Gov. Josh Stein announces members of WNC Recovery team

Press release from the office of Governor Josh Stein:

Today, Governor Josh Stein announced that he has hired six people who will play a key role in western North Carolina recovery efforts, including leaders of the newly-established Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC) and the new Division of Community Revitalization (DCR) within the Department of Commerce.
“Supporting western North Carolina is going to be an all-hands-on-deck initiative that requires a team with diverse experiences and skillsets,” said Governor Josh Stein. “I am grateful to each of these leaders for prioritizing urgency, focus, transparency, and accountability as we work to rebuild the region.”

Matt Calabria, Director of the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC)  

Matt Calabria comes to GROW NC after serving for nearly a decade on the Wake County Board of Commissioners, where he has worked to strengthen Wake County’s K-12 education system, implement measures to feed food-insecure children, and expand opportunities for early childhood education. Calabria authored the WakeWorks program, the county’s nationally recognized workforce development program, and helped lead a successful effort to pass a public transportation plan designed to alleviate traffic and provide transportation options for all residents. In his role, he has also focused on public safety, housing affordability, arts funding, parental leave, and veteran homelessness. Outside of his work, Calabria has served on the board of the Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education, as a member of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s Leadership Council, and a State Policy Fellow with the Hunt Institute. He and his wife Molly are proud residents of Fuquay-Varina, where they live with their young daughter, Eleanor, and their dog, Rascal. They are members of Christ Church in Raleigh.

Emily Williamson Gangi, Chief Deputy Director for GROW NC 

Emily Williamson Gangi is a native of western North Carolina who resides in Morganton and Durham. She serves as policy director for the North Carolina Department of Information Technology and helped secure $1.53 billion of federal funding to provide high speed internet access to all homes and businesses in the state by 2030. She previously served in strategic policy roles at the UNC School of Government and the North Carolina Community College System. She was a vice president at Western Piedmont Community College for many years and has been honored as Burke County Woman of the Year and UNC Distinguished Young Alumna. Emily earned degrees from UNC Chapel Hill and Appalachian State University.

Eliza Edwards, Director of Community Partnerships for GROW NC  

Eliza is a life-long western North Carolinian, born, raised, and growing her family in Haywood County. Prior to her appointment as Director of Community Partnerships at GROW NC, Eliza Edwards served on the North Carolina Office of Strategic Partnerships (OSP), first as a Policy Analyst and then as the Deputy Director. In this role, she oversaw OSP operations to ensure success in identifying, launching, and enhancing cross-sector partnerships between state government agencies, research institutions, and philanthropy. Edwards previously served on Governor Roy Cooper’s policy team, and before that spent time in the nonprofit sector with the World Affairs Council of Oregon and First United Methodist Church of Waynesville. She has a BA from UNC Chapel Hill and a Grant Writing Certificate from Western Carolina University.

Stephanie McGarrah, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Commerce Division of Community Revitalization 

Stephanie McGarrah previously served as Executive Director of the North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office. A native of western North Carolina, McGarrah most recently worked with the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) to help identify, measure and address health care workforce shortages across the state. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Policy at the North Carolina Healthcare Association (NCHA) and as a consultant for UNC Health and taught and conducted policy research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 2007 to 2013, Stephanie served as Assistant Secretary at the North Carolina Department of Commerce. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from UNC Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University.

Holly Jones, Director of the Governor’s Western North Carolina Office 

Holly Jones will serve as the Director of the Governor’s Western North Carolina Office. She served as then-Attorney General Josh Stein’s Western Policy Advisor from 2017 to 2024, overseeing several initiatives addressing victim services and public safety. She was a local elected official for fifteen years with the Buncombe County Commission and the Asheville City Council. Prior to her time at NCDOJ, she was the Executive Director at the YWCA Asheville and was the YWCA USA ‘s Southeast Regional Director. Holly Jones is a life-long North Carolinian, having arrived in western North Carolina 29 years ago. She obtained her undergraduate degree from UNC Chapel Hill, her Master of Divinity from Duke University and her Master of Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill.

Jonathan Krebs, Western North Carolina Recovery Advisor 

Jonathan is Governor Josh Stein’s Western North Carolina Recovery Advisor. For the past 20 years, Jonathan has worked with residents, governments and communities to rebuild from nearly every major disaster since Hurricane Katrina. He has led the design and implementation of programs that restore housing, infrastructure and small business. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in Business Administration. Jonathan and his wife have two sons.