Board of Directors « Nessie Foundation

Board of Directors

Peter Skillern is the Executive Director of the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina a nonprofit agency that uses social entrepreneurship and advocacy for corporate responsibility to realize its mission of promoting and protecting community wealth.Under Skillern’s leadership the agency has created, produced and distributed Nuestro Barrio, a Spanish language telenovella that provides financial education in a soap opera format. The television series is commercially successful and has had national distribution with availability in 50 million households. The agency owns shares in 50 financial institutions for the purpose of asset growth and shareholder advocacy to promote fair lending practices. More than $40 billion of lending commitments to low income communities has been secured as a result of the agency’s work. Skillern’s exposure in the media involves radio interviews including National Public Radio, numerous television appearances, and coverage in more than 250 print outlets including USA Today and the New York Times. Skillern is a member of the Eisenhower Fellowship and as the United States representative to the program’s International Advisory Council he has studied political, economic and cultural systems in Ireland, Mexico, Turkey and Singapore with a focus on the cross disciplinary aspects of social change. He is also a William Friday Fellow for Human Relations, a leadership program based in North Carolina. Skillern graduated with Highest Honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz and earned a Masters in City and Regional Planning with a specialization in Real Estate Development with the Kenan Flagler School of Business at UNC Chapel Hill. Skillern has written numerous policy pieces on housing, community development and financial issues. Prior to his current position, Skillern worked with the National Low Income Housing Coalition and was the Executive Director of the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition where he raised and packaged millions of dollars for affordable housing development. Skillern’s work has won regional and national awards including: the City of Durham’s Affordable Housing Award; the News and Observer Tarheel of the Week; the National Fair Housing Alliance Award for Outstanding Contribution to Civil Rights; the National Community Reinvestment Coalition James Rouse Award for Exemplary Contribution to Economic Justice.

Brad Lovin

John Hurley


Board of Directors Chris Parrish Chris Parrish’s experience in the manufactured housing industry has been acquired through planning, developing and operating Parrish Manor. He has been intimately involved in every aspect of the community and continues to be involved in the day-to-day management of the community. Chris currently serves as the President of the North Carolina Manufactured and Modular Homebuilders Association (NCMHA) and serves on the Board of the Scott Morton Scholarship Committee – NCMHA industry college scholarship foundation. At the national level, Chris serves as the Chairman of the National Communities Division of the Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) and serves on MHI’s Board of Directors. He is also the founder and President of Nessie Foundation, Inc a 501c (3) non-profit that works to assist at-risk youth. He received a B.A. in Political Science from UNC-Chapel Hill and a MBA from Appalachian State University. Chris resides in Raleigh, NC with his wife Colleen, their daughter, Ella and their three black labs. Anthony Parrish Anthony Parrish serves as secretary of Nessie Foundation. He is an owner of Parrish Manor Manufactured Housing Community and is a native of Smithfield, NC. Anthony was active in the local Boy Scout Troop in Smithfield and attended Appalachian State University; graduating in 1997 with a BA in Industrial Technology. For the last 10 years he has been employed with PCX Corporation and currently serves as an Application Engineer. Anthony is an active member of the Garner Lions Club and currently serves as an officer on the Garner Lions Club Board. Anthony currently resides in Raleigh. Peter Skillern Peter Skillern is the Executive Director of the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina a nonprofit agency that uses social entrepreneurship and advocacy for corporate responsibility to realize its mission of promoting and protecting community wealth.Under Skillern’s leadership the agency has created, produced and distributed Nuestro Barrio, a Spanish language telenovella that provides financial education in a soap opera format. The television series is commercially successful and has had national distribution with availability in 50 million households. The agency owns shares in 50 financial institutions for the purpose of asset growth and shareholder advocacy to promote fair lending practices. More than $40 billion of lending commitments to low income communities has been secured as a result of the agency’s work. Skillern’s exposure in the media involves radio interviews including National Public Radio, numerous television appearances, and coverage in more than 250 print outlets including USA Today and the New York Times. Skillern is a member of the Eisenhower Fellowship and as the United States representative to the program’s International Advisory Council he has studied political, economic and cultural systems in Ireland, Mexico, Turkey and Singapore with a focus on the cross disciplinary aspects of social change. He is also a William Friday Fellow for Human Relations, a leadership program based in North Carolina. Skillern graduated with Highest Honors from the University of California at Santa Cruz and earned a Masters in City and Regional Planning with a specialization in Real Estate Development with the Kenan Flagler School of Business at UNC Chapel Hill. Skillern has written numerous policy pieces on housing, community development and financial issues. Prior to his current position, Skillern worked with the National Low Income Housing Coalition and was the Executive Director of the Durham Affordable Housing Coalition where he raised and packaged millions of dollars for affordable housing development. Skillern’s work has won regional and national awards including: the City of Durham’s Affordable Housing Award; the News and Observer Tarheel of the Week; the National Fair Housing Alliance Award for Outstanding Contribution to Civil Rights; the National Community Reinvestment Coalition James Rouse Award for Exemplary Contribution to Economic Justice. Brad Lovin Brad currently serves as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Manufactured and Modular Homebuilders Association. A native of Rockingham, NC, Brad Lovin has worked in many facets of local and state government. A graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC with a BS in Public Administration and Political Science, Lovin has worked at the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety Department as well as with the North Carolina Secretary of State. Lovin currently is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Manufactured and Modular Homebuilders Association (NCMHA). NCMHA is a non- profit trade association who’s mission is to protect and promote the factory built housing industry in North Carolina. NCMHA also advocates for good public policy that balances the public interest and the industry’s interest. During his 12 years at NCMHA, Brad has been active in working on ventures such as the Raleigh Urban Design Project, which won the prestigious Sir Walter Raleigh award in 2001 for outstanding contribution toward enhancing the city’s beauty. He serves as the Past-Chairman of the National Manufactured Housing Executives Council, as President of the North Carolina Young Lobbyist Association, and is a board member of the Association Executives of North Carolina and NC Joint Underwriters. In 2009, Brad was awarded the State Executive of the Year by the Manufactured Housing Institutes. John Hurley John Hurley hails from Roxbury, Massachusetts and attended Boston English High School and Northeastern University in Boston. John served in the U.S. Airforce from 1968-1988 retiring with the rank of Master Sergenat. Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Philippines and Spain are some of the countries he was stationed during his service. After retirement, he held management postions with Hardees Food Systems and Cracker-Barrel restaurants from 1988-2001. From 2001-2007, John joined VAB caterings and assited in restaurant management in Raleigh. From 2007-Today, John works with the Department of Defense with an Air Force Contracting Serive based in Juwait and Iraq. Their is he is repsonsible for the movement of cargo and troops from the US to their final destination in Kuwait, Iray or Afghanistan and then when troops end their tour of duty he does the revers to the troops and their supplies back to the U.S. John’s work schedule is 7 days a week; 12 hours a day for 108 days straight!! When John does relax; he enjoys spending time with his grandkids.