Our Leadership Team

Debra Graham previously served on the Uplands Board of Directors around 2010 and chaired the Executive Search Committee. She is a Registered Nurse with over 30 years in long-term care delivery, focusing on provider services and Medicare billing/reimbursement.

 Debra holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) with board certification in Nursing Informatics and a certificate in Evidence-Based Practice. She also is an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Texas at Tyler in their Nursing Informatics Post-Master’s Certificate Program. She has been a resident of Cumberland County for 35 years. She resides between Crossville, TN, and Grove, OK, with frequent travels to Florida’s Panhandle for work.

She originally connected to Uplands through an affinity for Dr. May Wharton, portrayed in the monologue “Dr. May at the Depot,” based on Dr. Wharton’s book Doctor Woman and promoting her “gospel of better health.”

Derrick Clemow, a retired architect, is in his second year on the Board and chairs the Environmental Sustainability Committee. Born in Hartford, CT, he is a 1973 graduate of the University of TN. He served on the Architectural Design Branch of the Tennessee Valley Authority, 1973-1977. He was the Founding Principal of the Upland Design Group–Architects in Crossville, TN, 1977-2016.

He retired to a farm in Sparta after being a registered Tennessee Architect leading hundreds of community infrastructure projects over 45 years of practice. These projects included Pleasant Hill School and the original Fletcher  House, as well as the Crossville Post Office. Upper Cumberland communities have many schools and facilities designed by the firm still serving Crossville and surrounding communities. 

The expertise he brings to the Board includes knowledge of the local natural environment and a true understanding of the local community, having lived and worked in the region and having built facilities in the area for years.

Margaret McCutcheon is a retired dietician with over 30 years’ experience in long-term care and assisted living. She previously served on the Board of a Home Owners Association. Her familiarity with Uplands was largely through Marc Overlock, a former Chair of the Uplands Board. Earlier they worked together in leadership roles focusing on Medicare regulation.

Her first encounters with Uplands were through the Compliance Committee, which she has served on since 2020. She has volunteered with painting and cleaning of various residences on campus as opportunities have allowed. Given her professional work and personal experience with the senior community, she has an affinity for this population.

Michael (Mike) Readinger joined the Uplands Board of Directors in July 2022. He resides in Cleveland, OH, and Palm Springs, CA. As a retired (2022) Faith-Based Health Care Association executive, he brings extensive knowledge of the landscape in which senior care organizations like Uplands function. His MBA in Finance led to a career as an investment professional who developed important skills in managing endowment funds. He has served on many national boards and has worked for a nonprofit board, which provides deep understanding of the difference between governance and management.

He served as Vice President and then President/ CEO at the Council for Health and Human Service Ministries of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, OH, for 17 years. During that time, he made many trips to the Uplands campus and has worked closely with four of the past leaders in addressing the organization’s needs and concerns.

Nancy Ackley, serving the second year of her first Board term, previously was on the Board as a representative from the Ohio Conference of the UCC (2005-07). She brings to the Board 45 years’ experience in nonprofit fundraising. Two of her positions were at nonprofit Continuing Care Retirement Communities. For the last 15 years of her career, she was a consultant focused on capital campaigns in local UCC churches. She held the Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) credential for 30 years.

Her life experience includes 10 years as a United Methodist missionary in Argentina. She first learned about Uplands when family members moved here as independent living residents. Rev. Curt Ackley, her spouse, was a member of the UCC Council for Health and Human Services Ministries (CHHSM). They both had strong connections to Uplands Village and the UCC, and made Uplands their home in 2017. 

Holly Hanson is Director of the Cumberland Business Incubator, a program of Roane State Community College, Cumberland County campus. She serves over 780 entrepreneurs and small businesses in the Upper Cumberland and beyond. She has worked in the Aerospace, Machine Tool and Cutting Tool industries, holding positions of Manager of Purchasing, Manager of Project Management, Manager of IT, Engineering Manager, Automotive Business Unit Manager and President of Ingersoll GmbH, an international division of Ingersoll International.

She is a founder of the EIGERlab, a manufacturing and technology-based incubator, and served as Executive Director of the SBA-funded Women’s Business Center EDGE within the EIGERlab in Rockford Illinois. She is a serial entrepreneur, having started over a dozen successful businesses. She is a Licensed Professional Business Coach, Certified Executive Coach, and Certified Retirement Coach.  She holds a BS in Mathematics, an MS in Management, a Lean Manufacturing certificate, Series 7 and Series 63 designations.   

Lynette Harvey joined the Board in March 2024. She has a PhD in Nursing Education and is the author of several articles on her research with older adults that have been published in gerontological nursing journals. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing at Tennessee Tech University, where she teaches several classes on aging and the older adult.  Additionally, she has been a RN for over 20 years, working primarily in intensive care units (ICU) and Cardiovascular ICUs with a large population of older adults.

She was introduced to Uplands Village by Board member George Chitiyo, with whom she has worked at Tennessee Tech. She enjoys the warmth and friendliness of those residing and connected with Uplands Village, and is looking forward to strengthening her connections with this wonderful facility.

Jinger Loggins, who is beginning her first year on the Board, brings over 27 years of progressive health care leadership experience, including 12 years as Executive Director of Cumberland Ridge Assisted Living, where she implemented strategic initiatives to enhance resident care and satisfaction. She was Vice President of Cumberland Medical Center (2006-2011). There she directed risk management and performance improvement strategies and spearheaded compliance with Joint Commission standards. Prior to that, she was Director of Case Management and Quality Services at Cumberland Medical Center. In that role, she led case management and quality-improvement initiatives, and ensured regulatory compliance and optimized patient care outcomes. With expertise in risk management, performance improvement, and health care operations, she is well-suited to contribute to the strategic direction and governance of Uplands Village as a Board member. She lives in Crossville, TN.

Tom Mitchell, Uplands Independent Living Resident, has served on the Board since 2018.  He is a former Board Treasurer and former Chair of the Finance Committee. He has had leadership experience in both large and small companies. He served as Vice President of US and Canadian Marine Insurance at a large multinational insurance company, which had 10 Home Office employees, and more than 100 Field employees.  After retirement, he opened a cleaning business, which had 19 employees, 9 vehicles, $650,000 revenue. He served on the Board of Directors of The Insurance Board of the United Church of Christ. He has been a Member of Uplands Village since 2017.

Stephen (Steve) Masterson is beginning a third year on the Board, pursuant to the By-Law provision that the President of the Uplands Assembly Council, which represents Uplands residents, shall have a non-voting Board seat (“voice but not vote”). As a retired lawyer, who has served on nonprofit boards for nearly 50 years, he brings extensive legal and practical experience to the Board. He has lived in Uplands since 2020 and has served as Assembly Council President for two years. Per the Assembly By Laws, its purpose is “to provide a focal point and place for residents to share in the decision-making process related to procedures, plans, and programs affecting all Uplands people; to promote full discussion of the problems and opportunities facing the community; to keep open channels of communication with the Uplands Board of Directors and the Administrative staff; and to provide special services designed by the membership and contributing to the well-being and enrichment of life in Uplands Village.”