The Forest at Duke Leadership

Anita L. Holt, MPH
A seasoned professional in the field of aging services with more than 25 years of executive leadership in continuing care and senior living communities, Ms. Holt joined The Forest in January 2015. She is an advocate of innovation and strategic service and program development that 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 currently serves as Chair-Elect of LeadingAge North Carolina‘s Board of Directors.

Lee Ann Bailey-Clayton, NHA
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, CPA
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, RN
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.

Milta Oyola Little, DO, CMD
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
Nathan Summers joined The Forest at Duke in April 2016 and has spent over 23 years in service to seniors. Throughout his career, Mr. Summers has led teams in all service areas, including maintenance, security, housekeeping, dining, arts and leisure, wellness, landscaping, and administration. He was recognized in 2015 by LeadingAge NC for “Excellence in Customer Service.”
A Certified Aging Services Professional, Mr. Summers has worked with various project development teams and with post-construction implementations; this includes 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.
Mr. Summers’ extensive history of food and beverage experience began at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in Pinehurst, NC, where he worked for 15 years; there, holding a number of food service positions from Dishwasher to Resort Club Food & Beverage Manager, Nathan grew vast knowledge in all aspects of dining – fine, casual, and catering.
Outside of his work on campus, Mr. Summers is an active part of the greater Durham community. He serves as Finance Chair on the Board of Directors for the Durham Center for Senior Life and volunteers his time to raise funds for the Exchange Family Center.

April Ravelli
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—now Bull City Fair Trade—a 30-year-old Durham nonprofit organization whose sales have provided a sustainable source of fair pay for thousands of people in developing areas.

Larry Williams, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, IPMA-SCP
Larry Williams, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, IPMA-SCP is a seasoned HR professional with over 20 years of experience in organizational development and cross-functional team-building. As the Director of Human Resources, he brings a wealth of expertise to The Forest at Duke.
Prior to his February 2023 retirement from an impressive 32-year career with the United States Navy, Mr. Williams served as Executive Director of Human Resources (Command Master Chief) for Aviation Organization in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was stationed for 13 years. During his tenure, Mr. Williams successfully directed and mentored diverse teams, resulting in increased employee efficiency and operational readiness.
Mr. Williams’ transition to this civilian role marks an exciting chapter in his story, where he brings his extensive military background and leadership acumen to guide our HR department and Forest community towards achieving new milestones and fostering a positive work environment for all team members.

Sarah Haney
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
A familiar face around our community, Rashad Wilson joined The Forest at Duke in May 2010 and since that time has also served as Information Technology Support, Network Administrator, and Manager of Information Systems.
As Director of Information Technology, Mr. Wilson strives to maintain safe and reliable network environments for the entire organization, recognizing that the protection of individual and company data is the most important aspect of his role. Well versed in data backup and retention, he has extensive knowledge of network configuration and preemptive safety protocols.
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.