Merrie Jo Alcoke
New Bern

Merrie Jo is originally from, and currently resides in, New Bern, NC. She recently served as the Director of the Governor’s Eastern Office. Prior to that time, Merrie Jo was in private practice as an attorney with Ward and Smith, PA, where she specialized in environmental matters, with a focus on coastal regulatory litigation, state and federal water quality permitting and enforcement, and land use planning.

Merrie Jo spent most of her legal career in the NC Attorney General’s Office where she served as a senior coastal attorney for the NC Division of Coastal Management. She has also worked as a certified mediator in NC Civil Superior Court. Merrie Jo is active in her community and is a past Coastal Land Trust Board member.

Bernest Hewett
Bolivia

Bernest is a lifelong resident of Brunswick County, where he has devoted many important and productive hours to helping with the Coastal Land Trust’s Reaves Chapel restoration project in Navassa. Bernest owns a family farm on the Lockwood Folly River. The land has been in their family for generations, and they have put it in conservation with the Coastal Land Trust.

He is a past President of Brunswick County Branch 5452 of the NAACP, was Board Chairman of Southeastern Community Services, and is a member and ordained Deacon of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. Bernest is married to Glenda Hewett and is the proud father of two and grandfather of two.

Ann Simpson
Chapel Hill

Ann grew up in rural Eastern NC and now lives in Chapel Hill where she works with moss+ross, a strategic consulting firm focused on nonprofits in the Triangle region. Ann has served in communications and fundraising positions with environmental organizations such as the US Fish and Wildlife Service and The Nature Conservancy and as executive director of North Carolina Catch, a nonprofit organization that supports local seafood promotion initiatives.

She has also contributed original photography to four UNC Press book collaborations with her husband, Bland, most recently North Carolina: Land of Water, Land of Sky (Fall, 2021). She is a past president of the NC Coastal Land Trust Board of Directors and the NC Sea Grant Advisory Board. Ann is excited to return to the Coastal Land Trust Board and continue to pursue her lifelong passion for protecting the natural landscape of coastal Carolina.

Mary Gregg Tillery
Chapel Hill

Mary was born in Charlotte, North Carolina; and for most of her life has spent summers on the North Carolina coast. Her fondest memories are of time spent with family enjoying the water and activities centered around nature. She currently lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and three dogs. They enjoy hiking, gardening, and spending time with their four grown children.

For the past eight years she has worked for N.C. State University supporting manufacturing in North Carolina. She is happy to see the tremendous economic development happening in our state and feels that now more than ever it is important to protect the natural resources that make North Carolina such a special place to live.

Re-elected for a Second Term

Henry (Hal) L. Kitchin Jr.
Wilmington

Hal was elected to a second term on the Board and will serve as President.

Hal is a partner with the law firm McGuireWoods LLP. He is active in bar and community affairs, including serving previous board chairmanships for the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, the Cape Fear Future Foundation, the Greater Wilmington Chamber Foundation, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and the UNCW Endowment.

Laurie McComas King
Wilmington

Laurie was also re-elected and will serve as Vice President.

Laurie is Senior Director of Drayage Operations at NFI Industries, managing their MCO division on the east coast. Laurie has served as a volunteer with the Coastal Land Trust’s most popular outreach event, the Flytrap Frolic, for several years.