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Notice: Location has changed for this day. We will be meeting in Highsmith 226/228. Check your email for details.
Presenter Bios
Presenter Bios
Mary Roderick is a senior regional planner with the Land of Sky Regional Council, a council of governments based in Asheville, NC and serving four counties and 16 municipalities. She leads the Land of Sky Regional Resilience Assessment and works in hazard mitigation, watershed restoration, and stormwater management, as well as on water and sewer infrastructure system development. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Washington with research focused on geodesign-based, multi-scalar and multi-functional green infrastructure planning. Roderick also has an M.A. in community planning with an environmental specialization from the University of Cincinnati.
Mary also teaches and advises in the University of Washington’s online, professional Master of Infrastructure Planning and Management program. She is responsible for three courses: Water Systems, Climate Change and Infrastructure, and Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. She is also one of two graduate program advisors and advises capstone students on topics related to climate change, water resources, and green infrastructure.
Brian Mills Turner is currently serving his fourth term as State House Representative for North Carolina’s District 116 in Buncombe County. Since being elected in 2014, Brian has focused his efforts on supporting public education, protecting our state’s mountains and rivers, growing local economies, and disaster relief. He serves on the state’s Appropriations, Community Colleges, Wildlife Resources, and Environment committees.
Brian uses his platform as a legislator to learn from members of his community. Over the past five years he has tried his hand as an instructional assistant for a day, helped the dream of ball fields in Enka become a reality, and tagged black bears for study with the Wildlife Resources Commission. These learning opportunities and many others — like visiting every public school in district 116 — taught him just how much there is to protect across North Carolina.
Jeremiah LeRoy, PEM, MPA
Mr. LeRoy is the Director for the Office of Sustainability for Buncombe County Government. Since taking the position he has worked to make Buncombe County a local government leader in the climate and environment space. His office is currently managing the procurement and installation of over 40 renewable energy projects on public facilities all over Buncombe County and is making significant progress in achieving the County’s goal of reaching 100% renewable energy for its operations by 2030. Mr. LeRoy hold a Masters in Public Administration from the University of North Texas. He resides in West Asheville with his wife and two young children.
Bridget Herring has over 10 years of experience in environmental project management, policy, outreach and education including initiatives pertaining to comprehensive carbon reduction strategies, renewable energy programs, green building and resource management policies, and national energy code development. As Sustainability Director for the City of Asheville, she implements strategies to achieve an 80% carbon reduction and 100% renewable energy goals. She is a member of the North Carolina state Building Code Council and North Carolina Clean Energy Fund.
Dawn Chávez brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in nonprofit management in the environmental field to her role as the Executive Director of Asheville GreenWorks. A native of the Bronx in New York City, Dawn has lived and worked across the country in many different communities, from wilderness outposts to small towns to large urban centers. Throughout her career, Dawn has been passionate about equity issues, environmental protection and the intersection of the two. Before moving to Asheville in January 2015, Dawn worked in Boston for twelve years as director of the Boston Youth Environmental Network and education director of the Urban Ecology Institute. Dawn serves on the board of the Conservation Trust for North Carolina and the NC Center for Nonprofits. In her free time, Dawn enjoys hiking and camping in the mountains around Asheville with her husband, Andrew, two children, Noah and Phoebe and the family dog, Finn.
Gray Jernigan, Central Regional Director, MountainTrue. Gray is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in Psychology and Environmental Studies. He went on to earn a Juris Doctor and Master’s of Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School. Upon returning home to North Carolina, he practiced law with a small private firm before serving as Staff Attorney and Communications Coordinator for Waterkeeper Alliance in Raleigh.
Gray joined MountainTrue in 2016 as Southern Regional Director based in our Hendersonville office. A year later, he founded the Green Riverkeeper program and assumed that title in addition to his regional director duties. In 2022, Gray moved into a new role as Central Regional Director based in our Asheville office, where he works to protect and enhance the special places we share in Buncombe, Madison, McDowell, Yancey, and Mitchell counties. He also leads MountainTrue’s Legislative Advocacy and Clean Water programs.
Judy Mattox is chair of WNC Sierra Club (Wenoca). She is originally from Oklahoma, and has lived in western North Carolina for the past 14 years. Her bachelor’s degree is from Northwestern University in Illinois and her masters degree is from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
She is a retired teacher.
Her focus with Sierra Club has been to help elect good environmental legislators. She is the MC for monthly Sierra Club programs which range from wildflowers and birding to coal ash and climate change. She also helps to organize a Sierra Club program for kids which focuses on taking inner-city children out to nature.
Lisa Raleigh, Executive Director, RiverLink. Lisa, a Montana native, resided in Colorado for the past 30 years before relocating to Asheville as Executive Director in 2021. Prior to joining RiverLink, she was a nonprofit fundraising consultant and spent eleven years as the Director of Advancement for Colorado Rocky Mountain School. Lisa also co-founded Backbone Media — an outdoor industry specialty PR firm — and is a trained hydrologist with a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the University of Oklahoma.
Personally, Lisa is deeply committed to human rights and environmental issues. An international traveler passionate about most things outdoors, she is an avid hiker and road biker. Lisa is the proud mom of daughters Sunni and Belle, both of whom were born in Cambodia, raised by Lisa and her husband Duane in the Colorado Rockies, and attended Smith College and Fort Lewis College, respectively.
Lisa is honored to join the RiverLink team given the organization’s rich history and legacy promoting the environmental and economic vitality of the French Broad River and watershed and believes it is a tremendous responsibility, one that she looks forward to sharing with the talented and dedicated staff, Board, stakeholders, and community members.
Further Reading & Ways to Get Involved
Further Reading & Ways to Get Involved
Upcoming Events & Engagement Opportunities from WNC Sierra Club Chair Judy Mattox
Why This Election Matters for the Environment
Ken Brame, WNC Sierra Club Political Chair
Thursday, Oct 6, 7 pm. Zoom program
Click here to register
Demand Action on Plastics Now, Not Later
WNC Sierra Club is working in concert with other organizations to urge Asheville and other communities to enact local bans on selected forms of single-use plastics. These include the type of thin plastic bags used by markets and styrene food containers. A proposed ordinance has been reviewed by the Sustainability Advisory Committee on Energy and Environment (SACEE) and the Governance Committee of the City Council. It is expected to be placed on the City Council agenda for Oct. 11. However, staff are recommending that implementation be delayed for TWO YEARS.
ACTION: On Oct. 11: Attend the City Council meeting. Sierra Club activists will meet at 5:30 PM at Packs Tavern. Before Oct. 11: Write to the Asheville City Council and Mayor to urge approval of the plastic ban with implementation ASAP. You can contact all of them at this address: AshevilleNCCouncil@ashevillenc.gov.
Sign Up Now to Help WNC Sierra Club at the Polls
We have again endorsed a robust list of candidates in the mid-term election. Check them out on our website. To make these endorsements count, we must promote them at the polls by handing out endorsement cards. Our scheduling software for poll volunteers is now active with schedules available for Early Voting at 12 locations in Buncombe County. To join our volunteer force for green candidates, go to our SignUpGenius page and choose your own time and place. Some locations fill up quickly.
Key election dates:
Oct. 14: Last day to register to vote before voting begins. You can also register and vote at one-stop locations during early voting.
Oct. 20 to Nov. 5: Early voting period.
Nov. 8: Election day
"Asheville prepares Municipal Climate Action Plan" by Daniel Walton
Asheville City Climate Justice Data Map
"A Global Climate Hub Hidden in the Heart of the Blue Ridge" by Wiley Cash
Friends of Hominy Creek Greenway
Contact Defenders of Wildlife at: southeastoffice@defenders.org
Presenter Slides
Presenter Slides
Mary Roderick, Land of Sky
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