Our Board

2023 – 2024 Board Members

League of Women Voters Asheville – Buncombe County
North Carolina

Board members follow Board Member Expectations and are elected in accordance with our Bylaws.

Suzanne Fisher, President

Suzanne Fisher’s heart came to the Asheville area in 2010 when she and her husband Marshall purchased a lot outside of Black Mountain; the rest of her arrived in 2013 when their home was completed. Since then she has been a member of the Board of Directors of their community, a regular volunteer at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial and with the Asheville Buncombe County Preservation Society, and recently joined the Guastavino Alliance Board. Her entire career was at the National Institutes of Health outside of Washington, D.C. where she had a variety of research and managerial positions. Her interest in women’s issues started in graduate school. She proudly marched for ERA in 1978, and was a longtime member of the Association of Women in Science. Suzanne recently joined the League and her interest in historic preservation led her to join the 100th Anniversary Committee. She is also the coordinator for the League’s Twitter and Facebook presence. She and her husband enjoy traveling both abroad and in the U.S., especially to be with their son, daughter-in-law and three amazing grandchildren.

Nicole Wheeler-Schumacher, Vice-President

Nicole Wheeler-Schumacher joined the Asheville-Buncombe County League in spring 2018 after relocating to Weaverville from Tampa, FL. Nicole grew up in the metro Detroit area, and graduated from the School of Social Work (MSW) at GVSU in 2002. She is a licensed clinical social worker and has been providing advocacy, support and intervention to survivors of trauma for nearly twenty years. Nicole’s parents instilled the importance of serving one’s community in their children. She recalls hearing stories about her paternal grandfather transporting voters in the Reems Creek Valley to their polling station(s) and accompanying her mother to their MI polling station to pass out rulers on election days. Nicole has organized and participated in marches for women’s, survivors’ rights in DC and in her community throughout her career.  She respects the League’s commitment to community education, advocacy and nonpartisan membership. Nicole’s special interests include access to mental health care/ healthcare coverage for all, crime victims’ rights, voters’ rights, and climate change.  Nicole is working for Mission Health and Helpmate. In her downtime, she and her husband have been reconnecting with nature one hike at a time.

Patricia Hearron, Secretary

Patricia Hearron moved to Asheville in 2015. Prior to that she pursued a career in early education as a preschool teacher, center director, licensing consultant, and finally university professor. Along the way, she and her husband enjoyed several opportunities to travel and live abroad in Paris, Rwanda, and Shanghai. Since retiring, she has walked across Spain on the Camino Santiago, begun tutoring English language learners at the Literacy Council of Buncombe County, and joined the League. As a member, she has participated in several projects: observing Board of Elections meetings, calling candidates to encourage participation in VOTE411 and helping with the Gerrymander 5K. She looks forward to learning from the more experienced board members and deepening her involvement in the League’s century-long work to insure that the rights of our democracy apply to all.

Kathy Schofield, Treasurer

Kathy has been a downtown Asheville resident for seven years. She is Patricia Hearron’s neighbor and sees Patricia’s “Voter” license plate every time she pulls in her own parking space. Kathy is currently the treasurer of hers and Patricia’s condominium association. It was Patricia who stopped her in the hallway to ask if she would serve as the League’s new treasurer. Kathy serves on the League’s voter services committee and is the proud owner of the 10-pound Yorkie mix Rocko, who is LWVAB’s “Voter Dog.” Kathy earned her Bachelor’s at Mount Holyoke College and her MBA at the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. One of Kathy’s earliest memories is putting her hand on top of her father’s as he pulled the leaver in a voting booth in Plymouth Meeting, PA where she attended public school before leaving for Mount Holyoke. She spent her working life in the client service department of three advertising agencies. Before coming to Asheville, she lived for thirty years in the suburbs of Baltimore.

Kelly Carlson, Board Director

Kelly moved to Asheville NC in 2019 after living in Texas for 30 years. Kelly has contributed to the League in past years and joined the Asheville-Buncombe League in 2022 as a way of supporting and promoting free and fair elections. While in Texas, Kelly was active in local elections working in the polls in several capacities including election judge and assistant judge. She also was active in environmental protection efforts including serving on the Board for the local Sierra Club in Dallas and on the City of Plano’s Keep Plano Beautiful Board. When Kelly lived in Austin, she volunteered with Treefolks and the Green Corn Project organizations which build gardens and plant trees in local communities. Since moving to Asheville, Kelly has volunteered with MANNA to provide food to families in need as well as becoming a Treekeeper with the Asheville Greenworks organization. Kelly has an MBA and a degree in math/computer science and has worked in the tech industry her entire career. She looks forward to supporting the League in promoting democracy and advocating for women’s rights.

Nadine Hamby, Board Director

Nadine Hamby moved from Seattle to Asheville in 2006. Her interest in working with nonprofits began right out of college with her very first job as a VISTA volunteer in Los Angeles. Her first job here in Asheville was with a nonprofit in the healthcare field where she met League member, Vicki Willard. Vicki asked her if she’d be interested in working on their website. She was so interested she joined the League. She has enjoyed being a member and contributing her skills. It’s exciting to be a part of an active chapter.

Donna Mann, Board Director

Originally from Pittsburgh, my husband Tom and I moved to Weaverville five years ago from East Texas. He and I were both employed at the University of Texas teaching hospital in Tyler. I got involved with LWVAB registering voters during the 2020 election, and I’m excited to continue with this very dynamic group as we head into the fall elections and beyond!

Cheryl Williams, Board Director

Cheryl is a second generation LWV member who was often recruited by her now 98-year-old mother for League events in the 1970s in West Virginia. After living in Portland OR and Atlanta GA, she and her spouse moved to the Asheville area in 2011. She joined the Madison County member at large LWV group in 2017 and transferred to LWV-Asheville Buncombe when the Madison group disbanded last summer. Before retirement, she was an analyst with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) where she reviewed programs ranging from wildlife management on federal land to emerging infections and pandemic public health planning, among other things. She’s very excited to be working the polls this year in Madison County and expanding her observation efforts to include Buncombe County.

Sharon Withrow, Board Director

Sharon has been a resident of Asheville since 1996 and a League member since 2016. She has volunteered with the Gerrymander 5K in 2017, voter registration at area colleges, and census education in 2020. She is a staff member at UNC Asheville and a volunteer with the Asheville Middle School PTO and the Girl Scouts Peaks to Piedmont Council. Her interest in the League began with her research into the woman suffrage movement in western North Carolina. She is inspired by the League’s commitment to fostering active and informed participation in democracy.