Our Staff

You can reach our staff by calling our Winston office at 866-308-2773 and using the extension given with each profile .

To e-mail any staff member, use the username provided with each profile followed by “brpfoundation.org”.

Carolyn Ward
Chief Executive Officer
Asheville, NC
(Extension 385, cward@…)

Carolyn came to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation in 2008 when she was brought in to start the successful Kids in Parks Initiative. Born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southwestern Virginia, Carolyn’s career has taken her full circle. After graduating from Emory and Henry College, she found her passion as a seasonal interpreter at Hungry Mother State Park in Marion, Virginia. Following that love for the outdoors and her passion for teaching and learning, she completed her Master’s and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in Forestry. From there, she traveled to northern California, where she lived for 12 years and became a decorated Professor and award-winning researcher and author. The Blue Ridge Mountains, the Parkway, her family and her passion once again brought her home. She now lives in Fairview, North Carolina with her husband, Alan, and their daughter, Virginia. She has completed the circle and is once more able to help build the connections between people and place….the people that are like her family, and the place that is her home…the Blue Ridge Mountains.  

 Jason Urroz
Director, Kids In Parks
Asheville, NC
(Extension 384, jurroz@…..)

Jason came to the Foundation in 2008 to assist in running the Kids In Parks program for which he now serves as Project Director. Jason is a natural resource interpreter and educator who loves providing children with meaningful connections to nature through outdoor education programs. Prior to earning a Bachelor of Science degree from Humboldt State University in natural resource interpretation, Jason spent over 11 years working with children in various fields ranging from outdoor education to standard classroom education and physical education. He has worked for outdoor education camps and the National Park Service providing environmental education programs.

Lynne Fletcher
Director of Administration
Winston Salem, NC
(Extension 245, lfletcher@…)

Lynne returned to North Carolina in 2001 to be near her family, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Blue Ridge Parkway.    She was hired by the Foundation in 2002 while it was in its first stages of growth.  This is the perfect job for Lynne for she spent the first 15 years of her life on the Blue Ridge Parkway, first at Doughton Park then in Asheville.  Her father was a career National Park Service employee and his transfers took the family to Tennessee and California.  She held the position of Director of Donor Services until 2010 when she became the Director of Administration.  As the Director of Administration, Lynne provides support to the executive staff and board members as well as manages the overall operations, implementing organizational strategies that improve processes and policies of the Foundation.  Lynne is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and has been a volunteer for the American Red Cross since 1995.  She has loved photography since she was a child and always seems to have a camera in hand, especially when she’s on the Parkway.

Christy Bell
Director of Development
Winston Salem, NC
(Extension 177, cbell@…)

The Parkway holds a special place in the hearts of Christy and her husband: Christy grew up near the Parkway in Martinsville, VA and her husband has family ties to Asheville. As children, both spent many wonderful family vacations on the Parkway. A graduate of James Madison and Appalachian State, Christy has an undergraduate degree in Public Relations and her Master’s in Higher Education Administration. She began her career as the Director of First Year Programs at the University of Indianapolis, a career path that led her to serve as the orientation and parent’s office director at Vanderbilt University. She joined Hands On Nashville to help with relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and a role in Corporate Development followed. Fundraising, events and corporate relations work with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation followed, and most recently, she was the Director of External Relations/Assistant Director of Development at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film in Nashville. After almost ten years away from the mountains, she is thrilled to be back home, along with her husband and rescued dogs Lara and Wally.

Liz Redding
Systems Consultant
Winston Salem, NC
(Extension 246, lredding@…)

Liz first came to the Foundation in 2005 as a volunteer to help us with our Family Photo Archives.  She joined us in 2008 as our Systems Consultant, helping our organization navigate the ever-changing world of technology.  After working as a Systems Consultant for RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co for over 20 years, she owned and operated her own personal chef service before coming to the Foundation.  She has a BA in Geographical Information Systems from UNCG and a BS in Math/Computer Science from Furman University.  Liz has a long-standing love of the Parkway, starting with vacations with her parents as a child and continuing today with picnics and hikes with her own family.  Liz and her husband have a home in Alleghany County near Doughton Park and like to spend their weekends bird watching, hiking and geocaching.

Tony Geiger
Interprestive Graphics Artist / Naturalist
Asheville, NC
(Extension 290, tgeiger@…)

Tony Geiger came to the Foundation in 2011 as an interpretive graphic artist/naturalist for the Kids in Parks program. Hailing from Langhorne, Pennsylvania, Tony graduated from Arcadia University in 2005 with a BA in Scientific Illustration.  He has worked as an interpretive naturalist for nature centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, conducting environmental education programs for all ages. Tony was also a project manager for New Jersey Audubon’s Birding & Wildlife Trails program, and has designed outreach materials and interpretive signage for New Jersey Audubon, The American Littoral Society, and The Wetlands Institute.