AEI Staff Lourdes A. Karas While AEI’s mission is to provide arts education advocacy, research and program services in West Virginia, the organization’s leaders are immersed in the fulfillment of its ambitious objectives. In fact, it is one woman’s passion. Lourdes (Lou) A. Karas serves as the executive director of The Appalachian Education Initiative, a role that she accepted with great determination in 2005. Armed with nearly thirty years of experience in the administration, design and evaluation of arts and education programs, Lou applies unmatched professional qualifications and working knowledge to the many existing and future courses of action within AEI. The comprehensive results of Lou’s efforts are evident, given the organization’s impressive momentum since its inception. Under her leadership, AEI has become a visible organization in the region, as it recently became the West Virginia affiliate of the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network. AEI receives continuous praise and support from respected businesses and individuals, accolades that can be attributed to Lou’s ongoing cultivation work. Lou earned a bachelor of arts degree from Allegheny College and a master’s degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining AEI, Lou held several positions, including interim executive director, with the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Lou also held the position of director of education and special programs with The Kingsley Association, also located in Pittsburgh. Quite active in the community, Lou serves on several non-profit boards of directors, which include Arts Advocacy West Virginia and Arts Monongahela. She also serves on the West Virginia Department of Education’s 21st Century Schools Advisory Council and the Advocacy Committee of the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network. Melanie Skeen Gregory Since attending West Virginia University for undergraduate and graduate school, Melanie Skeen Gregory claims Morgantown as her home. Upon earning a bachelor of arts degree in English and a master’s degree in public administration, it was most fitting for Melanie to establish professional roots with The Appalachian Education Initiative. Prior to joining AEI in March of 2004, Melanie provided invaluable training to West Virginia’s Community Mental Health Centers in the development of a psychiatric telemedicine network. Previously, she also served as the Director and Education Coordinator of the West Virginia Business College. While in graduate school, Melanie spent a semester as a West Virginia legislative graduate intern, a role in which she worked directly with and for state legislators in various capacities such as budget analysis, speech writing, media relations and legislative creation and analysis. Melanie recently completed the Education Policy Fellows Program of the Center for Education in Appalachia at Fairmont State University. Melanie’s background has positioned her to be a key member of the group as she enables, inspires, and encourages others through public relations efforts that promote AEI. As the organization’s director of community relations, She creates strategic partnerships with local, educational and governmental sectors to develop the participation and support of individuals and groups needed to fulfill AEI’s mission and objectives. Melanie, her husband, Matt, and their son, Eli, make their home in Morgantown AEI Board of Directors Jennifer Francis Alkire In December of 2001, Jennifer and her father, Michael Francis, founded AEI. During this time, Jennifer served as the organization’s first executive director, and then accepted the role as president, which consisted of leading AEI’s daily operations for four years. Today, Jennifer serves as president and chairperson of the board of directors. Alkire’s passion and commitment to AEI creates a results-oriented culture uncommon in many of today’s non-profit organizations. Donors, students, parents, board members, and staff are all quick to recognize the success of this unique approach. Jennifer graduated with honors from West Virginia University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Immediately following, Jennifer obtained a master’s degree from Radford University in industrial/organizational psychology. Motivated, hard working, and seemingly tireless, Jennifer pressed on to earn a doctorate of jurisprudence from the West Virginia University College of Law. As a practicing attorney, Jennifer was employed by the West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Highways, in Charleston, West Virginia, as an employment lawyer. In addition to her dedicated work with AEI, Jennifer is a member of the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, and she has served as an adjunct lecturer in business law at the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics. She is currently employed as an employment lawyer by the West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Highways, in Morgantown. She, her husband, Craig, and their daughter, Reese, and family dog, Tango, make their home in Morgantown. Dr. Francene Kirk Dr. Kirk is an associate professor in the Department of Speech Communications and Theatre at Fairmont State University where she specializes in theatre education. She holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from West Virginia University. Dr. Kirk taught in West Virginia public schools for 16 years and has directed over 50 high school, college and community theatre productions. From 1998 to 2000, she was the coordinator for the arts at the West Virginia Department of Education. Ashley M. Harman Ms. Harman is a Girl Scout leader with Girl Scouts of Southwestern Pennsylvania and is a volunteer with the Monongalia County Read Aloud Program. She, her husband, Ed, and their three children, make their home in Morgantown. Lacy Neff Mr. Neff is the Program Director and afternoon personality at WVAQ-FM Radio in Morgantown, West Virginia. He is the recipient of the 2008 Personality of the Year – Large Market by the West Virginia Broadcasters Association. In 2006, he was named Small Market Personality of the Year by the National Broadcasters Association. Elizabeth Francis Elizabeth “Libby” Francis serves as the inspiration for AEI’s mission. She is the mother of Michael Francis and grandmother of Jennifer Francis Alkire, the co-founders of the Francis Foundation for the Arts, now the Appalachian Education Initiative. Mrs. Francis is a retired secondary music teacher and theater director and lives in New Martinsville, West Virginia. Originally from Clarksburg, West Virginia, and educated in the Harrison County public school system, Mrs. Francis earned a Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia University in 1942, and later earned a Masters of Music degree from WVU in 1963. She also studied at Penn State University both prior to receipt of her Masters and subsequently. She as awarded a drama certificate from Ohio University in 1980. In 1985, Mrs. Francis was honored as the recipient of the Academic Excellence Award from the state of West Virginia. Her legacy began upon her employment as an elementary school teacher in Clarksburg, West Virginia in 1942-43, at Central Jr. High School in 1943-44, and at Washington Irving High School from 1943 through 1945. She taught music education to adults at the West Virginia University Extension in New Martinsville from 1963-65. She was a Fred Waring workshop staff member for Waring Enterprises, Delaware Water Gap, where she conducted music workshops for teachers and youth from the late 1960s through the early 1970s. She taught music, chorus, and musical theater in New Martinsville at Magnolia High School and surrounding schools from 1959/60 to her retirement in 1993. Beginning in 1988 and continuing through the present, Mrs. Francis serves as the Director of Theater Activities for Parks & Recreation in New Martinsville, and from 1993 through the present, she has served as the chairperson of the organization. Also from 1993 to the present, Mrs. Francis has acted as producer and director of the Community Musical Theater. During her tenure as an educator, theater director, and choral master, she touched thousands of lives and has had a profound impact on the direction and quality of the lives of a significant number of her former students who returned to honor her upon her retirement in 1993.
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