Board of Directors
The Community Home Trust Board of Directors is made up of one third Home Trust homeowners, one third elected officials and one third community members. Board Members can serve two consecutive three year terms.
Mary Bratsch
President
Mary joined the Board in 2006. She is a Home Trust homeowner in Pacifica Cohousing, a sustainable co-housing development in Carrboro. She and other Pacifica residents create and maintain a strong, vibrant community by working together to protect the environment, conserve resources, and encourage diversity. Mary is working toward a Ph.D in Education. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling, traveling, doing yoga, and cooking.
Alan Lee
Treasurer
Alan moved to Chapel Hill in 2008 after living 33 years in Washington, D.C., in search of a better life-style in a smaller community. With many years of experience in commercial real estate and finance, he has volunteered to help the Trust. Alan’s CPA practice is as a part-time Chief Financial Officer for a group of small business and non-profit clients. He lives with his wife, Christina Cornell and their Dalmatian, Flicka.
Bruce Runberg
Secretary
Bruce L. Runberg serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities Planning & Construction at UNC-CH. He previously served six years on the Town of Chapel Hill Planning Board and is a member of many Town committees. A graduate of the US Naval Academy and the University of Minnesota, Bruce generously brings his skills in engineering and management to our Board.
Jess Brandes
Board Member
Jess Brandes came to Chapel Hill in 2007 to get her Masters in City and Regional Planning at UNC. She currently works at CASA, a nonprofit affordable rental housing developer. Jess lives in Carrboro and enjoys playing tennis and singing.
karaoke.
Cresha Cianciolo
Board Member
Cresha Cianciolo is a registered nurse and clinical trials coordinator at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Raised in Massachusetts, she has lived in Florida, California and North Carolina, having first moved to the Research Triangle area in 1978. Cresha believes that developing affordable housing in Chapel Hill needs to be a key priority in maintaining its vibrancy and livability. Her “fun” interests include gardening, yoga, ballroom dancing and water painting. Some of her paintings are displayed at a local art gallery. She has lived in Chapel Hill for over twenty years with her husband, George and their two rescue dogs, Tira and Chloe.
Jacquelyn Gist
Board Member
In 1987 Jacquie Gist served on the steering committee that lead to the founding of the Orange Community Housing Corporation which through the years became the Home Trust.She served on the Board of Directors for the OCHC for four years. Jacquie has been an Alderman for the Town of Carrboro for twenty years and now represents the Town on the Home Trust Board of Directors.
Eric Hallman
Board Member
Eric is a serial entrepreneur having founded and managed numerous biotechnology startup companies. With training in neurobiology he is also a scientist and a passionate educator. Eric’s current venture is Kryosphere which provides biostorage and biorepository services to universities, biotechnology companies, and pharmaceutical firms. Eric is also an elected official serving his second term as a Commissioner for the Town of Hillsborough. Eric is married to accomplished entrepreneur Elizabeth Woodman, founder of Eno River Publishing. They share the challenge of maintaining an historic house and two dogs in downtown Hillsborough. Eric is also a jazz trumpet player and founding member of the Triangle Jazz Orchestra and the Jazztones sextet.
Michael Hansen
Board Member
Mike joined the board in 2006 after purchasing a Home Trust home in Larkspur in 2005. He and his wife, Allie, are actively involved in Orange County by serving as board members and volunteers in various organizations such as the Affordable Housing Alliance and the Carrboro Department of Parks and Recreation. One of Mike’s goals as a Board Member is to extend the same opportunity that he and his family received through the Home Trust to other families living and working in Orange County. He also intends to ensure Home Trust homeowners interests and rights are protected as the Home Trust model continues to evolve. Mike is an IT Specialist in data analysis for Fed CSCi Asset Management.
Pamela Hemminger
Board Member
Pam has served as an Orange County Commissioner since 2008. She joined the Home Trust Board in 2009. She has served on numerous boards and commissions including the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School Board, the Chapel Hill Parks & Rec Commission, the Chapel Hill Greenways Commission and the Chapel Hill Transportation Board, and numerous other boards. She is married to Brad Hemminger, a Professor at UNC. They have four children and have lived in Chapel Hill for 23 years. They like outdoor hiking, sports and gardening.
Lisa Inman
Board Member
Lisa was elected to the Home Trust board in October 2008. She has been a homeowner in the Legion Road Townhome community since November 2006, where she currently serves as President of the Townhome Owners Association. Lisa is the Director of Law School Financial Aid at UNC Chapel Hill, having previously worked at the Duke University School of Nursing and with the UNC Department of Housing and Residential Education. Lisa has been a member of the Chapel Hill community since shortly after moving here from Long Island, NY in 2000. Without the Home Trust, she and her son would have been forced to move elsewhere, when she decided to purchase her first home. Lisa is excited to serve on the Board and is committed to ensuring the long-term viability of affordable housing in our community.
Jaimie Lee
Board Member
Jaimie Lee is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and became a homeowner thanks to the Community Home Trust in the summer of 2011. She currently works as an Academic Counselor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel hill. Lee graduated cum laude from Emory University in 2004, receiving a B.A. in French studies and music. After graduation, she was a Mellon Fellow and graduate assistant, traveling to Senegal, Ghana and South Africa. She also worked in marketing for Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP in Atlanta, and in public relations in Atlanta and Los Angeles. From 2005-2006, Lee participated in a teaching assistant program in Nantes, France.
Jim Merritt
Board Member
Jim is a native of Chapel Hill who graduated from Lincoln High School in 1961. He went to college in Hampton, Virginia and worked in the local school district in Hampton until his retirement as a school principal in 2004. Jim served on the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2008 and 2009 and was appointed to the Town of Chapel Hill’s Comprehensive Plan Initiating Committee.
Gene Pease
Board Member
Gene Pease is a Chapel Hill Town Council Member. He is President, CEO and Board Member of Capital Analytics, Inc. The company has made breakthrough discoveries in linking the investments in human capital to business outcomes using predicative analytics. He is married to Pamela Pease, pop-up book artist and owner of Paintbox Press, and has two daughters, Tiffany, design director for the San Jose Mercury News, and Heather, sales director for the Boston Breakers.
Jonathan Weiler
Board Member
Jonathan Weiler is a faculty member and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Global Studies at UNC Chapel Hill. He has owned his Home Trust home since 2003 and is a blogger for the Huffington Post in his spare time.