Executive Director Starts Work at North Carolina Rail-Trails

After a several month search and a good number of interviews NCRT's Board is pleased to announce the hiring of their first paid position. In early July Carrie Banks became the first executive director of North Carolina Rail-Trails. Carrie is the 9th generation of her family to call Ashe County, NC home and currently resides in Carrboro. She received her Master’s of Science from North Carolina State University in Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management in May 2010. She was awarded the NC Tourism Education Foundation’s 2008 Tourism Student of the Year award at the North Carolina Governor’s Conference on Tourism. Carrie also holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies, with honors, from UNC-Chapel Hill. Between 2002 and 2007, Carrie was the conservation coordinator for the North Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, where she worked with the protection staff acquiring thousandsof acres of land for conservation. For the next several weeks, Carrie will be meeting with individual Board members to learn more about our goals and objectives and later will be meeting with staff from our non-profit partners. If you need to reach Carrie, her contact information is listed on our Board of Directors page.