Staff and Board Leadership

Julia Tyler (she/her) is the Executive Director for Johnson Service Corps, through which she lives out her calling to build communities of joy, strength, and courage. Previously, Julia directed family ministry programs for Unitarian Universalist congregations in North Carolina and California. She graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota with a degree in Religious Studies. Julia spent four months backpacking on the Appalachian Trail, and plans to return when her son is big enough to carry his own pack. Julia loves the outdoors, spirituality, justice, and intentional communities, and she is honored to support the Beloved Community that is Johnson Service Corps.

Heather Fisher (she/her) is the Operations Manager for Johnson Service Corps. Previously, Heather served as Operations Manager for Science Fun for Everyone and an Education Fellow at the Museum of Life and Science. Heather is originally from New Jersey but has lived in Durham since 2013. She has two kids who keep life fun, busy, and loud. In her spare time, she loves short hikes and adventures with the kids, working in her vegetable garden, and canning everything possible so it does not go to waste.

Amira “AP” Pankey (they/them) is a writer, healing artist, community herbalist, and space holder originally from Durham, NC. They love being outside as much as possible, playing with, learning from, and creating with herbs. AP is a trained therapist who values the relationship with the self, one another, and the natural world as crucial components of healing. Their life's work is centered around supporting people in being, becoming, and returning to themselves through practices of (re) connection to ancestors and ancestral traditions, the earth and land, and the community.

Jae Richardson is the Group Therapist for Johnson Service Corps Fellows. Jae is a Black, femme, licensed clinical social worker and a healer, energy worker and educator. Jae uses collaboration, affirmation and empowerment to support others in their own healing work and practice from a social justice, holistic and afro-spirituality framework. Jae also integrates skills from CBT and DBT into her counseling work. Her passion towards individual and collective healing stems from her own trauma work. Jae's desire to break down generational traumas runs deeply and vibrationally. As marginalized individuals, she believes we must heal our communities on a spiritual, vibrational, and psychological level, and she is honored to walk with these fellows in their journey towards finding the ancestral power within them.

Elected Bishop Suffragan for the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina in 2013, Bishop Hodges-Copple first served with now Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and more recently with Bishop Sam Rodman, the Eleventh and Twelfth Bishops of The Diocese of North Carolina. She resigned from active duty at the end of 2023. During her tenure Bishop Hodges-Copple had direct oversight of lifelong Christian formation, campus and young adult ministries, new mission starts, the ordination process for the diaconate, Hispanic/Latino ministry, global partnerships for mission, criminal justice reform/prison ministry, refugee ministries and the pastoral care of retired clergy, their spouses and surviving spouses. In addition, she collaborated with ministries in creation care, racial equity and justice and congregational vitality. She met with the international network Anglican Leadership for Successful Climate Change Negotiations in preparation for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26.
The Rt. Rev Anne has just concluded a six year term as a member of the Executive Council for The Episcopal Church where she served on the Finance Committee and the Economic Justice Loan Committee.
The Rt. Rev Anne is a Trustee of the American Friends for the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. She has helped lead four pilgrimages to the Holy Land and looks forward to resuming that vocation once the conditions in the Holy Land are more conducive for such visitations.
The Rt. Rev. Anne has lived most of her adult like in Durham. In addition to parish ministry and campus ministry, she has previous experience as a shelter director for battered women and has served on various community boards, including Latino Educational Achievement Partnership and Habitat for Humanity of Durham.
She and her husband, John, who recently retired from thirty years as the Director of Planning for the Triangle J Council of Governments have three adult children, each of whom has a wonderful life partner, and four delightful grandchildren, all living in the Raleigh/Durham area.

Drawn to its culture and strong values around service, social justice and civic engagement, Leslie and her husband Adam moved to the Bull City close to 20 years ago and have raised two children here. A graduate of Macalester College, Leslie has worked in public health research and nature education, and she’s been a committed community volunteer, serving on non-profit and PTA boards. She loves collaborating with peers, and most recently has found joy in doing this at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. As a child, Leslie spent ten years living in remote circumstances in rural WI. There she experienced the deep sense of well-being, hope and solace that can arise from lovingly-woven human community and connection with the natural world. Her memories of that time inform Leslie’s current day sense of purpose.

Kirsten was a JSC corps member in 2017-18 (she lived in the Carrboro house and served with the Orange County Department on Aging at the Seymour Center). While Kirsten is not an Episcopalian, she greatly appreciated using her time in the Episcopal Service Corps to explore many spiritual experiences, from Quaker meetings to Buddhist meditations to a Baha'i book club. She is originally from Black Mountain, NC, and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with an English degree in 2013. Now she works as a communications specialist at the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State University. She was drawn to the Johnson Service Corps initially because of its emphasis on servant leadership, community values, and openness toward spiritual discovery, and these are all qualities that make her proud to be a current board member.

Joseph A. Smith, Jr. is a retired lawyer, having practiced for over 40 years. He was North Carolina Commissioner of Banks from 2002 to 2012 and Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement from 2012 to 2018. Mr. Smith is a past Fellow of the Global Financial Markets Center at Duke Law School and is currently a director of the Center for Community Self-Help, sponsoring organization of the Self-Help Credit Union, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and Center for Responsible Lending. He has been married for over 40 years to Elizabeth Marion Smith, with whom he lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Raleigh and are the parents of two grown sons and two too rapidly growing grandsons. Mr. Smith is honored to be associated with Johnson Service Corps, which seeks to develop the servant leaders our society desperately needs.

Barbara is a longtime parishioner of Chapel of the Cross and serves in a variety of roles in the life of the church, including: Lay Eucharistic Minister, member of the Global Mission Committee, Leader for Morning Prayer, and a recent Vestry Member. She has worked as a teacher, assistant superintendent of Chapel Hill schools, and as Professor and Chair of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. During those later years, she received her Master of Divinity Degree from Duke University Divinity School, a Post Graduate Diploma in Anglican Studies, and a Doctor of Ministry from Virginia Theological Seminary. She is drawn with great joy to continue working with young adults who are exploring new options in their learning and development, while rendering valuable service within the community.

The rare cradle Episcopalian, Carol moved to Chapel Hill from Alabama in 1963, when she became a member of the Chapel of the Cross. Carol was educated in the Chapel Hill – Carrboro City Schools graduating from CHHS in 1969 and Saint Mary’s Junior College in 1971. In 1973 she completed her degree in elementary education so she could fulfill her lifelong dream of teaching. After teaching for twenty-three years, Carol completed the newly formed Master’s in School Administration at UNC-CH. Her administrative career included being an assistant principal at Carrboro Elementary, planning principal for Mary Scroggs, and principal of George Watts Elementary in Durham.
As a member of The Chapel of The Cross, her most meaningful responsibilities are as a lay eucharistic minister and becoming a member of the founding chapter of the Reverend Doctor Pauli Murray Chapter of Daughters of the King. As a board member of Johnson Service Corps, she hopes that these service areas will provide her with the chance to support a program she has long admired. In addition, Carol’s background in education will be a valuable tool in her assignment as Personnel Committee Chairperson.

Henry’s joining of the JSC Board arises out of his and his family’s commitment to their neighbors and larger community. A native of Oklahoma, Henry met his North Carolina-born wife Liz on an archaeological dig in Scotland. After graduate school, law school, and several moves, they adopted Durham as their hometown in 2007, joining St. Philip’s Episcopal Church and starting a family. In addition to raising their three young children, Henry and Liz are active in investing in Durham, and seeing that all of its residents are provided for and supported. Henry is a partner at Kennon Craver, PLLC, practicing as a trial attorney representing local and regional clients in both federal and state court. Henry and Liz also enjoy old movies, old buildings, and old friends.

The Rev. Sarah Woodard has made her home in Durham for a number of years and has been active in the community. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, she began working in Durham at CCB’s Trust Department followed by a 42-year career at Duke University and the Health System, most recently in Human Resources.
Sarah was ordained to the diaconate in 2009 and has served at St. Titus’ Episcopal Church and at the Episcopal Center at Duke. She is a longtime hospital chaplain and serves as Dean of the Durham convocation.
Her community activities have included serving as President of the Junior League of Durham and Orange Counties and Sister Cities of Durham. Currently, she serves on the boards of the Eno River Association and the North Carolina Council of Churches. She has volunteered with Johnson Service Corps in various ad hoc ways.
Sarah’s hobbies include reading, walking and hiking. Sarah is married to Mike Woodard. They are the parents of Molly, their beloved English Cocker Spaniel.

Matthew Snider is the President and Co-Founder of Block3 Strategy Group which exists to educate businesses, brands and entrepreneurs on how to leverage blockchain technologies to generate new channels of income and build new user experiences. He is a Registered Investment Advisor Representative, public speaker, guest lecturer, and published author of “Warren Buffet in a Web3 World: Applying 60 Years of Sage Advice to Cryptocurrency, NFTs, Blockchains & More”. Matthew began his post-MBA career as a management consultant at both Big4 and boutique firms specializing in financial / liquidity risk management and marketing data analytics.
Matthew currently serves as Treasurer to St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Durham, NC. He received his MBA from Loyola Marymount University and his BA in economics from Boston University.
Matthew's passion for finance and education are what drew him to helping with the JSC mission. His claimed superpower is helping explain complex topics into easily understood mental models which he hopes can lend itself to supporting the financial stability of the organization along with strategic opportunities to deploy capital that generates the most impact.

Ginny Bowman is a native of Durham, NC. In the 1970’s she went away for high school and college and then to work in the District of Columbia. After being away for over ten years, Ginny and her husband, John, moved to back to NC for John to attend law school at Campbell University. Ginny began working in the family business of real estate development and property management thinking it would be a short-term stint, but it ended up being a lifelong career move. They have two adult married sons and four grandchildren.
Ginny and John joined St. Philip’s Episcopal Church over 35 years ago because of its commitment to downtown Durham and its focus on addressing inner-city homelessness. As parishioners they have participated in a variety of church
ministries. Ginny was previously the church Treasurer, which was an enlightening experience that provided her with an awareness of how important St. Philips’ Outreach Ministries are to the local community. Johnson Service Corps’ mission and vision are very compelling to Ginny at this point in her life. Having served on several charitable and civic boards in the Triangle Area, none have been affiliated with serving the Gen Z population. She is
excited about the opportunity to contribute to an organization that is making an impact on the lives of young adults in the areas of social justice, community service, leadership training, and spiritual practices.

The Rev. Robert Fruehwirth currently serves as the rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Hillsborough NC. The author of two books (2008, 2016) with a forthcoming third, A Shared life: Communion with God in the Ordinary his core concern and calling, his central concern has been with spiritual formation, prayer, and leadership development in community. This dovetails almost perfectly with the mission of the Johnson Service Corp. His formation has been monastic and therapeutic — monastic in having spent 20 years as a monk in the Episcopalian Order, the Order of Julian of North, and therapeutic in having earned accreditation as a counselor in the UK (2013). For the past ten years he has brought this formation, and a passion for human beings encountering themselves, each other, and God, to parish ministry and other spiritual formation groups. Currently he is married with two children and lives in Hillsborough.

Henry Kennelly is an alum of the program from the ’21-’22 cohort with a reverence for the many and deep relationships Johnson Service Corps has grown over the years in the local community. He is passionate about healing justice, and loves any opportunity to sit and walk with people following their sense of life and growth inside and outside of religious or faith settings. He completed an undergraduate degree in History at Harvard before going on to complete an M.Phil in Development Studies at Oxford University (writing his thesis on Black-led church reform in the Anglican Caribbean and studying the intersections of on-going colonialism with race and identity). He now works as Caretaker for The Trees, a growing retreat space in northwest Durham under the care of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. He loves dancing, playing music, and the simple and sometimes painful joys of playing amateur sports.