Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Anita L. Holt joined The Forest in January 2015. She is a seasoned professional in the field of aging services with more than 25 years of executive leadership in continuing care and senior living communities. She is an advocate of innovation, strategic service alignment, and program development which responds to the emerging needs of older adults.

Ms. Holt holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University and is a proud graduate of Northeastern University. She serves as Chair-Elect of LeadingAge North Carolina‘s Board of Directors.

Lee Ann Bailey-Clayton’s 30-year career has been firmly planted in the medical field of acute care and long-term care, with more than 20 of those years being tenured at The Forest. Her professional interests include dementia care and communication, human behavior, and team member morale and development.

Ms. Bailey-Clayton holds a Bachelor of Social Work from Appalachian State University. In 2016, she achieved her license as a North Carolina Nursing Home Administrator. The same year, she became a Certified Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Trainer. As an accomplished leader and mentor, Ms. Bailey-Clayton was awarded the North Carolina Emerging Leader Award from LeadingAge NC in 2018.

Karen E. Henry joined The Forest in June 2005.  She is responsible for the accounting and financial administration of The Forest, as well as assisting the CEO with budgeting and strategic planning. She began her career as an audit professional with KPMG LLP, Harrisburg, PA and continued in internal audit with Hershey Foods Corporation in Hershey, PA. She then spent five years in the clinical research industry at Quintiles Transnational Corporation in increasing roles of responsibility (Financial Analyst, Senior Manager, Associate Director) in the Consolidation / SEC / Financial Reporting Department and most recently as Senior Manager / Controller at Constella Group.

Ms. Henry has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). She is also a member of the North Carolina Association of CPAs.

Sharon M. Pitt joined The Forest in January 2020, bringing more than 30 years of extensive experience in nonprofit and healthcare related leadership to the organization. As a seasoned Registered Nurse, she possesses broad nursing management experience in both acute and long-term care settings.

Prior to joining The Forest, Ms. Pitt held senior and executive management roles at the American Red Cross, including Director of Operations and CEO of the Carolinas and South Carolina Blood Services Region. As CEO, she was responsible for developing and executing the region’s operational plan, maintaining community and hospital relationships, leading a staff of 1,000 employees, and managing more than 400,000 blood collections and an operating budget of up to $100 million. During her tenure, the region experienced the highest employee engagement scores in the eastern division and exceeded its collection targets, becoming the largest blood collection region in the American Red Cross system.

Ms. Pitt holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Columbia College and a Graduate Certificate of Gerontology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is also a member of the American Nurses Association.

Dr. Milta Oyola Little has served as the Medical Director at The Forest since July 2019. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham. Her primary scholarly interests are inter-professional health education, health systems innovations, and non-pharmacologic management of geriatric syndromes to improve outcomes of older adults across healthcare settings. She has served both the American Geriatrics Society and American Medical Directors Association (AMDA) – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine on a variety of committees and spent seven years on the Board of Directors for AMDA.

Dr. Little earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Midwestern University, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed her Internal Medicine Residency and Geriatrics Fellowship at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center.

Nathan Summers joined The Forest in April 2016, bringing more than 15 years of experience in the senior living industry. During his 25-year career, Mr. Summers has led teams in all service areas including maintenance, security, housekeeping, dining, landscaping, and administration. He was recognized in 2015 by LeadingAge NC for “Excellence in Customer Service.”

As a Certified Aging Services Professional, Mr. Summers has worked with various project development teams and with post-construction implementations; this included major renovations to the historic Pinehurst Country Club in preparation for the 1999 Men’s US Open Golf Championship and the renovation of the 100-year-old, five-story Pine Needles Hotel for senior living apartments. He was also influential in assisting two communities achieve accreditation from CARF International.

April Ravelli has served as Director of Sales & Marketing since September 2018. She brings a depth of more than 15 years of experience as an accomplished leader in digital marketing, advertising, and branding. In addition to directing the sales and marketing for independent living at The Forest, she provides oversight and branding control of all marketing materials, advertising, and media placement.

Ms. Ravelli holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and a Certificate in Digital Marketing from North Carolina State University. Prior to The Forest, she served as the Executive Director of One World Market, a 25-year-old Durham nonprofit organization.

Tess Thomas joined The Forest in June 2020. She is an experienced human resources leader with a history of success in healthcare, non-profit, high-tech, manufacturing / supply chain management, and Fortune 500 companies. She is committed to the human resources model that champions human resources as a strategic business partner, with particular focus on service, culture, development, continuous improvement, innovation, diversity, and inspirational leadership.

Ms. Thomas received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, with her major in Human Resources and Labor Relations. Additionally, she has completed graduate-level studies at the University of Michigan and is certified with SPHR and SHRM-SCP credentials.

Sarah Haney joined The Forest team and aging services in 2020. She is the Director of Community Life, which embraces all community engagement for residents and team members as well as creating partnerships with the greater Durham community. She brings years of experience in cultivating a culture of community after spending 20 years coaching women’s rowing at the collegiate level. Her experience has taught her that a community of engagement and vibrancy provides a more meaningful and purposeful life.

Ms. Haney received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Exercise Sports Science from The University of North Carolina.

Rashad Wilson is the newest member of the Leadership Team, but he is not new to our community. He joined The Forest 12 years ago and in that time has also served as Information Technology Support, Network Administrator, and Manager of Information Systems.

Mr. Wilson has a Bachelor of Science from ECPI University and has acquired all of the necessary system security certifications. He is currently pursuing his Master of Computer Science / Computer Analytics.