Interactions + Attractions

Tune in to get to know Lynn Minges! Lynn Minges has served as President & CEO of the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association (NCRLA) for the past 10 years. In this role, she works to protect, educate, and promote the diverse interests of North Carolina’s hospitality industry. Minges also serves on the Board of the National Restaurant Association, the International Society of Hotel Associat...

Get to know Palmer McIntyre and Beth Heile! Palmer has been serving as Coordinator for the Great Trails State Coalition and Director for NC Year of the Trail since 2022, but also works as a Conservation Planner with Piedmont Land Conservancy where she manages projects and helps lead a regional trails initiative called Piedmont Legacy Trails. Beth is currently a member of NC Parks and Recreation Au...

Join UPLIFT’s Creativity & Marketing team that consists of Ceara Wynne, Olivia Hudgins, PJ Wirchansky, Cara Treadway, and Taylor Bass. Learn what each member does for the company and how all of their roles interact with each other behind the scenes to ensure the continuation of our outreach and progress of the UPLIFT program.

Get to know Halle Butvin and Diana N’Diaye from the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Follow along as we recap the festival training sessions that took place in August that talked about finding our purpose, creating a festival concept, festival and event design, community engagement, marketing and promotion, and budgeting and fundraising. Learn what a curatorial concept is and...

Get to know Milena Nikolova! Milena is a specialist in traveler behavior and tourism market trends. She is passionate about capturing the most current insights from behavioral sciences to find answers to questions such as “What comes next?” and “How can we prepare for it?”. Milena’s international work includes projects with destinations and industry leaders in more than 30 countries across four co...

Get to know Cathy Rhuberg, a member of the UPLIFT team! Cathy has lived in rural western North Carolina most of her life and has spent much of her career working to identify and address local needs. Her hope is to build up our communities economically and to build strong self-esteem in the residents through UPLIFT tourism, where she works as the Grants and Loan Technical Assistance Manager. Be sur...

Get to know Simon Jones! Simon is the founder and CEO of NatureScapes and a member of the UPLIFT team. He grew up in and around wildlife parks in England and the US and has 20 years of experience working with governments, NGOs, and businesses to plan and develop immersive and engaging nature and cultural tourism experiences around the world. Learn more about NatureScapes here: https://www.nature-t...

Olivia Collier has served the citizens of North Carolina by working with communities to improve their quality of life. She has had the opportunity to manage the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) program for North Carolina since January of 2007, whose goal is to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life for the people of Appalachia. Most recently...

Chase Conner serves as the Director of Travel and Tourism and Assistant Developer for Martin County, and through his job, he serves on many local boards and community groups. Currently, Chase is in his final year of his master's program in Parks, Rec, Sport, & Tourism Management at NC State and he hopes this knowledge will help him to continue developing Martin County into a great place to live, w...

Angela Sumner is the Executive Director of Lumberton Visitors Bureau, a nonprofit organization that positively promotes the Lumberton area to travelers. In addition to her responsibilities at the Lumberton Visitors Bureau she serves as Co-chair of the Main Street Lumberton Promotions committee, the chair of the Marketing Committee, and board member of Coast Host, SE regional tourism group. See wha...

Get to know Terri Dennison, the Director of Communications and Marketing for the Town of Elizabethtown NC. As part of this role, she manages the Elizabethtown-White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and serves as the tourism voice for Bladen County, also known as Mother Nature’s Playground. Learn more about Mother Nature’s Playground here: https://elizabethtownwhitelake.com/visitors/ and be sure to st...

Get to know David McRae, the ARC Assistant Program Manager for North Carolina’s Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Program. His primary role is to assist North Carolina’s ARC Program leadership in implementing the state’s policies to fulfill the ARC mission to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia. Learn more about the ARC Program...

Join us for a happy hour episode as we get to know Russ Haddad! Russ’ connection to tourism spans more than 20 years, dating back to his time as tourism director in Elizabeth City, NC in the early 2000s. Currently, he is the business development manager for the NC Craft Brewers Guild since January 2022. He works with companies and organizations to build the craft beer ecosystem in North Carolina....

Karen Williamson is the Executive Director of Caswell Arts, a nonprofit organization based in Yanceyville, NC. With a background in nonprofit management, she has been working on strengthening the foundation of the NGO and increasing the visibility of the arts in Caswell County. Learn more about Caswell Arts here: https://caswellcouncilforthearts.wildapricot.org/ and be sure to stay updated on what...

Get to know Angela Allen, the Director of Granville Tourism Development Authority. Through this role, she promotes Granville County as a tourist destination by highlighting the county’s rich history, agriculture, and events in order to create future tourism growth. She was recently recognized for her work promoting Granville County at the DIY Tourism and Local Marketing Conference in Asheville and...

Liz Parham has worked for more than 36 years in the field of downtown revitalization and currently serves as the director of the NC Main Street & Rural Planning Center. She is a Certified Main Street Director from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Main Street Center and has a passion for downtown commercial architecture, small businesses, and the assets of rural North C...

Join us for a happy hour episode as we get to know Chris Cavanaugh, president of Magellan Strategy Group, and learn about his involvement in tourism throughout his career. With 28 years of experience in tourism, Chris has become known as an expert in destination and attraction marketing and planning. His experience as a planning consultant includes destinations of all sizes, both rural and urban;...

Kofi Boone, FASLA, is a Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor and University Faculty Scholar at NC State University and a part of the UPLIFT program. Stay up to date on what Kofi and the UPLIFT team are doing here: https://www.uplifttourism.com/.