Board of
Directors
Tori Kaplan
Board Chair
Tori Kaplan is the Chief Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Officer for Truist. She partners with the company’s executive, business, and strategy leaders to develop, formalize, and promote Truist’s corporate responsibility initiatives to align with the bank’s purpose, mission, and values.
In her role, Kaplan analyzes external trends and benchmarks to inform near- and long-term goals; builds relationships with internal and external partners to advance Truist’s sustainability goals; and works across the enterprise to ensure corporate responsibility practices are embedded throughout the business. She also has oversight of the Truist Charitable Fund, Workplace Giving and Enterprise Volunteerism.
Ben Allison
Board Treasurer
Ben serves as an engagement leader in PwC’s Private practice, based in Charlotte. He brings more than 15 years of experience working with privately-held companies in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, entertainment. He has assisted clients with complex technical accounting matters, financial reporting, mergers and acquisitions, various capital-raising activities, and other business challenges.
Elizabeth Anne Dover
Board Member
Elizabeth Anne Dover is the owner and manager of Dover Vineyards and The Farm at Dover Vineyards, a 7-acre vineyard and 6-acre produce farm in Concord, NC. She studied at Davidson College and NCSU, obtaining degrees in Medieval Studies and Horticulture, respectively. She has worked in vineyards and wineries in New Zealand, Australia, and all over North Carolina. She enjoys teaching cooking classes and conducting wine tastings as well.
Aarti Tandon
Board Member
Aarti Tandon is the CEO of Smart City Expo USA where she convenes top global CEOs, NGOs, government officials, and cutting-edge innovators harnessing AI, big data, blockchain, and the $1.6 trillion global smart city marketplace to build future-ready, globally competitive, and sustainable 21st century cities.
A seasoned lawyer, filmmaker, and producer, Aarti has been working at the intersection of entertainment + technology + justice for two decades. She is most well-known for having secured a rare Presidential Commutation at just 33 years old.
Aarti has represented Grammy-nominated artists, filmmakers, magazine publishers, and more. She has organized high-level delegations for the U.S. State Department in advance of the 2014 World Cup, consulted for Derek Jeter’s The Players’ Tribune, and worked on will.i.am’s sustainable joint venture with Coca-Cola, EKOCYCLE. Aarti facilitated the City of Columbia, SC giving Jay-Z a key to the city, and José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen feeding the most vulnerable in Augusta, GA during the pandemic. Most recently, served as Head of Strategic Partnerships for will.i.am’s AI platform, fyi.ai.
Blair Primis
Board Member
With over 20 years of experience in marketing communications, creative direction, and social networking, Blair is a seasoned marketing leader who specializes in driving demand and growth for businesses in the healthcare sector and standing up bespoke teams and strategies.
As the Chief Marketing & User Experience Officer for OrthoCarolina, he combines the strategic functions of marketing with a deep understanding of patient experience.
Throughout his career, he has built and led high-performing creative teams that deliver best-in-class work products and results. Blair also has experience in various strategic initiatives, board memberships, and advisory roles that demonstrate his passion and commitment to the healthcare community and the creative industry. Also an active mentor and coach, he enjoys teaching and speaking on topics such as effective marketing disruption and evolution, leadership, maximizing team performance, change management, and planning.
Tom Ford
Board Member
Tom is an internationally known food safety expert who has experience in food microbiology, food technology, cleaning and sanitation, pest prevention, auditing, and analysis of food safety metrics. He has worked in food safety roles for Jewel Foods, Harris Teeter, Steritech, Fresh Management, Ecolab and has been leading the Food Safety and Quality Assurance programs at Compass Group since 2019. Compass Group was awarded the International Association for Food Protection Black Pearl Award in 2023. Tom has a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and a Master of Public Health from Benedictine University and is a Certified Professional for Food Safety. He is a member of many food safety organizations including the International Association for Food Protection, the Conference for Food Protection, the Association for Food and Drug Officials, and the National Restaurant Association. He has been involved in food safety for over 35 years and has career long passion for food safety culture and organizational behavior.
Carla Scott
Board Member
Carla M. Scott is a highly accomplished professional with over 25 years of leadership in community engagement and fund development. Her experience includes cultivating strategic partnerships and spearheading successful initiatives, exemplified by her creation of the innovative “Senior Nutrition Mobile Food Pantry” program. A decisive and empowering leader, she has a proven track record of effectively managing teams and resources, honed through her role and long-term leadership in assisted living. Carla brings the same level of dedication and care to her professional endeavors at DreamKey Partners, where she currently serves as Director of Community Engagement and Fund Development. When not working, Carla is spending time outdoors exploring great music, great food and great people.
Barbara Worley, Ph.D.
Board Member
Barbara Worley, Ph.D. is a food and culture research expert and consultant. Her primary research focuses on the relationship between food and culture through the use of critical discourse analysis. Dr. Worley’s food and culture work has been published in the international peer reviewed journal Food, Culture, and Society, and presented at conferences and symposia both domestically and internationally.
Dr. Worley graduated with a B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill in Management and Society, a Masters in Extension Education from North Carolina State University, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Science Communications from the University of Georgia. She also holds additional Ed.D. work from North Carolina State University studying International Extension, including food, culture, and agricultural economics research at the University of Zagreb in Croatia.
As a university county faculty member and Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent for nearly two decades at three universities across the South (the University of Florida, North Carolina State University, and the University of Georgia), she specialized in chronic disease prevention, food safety, and food preparation education through the dissemination of research-based information. In April 2023, Dr. Worley joined NC State University as the Director of N.C. Cooperative Extension in Mecklenburg County where she focuses on community resource development and urban agriculture across the local food system.
In addition to her expertise in food and culture studies, Dr. Worley also focuses research on agricultural innovations related to their overall global and domestic socio-cultural impacts, and offers implications in these areas using her model to convey cultural awareness and intelligence. While at the University of Georgia, she participated in a two-year USDA/SCRI multi-university grant where her work examined agricultural commodity and turfgrass innovation communications. Her agricultural innovations and communications research has been published in peer reviewed journals including Advancements in Ag Development, the Journal of Agricultural Education, and the Journal of Applied Communications.
