The Team
Staff
Donna Gambrell
President & CEO
Appalachian Community Capital
Donna Gambrell
As President & CEO of Appalachian Community Capital, Donna J. Gambrell is responsible for attracting and directing investments to Community Development Financial Institutions (or CDFIs) and other mission-driven lenders in Appalachia. These lenders, in turn, use the investments to make loans to small business owners, including to minority- and women-owned businesses, in underserved communities throughout the region. Since it began lending in 2015, ACC has deployed over $32 million to help finance renewable energy projects, manufacturing sites, elder care facilities, restaurants, ecotourism, and downtown redevelopment, among other projects.
Ms. Gambrell serves on several CDFI boards. She is also the board chair of the African American Alliance of CDFI CEOs, a 501(c)(3) organization comprised of over 70 executives that was formed in 2018 to identify solutions to closing the racial wealth gap in the communities served by the members.
Julia J. Parker
Chief Lending and Impact Officer
Appalachian Community Capital
Julia J. Parker
Julia J. Parker has worked in both the public and private sectors in community development and impact investing.
After stints working in the US Senate and with the City of Omaha, Julia started her nonprofit career at Building Bright Futures, a nonprofit incubator supporting organizations focused on educational outcomes for children experiencing the violence of poverty. She went on to start a nonprofit strategy consultancy, Park4029. Julia then served as Executive Director of Omaha Small Business Network (OSBN) a community development entity.
Julia has a passion for investing in BIPOC entrepreneurs and business owners which she did as Director of Economic Development at Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation a Boston area CDFI. Julia previously served as Managing Director at The Crane Institute for Sustainability’s Intentional Endowments Network. She went on to serve as Senior Investments Manager at Connect Humanity, a nonprofit lender focused on digital equity.
Julia holds a BA in Political Science and a BA in International Relations from Creighton University, an MS in Urban Studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and an MBA from Boston College Carroll School of Management.
Board
Clinton B. Gwin
ACC Board Chair
President
Pathway Lending
Clint Gwin
Marten Jenkins
Marten Jenkins is the founder of Partner Community Capital (PCAP) and is responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing all business strategies, operational and capital fundraising, and fund operations. Over the past decade, PCAP has expanded its lending and technical assistance services to a nine-state region, spanning central Appalachia and the Southeast, including West Virginia and North Carolina and the Appalachian regions of Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia. In addition to his PCAP responsibilities, Mr. Jenkins is a leader in Appalachian community development efforts and is active in the CDFI industry
Neill S. Wright
Neill S. Wright is President and CEO of Birmingham based Bronze Valley, an early stage venture- focused CDFI investment platform that supports high growth, innovation and technology companies led by diverse, underrepresented, and underestimated founders.
Neill has nearly 30 years of experience as an investor, entrepreneur and operating executive. Most recently, he served as Chairman, President and CEO of First Tuskegee Bank, a CDFI commercial bank. Neill successfully sold the bank to a southeast regional bank.
Prior to First Tuskegee Bank, Neill was a Founding Partner of Harbour Place Capital, a New York based investment banking consultancy that focused on advisory and capital raising for growth companies in various industries including energy, financial services and real estate. Previously, Neill worked as a banker at Citigroup and JPMorgan both in New York.
He holds a B.A. from The College of William & Mary in Virginia.
Clyde Cornett
Mr. Cornett served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer from 2008 to 2015, and he now serves as CFO for Locus.
Prior to joining Locus, he was a Senior Manager at a public accounting and consulting firm, working almost exclusively with community banks ranging in assets size from $100 million to over $1 billion. His work with community banks included relationship management and supervision of audits of financial statements, SEC reporting, credit reviews, internal audit assistance, and compliance and operational consulting services.
He currently serves on the board of directors for Appalachian Community Capital Corporation and Appalachian Community Capital Development Foundation. Mr. Cornett has participated in the Center for Community Investment’s Connect Capital initiative working to help create Invest Appalachia, a social impact fund for Central Appalachia. He also serves as an advisor on the New River Valley Development Corporation’s revolving loan fund. In addition, he served on the Virginia Bankers Association’s CFO Committee and was named Virginia Business Magazine’s Small Nonprofit CFO of the year in 2014, and again in 2023.
Mr. Cornett received his B.A. in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Virginia’s College at Wise and is licensed as a CPA in Virginia.
Grace Fricks
Ray Christman
Ray Christman’s career has included work in urban and economic development in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He served as head of the City’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, as Secretary of Commerce for Pennsylvania, and as President of the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Mr. Chrisman subsequently worked in the banking industry serving first as chair of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and then as President and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta. He later helped establish and lead Hamilton State Bank in Georgia, which grew to become one of the ten largest banks in the state before its sale in 2018. Mr. Christman has a long history of involvement in the conservation field, including serving as Senior Vice President of the Trust for Public Land In addition to serving on ACC’s board, he is also a board member of Southern Bancorp Community Partners, a nationally recognized CDFI in Little Rock, Arkansas.
