Meet Our Team

Dave Walker

Interim Executive Director
dave@brwia.org

Dave grew up in the North Carolina Piedmont and would visit his grandparents' home places in Watauga County each summer to camp and hike. Dave previously worked as the Program Manager and Grant Writer of High Country Local First's entrepreneurship program, Ascent Business Network.

​He holds a MA in Appalachian Studies and Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Sciences from AppState and a BA in American Studies from Sewanee: The University of the South. Dave's Masters Thesis concerned how first-generation farmers become successful in Blue Ridge Appalachia, and he counts himself amongst them as he started Daffodil Spring Farm, in the spring of 2017. Dave also held an internship with AppState's Edible Schoolyard where, he mapped Watauga County's community gardens and encouraged a network amongst the shared growing spaces.

When he is not working with BRWIA, you may find him in his garden, fly fishing in Wilson's Creek, or spinning really, really fast at a contra dance.

Shannon ​Carroll

High Country Food Hub Director
shannon@brwia.org

Shannon grew up in the Piedmont area of NC and moved to Boone in 1983 after spending a year teaching Biology on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.

​She has 30+ years of experience providing leadership and support for instructional technology for Watauga County Schools. She retired from Watauga County Schools in 2013 and is currently dividing her time between three part-time positions - being the High Country Food Hub Coordinator, the Lettuce Learn garden coordinator for Parkway School, and helping her husband, Terry, with his SunCatcher Passive Solar Greenhouse business.

She also recently earned her Master Gardener certification. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, traveling to visit her sons, and going for long walks.​

Rebecca Gummere

High Country Food Hub Assistant

Rebecca grew up living in six different states and two other countries, all before she was eleven years old. After that her family settled for the next decade on eighty acres of beautiful rolling farmland in northeastern Ohio. She moved from Ohio to North Carolina in 2000 and to Boone in 2003. Rebecca loves travel, hiking, snowshoeing, reading, animals of all kinds, and adores cooking (and eating!) and playing in the kitchen. In another earlier life, Rebecca worked at OASIS, Inc. as Associate Director and before that at Grace Lutheran Church as Associate Pastor. Now she is a writer, with essays appearing in national and international publications as well as literary journals. She is currently working on a memoir about her nine-month cross-country journey in a small RV with her two dogs. She holds a BA in American Studies from Wittenberg University, an M.Div. from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. She is thrilled to join the BRWIA team as Food Hub Assistant and is excited about the strong networks developing to support local farmers and to make sustainably-produced food available to more and more people. Rebecca believes in the power of food to bring people together, to deepen community, and to build lasting friendships.

Christina Bailey

Farmers' Market Manager
farmersmarkets@brwia.org

Christina grew up in Charlotte, NC and found her way to Boone in 2005 to complete her B.A. in Health Promotions with a minor in Biology at Appalachian State. Soon after, she attended massage school at Caldwell Community College and has been a licensed massage therapist ever since.

Beyond her schooling, Christina always knew that she wanted to stay in the mountains. She loves her mountain community, her work as a massage therapist, and giving her free time and energy into her local food system. Having served on the Watauga Food Council since 2017, Christina enjoys collaborating with other community members that are invested in the local food system. She has also created and directed Village Vision, a grassroots community volunteer project that organized events and service projects to support our local from 2015-2018.

​Christina has enjoyed her various roles within BRWIA over the years as a volunteer, collaborator, board member, and now as a staff member, and is passionate about the work that BRWIA is accomplishing. 

AmeriCorps VISTA Service Members

Michele Houston

Local Food Markets & Community Connections Designer
Americorps VISTA
michele@brwia.org

Michele grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and packed her bags to Boone in 2015 to attend Appalachian State University. She graduated ASU with a B.S. in Sociology, concentration in Social Inequalities, with a minor in Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies. She found herself interested in food insecurity while attending college, while also being introduced to the local food movement happening in the High Country. By interning with us in her last semester of college, she is dedicated to support both consumers & producers alike. She hopes to be able to improve the efforts of getting everyone in the county with a reliable food source, while also promoting access to produce by local farmers. As a member of the Watauga Food Council board, she is passionate about access to local food and is proud to represent BRWIA and its' programs.

Michele enjoys playing with her two cats and dog at home, while also trying out every new restaurant and café in Boone. She looks forward to learning more about her community through her year of service.