Mebane Rash and Sen. DeAndrea Salvador Join ZSR Board of Trustees
We are thrilled to welcome Mebane Rash and Senator DeAndrea Salvador to the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR) Board of Trustees!
Mebane Rash is a North Carolina native who lives in Deep Gap and brings a long-standing commitment to strengthening public education across the state. A lawyer by training, Mebane has dedicated her career to ensuring all North Carolinians have access to the information and resources they need to thrive.
DeAndrea Salvador is a fifth-generation Charlottean with deep roots in Mecklenburg County and a long history of community leadership. She brings experience bridging nonprofit and public service spaces and has been a consistent advocate for building an environmentally sustainable future for North Carolinians.
“Mebane and DeAndrea bring tremendous expertise to ZSR at a critical moment,” said Executive Director Joy Vermillion Heinsohn. “As North Carolinians face new and evolving challenges, Mebane and DeAndrea’s combined experience in public service, community engagement and nonprofit leadership will strengthen ZSR’s efforts to build a just, inclusive and sustainable state for all.”
Mebane Rash: A Champion for Excellent Public Schools
Mebane, who calls Deep Gap in the High Country home, grew up in Charlotte on the same block as Democrat Harvey Gantt, Democrat Mel Watt, and two doors down from Republican Sue Myrick and her son Republican Dan Forest.
“Every day of my life has been spent playing and then working across lines of difference, so I have learned the importance of finding common ground,” says Mebane.
Mebane is a public school graduate, attending Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools from kindergarten through high school. In the 1980s, she was among the first high school students in North Carolina to benefit from dual enrollment. Mebane took classes at Central Piedmont Community College while at East Meck. She went on to graduate from the University of Virginia and the UNC School of Law.
An attorney licensed to practice in state and federal courts, Mebane is the founding CEO and editor-in-chief of EdNC.org, which provides essential news, important stories and diverse perspectives about education. In 10 years, EdNC has grown from an audience of zero to 1.2 million annual website users, reaching even more through online searches, newsletters and social media. In 2025, the NC Press Association honored EdNC with its public service award.
Prior to EdNC, Mebane worked for most of her career at the NC Center for Public Policy Research. Even more than where she has worked, Mebane’s travel to all 100 NC counties, 47 states and 35 countries informs her strategic leadership on politics, policy, law, communications, philanthropy and change.
“I’ve worked with ZSR since my first job out of law school and every job since,” says Mebane, “and I’ve learned a lot from the Foundation over the years — the importance of relationships, being on the road and engaging with communities in every corner of our state. Most of all, ZSR has taught me that the word ‘all’ truly matters. Public service leadership has to extend to all of North Carolina. I’m excited to give back in service to ZSR’s mission to improve the quality of life for all of us.”
Senator DeAndrea Salvador: A Community-Centered Public Servant
DeAndrea considers herself “North Carolina through and through,” with multiple generations of her family calling the Charlotte and Pineville area home.
“I’ve always been rooted in this place,” she says, “and I grew up with a ton of family and community support, which shaped who I am and how I show up in the world.”
DeAndrea’s commitment to serving others began early. In elementary school, she became an ordained minister in her church, delivering her first sermon at age nine. Through high school and college, she volunteered at nonprofits and sought experiences that would allow her to learn and grow while making a difference.
“There’s a through-line in my life of wanting to find my place in the world where I can have the most impact,” DeAndrea says.
After earning an economics degree from UNC Charlotte, DeAndrea founded a nonprofit called Renewable Energy Transition Initiative (RETI) with a mission to sustainably decrease the amount of people’s income that they spend on home energy costs. She ran the organization for more than eight years, gaining firsthand experience in managing a nonprofit and finding joy in successes like a family whose energy savings helped them put their daughter through college.
DeAndrea also saw how policy decisions at the state level affected what her nonprofit could do, and how that trickled down to affect people in both positive and negative ways.
“Policy, when done right, can positively impact millions of people,” she says.
DeAndrea’s desire to scale her impact led her to run for public office in 2020. Voted into office at age 30, DeAndrea made history as the youngest woman ever elected to serve in the North Carolina State Senate.
In the Senate, DeAndrea continues to bring a community-centered approach and a commitment to supporting policies that improve life for as many North Carolinians as possible — a commitment that aligns with ZSR’s mission, approach and values.
“North Carolinians are facing so many challenges today — from lack of funding for public education to climate change to navigating new technologies,” says DeAndrea. “The only way we can tackle these challenges is by working together. I look forward to serving on the ZSR board, learning from my fellow North Carolinians and doing all I can to work toward a more just, inclusive and sustainable state for all.”
Please join us in welcoming Mebane and DeAndrea to ZSR!
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