Justin Drummond is Chair of Vulcan Park and Museum Board of Directors and President of Stone Building Company, a regional general contractor based in Birmingham, AL well recognized for their reputation in the commercial construction industry for quality work, customer service and delivering results.

Garland Cook Smith is the previous Chair of Vulcan Park and Museum Board of Directors.  She has been heavily involved with philanthropic endeavors and historic preservation throughout her life, with a particular interest in the Birmingham area and the state of Alabama.  Garland served on the founding boards of the Alabama Ballet, McWane Center and the Birmingham History Center, whose collection is now owned by Vulcan.

Current initiatives include the Alabama Department of Archives and History Foundation president; Old Cahawba Foundation, Dallas County, AL, VP; Black Belt Treasures board chairman in Camden, AL; and the Wilcox County Historical Society, VP; Virginia Samford Theatre, and Birmingham Museum of Art, Ball chairman for 2020, Birmingham.

Jason Eppenger is the immediate past Chair of Vulcan Park and Museum Board of Directors. Eppenger has been working in the financial industry all over Birmingham since he studied accounting at Tennessee State University and earned his B.S. in Accounting at the University of Alabama. He is currently the Alabama Market President at Citizens Trust Bank, but has also worked at Wells Fargo, Regions and First Commercial Bank.

Ann-Marie Stanford is Secretary of Vulcan Park and Museum Board of Director. Stanford joined Alagasco (now Spire) in 2011. She currently serves as Director of Supply Chain Projects and previously as Director of Strategic Sourcing. Ann-Marie joined Alagasco (Spire) after a 17-year career in the automotive industry. Her most recent position in the automotive industry was as Manager of Production Control and Logistics at Inteva Products LLC, – a Tier 1 supplier to Mercedes Benz U.S. International.

Ann-Marie serves as a board member of the South Region Minority Supplier Development Council, as well as on the Board of Directors of the Kiwanis group of Mountain Brook-Homewood. Previously, Ann-Marie served on the Supply Chain committee for the Southern Gas Association.

Ann-Marie earned a BS degree in Mathematics from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She also holds a MS degree in Engineering Management from the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio.

Ann-Marie is a native of Mandeville, Jamaica. She is married to Ronald Stanford and has three children: Morgan, Nia and Matthew. In her spare time, Ann-Marie loves to provide mentorship and sponsorship to aspiring youth. She enjoys being outdoors, traveling, reading and spending quiet time with family.

Fox DeFuniak is a community volunteer that serves on our Board of Directors. He was the Market President at Superior Bank and a former President and CEO at Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. He is involved all throughout the Birmingham community and is the current Chairman of the Board of the City Action Partnership (CAP), and is a Co-President of the Birmingham History Center.

Selena Rodgers Dickerson is the president of SARCOR, LLC, an engineering design and project management firm, and The Installation at Uptown, a co-working space for small businesses. A Birmingham native, Selena is a graduate of Ramsay Alternative High School. She received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Tennessee State University and her Master’s in Business Administration in Project Management from Capella University.

After getting laid off in 2010, Selena knew that she could either look for a job or look for contracts. She chose to search for her own contracts. Since founding SARCOR, Selena has successfully launched two other companies: The Installation at Uptown, LLC, a coworking incubator space in Birmingham’s prominent Uptown District, and Selene, LLC, which specializes in supplier diversity metrics and accountability, coaching and consulting.

Earl Hilliard is the Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the City of Birmingham. Previously he worked at The Hunt-Hilliard Law Firm, LLC. and was the President of Magic City Films. He also served as a State Representative of District 60 in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2006-2010. Earl graduated with a B.A. from Morehouse College and studied at both The University of Alabama School of Law and Howard University School of Law to obtain his J.D.

Mark Jackson is the CEO and Chairman of Moreson Conferencing, a global provider of teleconference services and an honorary consul general of Japan. Mr. Jackson spends his life investing in organizations like the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission, a nonprofit group dedicated to cultivating cooperation and understanding with cities around the world. Internationally, he has served as a board member of the British American Business Group and held a board position with the National Library for the Blind in Stockport, England. Other key areas of service include the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and the Irish Cultural Society.

He is a nationally respected crisis communicator, public relations practitioner, strategist, and inclusion-minded, results-based leader of a multi-generational agency workforce. President and Partner of o2ideas in Birmingham, Alabama, he leads client-centric public relations and marketing efforts for national and regional brands. Accredited in Public Relations (APR) since 1994, he excels in strategic public relations and crisis communications for clients and has handled crises of national and international impact. He is also responsible for results-based strategic marketing and planning for campaigns across all platforms including digital marketing, broadcast, print and social media.

Before joining o2, Bill was a reporter and producer with WVTM-TV 13 in Birmingham, as well as a spokesman for BellSouth. He has a B.A. from the University of Alabama, an M.A. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, an M.B.A. from Auburn University, is Accredited in Public Relations (APR), and has served as adjunct advertising faculty at Samford University.

A native of New Orleans, Negrotto’s choice of a career in the hospitality and tourism industry was inspired by that city’s abundance of great restaurants and wealth of interesting places. Following graduate studies in Organizational Psychology at Louisiana State University, she held management positions at prominent institutions in the southeast, including Ruth’s Chris Steak House, The Pontchartrain Hotel and NorthRiver Yacht Club.

She later served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Business Center of Alabama, Inc., a subsidiary of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama, and came to Birmingham to operate The Harbert Center, the landmark downtown event facility.

Negrotto has served as President and CEO of Vulcan Park and Museum since March 2004. Through her position, she enjoys having the opportunity to instill in our youth an understanding and sense of pride in their hometown, create excitement about the many positive aspects of our region in both visitors and residents and create mutually beneficial partnerships with other cultural institutions and service agencies. She was named the BBJ’s 2010 Non Profit CEO of the Year and 2011 Best in Minority Business Award for Non Profit Leadership.

Among her civic and professional activities, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Homewood Chamber of Commerce and The Women’s Network, is an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, the Women’s Forum and CAHABA. Other activities have included leadership roles with Executive Women International, International Facility Management Association and Kentuck Festival of the Arts. She is married to Birmingham native E. Foster Smith and loves to travel and cook.

Cynthia Cardona, Director of Museum of Operations is a native of Florida and graduated from the University of Central Florida with a B.A. and an M.A. in History. She has worked for over two decades in museums and arts organizations transitioning from roles focusing on collections management, operations, and administration. Beginning her career as Photo Archivist and later Curator of Collections at the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando, Cardona later served as Director of Operations for Art & History Museums-Maitland.  Prior to joining the Vulcan Park & Museum in 2022, she served as Executive Director of the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

Born and raised in Meridian, MS, Amanda knew at a young age that her passion was communicating with people. Hare obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from The University of Southern Mississippi in 2014. Hare started her career in media relations in 2015 as an Account Executive in the Tourism sector for Alabama Media Group in Birmingham, AL. It was at this time that Amanda decided to pursue her Master’s Degree in Strategic Communication from Troy University in 2016.

In 2016, Amanda launched her Marketing & Public Relations agency, AmandatoryPR. Hare had the fortunate opportunity to be offered a Marketing Coordinator position with Aramark, on the campus of The University of Alabama, in 2018. Less than two months upon beginning, in the absence of an onsite Marketing Manager, Hare stepped up to the plate and took on the duties of the role at one of the TOP college campuses in the south. Amanda was joined Vulcan Park Foundation in the summer of 2020 as Relationship Outreach Coordinator. Since then, she has been promoted to both Marketing & PR Manager. Amanda currently serves as the Director of Marketing & Public Relations.

Amanda enjoys cooking and fashion. She spends her free time surrounded by her friends and family and her dog, Lola.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Jennifer received her BFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of Arizona. In addition to her accomplished career in fundraising and public engagement, she has served as a national-level motivational speaker and as an advisor for the local 1996 Olympic Soccer games. Jennifer’s successful competitive athletic career culminated in what is undoubtedly the highest honor for an athlete, an Olympic Gold Medal in the 1976 Montreal Games.

Originally from Tuscaloosa, AL, Lisa Hudson has lived in Birmingham for more than 20 years.  Since March 2015, she has served Vulcan Park and Museum as Events Venue Assistant Manager.  Her primary responsibilities include event venue tours, sales and managing private events.  She enjoys interacting with visitors and guests who come to tour the event facilities at Vulcan Park and Museum while considering them for their special occasion. Lisa enjoys ensuring guests have a warm welcome and a great experience when hosting an event at Vulcan Park and Museum.

Outside of work at Vulcan, she enjoys time with family and friends, traveling and having a quiet day to relax at home.  She has lived in several states along her life’s journey including Florida, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Georgia, and her native home of Alabama.

A Birmingham area native, Casey Gamble attended the University of Montevallo where she earned a Bachelor of Science in History before completing a Master of Arts in Secondary Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She worked for Enterprise Holdings and Birmingham City Schools before beginning her career at VPM.

Casey has been connected with Vulcan Park and Museum since 2014 when she worked as an intern in the education department. She eventually went on to run the summer camp program before transitioning to her current role.

As Museum Programs Manager, she creates new educational programs in addition to maintaining and implementing existing programming, and works to improve accessibility for all visitors. In addition, she manages the collections cataloging project, school tours, and supervises volunteers, interns, and contract staff.

In her spare time, Casey enjoys spending time with her family, as well as gardening, reading, photography, and her pets.

Kevin Whitaker returned to Vulcan Park & Museum after having worked in a similar position for the Park from 2013-2017. Kevin considers Birmingham home, despite having been born in Tokyo, Japan (his parents were in the U.S. Air Force).

As assistant manager, Kevin contributes to the daily operation of Visitor Services, working primarily with the Visitor Services Representatives to ensure a fun, educational, and rewarding experience for all VPM guests. Kevin also coordinates tours for adult groups.
Kevin has been a volunteer youth minister for more than 40 years and enjoys being active in his church as athletic director and choir member. Although a lifelong bachelor, he enjoys spending quality time with his eight godchildren and has been a spiritual mentor to 23 young people. Kevin’s hobbies include playing board games (especially Monopoly!), traveling, Braves baseball, and proclaiming, “War Eagle!” Kevin lives in Vestavia Hills.

Emily Meyer manages and supervises The Anvil gift shop at Vulcan Park and Museum. She and her husband, Jeff, joined the team in the summer of 2017 and are very excited to be a part of Birmingham’s premier historic attraction and cultural institution.

Growing up in Dothan, AL, Emily has spent most of her adult life “out West,” living and working in Yellowstone National Park, as well as Moscow, ID and Missoula, MT. She also spent three years living in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan and four months in Iquique, Tarapaca, Chile teaching English to public school children. Emily acquired her extensive knowledge of guest service and retail management while working 12 years for the main concessionaire at Yellowstone National Park.

Emily has a BFA in Painting, as well as a BA in Secondary Art Education, from the University of Idaho in Moscow. She is a working artist and hopes to insert herself into Birmingham’s dynamic art scene. She loves nature and gets outside as much as possible to hike, camp, and kayak.

A recent transplant to Birmingham, Emily misses the Western mountains and snow (her skis wait patiently in her Birmingham closet). But she is excited to live in Birmingham and continue to explore the city’s lovely parks, great food, and dynamic cultural opportunities. The people are nice too! She looks forward to meeting them at Vulcan Park and Museum!

Originally from Sylacauga, AL, Rylee Jones trained as a competitive Equestrian from 2007 to 2020 where she won numerous state championships in the jumping division. As a junior in high school, she was able to compete in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association National Finals in Lexington, Kentucky. Representing the Birmingham Equestrian Team, Rylee finished in the top 10 in the nation and went on to compete with the Samford Equestrian Team in college.

Rylee received her Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree in Communication Studies from Samford University and is currently enrolled in their MBA program as well.

Rylee began her career in event planning by working as a wedding planner in the Birmingham area while she was an undergraduate student.  Before taking the job as Events Manager at Vulcan, Rylee worked with the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement at Samford where she planned student events, new student orientations, SGA activities, and other campus activities to promote student involvement on campus.

Coleman is originally from Dothan Al and moved to the Birmingham area in winter of 2020. He started out with Vulcan Park & Museum as a volunteer before moving to Collections Assistant, and now he serves as Collections Manager. Coleman graduated from The University of Alabama with his Bachelor of Arts in both History and American Studies. While attending U.A, he did an internship with Druid City Pride and assisted in operating their Pride Festival.

Billie received her BS in Public Relations from Lee University, where she served as Social Media Coordinator for the Campus Choir. She later took the role of Business Development Assistant at Anatole Exteriors. She came to us from the Alabama Church of God Headquarters, where she served as the Administrative Assistant to the Youth & Discipleship Director of Alabama. Outside of work at Vulcan, she is the Media Director for Parkwood Church in her free time and loves to connect, grow, and serve with those around her.

Tracy Fillmore joined us in the part time position of Office Administrator.  Tracy received her BS in Electrical Engineering from UAB and worked in that field earlier in her career.  When she returned to the workplace as her children grew up, she worked in office management and administration, at Freedom Court Reporting, the Moore Law Group and, most recently, at Wealth Without Wall Street.  Her extensive experience will undoubtedly be a tremendous asset to our office operations.