Appalachian Ohio State of the Region Conference

Matt Abbott serves as the Executive Director for the Zanesville-Muskingum County Port Authority (ZMCPA). He is a graduate of John Glenn High School, Muskingum University, BA and Salem University, M.Ed. In 2019, he received certification as an Ohio Certified Economic Developer through the Ohio Economic Development Institute. Matt has been selected in 2022, 2023 and 2024 by Ohio Business Magazine as one of the 500 Most Powerful and Influential Ohioans. He currently serves as a Past Board Member for the Ohio Economic Development Association, Past Chairman of the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance, Vice Chairman of the Genesis Healthcare System Board of Directors, and Member of the East Muskingum Local School Board. Matt and his wife Lindsay reside in New Concord, and have three young children, Hadley, Blake and Cade.

Ian Beniston, AICP, HDFP is the Executive Director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) and has been a part of the organization since the idea of YNDC was conceived in 2008. He is responsible for YNDC’s consistent achievement of its mission and day to day operations. He has twenty years of neighborhood planning, development, and finance experience in the private, non-profit, and public sectors. He has guided more than $85 million in direct neighborhood investment in Youngstown's neighborhoods. Ian holds a Master of City and Regional Planning from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Youngstown State University. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a Grow America Housing Development Finance Professional. He resides in the City of Youngstown with his wife and daughter. 

An experienced lawmaker, John Carey served nine years in the Ohio House of Representatives and eight years in the Ohio Senate. He is one of the few legislators in history to serve as chairman of both the House Finance and Appropriations Committee and the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee. Prior to his work as a legislator, Carey was mayor of the City of Wellston and was an aide to former Congressman Clarence Miller of Lancaster. As a legislator, Carey’s focus on education and job creation led to numerous awards and accolades from organizations such as the Ohio Development Association, the Ohio Bankers League, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Ohio University School of Osteopathic Medicine. Chancellor Carey is a graduate of Ohio University with a degree in political science, and is a first-generation college graduate.

Misty Crosby joined Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service as a Senior Executive in Residence for Local Government Services in September 2022. In this role, she will assist in supporting local governments, most notably those members of the Mayors Partnership for Progress; work to strengthen relationships with key partners and organizations, and intentionally seek ways the Voinovich School can support the efforts of key partners and organizations.

Crosby previously served with the Buckeye Hills Regional Council and retired as Executive Director in August of 2022. In this role, Crosby led a 65-member team in their efforts to bring resources and affect positive change in state and federal policies and programs important to local governments and communities in rural Southeastern Ohio. Under her leadership, Buckeye Hills Regional Council facilitated the investment of more than $625 million in its eight-county region from 2007-2021.

Representing the Midwest Region of the country, Crosby serves as President of the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) Board of Directors and as President of the NADO Research Foundation. Crosby has served as President of The Development District Association of Appalachia and also served as Chair of the Training Committee. Crosby also was appointed to Ohio University’s Board of Trustees as its first Regional Trustee. She was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine to the Ohio Advisory Council on Aging and she currently serves on The Hippodrome/Colony Historical Theatre Association Board of Directors and is also a member of The Executive Order of the Ohio Commodore.

Crosby holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management from Ohio Valley University and earned Executive Women in Leadership Certification from Cornell University. She also holds an Associate’s Degree in Accounting from Washington State Community College.

She resides in Belpre, Ohio with her husband Dave.

George Dolney comes from the private sector with an already established professional career in sales, marketing, management, and communications. George is also a very successful entrepreneur who has owned and operated several small businesses within the State of Ohio, including a brick and mortar on Main Street in his hometown. George made the decision to shift his career from the private sector of sales, marketing, and management in 2021 after seeing first-hand the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on families, small businesses, and communities. At the Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association (OMEGA), George is the Revolving Loan Fund Program Manager and the Office Manager. 

George received his Bachelor of Science from Muskingum University where he majored in both Psychology and Political Science; and minored in Business and Accounting. George has also worked for over 15 years as a Teacher of the Arts both independently and for several private studios, as well as with several non-profit organizations as a teacher and as a designer of curriculum for both children and adults. George feels he is very uniquely qualified to be a Childcare Services panelist not only due to his professional history in being a teacher of kids of all ages, but also in being a father of two (now teenaged) children.

Stephanie Gilbert is the Executive Director of the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission (OVRDC), where she leads regional planning efforts to support economic development, infrastructure improvements, and community growth across southern Ohio. With a background in Business Management from Shawnee State University, Stephanie spent most of her career in management within the manufacturing sector before transitioning to OVRDC. Over the past 12 years, she has worked her way up through the organization, gaining experience in strategic planning, project management, and collaborative leadership. Helping communities find the funding they need to move projects forward is what drives her to love the work that she does at OVRDC. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her husband, kids, and grandkids. 

Lori Stewart Gonzalez, Ph.D., began her service as the 23rd President of Ohio University on July 1, 2023. President Gonzalez joined OHIO from the University of Louisville where she served as the executive vice president and university provost and completed a year of service as interim university president. 

Dr. Gonzalez received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky in speech pathology and audiology, a Master of Arts degree in communication disorders from Eastern Kentucky University and a Ph.D. in communication disorders from the University of Florida. 

She began her academic career at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1988. In 1991, she returned to UK as an assistant professor in the Communication Sciences and Disorders program. She then spent 20 years in roles as a professor and associate dean of Academic Affairs. In 2005, she was appointed dean of the College of Health Sciences, a position she held for seven years. In 2011, Dr. Gonzalez moved to Appalachian State University, where she served as provost and executive vice chancellor for three years, followed by a year as special advisor to the senior vice president for Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina System. From 2015 until the spring of 2021, she served as the vice chancellor for Academic, Faculty and Student Affairs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. In April of 2021, Dr. Gonzalez was appointed executive vice president and university provost at the University of Louisville. In December of the same year she began a one-year term as interim university president.

A native of the Appalachian region, Dr. Gonzalez was born and raised in the small town of Mt. Vernon, Kentucky. She credits her commitment to public education to her parents, who believed in the transformative power of education and instilled in her a responsibility to give back to her community.

In 2013 Craig Gossman founded Gossman Group design & planning in Cincinnati, OH to pursue architecture, urban design, and historic preservation projects. Gossman Group has developed strategic vision plans, urban revitalization plans and master plans for numerous towns and private developers. 

Craig employs a holistic approach to strategic planning and design by considering the balance between social and economic goals and their impact on physical design, for long-term sustainability and timeless placemaking. He brings creative problem-solving solutions to his clients to align with urban repositioning and economic restructuring challenges. 

Craig is a registered architect in numerous states with NCARB certification. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture Degree from THE Ohio University.
When not cooking up a downtown strategic plan or working on an important architectural commission, Craig can be found playing guitar with one of his bands, playing golf, or traveling to the great cities of the world.

Dawn Hall is a current Head Start/Early Head Start Director for the Athens Meigs Educational Service Center in rural southeast Ohio serving 276 children in Gallia and Meigs counties. Dawn has a BA degree and license in Early Childhood Education. Dawn began her work for head start in 1998 as a Family Advocate. Throughout her 27 years in the head start program, Dawn has served as a teacher, center manager and education coordinator. She has spent the past 10 years as the program director.

During her time as the head start director, Dawn has successfully expanded head start to include early head start slots to provide services for children birth through 5 years of age. The head start program has expanded its reach from 3 centers to 11.

Dawn takes pride in the work that has been done with school district collaborations. The head start program is currently in collaboration with all five of its receiving school districts, with each one having its own uniqueness. The collaborations have been effective in building stronger school/community relationships and the ability to provide enhanced services.

As a result of the collaborations, Dawn has been recognized for the following:

• Recognized as Exemplar of Collaboration by the Office of Head Start
• Recognized as Exemplar of Engagement by Ohio Department of Education
• Participant of National Head Start Collaboration Demonstration Project.
   

Dawn has had the privilege of sharing her work on collaborations at various speaking engagements including the following:

• Fall Leadership Institute in Washington DC
• The Council of Chief State School Officers Conference in Minneapolis, MN
• Ohio Department of Education Literacy Academy in Columbus OH
• Ohio Department of Education “Heading to Kindergarten” transition program.

Dawn is also currently working as the director for Little Buckeyes Early Learning Center which is a part of Buckeye Hills Career Center located in Rio Grande OH. The learning center provides childcare service for high school and adult education students who attend the career tech center and also serves as the lab for the Early Childhood program.

G. Jason Jolley, Ph.D. serves as Interim Associate Vice President for Research and Creative Activity at Ohio University where he coordinates economic development activities across the university. In his faculty role, he serves as Professor of Rural Economic Development and MPA Director at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service. He also directs the Center for Economic Development and Community Resilience. Prior to joining Ohio University in 2013, Dr. Jolley spent seven years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Kenan Institute/Kenan-Flagler Business School where he co-led the largest state sponsored study of the effectiveness of economic development incentives for the North Carolina General Assembly.

Dr. Jolley has served as principal investigator on over $10 million in sponsored research funding and co-led efforts to secure an additional $2 million in federal funding and $1 million in state funding for regional economic development partners. His portfolio includes funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Appalachian Regional Commission, Small Business Administration, Ohio Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and JobsOhio, among others. Dr. Jolley also leads Ohio University portion of the Ohio Economic Development Institute (OEDI), in partnership with the Ohio Economic Development Association (OEDA) and JobsOhio. OEDI provides state level certification to Ohio economic developers.

Dr. Jolley serves as Executive Director of the Mid-Continent Regional Science Association and is a former board member of the University Economic Development Association. In 2022, he served as an advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia on their Anchor Economy Initiative to better understand the role of higher education institutions and hospitals (eds and meds) on regional economies. In 2016, Governor John Kasich, and the leadership of the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives appointed Dr. Jolley as the state’s Nonpartisan Census Liaison. In this role, he led Voinovich School staff in building the redistricting database used to draw legislative districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio House of Representatives, and Ohio Senate districts.

Dr. Jolley maintains an active service portfolio. As the father of daughters with developmental disabilities, he is a passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities. He serves as Vice-President of the Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities; on the Board of Trustees and as Treasurer of the Ohio Association of County Boards of Developmental Disabilities; and on the Board of Trustees and Vice-Chair of the Arc of Ohio. Dr. Jolley is a leader in the multi-stakeholder public, private, and nonprofit Ohio Developmental Disability Crisis partnership that promotes long-term financial sustainability of Ohio’s developmental disabilities system.

Jessica Keeton has served Lawrence County as the Assistant Director of Community Development at the Ironton-Lawrence Community Action Organization since March 2023. Prior to her role at ILCAO, Jessica spent nearly 13 years working as the Economic Development Coordinator at the Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission. She has spent her career facilitating hundreds of community and economic development projects across Appalachian Ohio, including 21 projects across 19 communities as part of an historic Appalachian Community Grant Program investment to enhance riverfront communities from New Richmond to New Philadelphia. 

Dr. Vicki King-Maple serves as Executive Director of OMEGA: Ohio Mid-Eastern Governments Association, an economic development district serving ten counties within the eastern and southeastern Ohio footprint. Over the years, she has led extensive economic resiliency plans, workforce priorities projects, educational skills gap analyses, and occupational forecast assessments throughout the Appalachian region and across the nation. Vicki is an accomplished state and national presenter, panelist, editorial contributor, internationally published researcher, and consultant. Prior to her leadership role at OMEGA, she served as Vice President for Economic Development and Workforce Solutions at a community college in central Ohio; plus, she was national senior director for a consultancy with a focus on economic resiliency, workforce strategies, and higher education solutions. Vicki was honored this past year among Ohio Business Magazine’s 2024: Ohio 500 Most Influential Leaders. She further serves as Vice President of the Ohio Association of Regional Councils (OARC) and Treasurer of Ohio Rural Development Alliance (ORDA); plus, she will begin her term serving on the Heritage Ohio Board of Directors in 2025. Vicki has led the OMEGA team through a record-breaking 214 grant application submissions with nearly $55million being awarded to the OMEGA region in 2024 alone. She brings future-thinking, consensus-building, and creative solutioning skills with a dedication to expanding the pursuit of prosperity and resiliency for the Appalachian region she is proud to call home.

Ralph Kline joined the Ironton Lawrence County CAO in 1981 as the Agency Planner and later became the Director of Housing and Community Development.   In 2003, he was promoted to Assistant Executive Director over Planning and Development.  He currently oversees the areas of housing, economic development, downtown and community revitalization, infrastructure improvement, and strategic planning for Lawrence County, the City of Ironton, the CAO and its subsidiary corporations. Ralph is very active in the community at large, serving on multiple local and regional boards and advisory groups, including for 30 years on the local Ironton Catholic School System board. Ralph has led a dynamic team in obtaining various state and local grant awards and accolades for projects, in 2007 was named Lawrence County Person of the Year, and has helped lead the growth of ILCAO into a $40 million a year community service organization with over 440 employees.

Mr. Kline is an Ohio University graduate with a Masters Degree in Geography concentrating in Economics and Rural Development. Mr. Kline resides in Ironton, Ohio and has a son, Carl Nathaniel Kline, and three active grandchildren.

Audrey Martin has 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry, including owning and operating a lodging business and retail shop. For the past 12 years, she has served as Deputy Director of the Hocking Hills Tourism Association, where she has led key initiatives, including community events, membership development, the new satellite visitor center and retail shop, Homegrown on Main and the remodel of the Pencil Sharpener Museum.  She also oversees the annual visitor and adventure guides. Audrey is dedicated to sustainable tourism, continuing her education through George Washington University’s Sustainable Tourism program, and Leave No Trace training. Audrey actively serves on multiple community boards and, in her free time, enjoys creating one-of-a-kind glass art. 

With 31 years of experience, Jamie Nash has held various educational roles, including instructor, administrator, and director. Since 2018, he has been the Superintendent of the award-winning Buckeye Hills Career Center (BHCC), overseeing operations and collaborating with schools in Gallia, Jackson, and Vinton Counties. BHCC serves about 600 high school and 300 adult students, with several satellite programs reaching an additional 2600 students. Mr. Nash's collaborative leadership focuses on fairness and consistency. He proudly implemented the Drug-Free Clubs of America’s S.T.A.N.D. program, with 85% of students enrolling, and achieved a 92.3% post-program placement rate and 94.1% graduation rate for the 2023-2024 school year. His vision continues to propel BHCC to become a leading career center in the state.

Kerry Pigman serves as the Executive Director for the Athens County Foundation, and is passionate about creating, cultivating, and sustaining opportunities for Appalachian Ohioans. Kerry is a former entrepreneur, having co-founded and led a venture backed education services company based in Nelsonville, OH for 18 years.  Kerry has also served as Executive in Residence with the Ohio University Voinovich School’s Social Enterprise Ecosystem Project where she worked as a business advisor to social enterprises and was a founding member of the Impact Innovation Group (IIG)- a collaborative focused on creating funding opportunities to help launch, grow, and sustain businesses in Appalachian OH and WV. Kerry serves on the Invest Appalachia Board of Directors and Community Advisory Council and the Appalachia Funders Network Steering Committee where she is Co-Chair of the Place-Based Foundation group.  

As Dean of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, Tracy Plouck oversees two academic programs (public administration and environmental studies) and more than $16 million in funding focused on addressing the unmet needs of Ohio and its 32 Appalachian counties. Prior to this, Plouck served as Assistant Clinical Professor with OHIO’s College of Health Sciences and Professions. In this role, she worked to support the Ohio Alliance for Population Health, a network of more than fifty organizations that partner to address various population health challenges across the state. As a part of this effort, Plouck assisted local communities to build capacity through grant writing, training, workforce development planning, and project management.

From 2011 to 2018, Tracy Plouck was Director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.  During that time, she also served as President of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors and as Vice Chair of the Council of State Governments’ Justice Center.  For more than 20 years, Plouck held a variety of leadership roles for the State of Ohio, having served twice as the state’s Medicaid Director and as deputy director of both the Ohio Office of Budget and Management and the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. Plouck has served as a member of the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) National Board of Directors. She earned a BA from Kent State University and an MPA from Ohio State. 

Dr. Jan Ramer is the Senior Vice President of Animal Care and Conservation for the Columbus Zoo and The Wilds.  Jan has worked in the field of zoological conservation for her whole career.  She was a primate keeper at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago for 10 years before she made a mid-life career change, receiving her DVM from the University of Wisconsin in 1995. Jan was a veterinarian at the Indianapolis Zoo for 14 years.  She then found her passion in conservation medicine as Regional Manager for the Gorilla Doctors, where she led a team of African veterinarians in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo for 3 ½ years.  Jan returned to the United States to start her work at The Wilds in 2015, first as the Director of Conservation Medicine, and later as Vice President for The Wilds.  In early 2021 Jan moved into her current position.  Jan has had the honor and privilege to work alongside many hard working, talented, and dedicated colleagues throughout her career.  Jan loves spending time with her family, especially her 4 grandchildren! 

Meghan Reed is the Director of the Trumbull County Historical Society in Warren, Ohio, where she leads public programming, placemaking initiatives, fundraising, and strategic planning while overseeing a collection of more than 30,000 historic artifacts. She holds a Master’s degree in Public History from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is dedicated to developing museums as dynamic community assets. Following the Trumbull County Historical Society’s acquisition of more than 500 props from Modern Props, the renowned Hollywood prop house founded by Warren native John Zabrucky, Reed is spearheading the creation of the Museum of Science Fiction & Fantasy Arts in Warren. This institution will be the first in the United States dedicated exclusively to these genres. Beyond her work in museum leadership, Reed is actively engaged in community development. She serves on the boards of the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and the W.D. Packard Foundation, which contributes to capital improvements at Packard Music Hall and Packard Park. Originally from Pittsburgh, Reed is now a proud resident of Warren, Ohio.

Following high school Mick Schumacher studied at The Columbus College of Art & Design. He was employed at Conalco/Ormet Aluminum as a carpenter/ painter for 28 years. He is currently serving his fourth term as Monroe County Commissioner: 2001-2005, 2014-2018, 2018-2022, 2022-2026.

Schumacher is one of the founding board members of the Monroe Arts Council in 1994 and serving since that time.  He has served as president since 2018. Schumacher has also served on the Monroe County Historical Society board since 1990.

In October of 2017, Schumacher was a recipient of the prestigious Jenco Award presented by former Governor Bob Taft. In October of 2023, Schumacher was selected for the Joyce Barrett Preservation Hero Award from Heritage Ohio. In 2024, Schumacher was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine to serve on the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board.

Schumacher and his wife Ashley are original members of the Monroe Theatre Committee which began in 2016 upon acquisition of the Theatre.  The couple has been personally engaged in every aspect of operations, promotion and renovating the Historic Monroe Theatre.

Jeff Van Deusen has over 25 years of experience leading, driving, and implementing policy, operational, cultural, and programmatic change across public and non-profit agencies whose mission is to provide services and supports to children and families.  

Matt Wiederhold has been involved in community development and revitalization for 20+ years and is a graduate of the National Main Street Institute. He is the executive director of Heritage Ohio, the official State-wide preservation and downtown revitalization non-profit organization, which oversees the Ohio Main Street Program. Previously, he served as the executive director of Main Street Medina, in Medina Ohio; project manager for the Gordon Square Arts District on the West Side of Cleveland, and an urban Main Street initiative in Toledo, OH. A 1992 graduate of the University of Toledo with a degree in art history, focused on American art and architecture from 1860-1930, his passions for history, design, and revitalization run deep. His hobbies include gardening, thrifting, collecting American pottery, and studying old buildings and local history. He is currently restoring his twelfth historic home with his husband, Joshua, in Toledo.

Melody Young has been in the hospitality and travel industry for over 35 years after graduating from The Ohio State University. She is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Ross-Chillicothe Visitors Bureau where she has worked for the past 13 years. She has an extensive understanding of the hotel industry after serving 25 years as a General Manager with a strong focus on revenue management. She is passionate about the community in which she was raised and honored to be able to tell the story of Chillicothe and the region to visitors. Collaboration is the key to success for the communities that she has served, so she participates on several state and local boards such as the Ohio History Connection, Appalachian Ohio, The Scioto Society – “Tecumseh!” Outdoor Drama, the World Heritage Steering Committee, and the Majestic Theatre to name a few. Family is everything to Melody, when she is not working, she enjoys spending quality time with her grandchildren and her 4 fur babies at home. 

Kathy Zook has worked in public service for Eastgate Regional Council of Governments for over two decades and has served as the ARC Program Manager for the last 16 years.  She is a founding member and acting Secretary of Ohio Rural Development Alliance (ORDA) and has been appointed to the Board of the Development Districts Association of Appalachia (DDAA) in 2022-2025. As the ARC Program Manager, Kathy works with communities in her 3-county district to identify and prioritize projects to utilize Federal and State Appalachian funding to make investments to support economic and community development, critical infrastructure, workforce development, job training, and improved access to health care. Kathy has a demonstrated history of working with local, state and federal elected officials, as well as, members of the public and private sectors to bring resources together to support projects with opportunities to improve the quality of life for the Appalachian region. She is a graduate of the University of Akron and lives in Cortland, Ohio.