Board of Directors 2016-2017

Millie Metcalf Immediate Past Chair

Millie is the Business Development Manager at Duke Energy and has worked there for 34 years. She is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Winston-Salem and currently serves on the Forsyth County Restaurant Association and Smart Start of Forsyth County board of directors. Her community involvement entails volunteering with Twin City Stage, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and WSFCS Culinary Arts Advisory Chair. Millie’s daughter, Alana, was a member of the WSYC for many years.

Ashley Rusher Chair

Ashley is an attorney at the law firm of Blanco Tackabery & Matamoros, P.A. She practices in the areas of business bankruptcy, creditors’ rights, and commercial litigation. Ashley chairs the Business Bankruptcy and Insolvency Practice Group at Blanco Tackabery and serves as a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Outside the firm, Ashley serves on the board of directors of a number of local and regional professional and nonprofit organizations including the Triad Chapter of Risk Management Association, the Carolinas Chapter of International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation, Middle District Bankruptcy Seminars, Inc., Financial Pathways of the Piedmont and the Winston-Salem Youth Chorus. Ashley is married and has three children, the youngest of which is a member of the Young Women’s Ensemble of the Chorus.

David Rowan Vice Chair

David is the Sales Manager/Team Leader at Flow BMW in Winston-Salem, NC. Prior to July 2014 he was the General Sales Manager for Flow Cadillac. He is a graduate of Mars Hill College. David is very involved in community organizations. He is the Founder of Feed the City which feeds over 2000 homeless people on Thanksgiving Day throughout Winston-Salem, Co-Founder of Take Control and Celebrate, LLC, and Co-Founder of Rowan Family Holdings. David is a motivational speaker and trainer in Sales and Customer Service and is a Lay Conference Leader. He is married and has three grown children.

Darren Chiott Treasurer

Darren is employed as the Assistant director of Financial Aid at UNC School of the Arts. He is happily married with 3 children, one of which sings with the WSYC. He holds a BA degree from Johnson State College and a MA from UNC-Greensboro. Outside of work and family, Darren is an avid bicyclist and motorcyclist.

Bill Gibson Secretary

Bill Gibson is a retired lawyer who has lived in Winston-Salem since 1978. He is a graduate of Baylor School, Dartmouth College, Stanford Graduate Business School and UNC-Chapel Hill Law School. He was also a court-certified mediator for several years.
Bill has been a member of several local non-profit boards.  He served with the West End Association, Group Homes of Forsyth, Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods, six years with the Winston-Salem Symphony. He is currently a member of the Youth Orchestras Advisory Council, the Youth Chorus Advisory Council, and the board of Horizons Residential Care Center; he also serves on the board of BarCARES, a statewide program administered by the NC Bar Association.

Tommy Hicks

Tommy Hicks is a true native of Winston-Salem. A graduate of NC Central University with a degree in Mass Communications, Tommy spent only 4 years outside our city in pursuit of his education. After 12 years as an educator, he began his career in financial center management where he has served as branch manager at two area banks. Currently, he is the manager of the Wake Biotech office of Allegacy Federal Credit Union. Tommy is very passionate about his job and loves serving the people of the community in which he developed. He also serves in ministry at St. Peter’s World Outreach Center, where he has been a worship leader and soloist for nearly 30 years. Tommy also does concert performances at Hanes Mall twice each year. Tommy is excited about the opportunity to serve on our board, and is ready to offer whatever he can to assist our youth.

Miaohua Jiang

Miaohua Jiang was born in China. He joined the faculty of Wake Forest University in 1998 after graduating from Penn State with a PhD in mathematics in 1995. He also held postdoctoral positions at Georgia Tech and University of Minnesota and a visiting position at CNRS, France. He is married to Ying Xiong with two children, a daughter studying environmental health at UNC Chapel Hill and a son who has been a member of WSYC for two years. He enjoys music, reading, gardening, and walking on Muddy Creek Greenway.

Larry White

Larry has served as the Associate Pastor of Music for Calvary Baptist Church since 1994. He has previously worked with Baptist church choirs in Norfolk VA and North Florida. He has conducted many mission tours for both adult and youth choirs. Larry has also taught music at North Florida Christian School from elementary to high school. He received a BA in Sacred Music from Tennessee Temple University and is a member of the Southern Baptist Music Metro 1.

Larry is married to Patricia Norton and has two adult daughters, Stephanie Blair (a worship leader at Shelter Rock Church in Manhasset, NY) and Brittany Dylan (a medical resident at Vanderbilt Medical School).

Athena Karahalios

Athena started her home based business, Accounting Solutions, in 1997 after working in the accounting field for 10 years. Services provided to clients include small business payroll, bookkeeping, and management financial statement preparation, QuickBooks installation and support and small business and individual income tax preparation. She earned her BS degree from UNC-Greensboro. Athena has previously served on the WSYC Board of Directors as Treasurer and as Treasurer of the Parent Association. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Hellenic Dance Troupes of The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and Annunciation Greek Orthodox Foundation of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She also volunteers as Co-Coordinator of the Sunday School Program for her church and Co-Chair of the Agora Committee for the W-S Greek Festival as well as volunteer QuickBooks and bookkeeping consultant at the church. Athena is married with two children, the youngest of which is a member of the WSYC Young Women’s Ensemble.

Tamara Vander Lugt

Tamara Vander Lugt is the President and Owner of Adroit Business Consulting. Ms. Vander Lugt is a published author, has a B.S. in Business, an MBA with a concentration in marketing along with a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. Ms. Vander Lugt has accumulated over 15 years of work experience in a variety of industries and is an active Rotarian. She also serves on the Board of Governors for Dress for Success, The Hispanic League and The Piedmont Club. In the winter months, Ms. Vander Lugt loves to snowboard and during the warmer months she takes time to play golf.

Kay Bolick

Kay has been a Relationship Director in the Resource Development area of United Way of Forsyth County since 2010, working with both accounts such as Wake Forest University and Novant Health, as well as individual donors.  Kay is a member of the WLC (Women’s Leadership Council) with United Way, obtained a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt in 2015, and a Consultative Engagement certificate from United Way Worldwide in 2016.  Prior to United Way, she was a Performance Analyst with US Airways (now American Airlines).  Kay is a new board member with the Winston-Salem Youth Chorus.  She and husband Don enjoy attending their concerts and others performed by the Winston-Salem Symphony, Old Salem Band and Winston-Salem Pops.   Kay understands the importance of educating our youth and has served as a WINGS volunteer at Bolton Elementary and Prince Ibrahim Elementary schools.  Kay is beginning her fifth year as a board member with Smart Start of Forsyth County.

Michelle Speas

Michelle brings over 25 years’ nonprofit/NGO experience in Japan, Africa and the United States to her current executive leadership role as Chief Development and Public Relations Officer of Family Services in Winston-Salem. She earned her BA degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and MA degree in from the University of Mississippi at Oxford – both in US History.  She is also a graduate of Duke University’s Certificate in Nonprofit Management program and Leadership Winston-Salem. Michelle and Christian live in Advance, NC with their two sons, Davis and John.  Her youngest son joined the WSYC in 2015.  They attend Center Grove Baptist Church and are also “parents” to two cats, two dogs and one horse – all rescue animals.