Crystal joined the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation in September of 2021 after a long career at Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC). Crystal is a career educator, and at CVCC she launched the American Dental Association (ADA) Community Dental Health Coordinator (CDHC) program, the first continuing education National Entry Level Dental Assisting (NELDA) program at a community college, and a school-based program allowing dental hygiene students to care for middle school-aged children in Alexander County. At CVCC, Crystal worked daily to cultivate the next generation of dental hygienists in North Carolina.

Crystal is also the former president of the North Carolina Dental Hygienists’ Association (NCDHA) and has impacted oral health policy as an active member of numerous state-level committees and task forces.

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Amari Bass is a dedicated professional with a passion for health equity, community health, supporting underserved populations, and enhancing healthcare operations. Before joining FHLI, Amari worked as a Community Health Worker, serving as a bridge between the Wake County community and its resources, with a strong commitment to improving quality of life.

In addition to this role, Amari is actively involved in professional organizations, serving as a member of the North Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE).

Amari holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with a Community Health concentration from East Carolina University and a Master of Healthcare Administration from Winston Salem State University and is a Certified Health Education Specialist.

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Kelsey joined FHLI in July 2023 as a Program Coordinator and moved to her current role in February 2024. As a native North Carolinian, Kelsey is passionate about meeting underserved and marginalized populations where they are, while maintaining a focus on listening, trust-building, and advocating for equitable solutions for these communities. 

Kelsey earned her Master of Social Work degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a concentration on community management and policy practice and also holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Most recently, she focused her research efforts on oral health inequities within Hispanic and Latine communities in North Carolina, as well as exploring the integration of social work and dentistry. 

Prior to FHLI, Kelsey spent 3 years working at Coastal Horizon’s Clínica Latina as a bilingual Behavioral Health Access Specialist serving Spanish-speaking communities in the greater Wilmington area. She also spent time as the Treatment Coordinator at a private dental practice, an English teacher in Madrid, Spain, and a Healthcare Data Specialist.

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Nicole leads the daily operations of NCCARE360, fostering collaboration among cross-sector partners and ensuring program deliverables, timelines, and communications are effectively managed.

With nearly two decades of experience in program and project management, communications, and client support for health-focused organizations in North Carolina and abroad, Nicole is dedicated to advancing health equity by addressing social determinants of health and implementing community-driven solutions. Prior to joining FHLI, she served as Program Coordinator for the Social & Behavioral Sciences Core at Duke University’s Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).

Nicole holds a Master of Public Health with a concentration in health behavior, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Spanish from East Carolina University, and the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute.

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Nel joined the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation as Executive Assistant in June 2019. In this role, she supports the President/CEO in administrative aspects of the position and assists with special projects. Prior to joining the Foundation, Nel worked as an Office Administrator at Junior Achievement of NJ, as well as an instructor at Mercer County Community College teaching workforce development courses. Her most recent assignment was the Excelling at Princeton program, where she taught computer skills to Princeton University employees.

Nel has earned a bachelor’s degree in Spanish at Rutgers University and an MBA degree, with a concentration in Finance, from Rutgers Graduate School of Business.

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As a rural NC native, Lucas is deeply committed towards the health and wellbeing of rural communities across the state. He completed his undergraduate degree at Appalachian State University and received his master’s degree in public health from UNC Chapel Hill.

As an advocate for asset-based approaches to address public health challenges, Lucas is proficient in network mapping, cross-sector collaboration, and equitable community engagement practices to support change agents in leveraging their greatest strengths: the people. With experience in applying culturally responsive evaluation frameworks, Results-Based Accountability (RBA), and geographic data systems, Lucas has worked with local health departments, nonprofit leaders, and federal partners to advance equitable health outcomes across historically underserved communities in NC, particularly through the COVID-19 Pandemic.

He currently resides in Broadway, NC, with his two dogs (Chuck and Bubbles), cat (Mr. Edison), and (soon to be!) wife, Samantha. In his free time, Lucas enjoys playing the drums, hiking with his dogs, fly fishing, and video games.

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Allison joined FHLI as the Assistant Program Coordinator for Marketing & Communications in September 2023. Previously, she worked as a copywriter at an agency and as a freelance writer-editor. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Science and Medical Writing from UNC Wilmington and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature with a minor in gender studies from Binghamton University in New York. She is passionate about supporting FHLI’s programs and advocating for a healthier North Carolina for all.

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Rachel Marquez, MPH, comes to FHLI from Family Reach in Boston, where she served as the Director of Cancer Equity Initiatives. She has also served as the Director of Health Equity at Emory University’s Diabetes Training and Technical Assistance Center and as an adjunct faculty member at Elon University.

Rachel has also held leadership roles at Cone Health, including Director and Healthy Communities Program Manager, and she was integral to NCCARE360’s implementation there. She has led multi-million-dollar initiatives, secured substantial funding for community health programs, and forged impactful partnerships across health care, government, and nonprofit sectors.

Her expertise in policy advocacy, strategic planning, and data-driven interventions has resulted in measurable improvements in access to care, chronic disease prevention, and social drivers of health.

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Abigail Martin is a dedicated healthcare professional with a strong foundation in healthcare administration. After graduating from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a degree in Healthcare Administration, specializing in policy and ethics, Abigail gained valuable experience working in clinical quality in a DSO space. She has a proven track record of leading teams in training and best practice initiatives.

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Sara Herrity Moscarelli joined the Center of Excellence for Integrated Care (COE) as an Integration Specialist in March 2017 and currently serves as Interim Co-Director. In her role, she provides training, on-site support, and resources to medical and behavioral health providers working to integrate their services to provide higher-quality care to patients and the community.

She supports the expansion of equitable behavioral health access to all North Carolinians via advocacy and support for the existing and emerging behavioral health workforce. Prior to joining the COE, Sara worked at a community mental health agency as an outpatient therapist for clients with Medicaid or no insurance, as well as some private insurance. She has also previously worked with a local church to provide pre-marital and marital counseling as well as with a middle school to provide mental health services.

Sara received her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from East Carolina University in 2013 and is currently a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Chet Mottershead has been appointed to serve as Interim Executive Director for the Foundation of Health, Leadership, and Innovation. He completed the Interim Management Executive Program with Armstrong-McGuire in June of this year and is excited about his interim role with FHLI.

Chet previously served as the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Assistant Secretary for Workforce Solutions, where he worked closely with nonprofits in the workforce development space.  Earlier in his career, Chet served for 15 years as the Director of Human Resources at the Department of Commerce before he transitioned to the Division of Workforce Solutions.

He is married with two boys, is active in the Boy Scouts, and is a member at Highland United Methodist Church in Raleigh. Chet is a graduate of Warren Wilson College (B.A.) and Western Carolina University (Master’s of Public Administration).

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Hugh Tilson is the director of FHLI’s Bernstein Fellows Program, director of the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (NC AHEC) Program, associate dean and assistant professor in family medicine at the UNC School of Medicine. Hugh has extensive experience in health care, including particular experience in hospital and provider issues, health policy development, and North Carolina’s Medicaid transformation.

Over the course of more than 20 years, Hugh has served in roles of increasing responsibility at the North Carolina Hospital Association. He first joined the organization in 1996 as director of legal and regulatory affairs, eventually becoming the group’s executive vice president and chief operating officer and ultimately spending a year as interim president of the organization. Upon his departure, he was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Gov. Roy Cooper for his proven record of extraordinary service to the state. Most recently, Tilson operated Tilson Solutions, offering strategic planning, public affairs, and other consulting services to a range of clients.

As director of NC AHEC, Hugh provides overall direction for the statewide program, oversees the organization’s budget and program office, manages health workforce planning and development initiatives across a range of health professions, fosters collaboration among academic programs and organizations across the state, and represents the organization on the state and national level.

Tilson is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and the UNC School of Law. He holds a Master of Public Health from Harvard.

Kim Schwartz, MA, NCC, is a seasoned healthcare executive and consultant with expertise in community health and leadership development. As the founding CEO of Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center, a Federally Qualified Community Health Center in Eastern North Carolina, Kim demonstrated her ability to build and lead impactful healthcare organizations.

Currently, Kim works with leaders and organizations nationwide, focusing on:

• Creating authentic spaces for vocational reconnection
• Facilitating Courage to Lead retreats to nurture supportive communities
• Exploring meaning and purpose in professional settings

Her subject matter expertise includes:

• FQHC and Community Behavioral Health Administration
• Telehealth implementation
• Value-Based Care strategies
• Healthcare Network Development

A National Board Certified Counselor, Kim holds a BA in Psychology and MA in Counseling Education from the University of New Mexico. She is a frequent presenter at national and regional conferences, bringing her wealth of experience to diverse professional audiences.

Tina Markanda previously served as the Executive Director of The Cannon Foundation, which was created to continue the philanthropic legacy of Charles A. Cannon and his daughter Mariam C. Hayes by funding primarily capital and infrastructure projects for organizations across the state of North Carolina.

Prior to that, Tina served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Foundation for a Healthy High Point since 2014, an organization that encourages, supports, influences, and invests in efforts that improve health and wellness throughout Greater High Point.

Prior to this role, Tina served as a Program Officer with the Health Care Division at The Duke Endowment, in private industry, at an academic medical center, and with a private not-for-profit community hospital.

Tina is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives and is a Hull Fellow with the Southeastern Council of Foundations. She holds an MBA from Wake Forest University and MSPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Charles Ayscue’s administrative/financial healthcare career experience has extended for more than five decades. Mr. Ayscue was appointed in the Spring of 2020 to serve as the Interim Chief Financial Officer for Dogwood Health Trust (DHT).

Prior to joining DHT, Mr. Ayscue served 31 years as the Chief Financial Officer for two large healthcare systems: Mission Health System, Inc, (MHS, the Parent Corporation) located in Asheville, North Carolina (NC) as its Chief Financial Officer from 2007 until 2019; and the University of North Carolina Healthcare System (UNC-HCS) and the University of North Carolina Hospitals located in Chapel Hill, NC from 1987 until 2007. MHS owned, operated, and managed healthcare facilities providing a broad spectrum of inpatient, outpatient and long-term acute care services to a large, 18-county service area in western North Carolina. UNC-HCS functioned as the state’s largest owned safety-net healthcare provider and teaching facility for primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary inpatient care and outpatient care to patients from all 100 counties within the state. Mr. Ayscue also served for more than four years as the Comptroller and Associate Director of Financial Services for the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital located in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Professional affiliations for Mr. Ayscue include prior and continuous service on numerous boards and foundations; he currently serves as the Chair of the Finance and Investment Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board for the Foundation for Health Leadership & Innovation (FHLI) based in the Research Triangle Park. He also served as a member of the statewide Technical Advisory Committee for NCCARE360 due to his role at FHLI.

In September of 2013, Mr. Ayscue was the recipient of The Order of the Long Leaf Pine as conferred by the Governor of the State of North Carolina. Mr. Ayscue has also been previously recognized on numerous occasions as one of the nation’s “150 Hospital and Health System CFO’s to know” in annual publications by Becker’s Hospital Review. In October of 2014, Mr. Ayscue was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by his alma mater, Campbell University. Mr. Ayscue holds a Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a Business Administration degree from Campbell College, now Campbell University, located in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

Adam J. Zolotor, MD, DrPH, is the Associate Director of/for Medical Education at NC AHEC and a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Previously, he was the President and CEO of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine for eight years. Dr. Zolotor has practiced family medicine in a small-town practice, rural emergency department, county health department, and academic medical center.

Dr. Zolotor started his academic career in child injury research and is well known nationally for his work on the prevention of physical abuse, shaken baby syndrome, and child discipline as well as the policy issues around prevention. Dr. Zolotor joined the NCIOM in 2012 as the Vice President and served as the President and CEO until August of 2020.

Dr. Zolotor led many new initiatives at the NCIOM, including the rural health plan, the child maltreatment prevention plan, the plan for Alzheimer’s and related dementia, the Task Force on Accountable Care Communities and the Legislative Health Policy Fellowship Program. He also led the NCMJ through a transformative change to a mostly online distribution with dramatic increase in the statewide footprint.

Dr. Zolotor still practices family medicine at the University of North Carolina. He earned both his master’s degree and doctorate in public health as well as his medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His undergraduate degree and residency training were at the University of Michigan.

Cherry Maynor Beasley is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in public health, culture of health and education. She has devoted most of her 45-year career to rural, underserved populations. She is the first member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina to receive a BSN, MS and PhD in Nursing. Dr. Beasley is a nurse educator of the McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, located in a rural, minority-majority community experiencing entrenched poverty. She is currently the chief nursing officer at the McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing and the inaugural Anna Belk Endowed Professor for Rural and Minority Health. Dr. Beasley is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

The synergy of Dr. Beasley’s research and service interests evolves from a focus on health care decision-making and behaviors of rural, minority populations. This approach informs her extensive work with populations utilizing participatory community outreach and research to address health disparities, well-being, and environmental and healthcare policy. She is a sought-after collaborator and mentor on research and service projects. Beasley currently serves in several nursing and public health leadership roles across North Carolina. She is a member of the Native Research Network and author/coauthor of several books and manuscripts on American Indian and rural health.

Dr. Beasley is the mother of two and grandmother of 5, two roles that she considers the most meaningful in her life.

Vivian Bolaños serves as VP and Business Development Officer for First Bank where she develops business relationships in the Henderson, Transylvania and Buncombe County banking centers.

Along the way, Vivian has become a committed community advocate and volunteer. She served as a board member for the United Way of Henderson County, Safelight, and is currently serving as a Board Member for Pardee UNC Health Care, Blue Ridge Community College, Dogwood Health Trust, NC Bankers Association DEI Council and Western Women’s Business Center Advisory Board.

Lisa Macon Harrison, local health director in Granville and Vance Counties in North Carolina since 2012, has worked at the intersection of public health research, practice, policy and advocacy in North Carolina. Ms. Harrison’s areas of expertise and public health leadership and training include:

• Advocating for the Public Health Workforce and Rural Health
• Establishing the NC Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) and Rural Academic Health Department Models
• Training the Public Health Workforce in Evidence-Based Public Health Approaches
• Directing the Southeast Public Health Leadership Institute (SEPHLI)
• Facilitating a 5-county regional Stepping Up Initiative in northeastern NC to better address and treat mental health and substance use disorder needs among the justice-involved
• Creating whole-person, whole-community approaches to integrated care models with school systems and improving systems of care for communities
• Addressing health equity during the pandemic response in Granville and Vance Counties

Lisa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health, a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC Chapel Hill. She is a co-author on more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in public health and regularly presents to advocate for the public health workforce including a Congressional briefing in 2021. Lisa remains associated with UNC-Chapel Hill as an adjunct research associate in the Public Health Leadership Program, and as a consultant adjunct with the Duke University School of Nursing. Lisa helped establish the Rural Academic Health Department model for GVPH which receives approximately $2,000,000 per year in grant funds.

She served as President of the NC Public Health Association in 2015 and was elected to represent five southern states on the Board of Directors of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) 2018-2022 where she now serves as Past-President. Lisa serves as a member of the NC Institute of Medicine (NCIOM) and co-chaired the NCIOM “Future of Public Health” task force. Lisa’s work on addressing the opioid crisis continues in the Rural Justice Collaborative and the NACO Opioid Leadership Solutions Network – both national connections on this important work in public health. In spring of 2024, Lisa received the NC Association of Local Health Directors “Health Director of the Year” award.

Matt Leatherman is a public financing and budgeting expert, who worked closely with NC State Treasurer Janet Cowell to find innovative solutions for expanding health care access in rural areas, and initiate conversations about municipal resilience.  He also worked with a non-profit organization committed to retirement security. Pension investors who manage billions of dollars have relied on Matt’s writings on risk management and investment contracting.

Matt joined FCLT Global from the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, where he served as Policy Director. Matthew contributed to the Department adopting a policy on long-term stewardship for approximately $100 billion of assets under its management and to updating practices for how staff incorporate longer-term factors into the evaluation of debt issued by local governments. He also was staff director of the Department’s Corporate Governance Committee, a body responsible for conducting the Department’s engagement with regulators, dialogue with corporate issuers, and voting of proxy ballots.

Matthew’s earlier career focused on U.S. fiscal research, most recently at the Stimson Center in Washington D.C. His commentary in outlets like Bloomberg Government was influential for understanding government shutdown and budget sequestration the terms of fiscal impact, management process, and the governance relationship between executive and legislative branches. Matthew advised the Rivlin-Domenici Debt Reduction Commission on military budgeting and management, including the structure of retirement and health care benefits for U.S. service-members. His fiscal research has been published by Foreign Affairs, International Herald Tribune, Washington Post, McClatchy-Tribune News Service, and other outlets.

Matthew is a Board member of the John Rex Endowment, a $75 million fund with a focus on improving mental health, preventing injury, and expanding access to healthy lifestyles for children in Wake County (NC). He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and holds degrees from the University of North Carolina and Columbia University.

Viviana Martinez-Bianchi is a Family Physician. She is the Director for Health Equity in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and former Director of the Duke Family Medicine Residency Program. She joined the faculty of the Duke Department of Family Medicine and Community Health in 2006. Prior to joining Duke University, she was a fellow in Faculty Development with Emphasis in Caring for Minorities and Underserved Populations at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio.

Martinez-Bianchi graduated from the National University of Rosario, Argentina in 1990 and from the University of Iowa Family Practice Residency in 1996. She practiced in a rural/ industrial town in Iowa for 5 years before joining the faculty at the Genesis Family Medicine Residency in Davenport, Iowa.

She is passionate about population health, health disparities, improving health care and health, caring for underserved populations, health and educational equity, social determinants of health, global health, cultural competence through humility, Latin America, and caring for migrant and transnational communities.

Within Family Medicine, she practices the full spectrum of ambulatory family medicine and has special interests in women’s health, dermatology, urology and mental health.

She enjoys sailing, traveling, swimming, and gardening with her husband and her son. She enjoys Zumba at the YMCA, Opera, dancing Salsa, listening to Tango and Latin American music, the North Carolina Symphony and the Carolina Ballet. She loves cooking and she makes a wicked chimichurri sauce for her Argentinean style carne asada. She has been working on a North Carolina accent with little success.

Dr. Julian Montoro-Rodriguez is Professor of Sociology and Gerontology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is a sociologist with a teaching and research background in the area of aging, health, human development and family studies. A majority of Dr. Montoro-Rodriquez’s research in the past 20 years has examined the interrelations between formal and informal support systems and optimal adaptation and adjustment to developmental changes for older adults.

Karen Rogers joined The Duke Endowment in 1996 after four years with KPMG as a Senior Auditor. Rogers worked for ten years as the Endowment’s Controller and in 2006 was promoted to Treasurer. Rogers is a Certified Public Accountant, and is a member of the North Carolina Association of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. She is currently the CFO and Treasurer of TDE.

Dr. Smith graduated from the Hahnemann University School of Medicine in 1989. She works in Raeford, NC and 4 other locations and specializes in Family Medicine. Dr. Smith is affiliated with Cape Fear Valley Bladen Health Care.