Board of Directors

Chair

A native of Savannah, Georgia, David Adams is a founding member of Ellis, Painter, Ratterree & Adams LLP. A graduate of Vanderbilt University and Emory University School of Law, David has retired to property in Jackson County, on which Mainspring holds a conservation easement. In addition to leading the entire Board of Directors, David chairs the Lands Committee and also volunteers with numerous land conservation projects.

Vice-Chair

A native of Florida and graduate of Mars Hill University, James has called Macon County home for more than 25 years. He is employed by Drake Software and has served in various executive roles ranging from Customer Support, Education & Training, Software Development, and Marketing. James currently leads projects as part of Drake’s Strategy and Transformation Team. In addition to Mainspring, James has served on the board of directors at Macon County CareNet, taught Sunday school, and coached youth basketball, volleyball, and soccer. He and his wife, Ginger, have three children.

Secretary

Hope is the Associate Director of Sequoyah Fund, a Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) where she oversees the Fund’s programs including youth entrepreneurship and financial literacy education, the Authentically Cherokee artist brand, and personal budgeting and credit counseling. She also helps new and existing business owners access capital and provides business counseling. She holds a BA degree in Literature from UNC Asheville and a Masters Degree in Project Management (MPM) from Western Carolina University. Hope lives in Sylva and is an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

Treasurer

A graduate of Franklin High School and Western Carolina University, Jim Garner began his career as an accounting instructor at Southwestern Community College. For 12 years, Jim managed an independent insurance agency in Cherokee County and was a founding member of the Andrews Chamber of Commerce. Jim became a partner in Wayah Insurance in Franklin in 1996 and sold his interest in the business in 2017. An active Rotarian since 1984, Jim has participated in mission trips in the U.S., Mexico and Russia for 12 years and lives with his wife in Franklin.

Executive Committee/Immediate Past Chair

Jason is the Associate Director at the Highlands Biological Center in Highlands North Carolina, after serving as site manager at Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research Program with the University of Georgia for ten years. A children’s book author, Jason also chairs Mainspring’s Education and Outreach Committee and is active in Mainspring’s educational programs for youth. Jason holds a Master of Science in Wildlife and Fisheries Management from West Virginia University and a Bachelor of Science in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia. He lives in Franklin with his wife and daughter.

A recently retired Financial Advisor with Edward Jones in Franklin, Chris is now putting his skills to work as Managing Member at Lazy Hiker Brewery. Chris is active in the Franklin Chamber of Commerce and was a former president of the Kiwanis Club. He served as Chair of the Mainspring Board of Directors for three years and volunteers on a regular basis. Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Connecticut and lives with his spouse, Don Twardowski, in Franklin.

Board Member

A native of Marshfield, Massachusetts, Amanda holds a BA in Physical Anthropology and a BS in Natural Resource Studies from UMASS Amherst, as well as an MA in Physical Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin and an MAEd from Western Carolina University. She has worked as a naturalist from Tennessee to Connecticut and has in primate conservation fieldwork in Madagascar. Amanda has taught science in the public school system in Jackson County for 19 years and is currently at The Catamount School using project-based teaching techniques. Amanda also teaches courses at WCU and is a teacher leader in NC education, participating in the Kenan Fellows program and receiving the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for STEM Teachers 2020-2025.

Amanda and her partner René are raising two kids, some chickens, and a dog in East Sylva. She enjoys paddle boarding, music, and adventure travel.

In addition to his role as a Mainspring board member, Barry serves as Chair and acting Treasurer of the Cowee School Board of Directors. He holds a BS in Forest Resources and an MS in Forest Ecology from the University of Georgia, and began his PhD work at Clemson University. Before moving to western North Carolina, Barry served in the U.S. Navy as a forestry consultant while co-managing a beef cattle operation. He spent two decades as a Research Ecologist at Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in Macon County, where he conducted research focused on natural and human-caused disturbances to the landscape with particular emphasis on forested landscapes and resultant water quality issues, before retiring in 2012. Barry is a managing member of Lazy Hiker Brewing Company, where he facilitates brewing operations and assists with ongoing decisions regarding the company’s general operations.

He and his wife, Patsy, are two of the longest-supporting donors to the land trust. The couple lives in Burningtown in Macon County and enjoy hiking, camping, gardening, canning and preserving.

Fred Crawford graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology. He started his career in land surveying, roaming the woods of the Texas Hill Country. As a Registered Professional Land Surveyor, he went to work for the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a state agency that provides Central Texas with electric power, water, and community services.

After 15 years in Surveying, Fred shifted his career to manage LCRA’s 97,000 acres of real estate assets. During his tenure, Fred helped establish and managed the Colorado River Land Trust, a role that makes him a great fit for Mainspring’s mission.

Fred and his wife Maggie retired to a 14-acre farm in Whittier where they raise fruit, vegetables, chickens, and bees. When not on the farm, he enjoys hiking and white water kayaking.

Anita spent 33 years serving the youth of southern West Virginia and western North Carolina as an educator of high school mathematics. Currently, she is a professional genealogist, an accomplished researcher, and a national lecturer. She specializes in Native American records, focusing on Southeastern research from the pre-Removal period to the present. She is the principal genealogist for Cherokee Genealogy Services, a business licensed through the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and is employed as the contract genealogist to the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, appointed by the North Carolina Department of Administration.

Anita serves on the Board of Directors of the National and North Carolina Trail of Tears Association and has been involved in military lineage society organizations for more than 20 years. When she is not attending to genealogical and historical research, Anita serves as co-owner of Bearmeat’s Indian Den, an authentic Native American art gallery located in the Wolfetown Community of the Qualla Boundary.

For 37 years, until his retirement in 2013, Bill Gibson served as Executive Director of the Southwestern NC Commission / Region A Council of Local Governments. He is an Army veteran. Bill earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Western Carolina University and a certification in city-county management from UNC-Chapel Hill. Bill’s farm in Jackson County, which is permanently conserved, has been in his family since the mid-1800s.  Bill and his partner, Dr. Kristen Hammett, manage the farm and split their time between Jackson and Haywood Counties.

Founder of a consulting engineering firm specializing in building technology, forensic evaluations and litigation support, Ed is now retired and utilizing his expertise in grape growing and winemaking, blueberry cultivation, beekeeping and historic building preservation. Ed served as chair of the Little Tennessee Watershed Association before LTWA merged with Mainspring in 2010. He holds degrees from Georgia Tech (Ph.D.) and Louisiana State University (M.S. and B.S.)

Immediate Past Chair

Dr. Connie Haire has a background in public education, higher education and business. Haire retired as vice president of Southwestern Community College’s Macon Campus and, as the college’s chief development officer and executive director of the SCC Foundation, she successfully led the staff efforts to secure several million dollars in support of college student scholarships and programs. A passionate volunteer, she is currently director of Blue Ridge National Heritage Area and serves on the board of directors of Angel Medical Center, the Cashiers Historical Society, and Blue Ridge Public Radio. She and her husband, Phil, live in Sylva.

Terrie’s extensive professional background focused on planning, development, consulting and marketing. She most recently served as Vice President for Resource Development for Tri-County Community College and executive director of the Tri-County Community College Foundation. Terrie earned a Bachelor of Science in Community Planning and a Master of Science in Administration from Columbus State University, and a doctorate in education leadership from Nova Southeastern University. She has been a member of the Murphy Rotary Club since 2000, serving as president in 2005 and now on the board of directors. She is also vice-president of the board of directors for Reach of Cherokee County. Terrie joined the Mainspring Board of Directors in 2014.

Lisa is the Nantahala Area District Manager for Duke Energy Carolinas. A native of Franklin, Lisa received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Elon College and has worked in various customer-facing roles throughout her 28-year career with Duke. A true community volunteer, Lisa has served on the Mainspring board since 2008 and also serves on numerous other nonprofit boards in Macon County. She is a member of the Sylva Rotary Club.

Dr. Ben Steere earned his Ph.D in Anthropology from the University of Georgia in 2011. He is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, where he teaches courses in anthropology and archaeology. He directed WCU’s Cherokee Studies program from 2017 to 2022. Ben has worked on collaborative archaeological research and preservation projects with the Tribal Historic Preservation Office of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians since 2011, and is the author of The Archaeology of Houses and Households in the Native Southeast. Ben lives in Asheville with his wife, Dr. Elizabeth Steere, and their two sons.