A New Chapter: Joining the Pat Conroy Literary Center as Executive Director

I’m delighted to share some personal news: On September 1, I began a new chapter as Executive Director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center in Beaufort, South Carolina.

For more than 25 years, my professional life has centered on nonprofit leadership, community service, education, and strengthening the organizations and communities I’ve been fortunate enough to serve. Most recently, that work was with Easter Seals North Georgia, where I helped lead one of Georgia’s largest nonprofit early childhood education and family service programs. 

At the same time, another thread has run through my life: books.

Pat Conroy has long been one of the writers who inspired my own literary journey. His fearless storytelling, profound sense of place, and belief in the transformative power of literature helped shape my understanding of what literary fiction can accomplish. To have the opportunity to bring these two parts of my life together feels both extraordinary and deeply meaningful. 

As I shared when the appointment was announced:

“Pat Conroy understood that stories can change the way we see ourselves, our communities, and one another. I am honored to join an organization that carries that belief forward.”

As Executive Director, I’ll be working with the Center’s staff, board, authors, educators, supporters, and community partners to build upon its remarkable legacy. Among the priorities ahead are expanding educational programming, strengthening community partnerships, growing philanthropic support, and broadening the Center’s reach throughout the Lowcountry and beyond. 

Most of all, I want the Pat Conroy Literary Center to continue to be a place where readers and writers feel welcome, where young people discover the power of their own voices, and where Pat’s enduring belief in empathy, courage, and the power of story remains at the heart of the work. 

I’m grateful for the work that brought me here, excited about what lies ahead, and honored to help write the next chapter of an organization devoted to something I have believed throughout my life: stories matter.