OpenDoors of Asheville

Breaking the cycle of poverty through education, one child at a time.

Our Staff

Jen Langdon Ramming

Chief Executive Officer

jramming@opendoorsasheville.org


While Jen is our OpenDoors founder, she credits her sons with the inspiration: “My boys wondered why the Black kids in their Asheville public school classes were being underserved, labeled with behavior issues, and struggling with reading, while the white kids were not. I found myself teaching my kids about racism as I failed to be able to defend what they were witnessing.”
Her background in marketing, advertising, and fund development allowed her to grow OpenDoors from a group of parent volunteers to the impactful organization it is today. Jen reflects, “I am an adopted person who was in foster care as a baby. I believe that no one deserves what they were born into, whether that was good or bad, but everyone deserves an equal chance to thrive. I was given that chance by my incredible parents and I want to pass it on.”
 After 15 years of practicing social work in communities of color, she says her eyes are wide open to inequity and bias, but she’s always learning. Jen has earned her certificate in Non-Profit Management from Duke University and is completing her certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University. She currently serves as an executive Board member of the Key Learning Center, and Carolina Day School, and is also the Managing Director of the regional Hunter Hometown Foundation. In her free time, Jen is an avid mountain biker, sailor, and gardener. She enjoys trying to keep up with her four mostly grown boys.

Megan Martell

Chief Operations Officer

mmartell@opendoorsasheville.org


Megan grew up in Miami, Florida and has called Asheville home since 2003. Before joining OpenDoors, she served as Executive Director at Odyssey School and has over 13 years experience teaching students in preschool through college. She studied Creative Writing and Child Development at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and graduated from UNC-Asheville with her teaching license and a degree in Literature and Language. She is a dedicated lifelong learner and is passionate about guiding students as they discover, pursue, and create positive change for themselves and our world.

Keevon Baten

Chief Financial Officer

dkbaten@opendoorsasheville.org


Being an Asheville native and having closely witnessed the effects of the race-based achievement gap among peers, Keevon is passionate about furthering the mission & vision of OpenDoors of Asheville. After graduating from SILSA, Keevon spent a year in the south of Brazil as a Rotary Youth Exchange student.  Keevon not only became conversationally fluent in Portuguese, he also gained an appreciation and wonder for other cultures.  Keevon earned a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Finance & Banking from Appalachian State University, and feeling compelled to help those less fortunate than himself, he enlisted in the Peace Corps. For 2 years Keevon lived in the dense jungle on the island of Espirito Santo, one of 83 islands compromising the Republic of Vanuatu, and taught English to 200+ primary aged children.  After returning home, he worked for 2 years with local affluent families to reach their financial goals as a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch.  Keevon, feeling compelled to have direct impact and work more closely with the underserved community from which he had risen, joined OpenDoors in 2021.  As the Chief Financial Officer and head of our Financial Literacy program, Keevon works to create and grow generational wealth for our students and families, in the hopes that they may one day be clients of Merrill Lynch themselves.

Katherine Fleer

Education Director

kfleer@opendoorsasheville.org


A North Carolina native, Katherine has worked as a communications skills instructor for middle school students, a college admissions counselor at a private university, and as a program director and consultant in early learning for sixteen years in Georgia, Massachusetts and Washington, DC. Katherine strives to lead with cultural and community context and with evidenced-based practices to promote program quality. A graduate of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Psychology and Political Science, as well as Harvard Graduate School of Education with a Master’s in Education, she is dedicated to ensuring access to the high-quality education each student deserves and to thrive. 

Jasmine Middleton

AVL Rise Director

jmiddleton@opendoorsasheville.org


If you have been to Art Affair, you may remember Jasmine as one of our models and art handlers! She began her relationship with OpenDoors as a student who needed additional guidance and encouragement to make sure she finished her education. Shortly thereafter, Jasmine served two consecutive terms on our Board of Directors from 2015 to early 2021. She is currently working on an Associate’s degree in Business Administration at Blue RidgeTechnical College, while also raising her 5-year old son. Jasmine knows firsthand how important OpenDoors is to our community and is committed to changing students lives. “OpenDoors helped break the cycle in my life, and I would like to do the same for more young people in Asheville.”

Nancy Abernethy

Communications Director

nabernethy@opendoorsasheville.org


Since our inception in 2009, Nancy has served as Board Secretary and Board Chair, she has helped create our annual Art Affair and has volunteered as a TeamLeader for students.  As staff, she has worked as Education Liaison and is now our Communications Director. Nancy’s commitment to OpenDoors is motivated by the student transformations she has witnessed when race-based barriers and inequities are removed and when students get the support and resources they need to thrive. Before OpenDoors, Nancy, a graduate of University of Richmond with a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A.Ed in School Counseling from Western Carolina University, worked as an elementary public school counselor and ran her own local small business. She has lived in Asheville since 1994.

Courtney Hamner

Finance Director

chamner@opendoorsasheville.org


Courtney moved to Asheville in 2005 as a stay-at-home mom after leaving the world of advertising in Atlanta and New York.  After volunteering in the classroom and seeing first-hand the different education systems that allowed some children to thrive while others struggled year after year, Courtney joined OpenDoors in 2012 because of the work we do outside the system, moving stealthily behind the scenes, removing barriers that get in the way of our students’ success. 

Lauren Simms

Sustainability & Impact Coordinator

lsimms@opendoorsasheville.org


Lauren deeply believes that education is a human right and values that OpenDoors provides the opportunity to address and dismantle systemic barriers which inhibit students of color from receiving equitable opportunities. She is fervently committed to listening, unlearning, and receiving the gift of education. A graduate of University of North Carolina Asheville, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and Sociology and concentrations in Africana Studies and Human Rights Studies, Lauren works to support the mission to eliminate the opportunity-to-learn gap for students. 

Tia Searles

Program Instructor + Transportation Coordinator

tsearles@opendoorsasheville.org


Tia grew up in Asheville, NC and joined the OpenDoors family as a student in 2009. Inspired by her experience in Asheville’s schools, as a K-12 student and later working as a classroom assistant in a local private school, Tia is an aspiring educator. She sees “the good in the OpenDoors mission” and is inspired “to be a part of building these support systems for local students so they can be successful.” She is a powerful advocate and works tirelessly to create meaningful and impactful opportunities for our students.

Melissa Moses

Office Coordinator

mmoses@opendoorsasheville.org


Melissa was born and raised in the Asheville area and graduated from NC State University with a degree in Interpersonal Communications. Prior to OpenDoors, Melissa coordinated several county and state boards with a focus on improving the lives of children in our community; for 10 years, she coordinated the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council. Through her work with local nonprofits, Melissa developed a passion for working with under-resourced students. Now, working with OpenDoors to shrink the opportunity gap and provide whole-child support inspires Melissa in her drive to see our students and families pave new paths towards a better future.

 

Dosty Quarrier

On Sabbatical, returning August 2021!


I believe that education is the anecdote to poverty, and every child deserves to have someone in their life who advocates for them, every step of the way. I love being apart of a team that is working to help level the playing field for children growing up in under-resourced circumstances.

Kristal Woods

Human Resources Coordinator

kwoods@opendoorsasheville.org


Stacy Sharpe

Transportation Assistant


Photography by Katherine Brooks and Lauren Simms.