MACED Board of Directors

board of directors

Nancy Adams. Executive Director of Pine Mountain Settlement School since 2002. Pine Mountain is an education and community center located in southeastern Kentucky, in northern Harlan County. It is a National Historic Landmark and home to the 348-acre James E. Bickford State Nature Preserve. A graduate of Maryville College with an M.A. in Journalism from Marshall University. Currently serves on the board of Preservation Kentucky. Previous board member of Appalshop and Lincoln Primary Care Center.

David Cooke. Director of Berea College's Grow Appalachia and Appalachian Fund. A southern West Virginia native whose diverse contributions to the Appalachian region have included teaching industrial arts to high school students and owning a furniture-building enterprise. He also served as an extension agent in the West Virginia coal fields where he worked with landholders and entrepreneurs in agro-forestry and other natural resource-based small businesses.

Katie Dollarhide. Project Manager for University of Kentucky’s Faith Moves Mountains, a cervical cancer intervention project. Born and raised in Letcher County, she calls Kingdom Come Creek home. She raises animals and gardens with her husband and two children. She has also served as a member of Appalshop’s Board of Directors for many years.

Ron Eller. Former director of the Appalachian Center and Professor of History at the University of Kentucky where he coordinates research and service programs on a wide range of Appalachian policy issues. A former Rockefeller Foundation Scholar, Dr. Eller holds the Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is author of the award-winning book Miners, Millhands and Mountaineers: The Industrialization of the Appalachian South. His latest book is Uneven Ground.

Justin Maxson. President of MACED since 2002, previously MACED vice-president. Former executive director of the Progressive Technology Project, a national grant making and technical assistance organization working to strengthen grassroots social change efforts through the strategic use of technology. Prior experience on MACED staff as director of community development for Letcher County Action Team.

Steve Meng. Managing member of Retail Floors LLC., Manchester, KY. Over thirty years of starting and managing small manufacturing ventures in Eastern Kentucky. Ten years of work focused on rural development through new enterprise creation and investment at Kentucky Highlands Investment Corp. Obtained a bachelors degree in Business Administration from the University of Kentucky.

Vonda Poynter. Director of consulting for the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises. A Rockcastle County native, she brings more than a quarter century of experience managing community and economic development projects. Vonda has been involved in over 100 projects including the development of public facility strategies, capital improvement plans, downtown revitalization, housing, public facilities improvements and neighborhood redevelopment.

Gerry Roll. Executive director of Community Foundation of Hazard & Perry County. Executive director of Hazard-Perry County Community Ministries from 1991–2009; a community development organization building accessible early care and education, housing and health care systems in southeastern Kentucky. Graduate of Barry University, Miami Florida, 1990.