Governor Roy Cooper announces new members to North Carolina boards and commissions.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities:
• Senator Mujtaba Mohammed of Charlotte as a member of the Senate. Mohammed is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee as well as the Senate State and Local Government Committee. He is an assistant public defender at Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina State Commission for Public Health:
• Sharon West of Asheville as a registered nurse. West is the women veteran’s program manager at Charles George VA Medical Center. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Mars Hill University and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. She serves on the Health and Human Services Board of Buncombe County.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists Board of Examiners:
• Dr. Sherri Smith of Durham as an audiologist. Smith is the chief of audiology and medical instructor in the division of head & neck surgery and communication sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. She previously served as service chief of audiology and speech pathology at the James H. Quillen VA Medical Center.
• Stevie Rodriguez of Raleigh as a public member. Rodriguez is a U.S. Army Veteran who currently serves as funeral director/embalmer of the McLaurin Funeral Home in Clayton. She is a member of the Triangle Down Syndrome Network.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council:
• Mitchell St. Clair of Washington as a member at-large. St. Clair is the owner and president of St. Clair Trucking, Inc. He chairs the Vidant Beaufort Hospital Advisory Board and serves on the Beaufort County Community College Board of Trustees.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Human Relations Commission:
• T.R. Nunley of Castle Hayne as a representative of the 7th Congressional District. Nunley is a universal case worker for the New Hanover County Department of Social Services. He has also served as lead case manager for the New Hanover County Community Action program, where he maintained over 650 cases with the American Recovery Reinvestment Act.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Domestic Violence Commission:
• Surabhi Gawande of Cary as a representative of a victims’ service program. Gawande is an attorney with the law firm of Bagchi Law, PLLC. She also was the executive director and served on the executive board of Kiran, Inc., which advocates on behalf of South Asian victims of domestic violence.
• Carolina Alzuru of Durham as a representative for the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Alzuru is the interim executive director at the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Previously, she ran the rape prevention program at NC State University and the Latinx program at the Orange County Rape Crisis Center.
• Terri W. Sharp of Trent Woods as a clerk of Superior Court. Sharp has served as the clerk of Superior Court of Craven County since 2012. Currently, she serves on the Coastal Community Action Board and previously served on the Coastal Women’s Shelter.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Equal Access to Justice Commission:
• Darryl D. Childers of Raleigh as the Governor’s designee. Childers is a policy advisor with the North Carolina Office of the Governor. Previously, he was a community relations manager at the Cumberland Community Foundation in Fayetteville, where he was responsible for community grants programs, community and nonprofit relations, and donor engagement.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching:
• Dr. Catherine Edmonds of Merry Hill as representative from Education District 1. Edmonds serves as superintendent of Bertie County Schools. Previously, she served as director of Educational Leadership and Development for the UNC System Academic and University Programs and as the state director of the NC Principal Fellows.
• Dr. Terry W. Worrell of Greensboro as representative from Education District 5. Worrell currently serves as the superintendent of the Asheboro City Schools. She previously served as senior director for district services of North Carolina New Schools, superintendent of Central Region for Guilford County Schools and as an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction for Rockingham County Schools.
• Justin Parmenter of Charlotte as representative from Education District 6. Parmenter has been an English teacher at Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools since 2002, where he has received Teacher of the Year numerous times. He also has volunteered with the United States Peace Corps.
• Julie Paige Pittman of Rutherfordton as representative from Education District 8. Pittman has been an English teacher at Rutherford County Schools since 2003. Before becoming a public-school teacher, she held teaching positions at UNC-CH, Rutgers University, New York University and Central Piedmont Community College. Pittman is currently the 2018 Burroughs Wellcome Fund NC Western Region Teacher of the Year.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission:
• Paul E. Smith of Wake Forest as a member at-large. Smith is a partner at Patterson Harkavy LLP and primarily represents employees, labor unions, and the victims of police misconduct. He is active in the North Carolina Bar Association Labor and Employment Section and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, as well as an integral member of Patterson Harkavy’s civil rights and appellate practice.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Governor’s Crime Commission:
• Hubert A. Peterkin of Raeford as a County Government Official. Peterkin is sheriff of Hoke County and has been in Law Enforcement for over 30 years. He served as a law enforcement officer with the Fayetteville Police Department, holding various positions for a total of 16 years. He has also served as chair of the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association’s Executive Board.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Agricultural Hall of Fame Board of Directors:
• Larry M. Bell of Clinton as a member at-large. Bell was a Democratic member of the North Carolina General Assembly. Previously, he was a superintendent of the Sampson County Schools. He is also a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine award.
• David Etheridge of Broadway as a member at-large. Etheridge began working as a seasonal tobacco hand in 1990. He built a poultry facility with Gold Kist that would eventually become Pilgrim’s Pride. Currently, he farms 225 acres of tobacco, 300 acres of sweet potatoes, and 700 acres of small grain row crops.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Historical Commission:
• Malinda M. Lowery of Durham as a professor of history. Lowery is a historian and documentary film producer and a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. She is a professor of History at UNC-Chapel Hill and director of the Center for the Study of the American South. She has produced several books and films pertaining to American Indian migration and identity.
• Susan Jackson Phillips of Greensboro as a member at-large. Phillips practiced family law in Greensboro. Currently, she is a volunteer and member of the Board of Directors of Greensboro Urban Ministry, a non-profit provider of emergency assistance for people in need. She was also the executive editor of the Wake Forest Law Review.
• Dr. Darin J. Waters of Asheville as a professional historian. Waters is an associate professor of history and the executive director of the Office of Community Engagement at UNC Asheville. Previously, Waters worked for the North Carolina Department of Corrections as an Adult Probation and Parole officer.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Mayland Community College Board of Trustees:
• Van Phillips of Spruce Pine as a member at-large. Phillips is vice-president of the real estate management company, Great Meadows LLC. He also serves as a board member for the Samuel L. Phillips Family Foundation.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Underground Damage Prevention Review Board:
• Christopher A. Russ of Wilmington as a representative from a facility contract locator. Russ is the director of NC811, a nonprofit organization that provides free, easy communication with local utility providers. He is also a regional director for the United States Infrastructure Corporation, which specializes in damage prevention.
• Rufus Stanley Jackson of Cary as a representative from an electric public utility. Jackson is the vice president of distribution construction and maintenance for Carolina East, where he is responsible for ensuring the safety of roughly 600 Duke Energy Carolina East employees. He was also general manager of Asset Management in Transmission.
• Benjamin Lanier of Raleigh as Highway Contractor licensed under G.S. 87-10(b)(2) who does not own or operate facilities. Lanier has been the chief estimator of Lanier Construction CO., Inc. since 2010, where he oversees project management. He has also served as a performance analyst for Arnerich Massena & Associates, Inc.
• Joseph R. Pearce, Jr. of Raleigh as a representative from an investor-owned water system. Currently, Pearce serves as director of operations at Aqua North Carolina. He has also been an environmental engineer for the on-site wastewater system program in Washington and the Fayetteville Region.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service:
• Mary Ann Bender LeRay of Pollocksville as an appointee who has experience in promoting the involvement of older adults in service and volunteerism. LeRay is a sales director for a cosmetic company and the president of The Filling Station, an organization that provides for the spiritual, nutritional, and the developmental needs of Jones County.
• Robert C. Clark of Winston Salem as a representative from local governments in the state. Clark is the president and owner of Leesona Industries, a manufacturer and distributor of textile equipment. He has served as the chair of Datamax Foundation, which specializes in the support of education and economic development projects.
• Paul Kent Langston of Clayton as an expert in delivery of human, educational, environment, homeland security or public safety services. Langston has been a consultant for Baptists on Mission since 2015, where he assists associations, churches, and individuals. He has also served as director of missions for the Eastern Baptist Association.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Roanoke Island Historical Association Board of Directors:
• Gary Pearce of Raleigh as a member at-large. Pearce is a writer and public affairs consultant. He worked as press secretary for the North Carolina Office of the Governor from 1976 to 1984 and as senior political adviser from 1992 to 2000. Pearce was inducted into the North Carolina Media and Journalism Hall of Fame in 2012.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina College Foundation Incorporated Board of Trustees:
• Donna Samuels of Greensboro as a member at-large. Samuels was an elementary school teacher for 23 years in Guilford County and retired in 2010. She also tutored and worked at Project Potential, a nonprofit that helps provide college counselling to high school students.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the State Education Assistance Authority:
• Terri E. LeGrand of Winston Salem for expertise in secondary/higher education. LeGrand is a lawyer, social worker, and higher education administrator. She is chair of the Wake Forest University Student Services and Engagement initiative team, where she coordinates and recommends initiatives to improve the use of technology to support student administrative systems.
• James O. Roberts of Lillington as a public member at-large with an interest in higher education. Roberts served as the chief financial officer for the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine and treasurer for the Campbell University Foundation. Roberts is now the finance director for the City of Dunn.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Umstead Act Unfair Competition Panel:
• Elizabeth Spainhour of Raleigh as a member familiar with the interests of the business community of the state. Spainhour has been a partner at Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, Raleigh since 2011. She provides strategic regulatory and corporate counsel to media and technology businesses with a focus on communications and privacy law.
Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Statewide Independent Living Council:
• Rusty Bradstock of Greensboro as an individual with a disability. Bradstock is an avid spokesman and volunteer for persons with disabilities. He has worked at Beyond Academics since 2007, where he provides a training program to assist students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.