Board of Directors 2025
- Jack Paksoy, Chair
- David Bartholomew, Vice Chair
- Ela Twigg, Treasurer
- MaLeah Raymer, Secretary
- Hector Salgado, Ex-Officio
- Annelise Hagedorn
- Ameena Batada
- Sebastian ‘Cory’ Seithel
- Lori Hedrick
- Priya Ray
Staff
Vicki Meath, Executive Director
Vicki Meath (she/her) came to Just Economics with a background in community organizing. She has worked on environmental, social and economic justice issues ranging from responsible oil and gas drilling to protecting health and human services in the Ohio state budget. In 2006, Vicki worked with Let Justice Roll and Cleveland Jobs with Justice on the successful campaign to raise the state minimum wage and continued to work with Jobs with Justice on the Cuyahoga County Living Wage Campaign and other worker justice issues. Vicki has a strong commitment to and passion for economic justice work. Vicki has a daughter and has lived in the Asheville area since 2007. She is involved in a variety of community activities and lives in West Asheville.
Sam Stites, Living Wage Program Coordinator
Sam Stites (he/him) is a Transylvania County-based organizer and policy advocate with experience in labor and political organizing. He joined the staff as a member of the Living Wage Coalition of Transylvania County, a former member of JE’s Board of Directors, and a graduate of Voices for Economic Justice. Having moved to WNC in 2018 to care for a loved one, he quickly became involved in movement and coalition building, and is thrilled at the prospect of continuing to strengthen rural organizing infrastructure in the greater-WNC counties with Just Economics. Sam received a master’s in city & regional planning from UNC–Chapel Hill where he focused primarily on economic security, labor in North Carolina, civil justice issues, and wages. He loves exploring WNC, hiking and swimming, and his two cats.
Seimy Mendoza, Community Organizer
Seimy Mendoza (she/her) is a passionate community organizer, educator, and advocate originally from Honduras. With over a decade of grassroots organizing experience across Central America and the United States, Seimy is dedicated to building collective power, amplifying underrepresented voices, and creating lasting, community-led solutions. Rooted in the belief that change is not just possible but inevitable when people come together with a shared vision, Seimy’s work centers care, solidarity, and justice. She is a graduate of Voices for Economic Justice and brings experience in event coordination, project management, and movement building to every space she enters.
When she’s not building bridges for change, you can find her dancing, hiking the beautiful trails of Western North Carolina, capturing life through photography, or spending time with animals – lifelong passions that keep her grounded in joy, and community.
Mike Holmes, Community Organizer
Mike Holmes (they/he) is a black queer native of Buncombe County. They have spent their years in the area as an artist, musician, board member and wage worker in various industries and disciplines, where they developed skills in community organizing and event coordination. This experience has fueled a passion to organize those around them to obtain better treatment from employers and support mutual aid networks in order to directly help others in need. Amplifying the stories and voices of people who have been historically oppressed is important to Mike, and he has done so through history archival and through sharing his knowledge of Black Asheville’s history with those who aren’t familiar. Mike loves to make and play music, DJ, skateboard, shoot film photography, walk his dog Bear, and hang out with their lovely partner and their partner’s children.
Emma H. Nguyen, Operations Manager
Emma is an animal-obsessed, abolitionist, gardener who is passionate about building resilient, caring, accessible, liberated communities. With a background in community organizing, event coordination, project management, campaign development and facilitation, Emma uses her virgo powers to keep things running behind the scenes at Just Economics. Originally from the rural foothills of North Carolina, Emma lives in Asheville’s Southside neighborhood with her husband Thom, Archi the hound dog and a flock of backyard chickens. She believes that with a little humor, some courageous companions, a few spreadsheets and a belief in a better world, anything is possible.