Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands announces new Board of Directors Members
February 11, 2020
Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands has announced the election of three new members to the Board of Directors serving a 22-county jurisdiction. The three new members elected to serve are Rhonda Hunt-Simpsonville, Leigh Ann Puryear-Greenville, and Robin Stack-Greenville.
Rhonda Hunt – Simpsonville is the Environment & Prevention Manager, NA Zone Supply Chain Department for Michelin. She has a B.S. in Industrial Technology with a dual concentration in Construction Management and Occupational Safety and Health from North Carolina A&T State University and a M.S. in Safety Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Rhonda is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Greenville Alumnae Chapter, where she currently serves as the International Awareness and Involvement Committee Chair. She is the Michelin NA Challenge Education Program Coordinator for East North Street Academy – Girls Loving Science (STEM). She previously served as Board Member for the Greenville Literacy Association and Board Member and Secretary for the Greenville County Youth Orchestras. She currently serves as a Board Member for Community Options. Rhonda was a Troop Leader for this council from 1997 to 2018. She also has served the council as the Women of Distinction Committee Chair in 2017 and 2018. In addition to her community involvement and commitment, she is a wife, mother and grandmother of two and enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.
Leigh Ann Puryear – Greenville is a Community Relations Liaison for Duke Energy. In this capacity, she is responsible for issues management, public relations, community enhancement programs, and corporate contributions for Cherokee, Laurens, Newberry, and Union counties and is responsible for customer facing activities for all counties in the Upstate South Carolina Region. She graduated from the University of South Carolina – Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Leigh Ann is active in the community and enjoys leadership and mentorship opportunities by serving on the Programs Committee for the Greenville Chamber Young Professionals. She also serves on the American Red Cross of Upstate South Carolina board, the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities board, and the Newberry County Chamber of Commerce board. She is a graduate of the Easley Young Professional Academy, Class of 2018, sponsored by the Easley Chamber of Commerce and the Citizens Water Academy, Class of 2019, sponsored by the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group. She and her husband, Andrew, reside in Greenville with their son, Oliver.
Robin Stack – Greenville has been a member of the Greenville County Schools Finance Department for 32 years, including serving as Director of Accounting Services since 2003. In addition to her varied experiences at GCS, she has worked in the private sector as an adjunct accounting professor, comptroller, and staff accountant. Mrs. Stack earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accounting from Clemson University and is a Certified Government Financial Officer.
The new Board of Directors Members are supported by the following returning and continuing Officers and Members: Board Chair Meredith Manning, Board Vice Chair Phyllis Ward Rich, and newly elected Board Secretary/Treasurer Carolyn Harbison.
Meredith Manning – Columbia is an Assistant Vice President and Sr. Deputy General Counsel with BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. She has been a practicing South Carolina attorney for over 30 years, the last 20 within the BlueCross Law Department. Her primary responsibilities include providing corporate counsel and litigation management to BlueCross and numerous subsidiaries for defense of various insurance products, as well as general corporate and business advice concerning provider contracting and reimbursement, business and tort law and regulatory issues.
Meredith is 1982 graduate of Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia and a 1987 graduate of the University of South Carolina School Of Law. After law school, she clerked for 2 years for a state court judge and then entered private practice with a local law firm for several years before joining BlueCross.
Meredith is a Sustaining Member of the Junior League of Columbia, and has also served as board member and chairman of Sandhills School, a local non-profit for children with learning differences. Meredith joined the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of South Carolina, Mountains to Midlands Council, in 2016 and has served on the Governance and Finance Committees, and as Chairman of the Midlands Major Gifts Committee, part of the Council’s campaign for creation of the Cathy Novinger Girl Scouts Leadership Center in Columbia, SC.
Meredith is a lifelong Columbia, South Carolina native, along with her husband, Bobby Stepp. Her passion is leadership development for girls, which is why she enthusiastically supports Girl Scouts and the Girl Scouts Movement.
Phyllis Ward Rich – Anderson is now an active community volunteer following retirement as Sales Director with Fisher-Price/Mattel. She has a B.A. with a Major in Economics and a Minor in Math from Spelman College. Phyllis has served as a mentor for Anderson School District 5; an oratorical advisor for Anderson County Congress of Christian Education; and a youth advisor with St. Paul Baptist church in Anderson. She served as past-chair of the Governance Committee and as National Council Delegate (2017-2019).
Carolyn Harbison – Spartanburg attended Converse College and has a BA from the University of Georgia. Active in community affairs, she is on the board of the Charles Lea Center in Spartanburg, member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Spartanburg City Public Safety Committee. Carolyn is a former member of the Spartanburg Bike & Pedestrian Commission, a graduate of Spartanburg Regional Hospital Fellows Program, Spartanburg Water Matters Academy, and Spartanburg Citizen Academy. She is a graduate of Leadership Spartanburg, and a member of Leadership Spartanburg Alumni. Carolyn is a previous Chair and charter member of the Emerald Circle, and a lifetime member of Girl Scouts. She and her husband Robert Harbison III are the parents of three Gold Award Girl Scouts, and grandparents of four Girl Scouts. Carolyn currently works part-time at Spartanburg Regional Hospital.
Returning Board Members include, Serita Acker, Director, WISE/Peer, Clemson University; Laura Allen, Executive Director, The Children’s Cancer Partners of the Carolinas, Spartanburg; Jackie Blakley, Dean at Tri-County Technical College, Anderson; Anna Blanton, HR Manager, Milliken & Co., Spartanburg; Kavita Borsum, Vice President, Unique Enterprises, Inc., Anderson; Ruth Cate, Attorney, The Cate Law Firm, Spartanburg; Gloria Close, Owner of Webb Close Consulting, Spartanburg; Hammond Edwards, Senior Vice President and Senior Lender, Optus Bank, Columbia; Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, Carolina Distinguished Professor School of Journalism & Mass Communications at USC, Columbia: Vice President of System Planning at University of South Carolina; Lillian Brock Flemming, Council Member for the City of Greenville, Greenville; Frances Griggs, Senior Vice President and General Counsel AgFirst Farm Credit Bank, Camden; Debbie Hamm, Education Consultant, West Columbia; Latrice Johnson, Manufacturing Engineer, Colgate-Palmolive Company, Grenwood; Barbara Kirkland, Senior Compliance Manager at Unum, West Columbia;; Maggie Meekins, Attorney with South Carolina Department of Social Services, Columbia; Lesley R. Moore, Attorney with Freeman and Moore, PC, Greenville; Liying Shen, Senior Engineer with BMW Manufacturing Co., Greer; Courtney Thomas, Director of Communications, WREN, Greenville; Shawn Williams, Chief Human Resources Officer, Richland Two School District, Columbia.
For more than 105 years, Girl Scouting has helped girls develop positive values and become active, responsible leaders in their communities. Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of South Carolina – Mountains to Midlands serves more than 10,000 girls and adults in 22 counties of central and western South Carolina, including Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Sumter, and Union.
