Elizabeth Williams

Elizabeth Williams is an artist and photographer residing in Western North Carolina. Her work focuses primarily on family, relationship, and memory. She is particularly interested in the role photography plays in our relationships with one another, in how we perceive the world, and in our search for truth and meaning. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from Appalachian State University.

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Roderick Horton

R&B Horton Studios, lead by twin brothers, Roderick and Broderick Horton, have been producing media for the past 15 years. With degrees in Communications, Digital Effects, and Animations Technology they have since become aficionados in the media arena. They prefer Canon and Panasonic Lumix and edit in the Adobe Suite including Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere Pro, In Design, Illustrator, Flash, Blender, and Final Cut Pro.

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Hannah Thrower

Hannah Thrower is a visual artist and art teacher living and working in Morganton, NC. Her visual practice primary focuses on printmaking and ceramics. With seven years of teaching experience, Hannah was an integral part in the formation of TOSS and continues her work as an arts advocate and teacher while growing her family. In her free time she enjoys being outside, spending quality time with family and friends and creating culinary delights for her fortunate friends.

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Jeronimo Martin

Jeronimo was born in Morganton, NC. He has job experience in customer service and handling shipping services. His family also lives in Morganton and they love being in this area. He looks forward to being a part of the Carolina Textile District family and seeking more opportunities. In his spare time, he enjoys working on his family’s sheep cattle farm keeping up with all the maintenance.

Lucas Ervin

Lucas is a product development and graphic design artist based in Morganton, NC. After accepting his degree from Appalachian State University in Industrial Design he began working with Defeet, and creating graphics as a freelance designer.

Alisa Cruz Mendez

Alisa is a mathematician, human rights advocate, TOSS intern, and the coolest human around. In her spare time, she likes to be outside either playing soccer, running, or playing with her dog, and occasionally hanging out with friends. Alisa is top of her class, graduating from Freedom Highschool Spring 2022, and is one of hard working, responsible, and dedicated interns TOSS has ever had.

Thomas Pierce

Thomas Pierce was born and raised in Western North Carolina. He has 7 years of culinary arts, hospitality & management experience in the healthcare industry and 2 years CDL driving experience. He is excited to join the Material Return team and bring a new perspective. In his free time he enjoys visiting theme parks and going on cruises with his wife. Outside of work, Thomas is a hobbyist leatherworker and gamer.

Herron Harper

Herron is the Logistics Team Lead with Material Return. Graduating from Freedom High School in 2002, he has worked in furniture manufacturing for over 14 years. Herron is very excited about his new journey with Material Return and The Industrial Commons. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors and in the company of his wife and four daughters. He also likes hanging out with family and friends, watching sports games and having cookouts.

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Ashley Dula

Ashley Dula is the Network coordinator with Carolina Textile District. She graduated from Freedom High School in 2007. She has worked in many different industries in fashion apparel such as sewing manufacturing, product development management, and teaching youth sewing skills over the past 15 years. She is overzealous about community engagement, giving back to the youth through teaching and leadership. Her mission is to set up the next generation of people up for success in the future. She enjoys traveling, outdoor activities, gardening, cooking, sewing and spending time with family and friends.

Darren Lathan

After graduating from the NC State University School of Design, Founding Principal, Darren Lathan, began his career in 1997 working for RTKL Associates (now CallisonRTKL) in Dallas, TX, on large urban housing and mixed-use projects. After the experience of working for a large, international firm, Darren worked for sole-practitioner, Robert B. Salsbury, AIA in his hometown of Morganton, NC. The juxtaposition of experiences between these two firms gave Darren a broad perspective on architectural practice.

In the fall of 2000, Darren joined Duda|Paine Architects, a young, talented firm in Durham, NC led by Turan Duda, FAIA, and Jeffrey Paine, FAIA. As the firm grew and expanded its reach, Darren gained experience leading multi-disciplinary design teams and creating award-winning projects locally, nationally, and internationally. He managed projects across all phases of design and construction and directed the firm’s work in China. Sensitive to issues of sustainability and resource conservation, he integrated environmentally conscious strategies into all his projects.

His expertise in managing complex building programs and in the execution of large, high-design urban projects includes exceptional schedule and budget performance. Darren’s passion for forging strong relationships translates to effective stakeholder presentations and a team-wide commitment to maintaining the project’s conceptual vision and integrity through construction.