ASHEVILLE, N.C. (December 5, 2018) – Dogwood Health Trust is pleased to announce the addition of two members to its Board of Directors. The Board has confirmed Vivian Bolanos (Henderson County) and Jacquelyn (Jackie) Shropshire Simms (Buncombe County) as new members.
Vivian Bolanos has lived and worked in Henderson County since 2000, first working at Roper Insurance Agency in Hendersonville and serving as a General Education Development Instructor at Blue Ridge Community College. Currently, Ms. Bolanos is Vice President and Business Development Officer for First Bank, a position she has held since 2013 and includes responsibilities for the development of business relationships for Banking Centers in Henderson, Transylvania and Buncombe Counties. Her eighteen-year experience in management in the service and banking sectors includes leadership positions with Mountain 1st Bank & Trust in Hendersonville & Etowah, NC and Asheville Savings Bank – now First Bank – in Hendersonville, NC. She held several positions at Carolina First in Hendersonville.
Ms. Bolanos is a committed community advocate and volunteer and serves as a board member for the United Way of Henderson County, Safelight (formerly The Healing Place/Mainstay), and Pardee UNC Health Care. Recently, she was appointed by Governor Cooper to serve as a member of the Blue Ridge Community College Board of Trustees. Ms. Bolanos attended the University Estatal of Cuenca, Ecuador – Law School, and she is currently attending the North Carolina School of Banking at Chapel Hill.
“I recognize the incredible responsibility of this Board appointment and feel honored and grateful to serve,” said Vivian Bolanos. “I will give western North Carolina and Dogwood Health Trust my very best.”
Jackie Simms has been a passionate advocate for education and children with hearing impairment for over 50 years. As a teacher in the State’s Early Intervention Program for Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, she has worked with families of children who were deaf or hard of hearing and with county interagency coordinating councils in all 18 of the westernmost counties of North Carolina. She served as Director of the Preschool Satellite Program of the Western North Carolina School for the Deaf. Ms. Simms is an Ethical Culture Officiant and Humanist Celebrant with the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville and serves as the current Vice President of its Board of Directors.
Ms. Simms holds a Master of Education of the Deaf (M.E.D.) degree from Smith College (Northampton, Massachusetts) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Langston University (Langston, Oklahoma). Born in Missouri, she grew up attending segregated schools and moved to Oklahoma at a young age when her father, who himself had to seek higher education outside of his home state due to Jim Crow laws, accepted a job and later became Director of the Division of Education at Langston University, an historically black college. Ms. Simms has volunteered for Building Bridges of Asheville for the past twenty-five years and has filled various volunteer positions for the American Ethical Union since 1978. She also has been a member and correspondent for the Mountain Area Interfaith Forum. In 2016, Ms. Simms was presented with the Martin Luther King, Jr. award by The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County. In 2018, she was honored for having served on the Board of the Ethical Society of Asheville from its founding in 2001.
“Serving on the Board for Dogwood Health Trust is such a wonderful and unique opportunity,” said Jackie Simms. “I am truly grateful to have this opportunity to be a part of a team that is charged with making real and positive change in the lives of western North Carolinians.”
“From the beginning, Dogwood Health Trust made an intentional pledge to the entire 18-county region of western North Carolina, and we have continued to evolve to more closely reflect, fully understand, and meaningfully serve the region,” said Janice Brumit, Board Chair of Dogwood Health Trust. “We are honored to add Jackie and Vivian and to now have a group of 11 extraordinary leaders, all of whom have demonstrated their commitment to serve as an engaged, thoughtful and strategic Board that will lead Dogwood Health Trust in its important work.
Dogwood Health Trust has a bold purpose, to dramatically improve the health and well-being of all people and communities of Western North Carolina. With the completion of the contemplated transaction between HCA Healthcare and Mission Health, Dogwood Health Trust will focus on the social determinants of health. It is now well understood that our health is impacted by myriad factors independent of the delivery of medical care. The Trust will partner with others including nonprofit leaders, state and local government leaders, other funders, and academicians to understand and meaningfully enhance the known drivers of health and well-being in our region.
“Dogwood Health Trust will focus all of its efforts on opportunities to improve both individual and community health.” Ms. Brumit said. “We are incredibly excited about the transformative capacity the Trust brings to systemically address Western North Carolina‘s most intractable barriers to health and wellbeing.”
ABOUT DOGWOOD HEALTH TRUST
Dogwood Health Trust is a North Carolina not-for-profit corporation with the sole purpose of dramatically improving the health and well-being of all people and communities across of North Carolina. Dogwood Health Trust is the successor foundation of the not-for-profit Mission Health System should the proposed transaction with HCA Healthcare move forward. To learn more, please visit https://dogwoodhealthtrust.org/.
Appendix: New Board Member Biographies
VIVIAN BOLANOS
Vivian Bolanos has lived and worked in Henderson County since 2000, first working at Roper Insurance Agency in Hendersonville and serving as a General Education Development Instructor at Blue Ridge Community College for the Spanish Community. Currently, Ms. Bolanos is Vice President and Business Development Officer for First Bank, a position she has held since 2013 and includes responsibilities for the development of relationships for businesses for four Banking Centers in Henderson, Transylvania and Buncombe Counties. Her eighteen-year experience in management in the service and banking industries includes leadership positions with Mountain 1st Bank & Trust in Hendersonville & Etowah, NC and Asheville Savings Bank – now First Bank in Hendersonville, NC. She also held several positions at Carolina First in Hendersonville. Ms. Bolanos is a committed community advocate and volunteer and serves as a Board member for the United Way of Henderson County, Safelight (formerly The Healing Place/Mainstay), a board position she’s held since 2011, and Pardee UNC Health Care. Additionally, she was appointed recently to serve as a member of the Blue Ridge Community College Board of Trustees. Fluent in both Spanish and English, Ms. Bolanos attended the University Estatal of Cuenca, Ecuador – Law School, and she is currently attending the North Carolina School of Banking at Chapel Hill.
JACKIE (JACQUELYN) S. SIMMS
Jackie Shropshire Simms has been a passionate advocate for education and children with hearing impairment for over 50 years. As a teacher in the state’s Early Intervention Program for Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, she has worked with families of children who were deaf or hard of hearing and with county interagency coordinating councils in all 18 of the westernmost counties of North Carolina. Additionally, she served as Director of the Preschool Satellite Program of the Western North Carolina School for the Deaf. Ms. Simms is an Ethical Culture Officiant and Humanist Celebrant with the Ethical Humanist Society of Asheville and serves as the current Vice President of its Board of Directors. She is past President of the Final Exit Network of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Ms. Simms holds a Master of Education of the Deaf (M.E.D.) degree from Smith College (Northampton, Massachusetts) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and from Langston University. Born in Missouri, she grew up attending segregated schools, and moved to Oklahoma at a young age when her father, who himself had to seek higher education outside of his home state due to Jim Crow laws, accepted a job and later became Director of the Division of Education at Langston University, a historically black college. After completing her education, Ms. Simms returned to Missouri and worked predominantly for the Special School District of St. Louis County, until relocating to Asheville in 1990. Ms. Simms has volunteered for Building Bridges of Asheville for the past twenty-five years and has filled various volunteer positions for the American Ethical Union for the past 40 years – since 1978. During the summers of 2004 and 2005, Ms. Simms worked on evaluating the written tests of candidates for National Board of Professional Teaching Standards Exceptional Needs Specialist certification. She has also been a member and correspondent for the Mountain Area Interfaith Forum. In 2016, Ms. Simms was presented with the Martin Luther King, Jr. award by The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville & Buncombe County. In 2018, she was honored for having served on the Board of the Ethical Society of Asheville from its founding in 2001 to 2018. A widow, she along with her husband of 47 years, have one adult daughter.