Staff & Board

SARAH RILEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sarah grew up here in Pocahontas County and then went off to conquer Harvard University. She graduated with honors with a BA in history with a focus on economic underdevelopment and a slew of theater experiences. She was a founding partner with Susan Burt in High Rocks and has been planning, teaching, counseling, fundraising, networking and building this place in one way or another since 1996. Sarah was named one of 40 under 40 emerging leaders in West Virginia in 2009. In 2014, WV Focus Magazine featured Sarah as one of West Virginia’s “Wonder Women” in their premiere issue.  In 2015, the Appalachian Studies Association awarded Sarah the prestigious Helen Lewis Community Service Award for outstanding community service to Appalachia and its people.  Sarah was honored as a 2015 Zenith Award winner for exemplary service the Greenbrier Valley of WV.  In 2017, Sarah and the High Rocks were awarded the state WV Red Wagon Award for helping WV children, and in 2019 Sarah was honored with the Power of Performance Award for changing lives across southern WV.  Sarah has four children and lives happily on the family farm her husband grew up on, raising local meats, eggs and produce.  She is grateful to still be working with her mother, Susan Burt.

KEVENEY BAIR, HUB CAFE MANAGER

Originally from Winchester, VA, Keveney and her husband, Luke, moved to his WV family farm in 2004. After graduating from Virginia Tech in English, Keveney worked for various non-profit organizations for over 15 years in administration and management. Having grown up on an apple orchard, her childhood set the stage for her love of farming and good food. This led her and her family to cultivate and raise vegetables, herbs, heritage
pork and eggs on their farm for over 10 years. In 2015, Keveney launched Redwing Soup, which she operated for 5 years. She is excited to be part of High Rocks and to continue to serve her community and especially the younger generation.

KAYLA REED, HIGH ROCKS ACADEMY MANAGER

As a Greenbrier County native, Kayla spent the vast majority of her teenage years soaking in the Pocahontas County “mountain magic” as a High Rocks Participant. She has a deep passion for mentoring and guiding young people in the mountain state and has always had the dream to one day come back to West Virginia to do just that. After joining the recovery community in Florida and working in the drug treatment industry for 8+ years; Kayla decided to attend Palm Beach State College and graduate with a degree in Addiction Studies and to become a Licensed Addiction Counselor in the State of Florida. Kayla returned home to be closer to family in 2018 and jumped right back into what she loved, working with Appalachian youth as a teacher at High Rocks Camp. Since then, Kayla served 2 years as an AmeriCorps member with High Rocks and then transitioned into a Student Coordinator position in Greenbrier County at The Hub. Kayla currently works with and mentors young people across all High Rocks Academy platforms as the High Rocks Academy Program Manager and spends her summers in Pocahontas County, getting to know all of our participants during our summer camp programs. Kayla is a mom to two and loves spending time with family and friends outdoors and on the river in particular.

JANET SWIFT, AMERICORPS PROGRAM MANAGER

Original natives of the Washington, D.C. area, Janet and her husband moved to Greenbrier County, West Virginia from Vermont in 2005, seeking the rural mountain life they love in a climate with a bit less winter.  With an early background in for–profit management and finance, she discovered a passion for non-profit work here in the Greenbrier Valley.  She has been an enthusiastic volunteer over the years and has enjoyed donating time to activities such as reading for the blind on NPR, teaching adults to read with a Literacy program, and serving on a number of non-profit boards.  As a mother to four children and grandmother to seven, she is committed to the High Rocks mission to educate, empower and inspire young people.  In her free time, she enjoys traveling, gardening, sewing, and spending time with family and friends.

SAMANTHA MITCHELL, FIRST2 STUDENT COORDINATOR

Samantha was born and raised in Pocahontas County and has been part of the High Rocks program since 1997 where she acted as a member, a junior counselor and a junior board member.  After graduating from Pocahontas County High School in 2001 she attended West Virginia University where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Accounting as well as a Master of Arts in Public Administration.  After college she entered the workforce as a Financial Analyst working with government contracts and then created and co-owned her own company for many years.  For many years she served on the High Rocks Board of Directors until stepping down to compete for a position on the High Rocks staff.  When she’s not busy working with the First2 Network coordinating college students across the state of WV she enjoys creating hand made home decorations, traveling with her husband, and snuggling with her nieces and nephews.

LISA CARTER, HUB STUDENT COORDINATOR

Lisa is a West Virginia native who graduated from Greenbrier East High School in 1981. Always having a passion for cooking, serving people, and helping others, she graduated with a B.S. in Dietetics from Berea College In Kentucky in 1985 and returned to Lewisburg to attend and graduate from the Greenbrier Hotel's Chef Apprenticeship program in 1988. She and Sandy Carter married in 1987, and they opened their first restaurant, The Blue Moon Café, in 1989 and their second, Roma Luna Ristorante, in 1995. She returned to The Greenbrier Hotel and helped teach hands-on cooking classes in the Greenbrier Cooking School from 1997-2000. There, she found the passion to teach and taught the culinary program at Greenbrier Community College from 2000-2003. Then, she owned and operated The Bakery on Court Street with her husband, Sandy, from 2003-2016. She was offered a job to teach at a local alternative school – a new culinary program for middle and high schoolers. She taught there from 2010-2021 and received her M.S. in Adult and Technical Education from Marshall University in 2015. She and Sandy still bake and sell at local farmers' markets (bagels and various baked goods), and Lisa is now working for High Rocks at the Hub Cafe in Lewisburg as the Student Coordinator. Lisa and Sandy have two daughters, two adopted daughters, one adopted son, and four grandchildren. She loves to help others, quilt, garden, cook, and spend time with her family!

CREE LAHTI, WEST VIRGINIA JOBS NETWORK COORDINATOR

Cree is a native West Virginian and feels passionate about connecting people that want to live in West Virginia to good jobs that allow them to do so.  She has a varied education experience with a B.A. in Communication from Antioch College, M.A. in Higher Education Administration from West Virginia University and M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of North Texas. She has also had a varied work experience, most recently as the director of the public libraries in Pocahontas County, WV- but has also picked avocados on a kibbutz in Israel, taught English as a second language in Istanbul, worked with elementary children in Los Angeles, led middle-schoolers on outdoor adventures in the Monongahela National Forest, and worked in the student life department at Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, WV. In her spare time, Cree enjoys creating art with clay and being outside as much as possible. 

STEVE SAFFEL, FARM MANAGER

SARAH MANSHEIM, GRANTS MANAGER

Sarah Mansheim has lived in West Virginia nearly all her life, having grown up in Pocahontas County, and has lived in Greenbrier County for almost 25 years. Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing from the University of New Mexico. She has served as a newspaper editor with two local news organizations in addition to her work at High Rocks, where she is the former marketing and development director and is now the grants manager.

Sarah is proud to be a High Rocks parent with two participant daughters, as well as a staff member.