Board of Directors
Erica Lyon, MPH, President, Maternal Child Health Advocate and Educator
Erica Lyon has been a Maternal Child Health Advocate and Educator for 25 years. She has worked extensively with nonprofit and for profit entities developing education, counseling and advocacy programs for expectant and new families. She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Development with a focus on Maternal Child Health and a Master’s in Public Health from George Washington University, and is the Author of The Big Book of Birth, a coping manual for expectant couples. She is the mother of three, and has committed her professional and personal life to supporting women achieving their goals and dreams.
Lawrence Alexander, CPA, Vice president, LBMC
Lawrence is a Senior Manager in the Audit and Advisory group at LBMC. She manages financial statement audits for clients in a variety of industries including healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, non-profit organizations, employee benefit plans, and captive insurance companies. Lawrence is a member of the Board of Directors of Mental Health Association of East Tennessee, a member of the United Way of Greater Knoxville Outcome Based Investment Committee, and a sustaining member of the Junior League of Knoxville. She enjoys being outdoors and spending time with her husband, Brent, and two sons, Brooks and Houston.
Pat Conry-Taylor, CPA, Treasurer, Conry-Taylor and Morrow CPAs PC
Pat graduated from Vanderbilt University and has been a practicing CPA since 1984. After gaining exceptional experience at area firms, she opened her own firm in 1988. She provides consulting, tax and accounting services to medical practices and business owners. She specializes in assisting clients in interpreting the language of finance and tax so they can better understand their options and be in control of business decisions and strategies. Pat is married with two daughters and enjoys volunteering for local organizations.
Dona Bunch, Secretary, Beacon of Hope
Dona Bunch is the director of Beacon of Hope, a non-profit serving the South Knoxville community. She has seen first-hand the need for organizations focused on supporting women in their personal family planning. She joined the board of A Step Ahead East to help serve young women in mapping out their future goals.
Jo Lynn cunningham, Ph. D.
Jo Lynn Cunningham is a retired UTK Professor of Child and Family Studies, and as a self-proclaimed life-long nerd, she now takes a UTK graduate class each semester (each in a different discipline but many related to health and policy issues). She has a passion for social justice and has been involved with many community programs in various roles; she is an active community volunteer and currently is administrator (a volunteer position) of the Behavioral Health Awareness Coalition of East Tennessee, and she has served as board president for both the Mental Health Association of East Tennessee and the Florence Crittenton Agency. She has over half a century of experience with program evaluation (much of it with health-related programs), and through both her professional background and volunteer experience, she has become familiar with unfortunate consequences of unwanted pregnancies; her dream world is one in which all children grow up in families and communities where they are wanted and loved and where they are supported by adults with the resources (including emotional, cognitive, and spiritual as well as financial) to become happy and successful members of their communities and the world.
Kay C. Free, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Susannah's House
Kay is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who also specializes in Trauma Therapies. She has been trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and utilizes these skills serving as a therapist for Susannah's House, an intensive outpatient program for mothers struggling with addictions. Kay learned about A Step Ahead East through her work at Susannah's House, and she quickly saw how these two great organizations could work together to break generational cycles that have prevented these women from succeeding in life and becoming the best they can be.
Monica Harrison-Maples, senior health physicist
Monica Harrison-Maples is a senior Health Physicist, sometimes known as a Radiation Protection Engineer, working in Oak Ridge, TN, for many years. She has worked with several community-based organizations to improve the Knoxville area affordable housing situation, public school disciplinary practices, law enforcement practices surrounding mentally ill people, and the sex education of our children. She has a Bachelors of Science in Health Physics from Georgia Tech and is a mother/step-mother to five adult children. Monica learned about A Step Ahead through her work with Erica Lyon on sex education issues in Knox County. She sees how important this work was in empowering women to control their lives and reproductive futures.
Courtney Herda, CEO, Smarter Searches
Courtney Herda is the CEO of Smarter Searches, an award-winning digital marketing agency. She also teaches Digital Marketing Strategy at the Haslam School of Business at the University of Tennessee. She has been involved with the board since 2017.
Stephanie Howard, PA, Tennessee GYN
Stephanie is a full time practicing Physician Assistant specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. She is also adjunct faculty for the South College Physician Assistant program. Stephanie has developed an online program for teenage females 7-12th grade, which provides comprehensive teenage female education. The program is a 4 week series and each girl has direct access to Stephanie for any questions. She also has a series for 5th graders that covers changes associated with their bodies. Stephanie also has an Instagram page that can be followed by teenagers, mothers, physician assistants, and physician assistant students that addresses female facts and also is a way for parents to start a dialogue with their young teen.
Jennifer Rand, M.Ed.
Jen has been in education for over 25 years as a teacher, leader, and consultant. Having a Masters in Ed Leadership, she is expanding her professional focus through becoming a Doctoral student in Organizational Leadership and Change. Jen is a mother of an amazing daughter, who is in the pre-veterinary program at UT, so she passionately wants to support other women reaching their personal goals.
Sierra Turner, MPH
Sierra N. Turner began her involvement with A Step Ahead East as an intern during the Summer of 2019. It was during that time where her advocacy for young adults bloomed. Currently, she is a board member of ASAFET and a recent graduate of the Master's of Public Health program at University of Tennessee.
Dr. Martha Buchanan, Past President & Advisor at Large, Knox County Health Department
Martha is the director of the Knox County Health Department (KCHD). She joined KCHD in 2004 as the assistant public health officer, was promoted to public health officer in 2006, and took on the role of director in 2010. She graduated from Carson Newman College and East Tennessee State University James H. Quillen College of Medicine. She is board certified in family practice and is a member of the American Academy of Family Practice and the Tennessee Academy of Family Practice.
Kathy Brown, PhD, MPH, Advisor at Large, University of Tennessee Department of Public Health
Kathy directs the Masters of Public Health program at the University of Tennessee and teaches graduate courses in program planning, management, and health systems. I have taught undergraduate courses on many health-related topics including sexuality, substance use and abuse, women’s health, and health education methods.
She spent eight years working for the Knox County Health Department, initially as the regional epidemiologist, and then as the Director of Community Assessment and Health Promotion. She serves on a number of community Boards that focus on social issues from early childhood literacy to long-acting reversible contraception to youth leadership.
She spent eight years working for the Knox County Health Department, initially as the regional epidemiologist, and then as the Director of Community Assessment and Health Promotion. She serves on a number of community Boards that focus on social issues from early childhood literacy to long-acting reversible contraception to youth leadership.
We're recruiting board members with a fundraising focus! Click below for more details and how to apply.
Interns
A Step Ahead East has partnered with the University of Tennessee Nursing Program to give interns clinical experience in the reproductive health community.
