Board & Staff

Board of Directors

Elizabeth wilcox
Board Chair

Elizabeth is an Urban Planner with a consulting practice in Durham. Although she was raised in California, Elizabeth made her way to the east coast to earn an undergraduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Masters in Planning from UVA.

Elizabeth is one of the original founders of TreesDurham. She believes trees improve lives by providing clean air, shade and beauty and works tirelessly to ensure that all people have access to trees and the benefits that they provide. Elizabeth's favorite street tree is the London Plane Tree, which in Katie Rose's opinion, makes up for the fact that she graduated from UNC.

Brittany Curry
Vice Chair

Brittany Curry is the Director of Development, Marketing and Communications at Global Scholars Academy. Curry joined Global Scholars Academy in 2017 and Durham is so lucky to have her.

Prior to joining GSA, Curry served as an industry leading marketer at Johnson & Johnson. While there she managed local and global businesses including JOHNSON’S®, BAND-AID® Brand Adhesive Bandages, AVEENO®, and LISTERINE®. She has corporate experience in brand management, strategy development, innovation, media, and finance, agency experience in marketing campaign planning and execution and talent management, and non-profit education experience in fundraising strategy, marketing and communications. Basically she can do almost anything and look good doing it.

Born and raised in Atlanta, GA, Curry holds a Bachelor's degree in Public Relations and English from Hampton University and a M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Kenan – Flagler Business School with certifications in Marketing and Sustainable Enterprise.

Berrian Puma

Berrian has worked in Research and Development for the consumer-packaged goods industry for more than 23 years. For the first 20 he worked for Procter and Gamble, on the oral care business with assignments in Caracas, London, Mexico City and Cincinnati. More recently he moved to Durham to lead the Research and Development team for Burt’s Bees, a leading natural personal care brand.

Berrian was born and raised in Venezuela and has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the “Universidad Simon Bolivar." He has been actively involved in Hispanic youth since his arrival to the US in 2003.

Mel Downey-Piper

Mel Downey-Piper is the Vice President of Health Strategies for the American Heart Association in the Triangle. Prior to that, she worked for 11 years at the Durham County Department of Public Health as the Health Education Community Transformation Director and Partnership for a Healthy Durham Coordinator.

Mel holds a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Dr. harold dorrell briscoe

Dr. Harold Dorrell Briscoe is a writer, speaker, pastor, and public theologian. He focuses on the intersectionality of race, religion, law, and power. He is married to Tracy, and a father to Luke, Noah, Amelia Hope, and Ella Grace.

Dorrell also taught at the university level as an adjunct professor teaching public administration, management, and leadership to undergraduate students. While teaching, Dorrell pursued and was awarded a master’s degree in Theological Studies at Liberty University in 2015. Dorrell finished his Doctor of Ministry degree at Duke University in 2017. He has a strong passion for the local church, politics, racial justice, equality and international affairs.

He is the founder and Lead Pastor of The Six:Eight Church in Durham, North Carolina. Six:Eight’s vision is to build a gospel community that is intentionally diverse, cross-cultural and neighborhood-centered by engaging and developing ministries in Downtown Durham and the Hayti Community.

Marcy Lowe

Marcy Lowe, is the founder and CEO of Datu Research. She has 25 years of experience in economic analysis and public policy, with a focus on land use, rural development, and climate resilience. Marcy is a big fan of trees, pollinator gardens, and healthy soil and is responsible for hundreds of trees being planted across Durham.

Before establishing Datu, Lowe was a senior analyst at Duke University’s Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness, where she mapped out supply chains for carbon-saving technologies and for selected agricultural commodities. As a senior researcher at the Washington, D.C.-based Worldwatch Institute, she analyzed land use issues. Lowe’s op-eds and more than 40 articles have appeared in Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Technology Review, and others. She received her M.S. in Energy Management and Policy from the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania.

John Hykes

John has devoted his life to creating beautiful, sustainable, and functional landscapes for people to enjoy. With over 20 years experience in landscape architecture projects ranging from public sector parks and streets involving significant community participation to residential design his love for trees and plants is intrinsic to his work. He enjoys working with clients to develop designs that bring functional and beautiful gardens to life.

One way or another, John's work has always brought him into the dirt. He has managed crews of hundreds as the chief landscape architect on multi-year, multi-million dollar urban parks projects, while also dug more backyard bungalow drainage ditches on sweltering July afternoons than he can count. We love having people who think big and dig big helping TreesDurham!

Cavett French

Cavett is a Durham native with degrees from Duke University and the University of Chicago. She spent most of her career as a librarian in a public library near Pittsburgh, although she did do a few years of work in a health sciences library. Never underestimate the power and passion of a librarian.

Upon moving back to Durham for retirement, she got interested in street trees as infrastructure. The first thing she realized was how important trees are aesthetically to a neighborhood, but as she continued learning she came to understand the myriad benefits trees offer us. The disparity in trees and tree spaces according to economic status was quite a learning experience and it is one of her primary motivations at TreesDurham.

Cavett was one of the founding members of TreesDurham. Without her amazing back porch, mint iced tea, organization and passion none of this would have happened. Katie Rose, and Durham at large, owes Cavett a tree sized depth of thanks.