Management of the direction for the Arcadia Project is shared by an important group of Staunton professionals, entrepreneurs, and artists with a commitment to executing the mission as stated. Learn more about who they are.
Elizabeth Respess, President
Elizabeth moved to Staunton in 2019 from Washington, D.C., where she spent her career at Arnold & Porter LLP, a $1B international law firm with 15 offices. She served as Executive Director, overseeing all aspects of the Firm’s business including IT, Accounting, Marketing, Human Resources, Legal Personnel and Recruiting, Real Estate, and Operations. She served for many years on the Firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and participated in its Women’s Leadership efforts. During her leadership tenure, Arnold & Porter was included multiple times on Fortune Magazine’s list of 100 Best Places to Work and Working Mother Magazine’s Top 100 Workplaces for Working Mothers list. A Charlottesville native and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Elizabeth lives with her husband, Howard McDowell, and they look forward to visits from their children, Ian and Sophie McDowell. Elizabeth enjoys walking through Staunton with her two dogs, gardening, and the many musical, theatre, and film events that the city offers.
Nancy Ivey, Vice President
During a 33-year career at Newport News Shipbuilding, builder of nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers for the Navy, Nancy Ivey was a program manager for two classes of fast attack submarines and for the company’s $110 million a year IT infrastructure budget. She ensured successful multi-million dollar contract execution through financial and resource analysis and reporting, forecasting, budgeting, recovery planning and execution, and customer interface. Her work required collaboration, team building, and facilitation across all technical and business fields within the company. Her passion for the environment led her to volunteer for non-profits including the Virginia Living Museum, Peninsula SPCA, the Virginia Master Naturalist Program, and Wildlife Center of Virginia. A native of Newport News, VA, Nancy recently moved to Staunton to enjoy retirement in a place full of cultural and outdoor activities. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary with a degree in Economics. Her hobbies include reading, hiking, biking on rail trails, traveling, and scrapbooking to preserve family photos.
Stan Grimm, Treasurer
Stan’s interest in law, and the lure of Washington, DC, led him to become a member of the office of the Legislative Counsel of the House of Representatives, a group of nonpartisan lawyers who draft legislation for Members and Committees of the House. His focus was on the development of tax legislation from the late 1970s into the early 2000s. Stan and his wife Lynn initially retired to the mountains of far-western Maryland for 15 years before moving to Staunton. Stan and Lynn enjoy ice cream from Kline’s, bicycling, and their grandchildren. Stan brings to the Arcadia Project a wealth of knowledge about buildings and systems having renovated numerous properties over many years.
Chance Crawford, Secretary
Chance Crawford is a mechanical engineer graduate of Virginia Tech. Previously employed as a design engineer for Dynamic Aviation in Bridgewater, VA he currently works at Provides US as their newest ME. His responsibilities include designing test gauges/fixtures and production optimization. Poetry or wordsmithing has been his passion since he was involved in “oratorical” recitals at Mary Baldwin with the “MAP” program in grade school. The attractions to wordplay and thought-provoking metaphors lead him to his current hobby as a Hip Hop artist / audio engineer. His current goal with his music is to promote creative free-thinking in the world and for the upcoming youth and to continue being a positive influence for creatives in the area.
Alex Weller Blanton, Director
Alex Weller Blanton is a born Stauntonian, the youngest daughter of Christine and Bus Weller. In 2010 she graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a B.S. in environmental biology; she then left Virginia for several years and tackled adventurous jobs such as park ranger, zookeeper, and private investigator. Eventually she returned to Staunton and there met her husband-to-be, Nick, co-founder of The Split Banana, Co.. Together, Nick and Alex opened Laughing Bird Pho, Inc. in 2016 and worked to grow both businesses into cornerstones of the awesome downtown scene. After the birth of their daughter Evelyn in 2018, Alex managed the bookkeeping, human resources, and accounting for Laughing Bird until they decided to close in 2021 in order to move on to other paths. A voracious sci-fi reader, she also enjoys experimental cooking and hiking with her family.
Robert Brown, Director
Robert “Danny” Brown was born, raised, schooled and worked in Palm Beach County, Florida until 2017 when he retired as a partner of a 30-person architectural/interior design firm in West Palm Beach. His last and most significant project was the five-year thirty-million-dollar restoration of the Palm Beach Bath and Tennis Club. His three children and five grandchildren all live in the northeast, which prompted him to move to Staunton in 2017. Since retiring, Danny has travelled extensively in the US, Canada and Europe. He also continues to expand his interest in photography and has exhibited in four individual and one collaborative photography shows locally; in addition, he formed a small photography club with five friends. He brings vast architectural and project management skills to the renovation process at the Arcadia Project.
Kim Davidson, Director
Kim’s career has focused on non-profit management, higher education, and community development, currently serving as the director of the Community Engagement and Volunteer Center at James Madison University. She started her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer focused on youth development in Namibia. After receiving a Master’s degree in International and Intercultural Management at the School for International Training, Kim worked as a professor and program coordinator for Augsburg University’s Center for Global Education in Namibia before returning to the United States. During the following thirteen years, Kim directed student development and campus-community partnerships that focused on immigrant rights and food system change through the Center for Public Service at Gettysburg College. In 2020, Kim moved to the Shenandoah Valley where we served as the executive director of the Allegheny Mountain Institute and supported Arcadia Project’s 2023 capital campaign and application for the IRF grant. In her free time, Kim likes to ski, hike, and travel with her family.
Elaine Echols, Director
Former Texan Elaine Echols’ passion is service to her community both as a professional and a volunteer. During her 35-year career, Elaine promoted inclusiveness, education, and good planning practice in Texas and Virginia. Before retiring in 2018 and while working for Albemarle County, she created a nationally acclaimed Neighborhood Model to make Albemarle County more livable through good urban design. Elaine was elected into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners in 2014. As a facilitator, she has worked with community groups as well as non-profits such as the Boy Scouts and the Valley Music Academy to develop and achieve their visions. Over her lifetime, her love of music led her to conduct youth brass ensembles for her church in the early 2000s, as well as sing in choirs in church and in the community. She has been a volunteer for the Arcadia Project since 2020 and is a graduate of both the University of Texas and Texas A&M University.
Pamela Wagner, Executive Director
Emmy Award-winning director, writer, producer Pamela Mason Wagner has conceptualized, scheduled, budgeted and implemented over forty television projects with budgets upwards of 3 million dollars. Her critically acclaimed non-fiction television programs have appeared on PBS, CBS, NBC, Fox News, Lifetime, Hallmark, Discovery, Investigation Discovery, History. A proven manager and leader, her non-profit experience includes serving as co-president of a community garden in New York City for five years. During her presidency, she secured formal 501(c)3 non-profit status for the garden and spearheaded a fundraising campaign that quadrupled the annual contributions to the organization. A resident of Staunton, VA, she has served as capstone project advisor to students at the Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
