Five New Directors Elected to Board
The Carolina Crown Board of Directors has elected five new members. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Greg Vaughn, Jennifer Jablonski, Dr. Terrence Williams, Kelsey Bevensee and Matt Nolan to the organization! Check out their bios below, and Click Here To View The Full Board Of Directors!
Dr. Greg Vaughn, M.D., a native of Sumter, SC, Greg now resides in Atlanta, GA, and has been a drum corps fan for over 40 years. He was initially introduced to the drum corps activity by his high school band director. He attended his first drum corps show at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, SC, circa 1980. Seeing and hearing drum corps at the highest levels exposed him to an extraordinary level of excellence and arc of the possible in the marching arts. It also inspired Greg to lead his high school marching band as drum major.
Greg continued to follow the activity as a fan for decades. He attended local and regional shows periodically and always looked forward to watching the annual PBS broadcasts of DCI Finals. In 2007, Greg attended his first DCI World Championships at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. Although he had become a casual fan of Carolina Crown in the early 2000s, Triple Crown vaulted Crown to the top and inspired Greg to become a CrownJEWEL. Greg has attended every DCI World Championships and has remained an avid fan and supporter of Crown over the past 15 years. Greg’s support of Crown and its mission of developing lifelong excellence in young people aligns perfectly with his personal passion of exposing young people to the arc of what is possible through music and arts education. Greg is also committed to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging across all aspects of the activity.
Greg graduated summa cum laude from Emory University with a B.A. in history and earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. After beginning his career in medical practice as an academic oculofacial surgeon, Greg transitioned to the business side of the healthcare industry. He is now a management consultant with Spencer Stuart, a premier global leadership advisory firm, where he partners with healthcare organizations to identify and develop outstanding senior executives and build diverse leadership teams.
In addition to Crown, Greg serves on the Boards of Trustees of Emory University, the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, and The Carter Center in Atlanta, GA. He serves in various lay leadership roles including the Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Greg also serves on the Board of Directors for Achieve Atlanta, a nonprofit organization that helps Atlanta Public Schools students access, afford, and earn postsecondary credentials. He previously served on the Board of Directors for the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta.
Jennifer Jablonski is the Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management at the University of South Carolina School of Music where she oversees the admissions, audition, and scholarship process for undergraduate music applicants and directs national recruiting for the School of Music.
She has become a national leader in music admissions as one of the founders and facilitators of the Music Admissions Roundtable, a collaboration of music admissions colleagues at North American higher education music institutions to create a professional networking group that offers regular roundtable meetings/conferences to promote professionalism and share best practices in music admissions.
A 1993 graduate of the University of South Carolina Honors College, she studied journalism and music (saxophone), performing in USC’s top concert band, Left Bank Big Band jazz ensemble, the Carolina Marching Band and the USC Saxophone Quartet. She also has a Master of Arts in Education with a specialization in Higher Education Administration from Louisiana State University and is pursuing an Ed.D. in Educational Practice and Innovation at the University of South Carolina.
Jablonski lives in Columbia, SC with her cat Jazz and enjoys following Gamecock sports, playing pinball, and tasting bourbon with her fellow members of the Columbia Bourbon Collective.
Dr. Terrence Williams, PsyD is an experienced HR executive who’s worked with both corporate and non-profit organizations. His talents span the areas of HR strategy, employee and labor relations, organizational development, talent management and diversity & inclusion and change management. He currently oversees HR for the Community Foodbank of New Jersey and the Houston Food Bank. His is also an author and co-author of several research articles. He holds a Bachelor's in science in Hospitality Management, Masters in Management and a PsyD in Organizational Leadership.
Kelsey Bevensee is originally from Asheville, North Carolina and grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Her musical journey started in middle school band where she learned trumpet and French horn. She attended Carolina Forest High School where she served as drum major for 3 years and earned numerous honors including appointments to county, region, and all-state bands and orchestras. In addition, she served as the principal hornist for the Long Bay Symphony Youth Orchestra. Kelsey attended the University of South Carolina in Columbia where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sport and Entertainment Management while minoring in music. While at USC, she studied horn under Robert Pruzin and JD Shaw, performed with the university’s Wind Ensemble, was a member of multiple athletic bands, and served as an officer of the music service organization, Tau Beta Sigma.
Kelsey currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina where she serves as Chief of Staff for Blumenthal Performing Arts. Blumenthal, the Carolinas’ largest arts organization, manages six theaters, produces festivals, and facilitates educational programs for the Charlotte community and beyond. In addition, Kelsey manages the Independent Presenters Network, which is a consortium of over 30 leading presenters of touring Broadway shows in the US, UK and Asia. Among the group’s main priorities is the raising of capital funds for new theatrical productions.
Kelsey and her husband, Alek, met in middle school while serving as band members in a performance of The Music Man. Alek marched baritone as a member of the 2011 World Champion Cadets. The couple has two young children, Eli and Lilah.
Matt Nolan was born and grew up in Muskegon, Michigan. He was a trombone player and drum major for Reeths-Puffer High School’s first back-to-back state marching band championships and an appearance in the Bands of America Grand National Championships, after which he returned to teach the drum majors and marching fundamentals in the summers for a number of years. When offered an opportunity to join a corps during one season in college, he didn’t feel his finances had the room – and to this day, has regretted not going on tour.
Matt graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Michigan (where he served as student body president), after which he obtained his J.D. from Michigan Law School. After beginning his legal career in corporate transactions with Kirkland & Ellis, Matt served as in-house counsel for each of Dow Corning and the Heico Companies before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Safeguard Medical. He is a recipient of First Chair’s Top General Counsel Award (2019) and the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Top 10 Thirtysomethings Award (2016).
Matt is an active leader within the Association of Corporate Counsel and the University of Michigan Alumni Association, a strong supporter of the Reeths-Puffer Bands, and a longtime supporter of Drum Corps International and the educational power of the marching arts in general.
