Gov. Josh Stein appoints three Western North Carolina leaders to advisory committees

Gov. Josh Stein’s office announced Feb. 11 that three Western North Carolina community members were appointed to advise the governor on Tropical Storm Helene recovery, juvenile justice and services for children with disabilities, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. The announcement explicitly named Leah Wong Ashburn and Keynon Lake among the Western North Carolina appointees.

Leah Wong Ashburn was appointed as an at-large member on the Governor’s Advisory Committee on WNC Recovery. Ashburn is the owner of Highland Brewing Company in Asheville, and her appointment links a locally recognized business leader directly to statewide recovery planning for communities affected by Tropical Storm Helene.

Keynon Lake was named to two juvenile-focused bodies: the Juvenile Justice Planning Committee and the Gang Prevention and Intervention Taskforce. Lake founded the Asheville-based program My Daddy Taught Me, has worked as a Child Protective Services social worker for 20 years, and runs KL Training Solutions, a local nonprofit that includes youth programs. My Daddy Taught Me won the North Carolina Gang Investigation Association’s Program of the Year award in 2023 for advocacy, education and mentoring of young men.

The Citizen-Times excerpt states a third Western North Carolina appointee will advise on services for children with disabilities, but that excerpt did not include the appointee’s name or organizational affiliation. A separate governor’s appointments list includes Casey A. Smith of Burke County as a therapeutic recreation assistant and an appointee to the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission; Smith is a licensed recreational therapy assistant at Broughton Hospital in Morganton and “strives to promote maximum engagement and leisure awareness in patients across the demographic spectrum through leisure education, team building, and psycho education.” Because the Citizen-Times excerpt does not explicitly identify Casey A. Smith as the child-disabilities appointee, the identity of the third Western North Carolina leader named for that issue remains unconfirmed in the available local excerpt.

The governor’s appointment release also named statewide appointees that provide context for Stein’s broader staffing choices. Nicole Eileen Sullivan of Wake County was appointed to the North Carolina Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission as a public member; the release describes Sullivan as “a corrections expert with 17 years of supervisory experience and more than 25 years of innovative reentry, policy, and reform leadership.” Other named appointees in the release include Thaddeus Pender Sharp III to the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission and Alfred “Al” T. Davis, Deana Joy and Jemarion Young to the North Carolina Human Resources Commission, with biographical summaries attached to each appointment.

Stein’s transition material previously emphasized Western North Carolina’s needs after Helene: “Western North Carolina is at a critical moment,” and “We need Eddie’s steady leadership as we work to rebuild after Hurricane Helene. I am grateful for Secretary Buffaloe’s commitment to seeing the job done,” the transition excerpts record. The Asheville Citizen-Times story is credited to Ryley Ober, Public Safety Reporter, who can be reached at rober@gannett.com and on Twitter @ryleyober.