About the Land of Sky P20 Council
Connecting the people, programs, and priorities that foster a thriving workforce.
The Land of Sky P20 Council facilitates collaboration between stakeholders in education, community, government, and business to ensure Western North Carolina’s students and jobseekers are getting the knowledge, skills, credentials, and support they need to be successful in the region’s most high-demand jobs.
Addressing gaps in the student-to-stakeholder journey that starts in Pre-K, these collaborations shape policy, promote access to the full spectrum of relevant credentialing opportunities, remove barriers to attainment, and bring attention to the talent needs of our region’s employers.
Council members include students, educators, administrators, members of local government, and business leaders who share a common interest in connecting people, programs, and priorities to foster a thriving workforce and economy.
Our Mission
The Land of Sky P20 Council fosters collaboration among employers, educators, and community members in the spirit of enduring economic prosperity, through the alignment of innovative cradle-to-career skills and resources that lead to life-sustaining job opportunities in our four-county region of Western North Carolina.
Our Vision
To prepare a workforce with the needed skills and competencies leading to employment at a life-sustainable wage level.
What Is a P20 Council?
“P” (Preschool) through “Grade/Age 20” (Graduate School)
A P20 Education Council is a local partnership organization whose purpose is networking and linking a relevant continuum of important information from preschool through university and into careers for our evolving 2020 workforce.
P20 Education Councils are structured as a vertical pipeline vehicle for student advising, counseling, guidance, and information. P20 Education Councils promote communication, agreements, and opportunities between school districts, colleges, universities and industries to facilitate student advancement and certificate and degree program progress by smoothing out the present disconnected communication system of education from preschool through graduate school and into the workforce.
Executive Director
Emily Nicholson, M.Ed., has served as the P20 Council’s Executive Director since 2022. The Executive Director works with the Executive Steering Committee Chair to maintain membership engagement, communication, and implementation of strategic objectives.
Executive & Steering Committees
Key to enhancing the leadership development capacity is the ability to “grow” the P20 Council’s role in planning, organizing, leading, staffing, and controlling operational policies and procedures. The Executive & Steering Committees play an important role in providing direction to the Executive Director, while guiding the development, engagement, and actions of the P20 Council membership.
Action Teams
P20 Council members serve on action teams that are focused on implementation measures to close the credentialing gap. Each action team employs a mix of expertise, and much of the work of the P20 Council is conducted via homework that action team members complete between meetings.
P20 Council Meetings
The Executive Director convenes the full P20 Council for a meeting once each quarter. We rotate the venue each time, so that we meet in each of our four counties at least once a year.
P20 Council Delegates for 2023-2025
Amy Barry
Executive Director, Buncombe Partnership for Children
Diana Blackett, SHRM-CP
Workforce Partnership Specialist, Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
Lynn Bowles
Executive Director, Madison County Smart Start
Ivry Cheeks, Ed.D.
Career & Technical Education Director, Asheville City Schools
Lisa Fletcher, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Transylvania County Schools
Kevan Frazier, Ph.D.
Executive Director, WCU at Biltmore Park
Will Hoffman, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Madison County Schools
Josh Kersey, SHRM-CP
Human Resources Director, Biltmore Farms
Jaime Laughter, AICP, MA, ICMA-CM
County Manager, Transylvania County
Gene Loflin, Ph.D.
Associate Vice President of Compliance, AB Tech Community College
Lisa Mann, M.Ed
Director, Career Center, UNC Asheville
Emily Martin, MPA
Director of Industry Relations, The Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development
Jorie Matijevich, MA, PHR
Vice President of Human Resources, HCA - North Carolina Division
John Mitchell
County Manager, Henderson County
Tracy Parkinson, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost, Mars Hill University
Brandon Priester
Youth Business Services Coordinator, Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, Land of Sky Regional Council
Scott Queen, Ed.D.
Vice President of Economic & Workforce Development, Blue Ridge Community College
Michelle Ragland, GSP
EH&S Manager, Pratt & Whitney
Jennifer Reed, Ed.D.
Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction, Buncombe County Schools
W. Scott Rhodes, M.Ed.
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, Henderson County Public Schools
Rob Rode
Manager, Talent Acquisition, UNC Health Pardee
Rachael Sawyer, MPA
Director of Strategic Partnerships, Buncombe County
Jan Webster, Ed.D.
Director, WRESA
Danielle Wittekind, MSHR, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
President, WNC Human Resource Association
P20 Council Trustees (Inaugural Cohort of Delegates for 2021-2023)
- Amy Barry, Executive Director, Buncombe Partnership for Children
- Brittany Brady, President, Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development
- Dr. Kelli Brown, Chancellor, Western Carolina University
- Dr. John Bryant, Vice President, Workforce Development and Community Affairs, UNC Health Pardee
- Jack Cecil, President, Biltmore Farms
- Kit Cramer, President & CEO, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
- Dr. Mike Dempsey, Dean and Director, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Center for Graduate Studies at Asheville
- Dr. Mark Dickerson, Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources, Asheville City Schools
- Tony Floyd, President, Mars Hill University
- Dr. Joseph Fox, President & CEO, Fox Management Consulting Enterprises
- Mark Garrett, Superintendent, Henderson County Schools
- Dr. John Gossett, President, AB Tech CC
- Chip Gould, President, Cason Companies
- Mike Hawkins, President, Pisgah Enterprises
- Dr. Will Hoffman, Superintendent, Madison County Schools
- Rob Jackson, Superintendent, Buncombe County Schools
- Jaime Laughter, Manager, Transylvania County
- Laura Leatherwood, President, Blue Ridge CC
- Gene Loflin, Associate Vice President of Instructional Services, AB Tech CC
- Greg Lowe, President, HCA – North Carolina Division
- Dr. Paul Maurer, President, Montreat College
- Dr. Jeff McDaris, Superintendent, Transylvania County Schools
- Michael Meguiar, Vice President of Global Operations, Thermo Fisher Scientific
- John Mitchell, County Manager, Henderson County
- Avril Pinder, County Manager, Buncombe County
- Nathan Ramsey, Executive Director, Land of Sky Regional Council
- Dr. Bill Sederburg, Chair, WNC Broadband Project
- Carol Steen, President, WNC Human Resources Association
- Deb Tibbetts, Executive Director, Smart Start of Transylvania County
- Dr. Kimberly van Noort, Interim Chancellor, UNC Asheville
Our History
2018
myFutureNC
In 2018, North Carolina’s thought leaders in education, business, faith-based and nonprofit communities, representatives from the North Carolina General Assembly, and the Governor’s Office established the myFutureNC Commission. After conducting a statewide conversation about economic competitiveness, workforce development, and educational attainment, the Commission set goals, and the initiative was later signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper.
Mid 2019
Land of Sky Educational Attainment and Workforce Collaborative is established.
The Land of Sky Educational Attainment and Workforce Collaborative, the “Collaborative,” was established in mid-2019 as a pilot program to lead a four-county region toward fulfilling its portion of the state’s overall myFutureNC goal of 2 million credentialed state residents by 2030.
Nov 2019
Developed Steering Committee
The Collaborative assembled educational and business thought leaders, including representatives from public and private four-year universities, community colleges, K-12 public school systems, economic development coalitions, and businesses. These thought leaders met in November 2019 to begin the process of moving the Collaborative forward. In addition, a Steering Committee was developed to continue the work.
2021
LOS Educational Attainment and Workfoce Collaborative’s Steering Committee established the P20 Council.
In Fall 2021, the Land of Sky Educational Attainment & Workforce Collaborative’s Steering Committee established the P20 Council to move this collaborative work forward. The P20 Council is composed of key stakeholders that foster educational attainment that leads to gainful employment. The idea and structure developed were based on the efforts of workgroups set up by the Steering Committee in 2019, which continued into 2020.
2023
LOS P20 Council released its inaugural policy agenda.
In June of 2023, Land of Sky P20 Council released its inaugural policy agenda, which represents the first opportunity for collective advocacy specific to the collaborative’s four strategic goals for addressing the chronic funding barriers that impede growth in all aspects of the education-to-workforce pipeline in our four-county region.
