Our Board

Alex Williams - President and Founder

Alex Williams is the President and Founder of Fostering Hopes. Originally from England, Alex completed his schooling in Oxford, before working for 4 years as a youth worker in his home community. Alex made his way to North Carolina after meeting his wife Sharon while they were both volunteering in West Africa for 2 years with Mercy Ships. Following their relocation to North Carolina, Alex has spent the last 9 years leading foster care programs in the Western part of the State. Foster Care is a deeply personal issue for Alex, due to the childhood story of his mother. 

Alex and Sharon have two young sons that keep them busy, as they enjoy their family time in the Mountains of WNC.

Bill Austin - Chairman of the Board

Mr. Austin has developed extensive knowledge and experience within multiple industries and businesses, both nationally and internationally, in the areas of corporate finance, treasury functions, cash management, mergers, acquisitions, long term strategic planning, risk management, and administration.  Mr. Austin served as a Director of Selee Corporacion de Venezuela, established corporate entities in Australia and The Netherlands, and has interacted with corporate entities within Europe to include Porvair, BMW, Evonik, BASF, Haniel Group, and Schwarz Group.

Mr. Austin has been involved in providing advisory and consulting services relative to mergers, acquisitions, corporate structure, corporate finance, strategic planning, risk management, and administration since 1998.  Banks, attorneys, and accounting firms have arranged for Mr. Austin to assist clients in the stated areas.  The diversity of industries and markets served has been varied.

In addition, Mr. Austin has been involved in real estate and real estate development since 1982.  Initially structuring transactions for entities in which he was involved, Mr. Austin established in 2006 RESPEC, LLC, a real estate firm that is currently licensed in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee.  Mr. Austin focuses upon land transactions and commercial real estate, and he has closed transactions within states other than those listed.  Mr. Austin has also provided advisory services relative to real estate transactions.

Mr. Austin has also been actively involved in philanthropic work with entities that have efforts within the USA and within a number of countries. As Treasurer of Double Harvest (www.doubleharvest.org), Mr. Austin was instrumental in achieving financial support for efforts in Haiti, Ethiopia, and Zaire, completing and maintaining USAID funding for Haiti. As Chairman of the Board of Helps Mission (www.helpsmission.org), Mr. Austin directed the overall growth and continued operations by developing an exceptional staff, and he managed and maintained the efforts of Helps Mission in the Ukraine and other areas. Mr. Austin served as a Director and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pavillon, an addiction, rehabilitation facility in Lake Lure, NC. Mr. Austin has been involved with and played a significant role in raising funds for the Boys and Girls Club of Hendersonville, NC for the past twenty-six years. While working with Wachovia Bank, Mr. Austin held positions as President of the American Cancer Society for Western North Carolina, and served as a director of the Girl Scout Council of Western NC.

Brian Courcelle

Brian has lived in the Asheville area for twenty-two years, most of which were spent working for Fazio Golf Course Designers as its Design & Development Manager.  Brian traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and abroad as part of the planning and implementation team for new golf course and development projects.  He is now the Chief Financial Officer at Nash Investments, LP, a local family investment office.  Brian holds an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Georgia and a Masters of Accounting degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Brian and his wife Molly have three children - William (16), Andrew (14) and Martha Grace (8), who was adopted from Ethiopia in 2014.  Brian is active with his local church and volunteers as Treasurer of the Executive Board for The Franklin School of Innovation charter school.

Dr. Peggy Terhune

Dr. Peggy Terhune has been President/CEO of Monarch since June 1995. Monarch provides residential, vocational, community, and behavioral health services to people of all ages with intellectual disabilities, mental illness, and substance use disorders www.monarchnc.org .   

Peggy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Indiana University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.In a career spanning over 45 years, Peggy has worked in multiple settings as an Occupational Therapist and Leader. She is a strong advocate and has presented often at conferences and technical workshops, particularly on emerging practices that are used within her agency.

Peggy is the recipient of numerous regional and national leadership awards.In 2016, she was the first-ever recipient of the Distinguished Professional Award in Diversity and Cultural Competency by the National Conference of Executives (NCE) of The Arc. In 2017, she was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Excellence Award from i2i in NC. In 2020, she was awarded the Champion award by the National Conference of Addiction Disorders. In 2020, she was also awarded the highest honor a North Carolina Citizen can receive:  The North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine.

In addition to her career, Peggy is mother to seven adult children (two adopted as teenagers), grandmother to ten, and wife to Bob.  For over twenty years, the couple has fostered children with and without disabilities.  A servant leader, Peggy continues to provide community service in a number of ways. For fun, she serves as an adjunct faculty member for Wingate University in the Doctoral program for Occupational Therapy, and Pfeiffer University in the masters’ program for Occupational Therapy – and in her spare time, she enjoys needlepoint, knitting, reading, and traveling, consulting and serving on several Boards of Directors.

Bob Goodale

Bob Goodale is a former Harris Teeter CEO and former NC Deputy Secretary of Commerce. In addition to Fostering Hopes, Bob serves on the Board of Directors at Pavillon, Kidznotes, Raleigh Boychoir, Monarch, the Alcohol and Drug Council of North Carolina where he also served as President; and the Board of Trustees at Healing Transitions.

Richard “Doc” Eley, Ph.D.

Richard “Doc” Eley, Ph.D. has spent more than 45 years helping individuals and organizations achieve their potential. Activities have focused on coaching, consulting, training, counseling, writing and public speaking, A lifetime student of self-improvement, he has dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including,  personal development and relationship building, time management, leadership principles, strategic planning, quality control, team effectiveness, sales, financial management, career transition, and human resource issues. 

A wealth of experience, including the operation of his own successful businesses, gives him extraordinary insight. These businesses include founding of two educational institutions, business consulting service, Therapy/Counseling business and Coaching business. 

A husband, dad, grandfather and great grandfather. Doc has found his greatest personal satisfaction in  his family relationships. As a result, his perceptions of all human relationships have been greatly expanded.

Michelle Warner

Michelle Warner was born and raised in Canton Ohio to parents that instilled the importance of serving others.  Through their careers in Ministry and Nursing, they modeled what it meant to help those in need.  Michelle followed in her mother’s footsteps and became a Registered Nurse, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Liberty University.  Following graduation, Michelle moved to Denver Colorado, where she worked with Neuro-trauma patients at Craig Rehabilitation Facility.  Here she earned her certification in Rehabilitation Nursing.  In 2002, Michelle moved to Asheville NC, and accepted a position at CarePartners, where she held many leadership roles throughout the organization, over 18 years.  Most recently, she held a position as the Director of Hospice.  In 2018, Michelle obtained a Master’s of Science in Health Administration, graduating Summa Cum Laude.  

In 2009, Michelle became a licensed Foster Care parent through Buncombe County DSS.  In October of that year, Michelle and her husband, Scott, were blessed to have a smart, funny, beautiful little girl named Leah, placed with them.  After working closely with the birth family and the team at DSS, they adopted Leah in 2011.  More recently, Leah, Scott and Michelle have been working with multiple organizations to help support kids in need, throughout Western North Carolina and South Carolina, providing over 25,000 pairs of shoes and socks.  The family has been working toward the establishment of Foster Care Closets, in multiple counties throughout WNC, through which they hope to provide essential clothing for kids in the Foster Care system.

Peter Leousis

Peter’s 45 years of public service include a key role in Gov. Jim Hunt’s Smart Start early childhood program and Work First welfare reform initiative, and broad experience in child welfare, human services, and education and school finance policy. From 1994-2001, he was Assistant Secretary for Children, Youth and Families and then Assistant Secretary for Human Services in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. He has worked in both a small education advocacy and policy non-profit and some of the biggest agencies in state government.