New members were welcomed in July to the Carousel Center Board of Directors.

The new members are Elizabeth Deaton, Tricia Delp Ireland, Windy Ezzell, Donna Fayko, Leslie McIntosh, Kendra Tolley and Jenna Yingling. They join current board members Andy Atkinson, Ryan Cunningham, Rhonda Henry, Shemeka Kemp, Monaca Lachman, Jonathan Paschal, Steve Schnitzler, Tammy Simmons, Dory Weiss and Sam Wood.

“We are all deeply invested in making sure that our children have every opportunity to grow up in safe, healthy environments that will allow them to thrive and succeed, and this expansion will make that possible,” said Rhonda Henry, newly elected chairman of the board of directors, in a news release.  

Kemp is the newly elected vice chair; Wood, the newly elected secretary; and Weiss will serve another year as treasurer. Also serving on the board is Amy Feath, executive director of The Carousel Center.

The Carousel Center volunteer board of directors is made up of a broad spectrum of community members who "manage operational excellence and ensure the organization has sufficient funding to provide essential services to child survivors of abuse," according to the release.

Deaton is a retired pediatric nurse practitioner who has worked for 26 years at several local nonprofits, including The Carousel Center, Wilmington Health Access for Teens and Coastal Horizons. Before that, she taught nursing for 10 years at UNCW, Cape Fear Community College and Brunswick Community College, and practiced in pediatric primary care and psychiatry.  

Delp Ireland holds a doctorate in physical therapy and is currently the owner of Coastal Select Properties, a boutique real estate agency in downtown Wilmington. She was introduced to The Carousel Center by a former client and her company has been supporting TCC ever since.

Ezzell is a licensed clinical mental health counselor in the state of North Carolina, a former child trauma therapist/child forensic interviewer with The Carousel Center, and owner of Inner Solutions Counseling Center.

Fayko, director of health and human services for New Hanover County, has focused 34 years of her career on child welfare, serving as a child protective services investigator, frontline supervisor, program manager and deputy director of the largest child welfare system in NC prior to serving as social services director in Rowan County for eight years. 

McIntosh is a long-term supporter of The Carousel Center. She and her husband, Drew, are the lead brokers with McIntosh Real Estate Group at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Carolina Premier Services. 

Tolley is vice president of product management at Athian, a software company focused on environmental sustainability.  Before Athian, She worked at nCino for more than seven years as director of product management. Tolley previously worked in the financial services industry in various roles such as a chief credit officer, consultant and auditor.  

Yingling is a wealth advisor with Truist Wealth who has more than 15 years of financial services, financial planning and investment oversight experience. She graduated with honors from Bucknell University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations.