Bio

About Holly

Holly Jones is a native of North Carolina. Holly has been a Buncombe County resident since 1996, when she was hired as Executive Director of the YWCA of Asheville and Western North Carolina. During her tenure at the YWCA, she has led the organization into an unprecedented era of programmatic strength and financial stability. The YWCA of Asheville, whose mission is the empowerment of women and the elimination of racism, currently has a workforce of 100 employees and a budget of 2.4 million dollars. Under Holly’s leadership, the YWCA completed a multi-million dollar renovation which came in on time and on budget. Holly’s excellent managerial skills were recognized in 2007, when she received the Ken Roberson Award for Management Excellence in the Non-profit Health and Human Service field.

Holly’s leadership abilities and achievement have been widely recognized. In 2001 Holly received the Athena Award from Chamber of Commerce.  She is a graduate of the William Friday Fellowship in Human Relations and Leadership Asheville XVI.

Holly is married to Bob Falls, owner of a local small business, Poetry Alive!  They have a five year old daughter, Gabriela, who is a kindergartener at Isaac Dickson Elementary school. Holly comes from a family of educators and public servants. Her mother is a retired public school teacher and her brother currently teaches public school in Anson County, where she grew up.

Holly holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Analysis and a Masters Degree in Public Health from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as well as a Master of Divinity, Duke University. Before arriving as Executive Director at the YWCA she was a school health educator at Durham County Health Department. Prior to that she was a missionary with the United Methodist Church in Italy, Baltimore, Maryland and Indianapolis, Indiana.

Holly is very active involved in a broad spectrum of community organizations. She is passionate about children’s issues and health and wellness. She is a past member of the Downtown Rotary Club, Asheville- Buncombe Education Coalition, and Buncombe County Board of Health.

Holly was first elected to Asheville City Council in 2001. She ran for re-election in 2005 and came in first place with the highest number of votes. During her tenure on City Council, Holly has served as Chair of the Asheville HOME Consortium, representative to the French Broad River Metropolitan Planning Organization, and has been the council liaison for lots of city committees including Minority Affairs, and the Greenway Commission.