Staff & Board
Our Staff
Meet Our Exceptional Team
Andy Brown
Executive Director
Andy has been the director of the Appalachian RC&D Council since July 2024. Prior to joining us, Andy spent time as the executive director of the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust in Colorado, Southern Appalachian Coldwater Conservation Manager for Trout Unlimited, and the founder and director of Equinox, a conservation planning and landscape architectural firm in Asheville. Andy is a longtime stonemason and has built many fireplaces, patios, retaining walls and other masonry features in between stints as a professional conservation leader, and occasionally now teaches workshops on this craft. Andy and his family also own and manage a small Christmas tree farm on Roan Mountain. As for education, he says his best has come from the school of hard knocks but he has a master of public administration degree with a concentration in environmental policy and planning and a bachelors in cultural anthropology.
‘I like working at the ARC&D because I have a great appreciation for the whole vibe around farms, farmers markets and rural folkways and heritage. This job gives me a chance to use my gifts and some of the abilities I have picked up along the way to help this scene prosper economically. I think it’s worth protecting too and handing down to the next generations.’
Aubrey Baker
Finance Consultant
A native of Knoxville, TN, Aubrey is thrilled to have returned home to the beautiful Tri-Cities area in 2020. Most recently, Aubrey directed regional community relations and public programming for Kentucky Opera. With over a decade of program development and implementation experience, Aubrey is passionate about engaging communities with initiatives that increase access to lifelong learning opportunities. At ARCD she currently consults on optimizing financial and administrative systems to reflect the organization’s growth and impact over the recent two years.
Emily Bidgood
Strategic Partnerships Director
Emily hails from the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia and has a Masters in Ecology from UNC-Chapel Hill. She has worked in conservation nonprofits since 2011, because conservation of our natural and agricultural resources is essential for a sustainable economy. Professionally, she has been able to serve in leadership and support positions at the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Rural Resources Farm & Food Education Center in Greeneville, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee. As Strategic Partnerships Director at the Appalachian RC&D Council, she works with economic development partners, regional farmers markets, and governments, to collaborate on solutions. Garnering support and advocacy for sustainable funding streams for conservation in NE TN is also her passion. She likes to spend as much time as possible with family, gardening, playing music and calling square dances.
ashley cavender
Nutrition and Food Access Director
A native to East Tennessee and an ETSU Alumni, Ashley Cavender is elated to be in this role and to work on meaningful initiatives that focus on local food and dignified access. She is inspired by grassroots agriculture movements, educational programming, and sustainable conservation efforts. Ashley garners support and community connections to leverage access to healthy local foods in low-income communities. With over a decade of non-profit management, event organizing, fundraising, and volunteer management, Ashley is passionate about engaging and educating people from diverse backgrounds to grow and consume local healthy foods. Prior to this position, Cavender was employed by Visit Johnson City as their Event Coordinator and was Director of Meet the Mountains Festival. Before that she served as the Volunteer and Development Coordinator for One Acre Cafe, a community cafe. Her passion for food systems blossomed while attending ETSU where she fell in love with the local agriculture community and ETSU Farmers Market. From there, she found her home in Jonesborough and served as the market manager for Jonesborough Locally Grown for a number of years. When she is not working or volunteering, you will find her on the Nolichucky River with her Jack Russel, Banjo. She enjoys gardening, cooking, and trying new things. She loves being outdoors and traveling abroad any chance she gets. But Appalachia is her home through and through.
Jillian Gorrell
Ag Lands & Business Director - SMOKIES
Dr. Jillian Gorrell has expertise in urban forestry and natural resources management. She taught at UT Knoxville and Walters State Community College, and simultaneously has served on Cocke County local government boards for waste management and county planning. When Helene hit, she kicked into gear and has been a Volunteer Advocate and integral member of the Cocke County Stream Group.
BETHANY GRAY
COMMUNITY OUTREACH MANAGER
Bethany joined ARCD in April of 2024 as the Community Outreach Assistant to work on Farmers Market initiatives and other local food access programs, as well as Build it Up beginning gardener training. She is also a graduate of the Build it Up program! Bethany returned to East Tennessee after decades in Florida as a historic preservation manager and a curator of art and history museums, most recently at the Deering Estate in Miami, Florida, a 440 acre preserve in the Miami Dade County Parks and Recreation system. Her work there included maintaining historic structures, viewsheds and groves, restoring native habitats, and mitigating the effects of a changing climate on a coastal site. Bethany ultimately returned to Appalachia to be near family, and to pursue the good work of restorative agriculture and strengthening the local food system. She is an avid backyard gardener, who enjoys camping, local history, and genealogy.
Rachel Kinard
Ag Lands & Business Director - UNAKAS
Rachel Kinard (“Kie-Nard”) discovered her interest in regenerative food systems while volunteering on a farm in her early twenties. Since then, she has spent over a decade farming vegetables, running her own farm in Western North Carolina, and working with farms along the East Coast and in Minnesota.
When Rachel took her skills into the non-profit profession, she managed farmers markets, organized food access programs, and coordinated farmer services programs. Most recently, she worked with farmers in Appalachia to help them implement conservation practices.
Rachel earned a Master’s degree in Sustainable Food Systems from Prescott College and serves on the board of Dig In Yancey, a food access nonprofit in Burnsville, NC.
She moved to East TN in 2023 and loves hiking, biking, camping, and gardening.
Sami Maldonado
Programs and Operations Specialist
Board of Directors 2025
Board of Directors
- Roy Settle, Chair
- Gene Chumley
- Heidi Davis
- Wayne Davis
- Dana Ensor
- Lewis Haynie
- Margie Kendall
- Steve Mallory
- Tiffany Stanley
- Allyson Wilkinson
What Does “Help us SUPPORT” Mean?
Local farms & food in Northeast Tennessee and beyond
The Appalachian Resource Conservation & Development Council is 501(c) (3) non-profit organization chartered in 1994. Our Board of Directors includes representation from across the region. Our mission is to conserve natural resources and improve rural economies through community leadership and enhanced educational opportunities.
We work to preserve our heritage, promote local growers/producers and protect the lands of past generations so that future generations may be able to enjoy the natural wonders our region has to offer.
Our Programs
Core Areas of Programming
Farmland Conservation
Supporting local farms and foods is not possible without the farmland to do it on. All ARCD programming is weaved around the importance of preserving this vital farmland through sustainable agriculture practices.
Farmer and Gardener Training
From gardeners who have never sown seed before to seasoned farmers expanding their operation, ARCD provides training and resources to expand local food knowledge & production.
Nutrition & Food Access
ARCD promotes nutrition and food access for everyone by providing programming open to underserved populations in our community. These incentive programs aid participants in their purchasing and knowledge of how to prepare locally grown, nutritious foods that may have otherwise been out of their reach.
Local Farm & Food Hub
Not a farmer or gardener? No worries! ARCD provides a channel through which the community can learn and connect with local farmers, food producers, and farmers markets supporting local infrastructure and providing healthy and nutritious options.
Farmer and Gardener Training
From gardeners who have never sown seed before to seasoned farmers expanding their operation, ARCD provides training and resources to expand local food knowledge & production.
Farmland Conservation
Supporting local farms and foods is not possible without the farmland to do it on. All ARCD programming is weaved around the importance of preserving this vital farmland through sustainable agriculture practices.
Farmer and Gardener Training
Nutrition & Food Access
ARCD promotes nutrition and food access for everyone by providing programming open to underserved populations in our community. These incentive programs aid participants in their purchasing and knowledge of how to prepare locally grown, nutritious foods that may have otherwise been out of their reach.
Local Farm & Food Hub
Not a farmer or gardener? No worries! ARCD provides a channel through which the community can learn and connect with local farmers, food producers, and farmers markets supporting local infrastructure and providing healthy and nutritious options.