Melanie Bunn, RN, MS
Melanie Bunn is a nurse, teacher, trainer, speaker, coach, consultant, researcher, mom, daughter and sister. She combines these roles with a love of travel and a fear of boredom to create a way of supporting herself and her family while improving the lives of people with dementia and their care partners. She is associated with Dementia Alliance of North Carolina, Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care, Bunn Consulting, and Duke University School of Nursing. She recently completed an assignment as the Visiting Nurse Scholar for the Duke Health System.
Melanie received her undergraduate degree in nursing from UNC-Chapel Hill (1983), her Master’s Degree from Clemson University (1987) and a Post-Master’s Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Certificate from Duke University (1991).
She is a skilled and experienced advanced practice nurse and nurse educator, conducting over 200 presentations and trainings annually to health professionals, community organizations, first responders, families and others. She volunteered as an Alzheimer’s Support Group Facilitator for over 25 years.
Isley Cotton, MSW, MDiv
Isley Cotton serves as Youth Suicide Prevention Coordinator with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Injury and Violence Prevention Branch. Isley has more than 16 years of social work experience with underserved populations in the public health, social services, and public school settings. Isley received a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Methodist University, Master of Divinity degree from Liberty University, and Master of Social Work degree from the University of New England-Portland.
Orlando Dobbin, Jr., M.Ed, NCC
Orlando Dobbin, Jr. is the Eastern Regional Director with the North Carolina Public School Forum’s Center for Resilience and Learning, where he partners with schools across Eastern North Carolina to help them build trauma-informed environments that strengthen student and staff well-being and resilience. An Eastern North Carolina native and graduate of Appalachian State and UNC-Chapel Hill, Orlando began his career as a foster care house parent, Gear Up program coordinator, and school counselor in Guilford, Chatham, and Wake County Public Schools. Today, he leads professional development, coaches school teams, and supports the implementation of strengths-based, resilience-centered practices that remove barriers and create conditions for students and adults to thrive. Outside of work, he enjoys the outdoors, storytelling, and competing in triathlons.
Jamie Gallagher DNP, FNP-C, MSCP
Jamie is a doctoral-prepared, board certified family nurse practitioner and a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner. She is the owner and founder of Peri & Pause. She has served as a nurse practitioner in the Triangle area of North Carolina since 2009 in family medicine, urgent care and women’s health. She is an active member of The Menopause Society, the HERmedicine Provider Alliance, the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health. She is also a proud military spouse, mother of four and grandmother of three.
Rodney E. Harris, Phd, LCMHC-S, NCC, ACS, BCC, BC-TMH
Dr. Rodney Harris is an intervention scientist who divides his time between training, research and consulting within the greater Raleigh, NC area. He is the Co-Founder of Village of C.A.R.E., a community based education organization; and an Associate Professor at The Chicago School (PHD Counselor Education and Supervision program (online). He is also a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor with over 25 years of clinical, administrative and supervisory experience.
Dr. Harris utilizes Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to improve health disparities and design intervention, prevention and postvention programs in black and brown communities (with a focus and emphasis on suicide and trauma). This successful model has utilized the barbershop, religious entities, skating parks, centers for the unsheltered and community centers as intervention points. He is also a member of the distinguished Suicide Prevention Institute (SPI), at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His research interests include: Complicated Grief/Trauma, Suicide in Black and Brown Communities, Clinical Supervision and Program/Design Community Interventions,
Of all the titles and roles, his most important title is the role of husband/father and community servant.
Fiorella Horna
Fiorella Horna is a bilingual consultant and owner of Fiorella Consulting & Training Services with 25+ years of experience in health, workforce development, and nonprofit capacity building in North Carolina. She recently joined the NC Council of Churches to advance mental well-being and has served as Special Populations Manager with Hope4NC, supporting disaster mental health recovery in Western NC.
A certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor and adjunct faculty member at Durham and Wake Technical Community Colleges, she teaches the Community Health Worker course in Spanish and serves on the NC Latino CERT.
Born in Lima, Peru, and raised in New York City, Fiorella earned a Bachelor of Health Sciences from Hunter College. She lives in Fuquay Varina, NC, with her husband and remains active in her church, arts, travel, gardening, and community advocacy.
A proud mother, grandmother, cultural broker, and community advocate, Fiorella lives with her husband in Fuquay Varina, NC, where she remains active in her church, enjoys the arts, travel, gardening, and continues to champion equity and community voice.
Victor L Jones, LCSW
Victor has practiced psychotherapy for over 25 years. He has a passion for community-centered resilience education and practice. He is a native of Raleigh, NC, and lives in Rocky Mount with his wife and two children. Victor loves history, art, nature and intentionally reclaiming the wisdom that makes all humans remarkable. He is the designer of the Art Expression Tunnel commissioned for the Stronger Together Conference held in Rocky Mount, NC first suicide prevention conference focused on Black Youth. Victor Jones is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist (LCAS), Senior Certified Resilience Educator of Reconnect for Resilience™ and Neuro-Somatic Intelligence Coach, Victor has designed, co-designed and supervised programs to assist people suffering traumatic experiences chemical dependence, intimate partner violence and anger management. Victor is the designer of the Art Expression Tunnel commissioned for the Stronger Together Conference 2026, held in Rocky Mount, NC’s first suicide-prevention conference focused on Black Youth.
Rev. Richard Joyner
Reverend Richard Joyner, founder of the Conetoe Family Life Center and a 2019 NCLFC Local Food Champion, began this work after presiding over more than 20 funerals a year at Conetoe Baptist Church in rural North Carolina and recognizing the preventable health crises affecting his community. In 2007, he launched the center to improve health through access to fresh food, physical activity, and education. Its 25-acre campus includes gardens, trails, classrooms, and a CSA program that teaches youth academic skills through farming while strengthening community wellness. By 2014, the program had reduced emergency room visits and improved health outcomes and graduation rates. The son of a sharecropper, Joyner now champions food sovereignty and community-led solutions, earning national recognition including the Encore Purpose Prize and being named a CNN Top 10 Hero.
Dr. Tobias E. LaGrone
Dr. Tobias E. LaGrone is a seasoned professional with over three decades of experience in pastoral leadership and the human services sector. In addition to serving as a Senior Pastor and licensed clinician, he has been a past board chair of Guilford County’s Community Action Agency, a Human Relations Commissioner for the city of High Point, and a community-focused behavioral health clinician. Dr. LaGrone has led addiction prevention efforts, helping Guilford County pain management clinics implement evidence-based screenings and overdose prevention strategies. He holds multiple clinical licenses, including Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist (NC) and Master Addiction Counselor (NAADAC), and currently serves as Community Outreach and Faith-Based Coordinator for NCDHHS DMHSUS while teaching as adjunct faculty in Biblical Counseling and Healthy Practitioner Spiritual Formation at Grand Canyon University. He earned his bachelor’s in political science from Jackson State University and holds a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Care, Counseling, and Congregational Soul Care from Memphis Theological Seminary.
Rev. Amanda Rigby
Rev. Amanda Rigby is the Executive Director of The Well Mental and Spiritual Care, a nonprofit practice of therapy, spiritual direction, life coaching, and community classes in downtown Raleigh, NC. Amanda also serves as the Pastor of Christian Education & Spiritual Formation at Edenton Street United Methodist Church. Amanda practices as a trained spiritual director and is passionate about advocating for mental health care in churches and communities.
Charlton Roberson
Charlton Roberson is an accomplished Harm Reductionist and Qualified Mental Health Professional with over 20 years of experience in mental health and substance abuse services. As a person with lived experience and over 27 years in recovery, Charlton combines clinical expertise with authentic, empathetic care. His professional career spans harm reduction outreach, crisis intervention, program management, and executive leadership across a range of behavioral health and recovery support settings.
Michelle Snyder
Michelle Snyder has been a key member of the Soul Shop team since its inception in 2014. With her background in both social work and theology, Michelle is uniquely equipped to spearhead this movement across the globe. She has led presentations in 42 states and 4 countries, and has been a featured speaker at several national and state-level conferences.
Michelle is also the co-author of Life, Death, and Reinvention: The Gift of the Impossibly Messed-Up Life. Beyond her work in suicide prevention, she is a mental health therapist, executive leadership coach, church consultant, and a devoted mother of two young adult daughters. In addition to being a clergy spouse, Michelle is working on a Doctorate of Ministry in missional theology. She is an avid reader, global traveler, and foodie.
Reginald Wells
Rev. Dr. Reginald Wells is a pastor in the Missionary Baptist tradition. He is a nationally recognized leader with 40 year career in strategic leadership and public service and has pastored churches of all sizes. Across his decades of ministry, he has ministered to many people in suicide crisis, mental health crisis and experiencing desperation and has organized mental health ministries to address those challenges head-on through his preaching and outreach. In addition, Dr. Wells personally understands the impacts of suicide and desperation on people and communities through his own experience as a loss survivor and a military veteran.
Dr. Wells earned a Bachelors and a Master in Divinity Degree from Shaw University, Raleigh, NC and his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching and Leadership from United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He is currently serving as the 3rd Vice President of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Inc.; Foundation Board of Fayetteville State University, has preached in and is spearheading a development project in Liberia and is an active member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Dr. Wells is the author of two publications, Pastoral Leadership Styles: Their Effects on the Growth of a Congregation and Leading When You Don’t Know the Answers. He continues serving as pastor of a thriving congregation in Fayetteville, NC.
Brynn White
Rev. Brynn White, M.Div., is a board-certified chaplain (APC) with over 14 years of professional experience. She offers a grounded, compassionate presence and creates space for healing, meaning, and renewal. She is passionate about providing professional pastoral counseling at the intersection of psychology, mental health, and spirituality to support individuals processing trauma, grief and loss, and life transitions. She is a North Carolina Board of Practicing Pastoral Counselors candidate, and prior to opening her private practice, she worked in the Department of Veterans Affairs for 12 years as a clinical mental health chaplain and later as a supervisor of chaplains. Her private practice serves both faith communities and individuals, offering “Transforming Grief” groups, as well as one-on-one sessions with those who are seeking to transform their grief and suffering into resilience and vitality. She is also an accomplished speaker and presenter at the intersection of spirituality and mental health. You can learn more about Brynn and her trauma-informed services at www.outpatientchaplain.com, or by emailing her at info@outpatientchaplain.com