With ten years of classroom experience, elementary teacher Lauren Beck knows a thing or two about children and the compassion they need to thrive as learners and leaders. In addition to serving as a hard-working second grade teacher in Buncombe County Schools (Asheville, NC), Lauren is a busy mom whose home is filled with the delightful squeals of laughter and love from her nine-year-old twin girls, Ryleigh and Braelyn, and four-year-old son, Liam.

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College is committed to providing meaningful, valuable, and equitable educational opportunities for its students and the communities in which they serve. Currently, all of A-B Tech’s health and nursing programs are led by women, including newly named Dean of Allied Health Angie Goodwin and Nursing Chair Christy Andrews.

For twenty-four years, Norma Melton has worked behind the scenes of the Mountain State Fair Ministry to make a big impact on the lives of fair workers. She is definitely a “Game Changer” when it comes to the business of serving others.

Jennie Harpold has been the director of Lee-McRae College’s New Opportunity School for Women (NOSW) for over ten years, yet she has been helping women achieve their professional goals for her entire career.

Born in California to two Vietnam War refugees, Linda Yang understands perseverance and the challenges of adapting to a new culture. Today, she shares her testimony as a Co-Author in the International Bestseller Women Who Dream by Kate Butler, in hopes that other First Generation Americans will realize that they are not alone.

As the Outreach Coordinator for Henderson County, Stephanie Barbosa works directly with the police department, as well as the fire department and EMS, to translate for Spanish speakers who are often in crisis. While she also helps to coordinate community events and refers to her professional role as a bit of a “jack-of-all-trades,” her main responsibility is to break down any language barrier that exists between first responders and the people in need of their help.

Originally from Hialeah, Florida, Rhonda was a single mother, living completely on her own at seventeen. “I would not wish single-parenthood or teen parenthood on anybody,” she says. “It was really hard. I raised my son single-handedly. I put myself through school.”