Meet the Mountain Strong Team

Mountain Strong was founded by seven women who grew up in Yancey and Mitchell counties. Friends since childhood, a longstanding group text turned from life updates to critical communication after Helene, and Mountain Strong was born.

Until March 2026, Mountain Strong operated on a 100% volunteer basis. We received a capacity building grant at the end of 2025 that allowed us to make our first full-time hire to establish an executive director so that we could continue the work we started. Any compensation for personnel comes from grants or donations specified for that support.