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OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
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Dereck Cunningham President & Market Manager | Dereck Cunningham, a founder of Lynchburg Grows, serves as President and Market Manager of the organization, and is responsible for production, processing, and weekly sales at the farmer’s market. Mr. Cunningham, who was born with Spina Bifida, is a community leader involved in numerous church and community issues, especially those aimed at enabling individuals with disabilities. Mr. Cunningham also serves as President of Stained Dreams, which creates custom-made stained glass pieces of art. Contact Dereck Cunningham at marketmanager@lynchburggrows.org. |
John Matheson Vice President |
John Matheson, Vice President of Lynchburg Grows, is Senior Vice President of AREVA NP's Fuel America. Matheson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Lowell Technological Institute in 1968. He was awarded a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering in 1973 by The Catholic University of America and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering by the University of Virginia in 1983. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Virginia. |
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Lisa Whitaker Secretary |
Lisa Whitaker, secretary of Lynchburg Grows, is the Associate Director of the Center for Community Development and Social Justice (CCDSJ) at Lynchburg College. Mrs. Whitaker’s roles at CCDSJ include developing community-based research initiatives, supporting students to become social entrepreneurs, and overseeing the Bonners Leaders Program, a two-year service and learning program. Mrs. Whitaker teaches a course entitled Exploring Social Entrepreneurship and has served as project director for numerous grants as well as on several board of directors. |
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John Miller Treasurer |
John Miller, treasurer of Lynchburg Grows, is an Account Executive at Comcast Spotlight, the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable. He is a Lynchburg native and lives here with his wife and son. He is a 1988 graduate of E.C. Glass High School and a graduate of West Virginia University. He is president of Kaliedscope 2007. |
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STAFF |
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| Michael G. Van Ness Executive Director |
Michael G. Van Ness, Esq. , is one of the founders and Executive Director of Lynchburg Grows. As such he has served in a pro bono capacity as both the corporate counsel and a special advisor concerning non-profit issues for the organization donating over 20 hours per week of his legal, environmental and non-profit expertise. Mr. Van Ness received his Juris Doctor degree and a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon in 1996. Prior to that, he received a B.S. in Forestry and Wildlife Sciences with an option in environmental conservation from Virginia Tech and completed over a third of the required courses for an M.B.A. degree before graduating in 1993. Since 1994 Mr. Van Ness has been actively involved in many regional and state non-profit organizations serving in a multitude of capacities ranging from founding board member, corporate counsel, and other roles. For example, Mr. Van Ness has served as the founding executive director, or founding director of programs for the three Land Trusts serving all of western Virginia since 1997. In this capacity Mr. Van Ness was responsible for permanently saving over 20,000 acres of farm and forestland from incompatible development through such mechanisms as conservation easements and the fee simple acquisition of land. In 2000, Mr. Van Ness spearheaded the largest land conservation project in Virginia in over 20 years by successfully negotiating the purchase with 37 landowners and the Town Council of Wytheville while also sheparded the effort to raise the $3 million needed to purchase and protect the 10,144-acre Big Survey located in behind Wytheville, Virginia. The Big Survey was ultimately conveyed to the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and is the newest and one of the largest Wildlife Management Areas in the Commonwealth. In recognition of his work, Mr. Van Ness has been the recipient of the 2000 Virginia Watershed Award from Governor Jim Gilmore, the 2001-2002 Outstanding Young Alumnus for Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources, and in 2002 was one of 21 National Finalists for the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World program administered by the Robert Wagner School of Public Policy of New York University and the Advocacy Institute, located in Washington D.C. Van Ness has also served on the Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources, and for the New River Highlands Resource Conservation and Development Council. He has also served a term on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Conservation Network from 2000-2001. Van Ness has also worked in the positions of Director of Special Programs at the Valley Conservation Council of Staunton, VA, and the Executive Director of the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council. During Law school he was an intern for the Portland City Counsel and Mutlnomah County Counsel where he assisted in matters of land use planning, civil law suits, and American with Disability Act litigation. In addition he has been a quarter-finalist and won second-best brief in the National Native American Law Student Moot Court Competition in 1995 and worked in volunteer legal research capacities for both the Klamath and Umatilla Tribes in Oregon. Contact Michael Van Ness at michaelv@lynchburggrows.org. |
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Scott Lowman
Director of Stewardship |
Scott graduated from Virginia Tech, cum laude, in 1994. Scott's unique interdisciplinary honors research focused on passive dampening on structures in space, and the dampers he helped develop are being used on the international space station today. After graduating, he received a full scholarship to attend the College of William and Mary where he studied Molecular/Cellular biology and graduated first in his class with a MA in 1998. After graduating he spent 8 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a marketing and sales rep as well as a trainer. In 2006 he founded James River Land and Building, LLC. - a class A contracting and land development company. Contact Scott Lowman at scottl@lynchburggrows.org |
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Advisory Board |
Shariar Abbassi Nancy Cowden Max Guggenheimer Kelly Hitchcok Amy Johnson Shirley Jones Clarkie Patterson Jim Piggott Pat Price Wally Sabin H.R. Schenkel, Jr. Michael Sullivan Karin Warren |