ECU Foundation welcomes new board members
East Carolina University alumni and a current ECU student are among eight new members of the ECU Foundation board of directors.
Taylor Chappell, Gordon Darragh, Barbara Dominick, Jessica Gorall, Adam Keen, Brian Miller, Christina Taylor and Richard Twilley have joined the board. Their four-year terms started in July and will end in 2027. As members of the board, they will support the ECU Foundation by promoting and strengthening the university through the solicitation, management and distribution of private gifts.
Taylor Chappell, from left, Gordon Darragh, Barbara Dominick, Jessica Gorall, Adam Keen, Brian Miller, Christina Taylor and Richard Twilley have joined the ECU Foundation’s board of directors. (Contributed photos)
“On behalf of the ECU Foundation, I am excited to welcome our newest members to the board of directors. Their community leadership, professional expertise and diverse backgrounds will contribute tremendously to the work of the ECU Foundation and our efforts to advance the university,” said Christopher Dyba, vice chancellor for university advancement and foundation president.
Chappell earned her undergraduate degree from ECU in 2019 and a Master of Science in accounting in 2020. She lives in Charlotte and works as an internal audit analyst for Nucor. Chappell is a member of the College of Business Young Alumni Council and the ECU Alumni Association Charlotte alumni chapter.
Darragh has served as the president of the Darragh Foundation Inc. for 10 years and has been on the board of directors since 1998. He is an active philanthropic and civic leader in Greenville and at ECU. Darragh is a student at ECU, pursuing his bachelor’s degree in university studies with a concentration in community service. He plans to graduate in December 2025.
At ECU, Darragh has been a member of the Student Affairs Advancement Council since 2014 and served as a member of the Civic Leadership and Civic Engagement advancement council beginning in 2019. He received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Student Affairs in 2016.
He was appointed to the City of Greenville Recreation and Parks Commission in 2016 and has served as chair since 2021. Darragh also has served on the boards of multiple civic organizations and local government councils. He and his wife, Kim, live in Greenville.
Dominick ’92 ’95 is a second-generation Pirate who holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in child and family relations. Dominick taught at both the community college and university level before joining the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, where she played a lead role in designing the state’s pre-kindergarten standards.
Dominick has spent two decades serving philanthropic causes, including public and private education, faith-based initiatives, health care, the arts, and other human service and social organizations. She and her husband, Kirk ’91, live in Orlando, Florida, and Pine Knoll Shores.
Gorall ’88 earned her Bachelor of Science in finance from ECU and holds a master’s degree in special education with honors from Georgia State University. Education comes naturally to Gorall, the daughter of the late Kathy Taft, one of the founding members of the ECU Women’s Roundtable and a member of the North Carolina Board of Education. Gorall is an emeritus member of the Women’s Roundtable. Gorall worked as a special education teacher for 15 years and then taught algebra until retiring from teaching in 2021. She and her husband, Dwight, live in Boca Raton, Florida, and Wilmington. Gorall manages real estate properties and actively volunteers with the local food pantry.
Keen received his bachelor’s degree in 2005 and a Master of Business Administration in 2008 from ECU. He oversees the national accounts division at MegaCorp Logistics, an industry-leading third-party logistics company headquartered in Wilmington. His responsibility is to engage with shippers, manufacturers, growers and distributors throughout the U.S. and Canada to streamline their supply chain and offer cost savings and transparency to their freight spend. Prior to MegaCorp, Adam led the major gift program in athletics for the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He and his wife, Casey ’05, live with their three children in Wrightsville Beach.
Miller ’93 founded Addison Capital Partners (ACP), a niche private equity investment firm, in 2005. He serves as an active board member on each of ACP’s portfolio of companies. Miller previously served as CFO of a middle market value-added distribution and merchandising company and helped guide the private equity-sponsored company through a period of over 100% compounded annual growth in revenue over a five-year span. Miller earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from ECU and holds a graduate degree from the Virginia Commonwealth University Graduate School of Business. Miller and his wife, Sarah ’95, live in Palm Beach, Florida.
Taylor is a 2003 graduate of ECU, earning a Bachelor of Science in human ecology. She is a partner at the Raleigh-based law firm of Smith Debnam and a member of the firm’s creditors’ rights practice group. She represents a wide range of businesses through all stages of creditor representation, including pre-suit collection efforts, lawsuits, judgments and executions. In 2016, Collection Advisor Magazine named her to the 25 Most Influential Women in Collections. She was named to the 2020 class of ECU’s 40 Under 40 leadership awards. Taylor is serving a four-year term on the ECU Women’s Roundtable board of directors. Taylor volunteers at Community Hope (a YMCA literacy program) and actively supports the YMCA’s We Build People Campaign. She also serves on the board of Root Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to raising money for a local elementary school.
Twilley graduated from ECU in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration with a concentration in marketing and completed Harvard Business School’s executive management program. He has worked as an executive sales leader for more than 35 years, working with Fortune 100 companies in a high-growth, competitive business-to-business marketplace. Twilley is experienced in the development and execution of dynamic sales distribution plans, methodologies and emerging technologies to accelerate revenue growth while aligning and contributing to organizational business priorities.
Established in 1967, the ECU Foundation is a dynamic, forward-looking 501(c)(3) nonprofit that plays a critical role in advancing the university’s mission. The foundation garners support through annual gifts, campaigns and planned giving, and manages and distributes these resources to the benefit of ECU’s academic programs, research, faculty and students.