Dogwood Alliance has been greatly anticipating the arrival of our new Advancement Systems Manager, Kelly Ball.
Kelly Ball has lived in Asheville since 2008. Before moving to Asheville, she lived in Moab, Utah working at Arches National Park after finishing a degree in Geology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Kelly led guided tours and worked in programs at the park.
When she moved to Asheville, she began working at the North Carolina Arboretum where she worked with their database, The Raiser’s Edge, which is the same database system that Dogwood uses.
Kelly was at the Arboretum for 4 years before transitioning into the Advancement Department at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa. She worked in their Advancement Department for about a year–again working with their database system–before deciding to return to school to earn her Master’s degree in business while maintaining her position at the college.
When asked what attracted Kelly to Dogwood the most, she said:
“It sounds so nerdy, but the database attracted me most at first, just the opportunity to dive full-in, and then once I got here, the culture–everyone–seems really passionate and caring. People are spending every day working for a cause they believe in and doing good things.”
Kelly is mostly looking forward to increasing awareness of the organization and “the need for funding to keep doing this work that everyone is passionate about,” she says.
Kelly has two daughters, Clementine, 6, and Anathea, 10. “One is in first grade and the other is in fifth grade and they are both wild Leos. Very sassy and fun,” Kelly says. They recently adopted a dog named Bertie.
An avid trail runner, Kelly says, “I’m out there pretty much every day and I’ve been running for 10 years now. I’ll be doing my sixth marathon this fall. If I couldn’t do that I would go crazy.” She explains that growing up in Massachusetts, she would often go for walks and sit outside. “It was just nice to have my spot and go out and read.”
Besides running and liking the outdoors, her other hobbies include reading, dabbling in the fiddle, guitar and piano. Kelly finished her Master’s in Business two days before starting her position at Dogwood Alliance, so she feels like she’s getting used to having a life again. She’s looking forward to sewing, playing music, gardening and being crafty.