Executive Director
Membership and Community Coordinator
Program Director
Development Manager
Music Producer and Social Media Innovator
Board Chair
Vice Chair
Treasurer
Secretary
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Board Member
Elinor TappeElinor (Ellie) Tappé serves as Executive Director of Strategic Advancement at The Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at UVA, where she helps shape and realize the strategic objectives of the School. With a 25-year history in strategic planning, development and communications, Ellie has held a variety of leadership roles in the corporate sector, as well as higher education and nonprofit. Her experience in philanthropy and communications spans more than a decade and includes UC Berkeley, Larkin Street Youth Services and The University of Virginia.
By leveraging her unique background, Ellie designs entrepreneurial initiatives that drive significant philanthropic support and deepens brand awareness. She’s recruited and coached high-performing teams on a regional and national level and continues to mentor development professionals across the country. In line with her extensive DEI training, Ellie incorporates the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of management, strategic planning and communications.
Jordan Perry
Pablo DeLaLoza
Shelby EdwardsShelby Marie Edwards (she/her/hers) is a proud alumna of the Music Resource Center! Shelby is born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia and is a proud Charlottesville High School Alumna. Before moving back to Charlottesville, Shelby worked in the arts sector in Chicago doing everything from fundraising at large organizations to teaching on the south and west sides of Chicago. Shelby believes that learning never stops and that every day is a gift. With an M.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University, Shelby still maintains that the best lessons can only be learned by doing. A former member of the Chicago Slam Poetry team “Lethal Poetry”, Shelby is a performer and in her free time can be found taking dance classes, writing or singing. By day, Shelby serves as the Executive Director of the Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents (PHAR)
Music Producer and Social Media Innovator – orion@musicresourcecenter.org
Immortal Atlantean, after whom the constellation is actually named, Orion Faruque is a producer, artist and multi-instrumentalist based in Charlottesville VA who specializes in creating high quality, creative records. A BS in Music Production gained in St Paul MN (2014), expertise using recording studios as instruments and years of experience leading his band, Orion and the Melted Crayons, help Orion educate the future of Charlottesville in the professional music industry. Orion is an avid longboarder, home chef, vinyl collector and loves to be on tour.
Membership and Community Coordinator, Dance Instructor – ike@musicresourcecenter.org
Ike began his dancing career over fifteen years ago as a former MRC member and now serves as our dance and digital music production instructor as well as our Membership and Community Coordinator. He is well known in the area for his choreography for local theater and high school productions as well as for his acting. Ike enjoys watching MRC’s students grow and develop as they spend time in the Center. He brings a unique perspective to the MRC approach having experienced the program on both sides as a student and instructor.
Paul G. Zmick, PEBoard Member
Paul leads the Energy and Utilities team for the University of Virginia in Charlottesville Virginia. Distributed utilities are provided for over 18 million square feet of facilities, including the University Medical Center. The Energy and Utilities team is responsible for energy procurement, generation, distribution, and operation, maintenance, and renewal of the utilities infrastructure, with a strategic focus on safety, sustainability, and stewardship.
Prior to UVA, Paul worked for DuPont and Koch Industries for a combined 22-years across five manufacturing sites in various engineering and leadership roles.
Two of Paul’s children attend MRC and have been able to explore music, jam with friends, and produce songs.
Hunter SmithBoard Member
Hunter Smith is the owner of Champion Brewing Company and its retail arm, Champion Hospitality Group. Hunter grew up in the beverage business, working alongside his parents at Afton Mountain Vineyards, where he continues to have a role. Along with brewing and distributing beer and wine across the mid-Atlantic, Hunter believes in giving back to the community. He has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Waterboys, the signature initiative of the Chris Long Foundation, bringing clean water to East Africa. Hunter also serves on the boards of the Virginia Craft Brewers’ Guild, Piedmont Housing Alliance, and New Hill Development Corporation. Hunter lives in Charlottesville with his family.
A.D. CarsonBoard Member
A.D. Carson is a performance artist and educator from Decatur, Illinois. He received his Ph.D. in Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design at Clemson University doing work that focuses on race, literature, history, and rhetorical performances. A 2016 recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for Excellence in Service at Clemson, Carson worked with students, staff, faculty, and community members to raise awareness of historic, entrenched racism at the university through his See the Stripes campaign, which takes its name from his 2014 poem. His dissertation, “Owning My Masters: The Rhetorics of Rhymes & Revolutions,” is a digital archive that features a 34 track rap album and was recognized by the Graduate Student Government as the 2017 Outstanding Dissertation.
Carson is an award-winning artist with essays, music, and poetry published at a variety of diverse venues such as The Guardian, Quiddity International Literary Journal and Public-Radio Program, and Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, among others. His essay “Trimalchio from Chicago: Flashing Lights and the Great Kanye in West Egg” appears in The Cultural Impact of Kanye West (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), and “Oedipus—Not So Complex: A Blueprint for Literary Education” is in Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop’s Philosopher King (McFarland & Co., 2011). Carson has written a novel, COLD, which hybridizes poetry, rap lyrics, and prose, and The City: [un]poems, thoughts, rhymes & miscellany, a collection of poems, short stories, and essays.
Carson is currently assistant professor in Hip-Hop and the Global South at the University of Virginia.
Executive Director – director@musicresourcecenter.org
Alice Fox became the Executive Director of the MRC in September 2016 but has been a part of the MRC since 2013 when she joined the planning committee for Party Like a Rock Star(PLARS). Alice has been a part of PLARS ever since and was invited to join the MRC board in 2015. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and her Masters in Clinical Psychology with a focus on child development. Alice is also the proud mom of 3 children.
Program Director – lucas@musicresourcecenter.org
Lucas is a guitarist, singer & composer who started at the MRC as a member circa 2005. With a degree in Music & Music Business from NYU, a foot in the local music scene as leader of the rock band, Breakers, and experience in various facets of the music industry, Lucas hopes to educate and help students navigate their way through the ever-changing, ever-expanding world of music.
Development Manager – katie@musicresourcecenter.org
Katie joined the MRC as Development Manager in June of 2017, and previously served 2 years as Membership Coordinator. She has a Masters degree in Gifted Education from the University of Virginia, plays the bass and most brass instruments, and taught swing dancing for several years. In addition to her wife and dogs, she loves camping, her vegetable garden, and Excel spreadsheets (really!).
Community Coordinator – jahmila@musicresourcecenter.org
Jahmila is a Visionary. She expresses her creativity through a wide range of outlets such as music, dance, art, fashion & writing. Even though she’s a New York native, cold weather isn’t her cup of tea; Palm trees & sunny skies are her vibe. She loves spending time at waterparks, in nature & most of all enjoys collecting crystals & seashells.
Lester JacksonBoard Member
Lester Jackson, stage name ‘Nathaniel Star’, is an MRC Alum. When he’s not fiendishly recording music for his own projects, he’s writing or recording vocals for someone else’s. He has shared the stage/ studio with Grammy award winning artist. “ I joined the MRC board because this place is special to me, I still see myself in these students”.
Ande EarnhardtBoard Member
Ande is a self-employed architect, mother of 2, and former chair of the MRC’s premier fund raiser, Party Like a Rockstar. She has been involved with the MRC since 2013 and recognizes the impact that space can have on collaboration.
Mike MooreBoard Member
Mike Moore is currently a Partner and Chief Commercial Officer at WillowTree LLC. Prior to WillowTree, Mike held board-level roles in digital publishing, advertising, commerce, and product development for companies like AOL and Telegraph Media Group in London.
Mike is a graduate of Temple University and holds an MBA from The George Washington University. Mike was a member of the 1992 US Olympic Rowing Team for the Barcelona Games
Chair
Brooke Chapman Correll fell in love with rock ’n’ roll early in life thanks to her teenage siblings’ hand-me-down record players and 45’s. A former VP Marketing at MTV: Music Television, Correll is currently a Charlottesville-based branding consultant working with a hive of colleagues in San Francisco, New York and Chicago. She’s lectured and taught MBA’s at Duke, Stanford and Darden. On the side, Correll teaches SLOGA®: fun, musically-infused yoga classes. For more information visit www.killerbc.com.
Secretary
Colleen Minnock Chulis is a Vice President at TransPerfect, the world’s largest privately held provider of language services and technology solutions, based in NYC. Colleen is a proud mother of 3, loves Cville, and sang before she could talk.
Chair
Mike is an attorney with Lenhart Pettit in Charlottesville and serves as legal council to the MRC. Mike has spent over five years on the MRC Board and is an active community advocate who also chairs the Legal and Policy Committee on the Board of St. Anne’s-Belfield School.
Board Member
Ben is a communications strategist, songwriter, and graduate student in public policy at the University of Virginia’s Batten School. He previously served as the Director of Communications for Madison House, the student volunteer center at U.Va.
Board Member
I have lived in Cville since the early 60’s, attended city schools and UVA, worked for Martin Horn since 1983, president since 2000. Oversaw construction on projects such as the Charlottesville Pavilion, The Jefferson Theater, and the MRC. I serve on the boards of BGF, VSH, the B & G Club. I love food, music and travel. And volunteering.
Board Member
Before joining BackStory, Jamal Millner spent 20 years as a professional guitarist, producer and composer touring North America, Africa, Australia and Europe. He has performed with Taj Mahal, Vusi Mahlasela, Ali Farka Toure’, Dave Matthews Band, Corey Harris, John Jackson, Nicholas Payton, and countless others on stage and in the studio. Jamal has performed at the Montreaux Jazz Festival, Chicago Blues Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Bonnaroo, Byron Bay Blues Festival, San Francisco Jazz Festival, and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Jamal is also an accomplished audio engineer with credits on numerous works in various genres and forms of media.