Chamber Staff Profiles
Aaron Nelson, President and CEO | email
Aaron Nelson has been the CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce
since 2001 and was appointed Executive Director of the Chamber’s partner,
the Foundation for a Sustainable Community upon its creation in 2004. Aaron
currently serves on the Board of Directors of The ArtsCenter and The Carolina
Club, the Steering Committee of the Regional Transportation Alliance, the
Advisory Board of Small Business and Technology Development Center and the
Board of Regents of the Northeast Institute for Organization Management. Aaron
is a 1997 graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
where he also served as Student Body President. Prior to his service with
the Chamber, Aaron worked at UNC Chapel Hill holding several appointments
including Special Assistant to the Chancellor and Coordinator of Local Relations.
Aaron has been a resident of the Triangle since 1982 and lives in Chapel Hill
with his wife Sonja, son Maxwell Isaiah and daughter Atlee Elizabeth.
Meg Branson, Director of Membership Services |
email
Meg came to the Chamber as member relations intern while completing her degree
in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill. After graduating, Meg joined the Chamber staff full time as member
relations coordinator. She has since taken on more responsibility as programs
and communications manager and now as director of membership services. Meg
manages the Chamber’s publications – the Community Map, Food Finder dining guide, and monthly e-mail
and print newsletters. Meg is also responsible for maintaining member relations
and managing membership programs and services.
Adam Klein, Vice President | email
Adam came to the Chamber in August of 2007 after receiving his Masters from
UNC in Regional Planning, focusing on economic development. Adam has work
experience in the environmental field and sustainable business development
as well as research experience with small town economic development strategies.
His Masters Project, titled “Environmentally Accountable Economic Development”,
examines two communities and their path toward job creation and environmental
protection. A graduate of Denison University, Adam was a two-time Academic
All-American in golf and an Environmental Studies program senior fellow. In
his spare time, Adam enjoys spending time with his new wife Manda, as well
as reading, golfing and serving in the local community.
Laura Ann Morrison, Member Relations Coordinator and Assistant to the President | email
Laura Ann Morrison graduated with highest honors from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-CH in 2008. Laura joined the Chamber staff in September 2008 and works closely with President and CEO Aaron Nelson as his Executive Assistant. As the Member Relations Coordinator, she also designs and manages the monthly print newsletter, Chamber Matters, the bi-monthly E-newsletter, Business Matters, and the Member to Member Benefits program. Laura lives with her cat, bunny and newt, and during her free time, she performs improv comedy at DSI Comedy Theater.
Whitney Murphy, Program Coordinator | email
Whitney Murphy was born and raised in Ohio where she attended Miami University and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies. During her time at Miami she studied abroad at the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain. After moving to North Carolina in 2005 she served the North Carolina Society of Hispanic Professionals, a small non-profit in Cary, as an AmeriCorps Member. Several months later she was promoted to Director of Programs. In her position as Director she managed a membership of 250+ professionals, planned large scale conferences, managed educational programs for Hispanic youth, and handled all communication for the organization. She started with the Chamber in July of 2008 as the Program Coordinator. Whitney manages many Chamber and Foundation events including Business Before Hours, Business After Hours, the Community Bocce Tournament, the Chamber Golf Classic, the Women’s Executive Series and roundtables. She lives in Durham with her husband, Jimmy.
Abby Spoon, Director of Business Development | email
Sam Teabout, Finance Manager | email
Foundation Staff Profiles
Chris Carmody, Director, Institute for Sustainable Development
| email
Chris Carmody serves as Director for the Sustainable Business Initiative at
the Institute for Sustainable Development. Chris has spent the better part
of 20 years helping cities utilize social entrepreneurship, the arts and sustainability
practices as catalysts for economic growth. After graduating from Oberlin
College in 1989, Chris staffed Michael R. White in his successful bid to become
Cleveland’s second African American mayor. He served in Mayor White’s
cabinet in education policy and entrepreneurial government posts from 1990
- 1995, and on Cleveland’s Board of Zoning Appeals for six years. Chris
holds an MBA from Case Western Reserve University, where he also served as
graduate business student body president. In 1998, Chris founded the Greater
Cleveland Film Commission, which brought over $55 million in new motion picture
business to northeast Ohio including parts of Spider-Man 3 and films starring
George Clooney, Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan. Chris has taught undergraduate
and graduate level courses in non-profit strategic management and politics
at Oberlin College and Cleveland State University. In 2002 he was selected
for the American Marshall Memorial Fellowship.
Sarah Kate Fishback, Operations Director, Green Plus | email
A 2009 MBA grad from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Sarah Kate’s studies were focused on Social Enterprise and Marketing. Prior to earning her MBA, Sarah Kate worked at Google as a Consumer Operations Strategist, where she experienced the power of integrating community and environmental principles into business activities. Sarah Kate is an avid technophile, having coordinated AdWords, Google Video, and YouTube project teams while at Google. While at business school, Sarah Kate was on the founding team at PlotWatt, a web-based residential energy efficiency start-up. She received a BA in Government from Dartmouth College in 2002. Sarah Kate joins the Green Plus team with the responsibility of scaling Green Plus operations both nationally and internationally.
Kirsten Hausman, Director of Client Relations and Communication, Green Plus
| email
Kirsten joined the Foundation after relocating to Chapel Hill from Crested
Butte, Colorado. She received her Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology from
the University of Denver in 2004. She had been passionate about sustainable
development and the environment since she lived in Niger and Morocco as a
child. Her responsibilities at the Foundation include managing the Business
in Education Partnership, organizing donor management, and coordinating events
like the golf and bocce tournaments and the Inter-City Visit and Leadership
Conference.
Anne McKune, Director, Development & Strategic Partnerships, Green Plus | email
Anne moved to Chapel Hill from Kentucky to complete a Masters in Social Work at UNC and graduated in 2007 with a concentration in community practice and a certificate in international development. A 2001 graduate of the University of Richmond with a Bachelor of Arts in French and International Studies, Anne’s personal and professional interests led her overseas, where she has worked in development in West Africa and Central and South America. Anne joined the Foundation in 2006 as a program assistant and, in August of 2007, began work as the associate director of the new Institute for Sustainable Development. Anne now serves as Director or Development and Strategic Partnerships from Green Plus.
Shana Starobin, Senior Fellow, Green Plus | email
Shana Starobin is a social entrepreneur and educator dedicated to creating innovative institutions and partnerships that promote social, environmental and economic sustainability from the bottom-up. Currently pursuing her PhD in Environmental Science and Policy at Duke’s Nicolas School of the Environment, Shana supports the Institute’s research and emerging initiatives, including the National Fellows Program and Sustainable Enterprise Clinic. At Duke, Shana served as President and Co-Founder of the Duke Microfinance Leadership Initiative (econ.duke.edu/microfinance), facilitating the growth of its interdisciplinary leadership team and launch of core programs, including the Investment Fund and Flip It, a collaboration with Institute. She has worked with a wide array of organizations in the U.S. and abroad around the issues of environmental sustainability, social enterprise, microfinance and community-based development, including AJWS, Ashoka, BRAC, FINCA, Friends of the Earth, and Green Corps. Shana holds two Masters degrees from Duke—in Environmental Management and Public Policy–as well as a BA from Harvard College.