Board Of Directors

Richard Averitte

Richard is a North Carolina native who serves as Executive Director of the American Cancer Society for Central & Eastern NC. He believes community service is essential and has volunteered with several nonprofits, including Activate Good, Me Fine Foundation, A Note In The Pocket, A Place At The Table, and more. Richard believes in TAP’s mission and has applied his nonprofit experience to the TAP board.

He resides in Raleigh with his wife, Lisa, and two children, Lucy and Felix.

Andy Beal

Andy is the marketing lead for drug safety and regulatory compliance at IQVIA, a leading global provider of analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services to the life sciences industry.

At the age of 44, Andy suffered a massive ischemic stroke and was airlifted to Duke Hospital, where a new treatment (thrombectomy) removed two blood clots that had restricted blood flow to just half of his brain. After just a few days in the ICU, Andy made a miraculous recovery, walked out of Duke unassisted, and resumed normal activities. Since then, Andy has passionately supported TAP and is also an ambassador for the American Stroke Association. He is the author of the Amazon bestseller Optimize Your Heart: A practical guide to lowering your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Originally from England, Andy is a proud US citizen and has lived in Raleigh with his native NC wife for 25 years. Andy enjoys playing tennis, taking daily walks, playing music, watching Carolina Hurricanes hockey, and traveling.

Nikki Dickens

Nikki Dickens is one of the few remaining natives of Raleigh, NC!  Although she has traveled extensively, she remains happily rooted here in the triangle. A marketing professional for over 20 years, she has worked with non-profits, start-ups, & Fortune 500 companies, to bring awareness and adoption for a wide variety of products and services in her career.

Her journey with TAP started in 2012 when her Mom, Lynn, became a client. As a caregiver, she quickly realized that TAP was far more than an organization but rather a community of family and friends that made a life changing difference to not only her mother but also her family. After her mom’s passing in 2020, Nikki stayed involved with TAP in various capacities. Now, as part of the board, she looks forward to digging in even more to shed light about the wonderful impact TAP brings to the triangle and beyond!

Shawn Fleck

Shawn is a global sales & marketing leader and a nonprofit board member. Shawn consults nonprofit boards and sales and marketing organizations towards growth. He has led global sales and marketing organizations at SMART Technologies, Nortel. Shawn has worked in the US, Canada and in China. Shawn’s roles included capturing and strategizing on opportunities to enhance and support future growth. With over 32 years of unified collaboration, sales, marketing and cloud expertise, Shawn is a leader that combines a wealth of practical experience in customer relationship management and strategic management. Shawn’s strengths lie in developing and executing on customer sales and information technology strategies.

Shawn graduated with an MBA from Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, after an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto in Commerce and French Language.

Shawn is married and has 2 adult daughters. Elizabeth and I love to hike around the world, and I love to play golf and hockey.

Cheria Jannell Hay

Cheria J. Hay is a graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina with a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina.  Cheria has 20 years of experience working as a licensed medical Speech-Language Pathologist.  She works with traumatic brain injury, stroke, various neurological disorders, dysphagia, voice, LSVT for Parkinson’s, aphasia and cognition and pediatric feeding.

Cheria currently works in the College of Health and Sciences at North Carolina Central University as a Clinical Educator.  Her professional passion is to inspire and guide Speech Language Pathologists of tomorrow.

Cheria’s treatment philosophy includes empowering a patient and his or her family through education, which is integral to the healing and aging process.  Cheria learned of TAP’s services through an SLP colleague at WakeMed and has been a supporter ever since.  She believes TAP’S vision and mission and is honored to be a part of the TAP family.

Cheria is a native islander from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and is a proud Gullah-Geechie descendant.  She is active and passionate about keeping Gullah culture alive and educating others on the rich history.  Cheria enjoys spending time with her daughter, visiting her family as often as possible, traveling and Korean dramas.

Lee Hilts

Lee has worked in non-profit leadership for the past 12 years and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Anglican Diocese of Christ our Hope. His role there includes human resources, finance, operational systems and policy development. Additionally, he enjoys working directly with the churches of the diocese to help them diagnose and solve financial and operational issues.

Lee met his wife Sarah at UNC Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and they have been married since 1996. Sarah is a practicing Speech Language Pathologist and they look forward to supporting TAP together.  They have a son, daughter-in-law, and daughter and enjoy traveling to visit them as often as possible. Outside of work, you will find Lee playing board games, hiking, or playing disc golf with family and friends.

Joe Uva

I am a graduate of Thomas Edison State College in New Jersey with a Bachelors in Computer Science and Applied Technology.  I have 30+ years working as an IT professional in the pharmaceutical industry.   I have supported both the Commercial and Clinical side of the pharma business with a focus on customer relationship management, including expertise in business functions such as new product launches, sales and marketing, compliance, patient services, and governance.

My nonprofit experience prior to joining TAP was helping to lead a Durham Rescue Mission Back-to-School event held each year in August.  I supported this event for 15 years, from 2007 through 2021.  The event enabled school-aged children in attendance to receive new backpacks full of supplies to help them start off the new school year well equipped.

I am currently married to my wife Karen for 30+ years, we have 2 adult children.   I love to play golf, I am an avid hockey fan (go Canes!), and I am an aspiring chef!

Tanya Locklair

Ms. Locklair graduated from the University of South Carolina at Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration. She received her Juris Doctor Degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law. In addition to being licensed to practice in North Carolina, Ms. Locklair is also licensed in the State of South Carolina.

Ms. Locklair’s practice is focused in the areas of commercial real estate and affordable housing and community economic development law. Since joining the firm, Ms. Locklair has taught seminars and lectured in the area of title law, affordable housing and community economic development law. Ms. Locklair is involved in all aspects of transactional work. She serves as the primary attorney for the Firm’s representation of various private clients, including developers, corporations, and financial institutions, as well as municipal corporations.

Ms. Locklair is a member of the American Bar Association’s Real Property, Business Law, Law Practice Management, and Affordable Housing and Community Economic Sections as well as the Real Property Sections of both the North and South Carolina Bar Associations.

Brad Yarbrough

Brad grew up in Whiteville, NC and is a proud graduate of Appalachian State University’s Business School with a degree in business management.  Brad is currently employed by John Deere Company in Cary, NC as territory sales manager.

Brad is personally aware of the programs and services offered by the Triangle Aphasia Project as the spouse of Hope – who was impacted by a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) because of a car accident and she has been very involved with TAP Unlimited as both a client and a volunteer.  Brad hopes to take the experience and engagement with TAP Unlimited and help shape the life changing resources TAP Unlimited offers in the community.

Brad and Hope have two daughters and enjoys spending time with family and friends in the Triangle area.