Staff

Lia Miller, Executive Director received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Video from Savannah College of Art & Design in 1990, where she also studied in England and Italy. Miller worked for TV news and ad agencies for 7 years before switching careers to find more fulfilling work as a recreation assistant at a nursing home. Seeing the need for more meaningful engagement, Miller co-founded the Evergreens Renaissance Program in 2003 to provide creative classes and continuing education for the nursing home residents. This led to the establishment of the Creative Aging Network-NC (CAN-NC). As co-founder, Miller worked with various aging service providers in Greensboro while simultaneously launching CAN-NC. In 2012, Miller began working full-time with CAN-NC and enjoys developing visual arts programs such as ARTmail for older adults. She serves on panels and facilitates sessions on creativity and aging at conferences throughout the state. Miller also provides training, consultation, educational presentations and workshops in the field of creative aging for healthcare staff, artists, older adults and those closest to them. She is a Master TimeSlips Trainer and has received training in national programs such as Memories in the Making, Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, Poetry for Life and Meet Me at Moma. View Lia Miller’s Resume or contact Lia at lia@can-nc.org.

 

Elder Arts Initiative Project Coordinator April Walsh’s undergraduate and graduate work is in US History, with an emphasis on social reform movements in the twentieth century. She worked as an archivist and public records manager in Savannah. She relocated to North Carolina to work with at-risk youth. She has worked in community information and referral, senior services, and data management for the last 12 years. She is excited to blend her skills to help create a community of arts opportunities for adults in skilled care communities.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is responsible for planning and policy development; community and organizational development; and, fundraising and support development. The Board meets monthly and currently has 3 standing Teams: Executive Team, Fund Development Team and Program Development Team. The entire Board is responsible for Board Development and is currently seeking to add new members who can bring additional expertise, diversity, and resources to advance organizational growth.  Please contact Lia Miller at lia@can-nc.org or 336-253-0856 to learn more.

 

Steven W. Arrington, JD, is a solo practitioner in Greensboro, North Carolina. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from Guilford College in 1995 and his Juris Doctorate from NC Central University School of Law in 2005. He has worked in the field of law for nearly eighteen years, with over twelve years devoted to the specialty of elder law. Steve has also been invited to speak before various civic and professional groups on the topics of elder law and estate planning. He is currently a member of the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Bar Association, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

Nancy Lenk, Board Chair has over 20 years of senior management experience with non-profit organizations. She possesses excellent interpersonal skills in successfully building relationships, interfacing with diverse groups, committees and boards of directors. Nancy graduated with a BSW from UNCG in 1978.  She lived in Atlanta, Georgia for 30 years before returning to Greensboro in 2010. In addition to her volunteer work with CAN-NC, she is on the Steering Committee for the Glenwood Time Exchange and is active in her neighborhood association.  Lenk is also co-owner of The People’s Perk, a coffee shop in the College Hill neighborhood.

Secretary Christina Peoples received her B.A from Winston-Salem State University in 2011 and is currently working toward the Master’s in Gerontology with a concentration in Aging and Business. Since she was child, Christina has always admired older adults and had the desire to be around them. Her goal is to develop a programming center geared toward intergenerational activities to create unity among the community.

Philomena Rego

Network Chair Dora L. Som-Pimpong worked at North Carolina A&T State University for 30 years. She has worked in the Department of Biology as a microbiology research assistant and public health specialist for the “Genetic Epidemiology of Alzheimer’s Disease in African Americans” research study, and the Center for Outreach in Alzheimer’s, Aging, and Community Health (COAACH). Her duties included recruitment for study participants, speaking engagements related to Alzheimer’s disease, providing outreach opportunities through her participation in health-related conferences, planning and coordinating activities for educational conferences on Alzheimer’s disease, coordinating community health activities, and establishing relationships in local communities. She received support group training through the Alzheimer’s Association and was the facilitator for the Alzheimer’s Disease Support Group at the university for two years prior to her retirement on September 1, 2014. She has received training in dementia care, activity based caregiving for Alzheimer’s patients, and has participated in a number of other training workshops for caregivers. She has been the primary caregiver for three family members with dementia. She currently cares for her 90 year old mother who has been living with Alzheimer’s for 17 years.

Dave Williams, a musician and furniture industry veteran, started his career in furniture manufacturing but after 5 years, chose to become a furniture salesman. He started this journey in the small factory town of Lexington, NC where he was born. For 27 years, he traveled throughout the Southeast meeting with designers and product developers, and over that time witnessing first-hand the death of the Sawdust Trail – factories that were once the life-blood of their communities being shut down and boarded up. Dave initiated the idea of documenting this to the filmmaker and UNCG professor Matt Barr which resulted in the 2009 documentary “With These Hands: The Story of An American Furniture Factory.’’

 

Board Advisors

The Board Advisors serve as strategic thought leaders, collaborators and catalysts for action representing Creative Aging Network-NC (CAN-NC).  The members help further the mission by providing CAN-NC with their professional expertise; knowledge of older adults, their connections to local, statewide or national resources, their philanthropic support or other forms of assistance. The Board Advisors have no governing function within the organization.

 

Anita Brock-Carter graduated from Western Carolina University in 1976 and received her Bachelor in Social Work from UNCG in 2006. She has served as Family Caregiver Specialist for Adult Center for Enrichment since 1995. Brock-Carter is a strong advocate for caregivers and positive aging in the Greensboro Community. She enjoys art, music, cooking and good books.

 


Julie Richardson
graduated from Wake Forest University in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Latin.  She obtained a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Latin and Classical Humanities.  After teaching high school level Latin and Greek at a small private school in Spartanburg, South Carolina for 3 years, she applied to the Business School and Law School at Campbell University.  Julie graduated from the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business in 2008 with a Masters degree in Trust and Wealth Management and from the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 2009 with a Juris Doctorate.  She now practices law in Kernersville, North Carolina at Coltrane, Grubbs & James, PLLC, focusing her practice on Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Real Estate Law and Elder Law.  She is currently on the Board of the Kernersville Kiwanis Club as Vice President.  She enjoys baking, baseball, and teaching.