Board of Directors
The Evergreen Board of Directors serves as the strategic compass and financial stewards of our school community. Composed of dedicated parents, educators, and community leaders, the Board works collaboratively to uphold Evergreen’s mission, ensure long-term stability, and support our commitment to holistic, experiential education. Together, they provide the guidance and oversight that allow our students and staff to thrive.
Board meetings are held at Evergreen on the third Thursday of each month and are open to the public. See our Calendar Page for exact dates. Minutes from these meetings are posted publicly on our Board Minutes Page.
Evergreen values the voice of every member of our community. If you would like to make a Public Comment during a Board Meeting, you can learn more about how that works in our Board Meeting Public Comment Policy.
Correspondence to the board should be sent to Board Chair Rob Durr and/or Executive Director Stacy Shepard. Correspondence will be included in board packets and become public records
Meet the Board
Dr. Stacy Shepard // Executive Director
Dr. Stacy Shepard is an award-winning educational leader, Executive Director-Superintendent, speaker, author, pastor, and founder of AriseNOW, LLC. With nearly two decades of experience in education, she is passionate about developing leaders, empowering others, and creating learning environments where every child and adult can thrive. Outside of work, Stacy enjoys writing, traveling, trying new experiences, and spending quality time with family and friends. She believes that faith, service, and lifelong learning are the foundation of a meaningful life.
Ashley Shores-Bobowski // Board Chair & Community Member
Ashley Shores-Bobowski is a proud Hickory, NC native. She was granted a scholarship to attend High School at The Asheville School, and that was the beginning of falling in love with the mountains. After attending UNC-Chapel Hill and earning a BA in Religious Studies and a minor in Biology, Ashley joined Teach For America (TFA). TFA brought Ashley to Memphis, TN, where she taught High School Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and AP Biology. After her TFA commitment, Ashley joined The Soulsville Charter School in South Memphis in 2010 and had the opportunity to spend thirteen years in various roles like teacher, Dean of Curriculum, HS Principal for six years, and Managing School Director for four years. Ashley lives in Asheville, NC, with her husband Andy and two young children and spends her non-work and family time traveling, running, and listening to as many podcasts as possible.
Keilayn Tate // Vice Chair & Alum
Keilayn Tate is an Everlaster who graduated in 2016 and was a recipient of the Zoe Cole Weiss Spirit of Evergreen Award. She recently graduated from Howard University with a BBA in Business Management and has begun her career at Google in HR. Keilayn is very passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and hopes to bring her knowledge to the board. In her spare time, Keilayn loves exploring with her dog Finley, trying new food spots, and reading.
Mitchell Smith // Board Treasurer & Parent
Mitchell is a CPA in Asheville working in Commercial Real Estate. He attended UNC-Chapel Hill, where he graduated with a BA in Biology and later a Master of Accounting. He moved back to the Asheville area in 2021 with his wife to raise a family, and they now live in Fairview with their two sons. Mitchell loves exploring the outdoors with his family, including hiking, climbing, and swimming in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Robert Durr // Secretary & Parent
Rob completed a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Southwest semester program during college that solidified strong values in experiential education, environmentalism, and social responsibility. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver and then completed his post-doctoral training at Northwestern University, where he continues to serve as an Adjunct Faculty member. He is a Licensed Psychologist and Health Services Provider (HSP) in the state of North Carolina and is the principal owner of Carolina Psychological Assessment Center. Rob currently specializes in psychological assessment, autism assessment, emotional intelligence, mindfulness-based executive coaching, and leadership development. He is also the President of the Western North Carolina Psychological Association (WNCPA). He and his wife Lauren have three daughters at Evergreen, and he spends his free time in nature, going to concerts, and having backyard bonfires.
Selma Neel // Faculty
Selma grew up in Saluda, NC, and earned her BA in Elementary Education at UNC Chapel Hill. She taught for several years in Asheville before taking a detour to the West coast and teaching kindergarten in San Francisco. Now she is excited to return home to Asheville and join the Evergreen community. Selma loves to travel and even spent a year teaching in the Caribbean! She is a big fan of good books, mac and cheese, swimming holes, and miniature things. She also has a beloved cat named Sunny!
Michaela Rogers // Faculty
Michaela Rogers is returning to the Evergreen community as the AIG teacher for grades four through eight. This will be Michaela’s fourteenth year in education and her eighth in the world of AIG. Previously, she has taught fourth grade (including a self-contained AIG class), served as the AIG Specialist at a middle school with a project-based learning focus, and worked as an instructional coach. She is passionate about developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills in contexts that are relevant to students. She looks forward to supporting Evergreen's learners as they engage in challenges both within and beyond their grade-level standards and expeditions. Outside of my classroom, Michaela enjoys spending time with her family, including her husband, her first grader (an Evergreener!), and her toddler.
Shayma Khalil // Community Member
Shayma Khalil is a Health Science Specialist with the Department of Veterans Affairs, overseeing the compliant and ethical conduct of human subjects research programs nationally across the VA system, and brings a unique perspective to her work to ensure the welfare and integrity of research participants. Shayma holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Psychology, and attributes much of her interpersonal and professional style to her academic background and experience as a first-generation Arab American. A resident of Asheville for nearly two decades, Shayma has immersed herself in the vibrant community and its abundance of outdoor activities. Alongside her roles as a professional and busy mother of two, Shayma cherishes spending quality time with her husband, children, family, and friends, exploring and engaging in various outdoor adventures, and enjoys experimenting with traditional Middle Eastern cooking. She strives to make a positive impact both professionally and within her community.
Rima Vesely-Flad // Community Member
Rima Vesely-Flad is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Founding Director of the Initiative for Black Buddhist Studies. She holds a doctorate in Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary and a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. She is the author of three books: The Fire Inside: The Dharma of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde (North Atlantic Books, 2026); Black Buddhists and the Black Radical Tradition: The Practice of Stillness in the Movement for Liberation (NYU Press, 2022); and Racial Purity and Dangerous Bodies: Moral Pollution, Black Lives, and the Struggle for Justice (Fortress Press, 2017). Rima has twice been awarded a Department of State Fulbright Fellowship, as a post-graduate student in South Africa and as a faculty member in Ghana. For several years, she taught college-level courses at Sing Sing Prison, Western Correctional Center for Women, Sarah Lawrence College, and Warren Wilson College, as well as graduate classes at Union Theological Seminary. She was interviewed as a “Community Hero” twice at Evergreen Community School! She parents two artistic children and loves to hike and bike in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Beth Cramer // Parent
Beth is in her 19th year of practicing law and is the Managing Partner at Goosmann Rose Colvard & Cramer, P.A., a law firm with four locations in WNC. Her practice focuses on commercial and residential real estate, business transactions, and helping WNC residents navigate investment, growth, and development of projects of any scale. Originally from Ohio, she attended Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia on both academic and basketball scholarships. Her years in WV sparked a lasting love for mountain living, which led her west to Colorado. While living there, Beth managed a law firm - an experience inspiring her to pursue a legal career. She went on to graduate magna cum laude from the Appalachian School of Law, served as Editor-in-Chief of the law journal, and was published in the Appalachian Journal of Law. Beth moved to Asheville in 2007; her family was first connected with Evergreen in 2020 with COVID-Kindergarten, and now she and her husband have two daughters at Evergreen. Beth’s business and her husband’s business are both sponsors of Evergreen, and they volunteer at school events regularly.
Kassidy Loy // Community Member
Kassidy is a North Carolina native and licensed clinical mental health Counselor and practice owner in Asheville. She has a Master of Counseling in Interpersonal Dialogue from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and a Master of Education from Pace University, New York. Her background includes serving as a New York City Teaching Fellow, where she taught diverse student populations within public charter school networks and the NYC public school system. She has a demonstrated history of raising student achievement as a teacher, an education advisor for the international curriculum company Science Bits, and a professional development provider for the American Museum of Natural History and Bronx Zoo. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys reading, traveling, and exploring the outdoors with her husband and two sons.
Nevin Wisnoski // Alum
Nevin Wisnoski is an Evergreen alum and an attorney at Milberg, an international plaintiff-side mass tort firm. He specializes in environmental and toxic tort litigation, class actions, and defective product cases. A native of Asheville, North Carolina, Nevin is passionate about advocating for communities harmed by corporate negligence and environmental misconduct. In addition to his legal work, Nevin remains committed to public service and education. He serves on multiple committees, including the executive board of the North Carolina State Lawyer Alumni Association. His work reflects a deep commitment to public health, environmental justice, and civic engagement. Nevin looks forward to giving back more directly to the Evergreen community that helped shape his early values.
Emily Wright-Moore // Parent
Emily is a design researcher and the co-founder of Bloom Works, a Public Benefit LLC, where she focuses on improving access to foster care and early childhood services for traditionally underserved families. Emily also volunteers as a Guardian ad Litem in Buncombe County. She moved to Asheville in 2018 from the Bay Area and lives with her family in West Asheville.