Our Leadership Team
Committed to Serving Others
Our executive leadership team possesses the skills, experience, and passion needed to maintain Uplands Village as an integral part of the Cumberland County community for the past 100 years and into the future.
Noah Moore
President and CEO
Noah earned a bachelor’s degree in gerontology and long-term healthcare administration from Bowling Green State University. He went on to earn a master’s degree in business administration from Ohio Dominican University. Noah’s two decades in senior living operations include his most recent role at Lionstone Care Management as Regional Director of Operations, where he was responsible for a portfolio of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in Central Ohio. He also served nine years as Executive Director at First Community Village, a not-for-profit life plan community in Columbus, and later as Executive Director for Trilogy Health Services in Hilliard, Ohio, where he supported the construction and opening of a new, full continuum of care campus.
Noah and his wife Mary share two sons, Andrew and Noah. Andrew studies business as a freshman at the University of Dayton. Noah is in the third grade and shares a love of sports with his dad and brother. They have two dogs – George, a Maltipoo, and their newly adopted Goldendoodle, Blue.
Cathy Taylor, LNHA
Administrator of Uplands Village Wellness Center and Wharton Homes
Cathy was born and raised in a small town west of the Missouri River in South Dakota, where she grew up with all the animals you could imagine, including full-sized and miniature horses, miniature donkeys, and even fainting goats! (Ask her about them if you want a good laugh! Cathy would give anything to have goats again!) Growing up, Cathy was taught to cheer for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the BIG 10, and still cheers for them to this day.
Cathy has her MBA with an emphasis in Health Service Administration and has been an administrator for the past 12 years. Since graduating, she has lived in Georgia, Arizona, Illinois, and Iowa, but can finally say she has found her forever home in Crossville, TN. Cathy came to Crossville with her husband, Jason, and her dog, Husker (see? die-hard Cornhuskers fan), to be closer to her nephew and niece, and she loves spending time with them and cheering them on from the sidelines.
Cathy’s passion is making people smile, helping make her team’s job fun, and bringing joy to the residents and their families. She is looking forward to becoming a part of Pleasant Hill and surrounding communities!
Alisha Ashburn
Director of Human Resources
Alisha has extensive experience in the field of healthcare human resources. She worked for eight years in the Human Resources department of the 189-bed Cumberland Medical Center, the region’s acute care hospital, and as a member of the extensive Covenant Health System, before joining the Uplands Village team as Director of Human Resources.
Alisha graduated from King University with a Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Human Resources.
She is married and has four children. Alisha spends her time away from Uplands, enjoying family activities and watching her children’s sporting events.
Cheryl Heckler
Manager of Village Services
As the Manager of Village Services at Uplands Village, Cheryl arranges and coordinates services for independent living, including programs, activities, guest accommodations, transportation, editing the bi-weekly newsletter, as well as staff support for the Uplands Village Board of Directors.
Cheryl has been an Uplands Village employee since April 1994, building relationships and coordinating services to meet the needs of the independent living residents since March 2013.
Her passion for hiking instigated developing an Uplands Village hiking group and improving the Uplands Village trails. Cheryl organized an Uplands Village Trail Committee in 2017 that created a master trail plan and trail maintenance manual to improve the Uplands Village hiking trails. The master plan included two sections – priorities to improve the existing trails and future development to add additional trails and features.
She was born in Indiana, living briefly in Illinois and Ohio after graduating with an associate’s degree from Vincennes University and a bachelor’s degree from Indiana State University. In 1992, Cheryl moved to Crossville, Tennessee, where she and her husband raised their two sons and daughter. She now has one grandchild. Cheryl loves reading, counting cross-stitch, traveling, nature, and hiking.
Cynthia Smith
Director of Finance
Cynthia brings over 20 years of experience, primarily in healthcare and property management. She joined the Uplands Village team in 2017 and is committed to the success of the community and its residents. Cynthia is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. She lives in Crossville, Tennessee, with her husband and enjoys travel, watching sports, and spending time with family.
Scott Parks
Director of Maintenance
Scott is the Director of Maintenance at Uplands Village and comes from a building maintenance background specializing in ground, electric, and plumbing. Over the past 37 years, Scott has dedicated his expertise and time at Uplands Village while expanding on his licensures. During his tenure with Uplands, he has completed his license in Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, IT and is currently working on his license for wastewater management. In 2016, Scott was the Project Manager for the renovation of our top-notch Wellness Center. The thing he loves most about working at Uplands Village is getting to know each resident and helping everyone he can in this community.
Scott was raised in Pleasant Hill and loves to spend his time outside of Uplands Village camping, spoiling his two dogs, Dutton and Pepper, attending woodcraft shows, working on his farm with his beef cattle, building onto his antique car collection, and riding his motorcycle with his wife of 23 years, Tamara.
Lisa Norris, RN
Manager of Uplands Village Home Health
As the Manager of Uplands Village Home Health, Lisa is a Registered Nurse (RN) and Eden [Alternative] Educator. She is a graduate of Roane State and has spent the last 29 years working in Elder Care.
Lisa is a local from Pleasant Hill, Tennessee, and has been a part of the Uplands Village family for the last 18 years. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother with a love for God first. Lisa believes in taking care of mother earth, Elders, and children with a humble idea that you always give more than you take.
Tisha Whitaker
Director of Elizabeth Fletcher House
Tisha was born in our charming town of Pleasant Hill and learned at an early age what it was like to care for a family. Growing up, she was raised by her grandparents and was taught to respect older adults and loved the stories and wisdom they shared.
Shortly after graduating high school, Tisha began her lifelong career at Uplands Village in 2000. She worked as a dietary aide for many years while putting herself through nursing school, earning her practical nursing degree before becoming a full-time caregiver. Continuing to grow within the company, Tisha had the opportunity to spend eight years with Uplands Home Health before accepting her current position at Elizabeth Fletcher House.
Tisha and her husband, John, are happily married and share four children, Dylan, Cody, Shayli, and Lilee, and one grandchild, Gracie. When not working, they enjoy spending time with their family, making memories, being outdoors, and traveling.
Lou Buckner
Director of Nursing for Uplands Village Wellness Center and Wharton Homes
Lou was born in Harriman with the help of her grandmother, who was the midwife. She graduated from Maryville High School and has deep family roots in Cades Cove. Lou started her career with Uplands Village in 1995 as a charge nurse. She completed her RN degree (with help from Uplands Scholarship) and became the Director of Nursing in 2004.
Lou left Uplands briefly in 2007 and became the Director of Nursing at Bordeaux Long Term Care facility in Nashville. She returned to Uplands Village in 2015 and later received her Nursing Home Administrator Licensure before retiring in 2019.
Lou has been a Wound Certified Nurse since 2008 and chose to return to Uplands as a wound nurse in 2021. She has also worked as a Tennessee CNA test proctor for 22 years and was on the Tennessee Advisory Board for CNA programming for ten years.
Lou and her husband, Denny, have two grown daughters, Elizabeth and Jennifer, and four grandsons.
Danny Hassler
Real Estate Broker
Danny is a Real Estate Broker for Uplands Village Real Estate, which markets and sells independent living residencies at Uplands Village. He has been in the real estate business for over 41 years, having a broker’s license for 38 of those years, while also serving as a teacher, coach, administrator, and educational consultant. Danny has the Senior Real Estate Specialist, SRES designation, and At Home With Diversity (AHWD) certification. He is also a Graduate of the Realtor Institute, GRI.
Danny enjoys the process of helping people explore the beauty of Uplands Village and finding them a home to fit their current needs.
Danny holds an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership from Tennessee Technological University.
Keith Mills
Director of Marketing.
Keith is the Director of Marketing at Uplands Village. He has an extensive background in customer service, marketing, and sales. It is his duty to design and implement a marketing strategy that will promote Uplands Village not only locally but also nationally. Making sure all areas of the campus are well represented and advertised is Keith’s daily goal. One of his favorite things about Uplands Village is getting to meet the residents and talk to them about the paths that led them to this great community.
Keith was born and raised in Spencer, TN. He has traversed the country and worked in many different states. He is also active in Rotary and Habitat for Humanity. When he isn’t thinking of something marketing related, you can find him spending time with his wife, acting like he knows what he’s doing at the gym, eating chocolate, learning useless trivia facts to randomly disperse to a most often unimpressed audience, and petting every dog that he meets.
Deonna Turner
Director of Rehab
Deonna is the Director of Rehab at Uplands Village. While in college at Roane State, she enjoyed working as a Dental Assistant for eight years and a caregiver in the home care industry. This experience gave her a deep appreciation of how to improve the lives of others.
Deonna graduated from Nashville States Occupational Therapy Assistant Program in 2014 and landed her first job as a COTA/L, Director of Rehab at Uplands Village. She has a passion for helping others, loves to hear their stories, and loves to hear others’ “secrets to life.”
Deonna is a native of Crossville, Tennessee, has been married to her husband, Kirk, for four years, and together they have twin girls, Wylder and Wrenley. Deonna feels it is a beautiful thing when a passion and a career come together.
Amanda Waldo
Manager of Memory Care
Amanda Waldo has been in the healthcare field for 22 years. She spent the first 3 as a CNA. Her last 19 years have been as a nurse. While caring for long term / skilled patients she had a focus on wound care. She joined Uplands Village in 2022. In 2024 she was promoted to Memory Care Manager.
Amanda has two daughters, Bailee and Kayla, and loves animals. When she is not being awesome at Uplands Village she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, crafting, being outdoors, and working on her farm where she raises black angus cattle.
Board of Directors
At Uplands Village, our board of directors works closely with executive staff to deliver our mission of being a caring, inclusive senior living community.
Debra B. Graham
DNP, MBA, RN-BC, CPHIMS
Chair (7/1/2022-6/30/2025)
Board Committees: Executive (Chair) and Nominating/Governance Committees
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, B. Arch.
Vice Chair (2nd term 7/1/2023-6/30/2026)
Board Committees: Executive Committee, Environmental Sustainability Committee (Chair)
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
MS, RD, LDN
Secretary (1st term 7/1/2022-6/30/2025)
Board Committees: Executive, Compliance, Nominating/Governance Committees
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 J. Readinger, MBA
Treasurer (1st term 7/1/2022-6/30/2025)
Board Committees: Executive, Development Committees, Finance Committee (Chair), President/ CEO Search Committee (Chair)
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
Member (1st term 7/1/2022-6/30/2025)
Board Committees: Development Committee (Chair), Task Force on Visioning
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.
George Chitiyo, PhD
Member (2ndt term 7/1/2024-6/30/2027)
Board Committees: Governance and Nominating Committee (Chair), President/ CEO Search Committee
George Chitiyo is starting the first year of a second term on the Board. He is Professor of Educational Research at Tennessee Technological University, and holds a PhD in Program Planning and Evaluation from Tennessee Tech University. His expertise is in research design, program evaluation, and statistical analysis. His expertise supports data-driven decision-making for program improvement. He served as a consultant to Uplands Village in 2018-2019 regarding evaluation related to Eden Alternative Training for staff. He lives in Cookeville, TN.
Holly Hanson, BS, MS
Member (1st term 7/1/2024-6/30/2027)
Board Committees: Finance, Nominating/Governance Committees, Task Force for Visioning (Chair)
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.
Lynnette Harvey, RN, PhD
Member (1st term 3/27/2024-6/30/2027)
Board Committees: Compliance (Chair)
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, RN, MBA, BSN
Member (1st term 7/1/2024-6/30/2027)
Board Committees: Compliance, Development Committees, President/ CEO Search Committee
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, CPCU
Board Member (2nd term 7/1/2022-6/30/2025)
Board Committees: Compliance, Environmental Sustainability, Finance Committees, President/ CEO Search Committee
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 M. Masterson
Board Member
Board Committees: Compliance, Nominating/Governance Committees
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.”