Bill Schulz
Advisory Board Chair / Retired Executive
Bill Schulz has international work experience in the tobacco, food, automotive and furniture sectors. He successfully completed full-time leadership assignments in General Management, Operations and Human Resources in USA, China, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Kazakhstan and Tanzania. Most recently, Bill has been on Japan Tobacco International’s Executive Committee for over 10…
Ellen Carr
Advisory Board Vice Chair / Weaver C. Barksdale and Associates, Inc.
Ellen Carr is a Fixed Income Portfolio Manager and the firm’s Senior Credit Analyst at Weaver C. Barksdale and Associates (WCB), a boutique institutional fixed income money management firm based in Nashville, TN. She specializes in the construction and management of high yield bond portfolios. Prior to joining WCB, she…
Jon Beck
Ex-Officio, Student Representative (19-20) UNC Asheville
Jon Beck, a Junior Accounting major, is a recipient of the North Carolina CPA Foundation Scholarship. Jon tutors his peers in accounting, works at a local virtual reality startup business assisting with the accounting and operations, and runs a business selling his woodworking. In addition, Jon is the treasurer of…
Taylor Bell – MGMT ’13
Colton Groome & Company
Taylor is a long-time Asheville resident and is proud to be an alumni of UNC Asheville after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Management with a concentration in Business Administration. She co-owns a family business with her father in which she remains active in the major functions of financial operations,…
Celeste Collins
OnTrack Financial Education Counseling
Celeste Collins is the Executive Director of OnTrack Financial Education Counseling, formerly Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Western North Carolina. OnTrack WNC is a nonprofit, which serves the western 18 counties of NC helping people reach their money and housing goals through education, counseling and support. Celeste joined the agency…
Henry Dozier, CMQ/OE
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Henry Dozier is Senior Manager for Global Supplier Quality and Laboratory Products (LPD) at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Henry has spent his entire career in manufacturing operations and quality serving multiple organizations and industries. Henry’s experiences are primarily in Quality Assurance and Supplier Quality Management. As the Global Supplier Quality Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Henry…
Giovanni Figaro, CPA – ACCT ’15
UNC Asheville
Giovanni Figaro is a native of Asheville and an alumni of UNC Asheville. Right after obtaining his undergraduate degree in Financial Accounting from the university, he went on to complete the CPA exam before heading back to his alma mater to work as an Accountant in the Finance Department. While…
Wendolyn Forbes – LIT ’00
Merril Lynch, Wealth Management
Wendolyn Lea Thurston Forbes serves the Western North Carolina community as a Financial Advisor for Merrill Lynch. A native of southwestern Virginia, Wendolyn attended Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, prior to transferring to UNCA in 1998. As a 2000 graduate of UNC Asheville, Wendolyn holds a Bachelor of…
Murphy Funkhouser-Capps
Kudzu Brands
Murphy is the CEO and chief brand strategist at Kudzu Brands. She is also a consultant, speaker specializing in creativity and storytelling in business. Murphy attended the North Carolina School of the Arts, Brevard College and the University of Tennessee. Murphy worked for over a decade in corporate training, marketing and…
Jeff McKeehan
Viking Mergers & Acquisitions
Jeff is a Senior Vice President with Peoplelink (a Groupe Crit company). Peoplelink acquired Jeff’s company, EHD Technologies, in 2017. Under Jeff’s leadership as a co-owner, EHD Technologies was recognized three consecutive years on Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing private companies. A leading provider of support services to automotive…
Eric Michael
Gould Killian
Eric W. Michael graduated from Appalachian State University in 1994 with a B.S. in Business Administration. Eric joined Gould Killian CPA Group in March 2007. Before joining Gould Killian CPA Group, Eric worked in public practice in Charlotte for 12 years. Eric’s practice areas focus on tax preparation and consulting…
George Morosani
W. Morosani & Associates
George is President of an Agency that has over 100 years of combined experience in Commercial, Industrial, and Residential Real Estate. Asheville Resident and Licensed Commercial Realtor for over a quarter of a century. Licensed Realtor in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. Secretary/Treasurer of the Asheville Commercial Investment…
Bill Norris
Ex-officio, Senior Director of Major Giving UNC Asheville
Terry Poling
The Poling Group, Inc.
Terry Poling has 30+ years of diverse and comprehensive experience in Leadership Development, Change Management, Organization Development and Training. He spent eighteen of those years in senior-level positions with Motorola, Fidelity Investments, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Honeywell. As a Manager for Motorola University, he managed the New England Regional…
Matt Raker – ENVI ’03
Mountain BizWorks
Matthew joined Mountain BizWorks in 2015 after leading entrepreneurial development at the state-sponsored economic development agency AdvantageWest for 5 years, during which he managed $2.5m in agency funds, secured partner funds exceeding $5m, and led projects generating over $150m in regional investment and 400 jobs. At Mountain BizWorks, Mathew leads…
Issac Rowles
Johnson Price Sprinkle PA
Isaac Rowles is an accountant and CPA for Johnson Price Sprinkle PA. Before becoming an accountant and CPA, Isaac was a professional chef earning degrees in Professional Cooking and Professional Baking from Baltimore International College. Isaac is a 2013 graduate of UNC Asheville with a degree in Accounting and Business…
Bill Smith
Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP
Bill Smith is an Audit Director for Dixon Hughes Goodman in Asheville. His responsibilities primarily include the delivery of audit, consulting and other related services to our dealership, manufacturing and distribution, and construction clients. Bill is involved with all facets of the attest engagements. That involvement includes initial planning, staff…
Rick Sommer
Chairman of CDI Global
Rick holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. He has worked with CDI for the past 25 years. Prior to joining CDI, Rick was an executive with Exxon Chemical Company and also CEA. He concentrates on acquisitions and divestitures in chemicals, pulp, paper and packaging, high technology, machinery…
Jeff Willmott
Retired Executive
Mr. Jeffrey F. Willmott is a senior level executive with over 35 years experience in diverse industries, both domestic and international in scope. He began his business career at Avon Products and later worked at Westinghouse in all phases of sales/marketing, eventually being promoted to direct the entire Southeast Region.…
Kathryn Williams
KRW Co-founder
KRW co-founder Kathryn Williams is an accomplished individual executive coach and group process facilitator with deep clinical and executive development experience. Kathryn works with elite senior leaders of Fortune 500 corporations, foundations, and major nonprofits, concentrating her efforts in the areas of executive leadership assessment and development, including character coaching…
Bolling Farmer
Advisor and Consultant
Bolling has over 35 years of experience in engineering and program management, providing IT system solutions to the U.S. Government. She currently serves as an advisor and consultant to senior government leadership. She has held executive positions at Raytheon, BAE, and Booz Allen Hamilton. Prior to joining industry, she was…
Heather Nelson
Blue Ridge Public Radio
Heather Nelson has a lifelong dedication to nonprofit service, both as a volunteer and as an employee. She currently serves as the Controller for Blue Ridge Public Radio, a public broadcast organization and NPR member station for Western North Carolina. As a nonprofit management professional, she enjoys making improvements to…
Hunter Goosmann, MBA
Adjunct Instructor of Management
Hunter Goosmann is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Education & Research Consortium of the Western Carolinas, Inc (ERC, dba ERC Broadband). With twenty plus years in IT/Telecom leadership roles and fifteen years leading the ERC, he is responsible for building, operating, and supporting broadband Internet access…