Governor Stein Announces Boards and Commissions Appointments

Today Governor Josh Stein announced appointments to boards and commissions. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Board of Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselors: 

• Dr. Ximena Franco-Jenkins of Orange County as a Public member. Franco-Jenkins is currently a senior research scientist at the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), co-director of FPG’s National Implementation Research Network (NIRN), and the early childhood portfolio lead at NIRN. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission: 

• Dr. Heidi Stone Bonner of Wilson County as the Nominated by UNC System President member. Bonner is currently a Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at East Carolina University and a Research Fellow at the John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety.  

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina State Council for Interstate Adult Offender Supervision:

• Tracy K. Lee of Johnston County as The Compact Administrator (in consultation with legislature and judiciary). Lee is currently the Chief Deputy Secretary for Community Supervision at the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.  

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina State Health Coordinating Council:

• Dr. Aimee Wilkin of Forsyth County as an At-Large member. Dr. Wilkin is a professor, provider, and expert in Infectious Disease and Internal Medicine. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Forestry Advisory Council:

• Dr. Robert Edward Bardon of Wake County as a Forest Scientist member. Dr. Bardon is currently serving as the Associate Dean for Extension and Professor of Forestry at NC State University. With a Ph.D. in Forest Biology, he has authored more than 150 publications, presented his work internationally, and been recognized with 26 honors, including the prestigious Association of Natural Resources Extension Professionals Distinguished Career Leadership Award. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Innovation Council:

• Ashutosh Singh Vats of Wake County as a Public member. Vats is the Managing Director of ICR Capital LLC.  

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission:

• Caroline Capehart Valand of Wake County as the Secretary of Public Safety or Designee. Valand is currently Chief Deputy Secretary of the Administration Division of the Department of Public Safety.  

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Ports Authority Board of Directors:

• Frederick Surgeon of Cumberland County as an At-large member. Surgeon is currently the President and CEO of Surgeon & Associates, which encompasses various organizations including farming and agriculture, health care, residential and commercial cleaning, pest control, property inspection, and hospitality companies. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Commission for Public Health:

• Dr. Jill Bryant of Mecklenburg County as a Licensed Optometrist. Dr. Bryant is currently the Executive Director of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO).

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina State Library Commission:

• Jill C. McCorkle of Orange County as an At-large member. McCorkle is the author of seven novels and five story collections; her latest novel, Hieroglyphics, was published in 2020, and her new collection, Old Crimes, was published in January 2024. Her work has appeared in numerous periodicals, and four of her short stories have been selected for Best American Short Stories. She has taught at Harvard, Brandeis, and NC State and in the Bennington College Writing Seminars. 
• Theresa Peña of Wake County as an At-large member. Peña is an advocate for reading and committed to advancing access to libraries in North Carolina. She has more than 10 years of experience advising on policy and fiscal matters in the public and private sectors. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Code Officials Qualification Board:

• The Honorable Andre Lassiter of Hertford County as an Elected Official of a county under 40,000 population. Commissioner Lassiter is Chairman of the Hertford County Board of Commissioners and President & CEO of Alpha Group Incorporated, a licensed security and general contracting company. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Arts Council:

• Eileen M. Friars of Mecklenburg County as an At-large member. Friars is the former President of Bank of America Consumer Credit Card Services in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is an active supporter of arts and education, including theater, film, visual art, literary arts, and music. 
• Louise Winstanly of Orange County as an At-large member. Winstanly is a lawyer, a bioethicist, the Chair of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Non-Biomedical Institutional Review Board, and a member of UNC Hospital Ethics Committee, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Advisory Committee, and North Carolina’s Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute’s Clinical and Community Research Ethics Core. 
• Beverly McIver of Orange County as an At-large member. McIver is currently a Professor of the Practice in Studio Arts at Duke University. Her work can be found in numerous esteemed collections, including the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia; the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.; the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia; the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina; the Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland; and the Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, among others. 
• Bella Xu of Wake County as an At-large member. Xu is currently Vice President of IPEARL INC. and the Co-Founder and Vice President of the North Carolina Asian Americans Alliance.  

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Council on Developmental Disabilities:

• Mary Grillo of Wake County as a Representative of the Department of Adult Correction. Grillo is the Director of Social Work for the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. She oversees specialized aftercare planning to enhance services for individuals who are incarcerated and living with mental illnesses, I/DD, and complex medical issues. Grillo has worked in behavioral health and in criminal justice settings for more than 20 years. 
• Kimberly Hernandez of Durham County as a Person with a Developmental Disability. Hernandez is a student at UNC Greensboro and a Peer Mentor for Chatham Trades. 
• Demi Eckhoff of Durham County as a Person with a Developmental Disability. Eckhoff is a Registered Dietitian and serves people with disabilities, specifically feeding tubes. Eckhoff also mentors a variety of people with intellectual developmental disabilities and helps fight to get them proper services. 
• Kenneth Kelty of Orange County as a Person with a Developmental Disability. Kelty is award-winning disability advocate and podcast host of Exceeding Expectations with Kenneth Kelty and The Waiting Room. Kelty is a proud alum of the WCU UP Program. 

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Child Care Commission:

• Daniela L. Patton of Mecklenburg County as a Parent of Child in Day Care. Patton is a Realtor at the McMurry Group and a proud mom of a toddler daughter. Patton began working as a broadcaster and producer of her own motivational radio show, later working as a wedding planner, and then as a travel consultant for Expedia.   

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the Governor`s Advisory Council on Aging:

• Walter Sinnott-Armstrong of Durham County as an At-large member. Sinnott-Armstrong is currently Chauncey Stillman Professor of Practical Ethics in the Department of Philosophy and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. He has secondary appointments in the Law School and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, and he is core faculty in the Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, and the Duke Center for Interdisciplinary Decision Sciences. His most recent work includes trying to develop an AI tool to aid decision-making for people with dementia.  

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina Public Librarian Certification Commission:

• Lorrie Russell of Guilford County as a member Nominated by the North Carolina Library Association. Russell is Assistant Director for the High Point Public Library.   

Governor Stein has appointed the following to the North Carolina State Board of Certified Public Accountant Examiners:

• Tammy Coley of Mecklenburg County as a Certified Public Accountant member. Coley is currently the Chief Transformation Officer at BlackLine, responsible for helping global CFOs reimagine their finance organizations through digital transformation.