Advisory Board

Marianne Cockroft
Associate Professor Emerita
UNC School of Nursing
Dr. Cockroft was a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at UNC-Chapel Hill until her retirement in 2021. A nursing educator for a range of educational contexts (i.e., University professor, community college instructor, hospital community educator), Dr. Cockroft’s public and community health nursing, disease prevention, and health and safety promotion work has served populations across the lifespan—from infants to senior citizens—and has mostly addressed high risk behaviors, chronic diseases in aging, and self-care.

Jean Davison
Associate Professor
UNC School of Nursing
Dr. Davison, is a Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at UNC Chapel Hill. She is a certified Family Nurse Practitioner with over 20 years of practice experience. Jean does translational research in Advance Practice Nursing and Public Health. Her  DNP Project publication is ‘” Hypertension Self-Management Support in Primary Care: A Quality Improvement Study”‘. She is also a co-author in “Primary Care RN” certificate manual and online- modules and in 2021 the NC AHEC “Adult Physical Assessment.”  Dr. Davison is co-founder and president of Compassion Med International and has been on various regional and national advisory boards.

Inés Freile
Program Coordinator
Taylor Family YMCA
Inés Freile is an experienced resource administrator and has coordinated a variety of programs including pastoral care activities, community-based initiatives, language development interventions, and crisis management. Currently, she is a Community Support Specialist at the Taylor YMCA, where she serves as point of contact between program participants and community resources. She believes that education is the key to more empowered, productive and stable families.

Jill Straight
Director of Patient Services
Dorcas Ministries
Jill Straight is the director of client services at Dorcas Ministries where she oversees the organization’s crisis ministry, food pantry, and the training and career advancement programs. Jill began her career at Dorcas in 2008 as a volunteer crisis minister and served on the board of directors from 2009 to 2011. Jill joined the staff at Dorcas in 2011 and brought her adult education program management experience to bear as she reshaped crisis services to focus on building clients’ self-sufficiency and stability. Prior to her service at Dorcas, she worked in higher and adult education program management in the United States and abroad.

Shannon Aymes
Assistant Professor of Medicine
UNC Department of Medicine
Dr. Shannon Aymes is an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicines’ Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism. Her clinical and research interests include weight management, population health, and health policy. Her philosophy for weight management includes addressing many of the causes of weight gain including lifestyle, stress, nutrition, exercise, sleep, and medications. She believes that there is never one way to treat weight gain and, therefore, treatment needs to be individualized. In her free time, she enjoys being outside and camping with her family.

Kate Gray
Director of Development
UNC School of Nursing
Kate Gray is the Director of Development for the UNC School of Nursing, working with alumni, donors, and friends, to advance the mission of the School and secure funding for priority areas. As a gifted and strategic fundraiser, Kate has a heart for advancing health and healthcare and has directed development efforts at institutions such as Duke Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and most recently at Carolina’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Kate has over 15 years of experience in development and communications and stays active in her community by contributing time and resources to non-profit organizations in Chapel Hill and Durham.