Welcome, Blue Ridge Rising Team!

Why this role

I've spent the better part of my career working across both corporate environments and small business communities — as an employee, a consultant, and a partner. Along the way, I've had the privilege of working alongside people who are the lifeblood of their towns: the small business owner whose shop is also a gathering place, the mayor who doubles as an entrepreneur mentor, the chamber president who hosts a radio show to amplify local voices. People who aren't just building businesses — they're building community.

Through nearly a decade of work in WNC, I've seen firsthand what it looks like when communities find each other — when shared purpose cuts across county lines and people who care about the same things start pulling in the same direction. That's where something real happens.

I have opportunities available to me in project management and operations consulting with great organizations. But what I want — in this season of my life — is to put those skills to work in a way that's deeply meaningful. I want to contribute to the communities and the landscape that have shaped me. We love our mountains, our mountain towns, our trails, and our Parkway. That connection runs deep here — it's what holds us together through hardship and what we come back to when we need to remember what we're building toward.

This role with Blue Ridge Rising is the intersection of everything I care about: the skills I've built, the region I call home, and the kind of work that leaves something behind worth pointing to.