigh has worked in a variety of civic and political organizations in North Carolina for over fifteen years. He has worked both personally and professionally on a variety of campaigns - from local school board races to presidential contests. In the non-profit realm he has worked professionally for groups such as the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, the John Locke Foundation and Citizens for a Sound Economy. Joey also served a five year stint on Raleigh's Convention Center Commission. He is also the youngest nominee to the North Carolina Republican Party's Hall of Fame. He greatly enjoys lending his time and talents to those dedicated to sincerely effecting change locally. Joey is a 1994 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and currently attends Campbell University's Law School.
Erica Yamauchi is an account executive at Capstrat, one of the largest and most prominent strategic communications agencies in the Southeast, where she brings valuable experience in communications strategy and tactics to her media relations and public affairs work for health care and public policy clients such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Land for Tomorrow. A former Capstrat intern, she also completed internships at the Pentagon working in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs and the Program for Aging at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Erica graduated with distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and public relations. As an International Student Ambassador Scholar, she also studied at Mahidol University International College in Bangkok, Thailand. Upon graduation, she received the H.C. and Lois Cranford Award to the Outstanding Graduating Senior In Public Relations. Erica volunteers for UNICEF and Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and currently serves on the public relations committee of the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education. In her free time, Erica enjoys scuba diving and traveling.