Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation announces new ambassadors
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The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation is welcoming a slate of community ambassadors to guide the next steps of its Blue Ridge Rising initiative. The group of leaders will help implement strategies to unify gateway communities surrounding the Blue Ridge Parkway for the betterment of the region.
Blue Ridge Rising aims to strengthen relationships and foster economic development within the North Carolina and Virginia communities that neighbor the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the country’s most visited national parks.
The group is composed of one representative from each Parkway community. The ambassadors will voice the unique needs of their communities, help prioritize and guide projects, foster partnerships, and identify appropriate funding sources.
The ambassadors in North Carolina are Wes Greene, Ashe County; Mark File, Avery County; Thomas House, Buncombe County; Danielle Stilwell, Burke County; Jason Chaffin, Caldwell County; Amie Newsome, Haywood County; Carlos Martinez, Henderson County; Bernadette Peters, Jackson County; Shannon Odom, McDowell County; Spencer Bost, Mitchell County; Jessica Roberts, Surry County; Paul Wolf, Swain County; Carolyn Ashworth, Transylvania County; Ryan Robinson, Watauga County; Linda Cheek, Wilkes County; and Brywn Philips, Yancey County.
Blue Ridge Rising marked the first time in the national park’s history that all 29 Parkway-adjacent counties worked together to determine strategies that will have wide-ranging benefits for the region’s communities. Input from communities led to the creation of the Blue Ridge Rising Action Plan. The key themes of the plan are marketing, visitor experience, unified regional voice, resource protection, workforce education, and capacity building.
