Keynote Speaker
David R. Tillman, PhD
David R. Tillman, PhD is a tenured Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health at Campbell University. His work focuses on the intersections of public health, faith, ethics, community engagement, and institutional leadership.
Tillman is a Global Fellow with the Leading Causes of Life Initiative and an Interfaith America Faith and Health Fellow. He helped lead Campbell University’s Faith in the Vaccine initiative, partnering with the tribal communities and Indigenous-rooted Baptist congregations in eastern North Carolina to address vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, historical mistrust, and the religious questions shaping health decisions.
He also leads Harnett County’s SOLVE overdose prevention initiative, a countywide collaborative that places faith leaders, people with lived experience, public health professionals, behavioral health providers, and other community partners in shared leadership and decision-making roles. The initiative has expanded community naloxone distribution and access to medications for opioid use disorder and was associated with a 72% reduction in fentanyl-positive overdose deaths over two years.
Tillman is the author of The LAMP Lens: A Field Guide, published by Interfaith America, which grew from his work bringing lived wisdom, academic expertise, moral wisdom, and professional expertise into community health partnerships. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Fragile X Foundation and a recipient of the Special Olympics North Carolina Golisano Health Leadership Award.
Rev. Beth Crissman
Beth Crissman is an ordained elder in the Western North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church, where she serves as a District Superintendent and Director of Peacebuilding Ministries.
Rev. Phillip Cooper
Reverend Philip Cooper is a Western North Carolina native, reentry leader, and criminal justice reform advocate. He is the Founder and Chief Change Agent of Operation Gateway Inc., which leverages lived experience to transform lives and reduce the stigma surrounding recovery and reentry. He also founded Voices of Affrilachia, a state-funded initiative addressing behavioral health stigma in marginalized communities across Appalachia.
He has been named SAMHSA’s 2024 Innovator of the Year, a Bank of America Neighborhood Builder, and a 2025 TIME Magazine CLOSER Honoree. He serves on the North Carolina Juvenile Justice Planning Committee and the North Carolina Rural Health Transformation Program Advisory Committee, chairs the Asheville NAACP Labor and Industry Committee, and serves on the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County Board.
As Pastor of Friends of John Recovery Ministry, he remains committed to the belief that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution.
Stokes Ann Hunt
Stokes Ann is a registered nurse with over 40 years of healthcare experience. Her last 14 years were at Cone Health where she was the Executive Director of the Office of Philanthropy, responsible for the Annie Penn Foundation, Alamance Regional Medical Center Foundation and operations for the department. She has been embedded in the community and worked closely with rural health and underserved populations. Stokes Ann is nationally certified in Healthcare Quality and had been certified in Foundations of Faith Based Community Nursing with Atrium Health. She is a volunteer with the Cone Health Congregational and Community Nurse Program, serving First Presbyterian Church in her hometown of Reidsville, NC. She serves on many boards throughout Rockingham County and is closely involved with many community organizations. She is excited to share her thoughts on the challenges and barriers within our communities and what work First Presbyterian Church has done to help educate their church members and the community regarding mental health and substance misuse.
Rev. Wes Pitts
Originally from Atlanta, GA, Wes is happy to now call NC home. He’s a graduate of Queens University of Charlotte, where he received a BA in History, and McCormick Theological Seminary, where he received a Master of Divinity.
After serving as the Director of Christian Education at First Presbyterian, Statesville, NC for 5 years, Wes accepted a call to be pastor at First Presbyterian, Reidsville in October 2019.
Wes is not only the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, he’s an active member of the community. He’s the chair elect of the Reidsville Chamber of Commerce board, active with the South End Elementary PTO, a judge for the Reidsville-2 precinct the Rockingham County Board of Elections, and on the Wentworth PTA Baseball/Softball program board.
Wes is also active in Salem Presbytery, currently serving as moderator of the Permanent Judicial Commission and the Racial Equity Equipping training team. He previously served on the Commission on Ministry, Peace and Justice Task Force, and as a commissioner to the 225th and 226th General Assemblies of the PC(USA).
Outside of ministry, Wes enjoys running, cooking, mixology, reading, traveling, and cheering on his favorite teams – the Atlanta Braves, Buffalo Bills, and Georgia Bulldogs. Wes is married to Liz Whittington and they have one son, Walt. They also have two dogs, Penny and Rosie, and a cat, Bootsie.
Dustin Mailman
Dustin is a United Methodist pastor at Trinity Methodist Church in Asheville who offers a “ministry of loitering” – connecting with those on the streets, the unhoused, and marginalized. Dustin is a graduate of Appalachian State with a seminary degree from Candler School of Theology at Emory University.