Smart Beginnings Coordinator
Lori Briscoe Pennington is an Abingdon, Virginia native who returned to the area three years ago to raise her children in Southwest Virginia among family, friends and community after spending a dozen years in other places.
Prior to joining the United Way of Russell and Washington Counties as Coordinator of Smart Beginnings Virginia Highlands, Lori served as Director of Development for People Incorporated of Virginia. She also served as Associate Director of the Appalachian Center at Berea College from 2000-2006, taught Appalachian Studies classes at Caldwell Community College in Boone, NC, and has continued to pursue interests in writing, arts and crafts, and small-scale farming.
Lori has a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a Masters in Arts in Appalachian Studies and Sustainable Development from Appalachian State University. She is married to Corey Pennington, Construction Manager for Challenge Towers, a challenge course and zip-line canopy tour company based in North Carolina. Together they are raising three amazing kids, a menagerie of animals and a large garden in beautiful Southwest Virginia.