The NC Composting Council:
The NCCC Board of Directors is made up of passionate volunteers. Please take a moment to learn about them and reach out if you have any questions. To learn more about the NCCC Board Member Roles and Responsibilities, please view this NCCC Board of Directors Roles & Responsibilities document.
Leadership
From left to right: Kat Polk, Muriel Williman and Kate Sullivan
From left to right: Christine Wittmeier, Erika Fye, and Muriel Williman
Committees
Executive Committee: Muriel Williman
Compost Operations Training Course Chair: Muriel Williman
Education and Outreach Chair: Erika Fye
Advisory and Access Committee: Muriel Williman
Coastal Composting Committee Co-Chairs: Matt Collogan and Marie Davis
Finance Committee Chair: Christine Wittmeier
North Carolina Composting Council (NCCC) is a member-based, grassroots organization that operates with a working board of directors and committee structure to achieve our mission. NCCC’s executive director supports committee work, and manages NCCC’s programs (such as Sustainable Spirits and the NC Compost Operations Training Course). Volunteers are encouraged to participate with NCCC’s committees and other event opportunities. Committee volunteers do not have to be USCC-NCCC members, although it is encouraged!
Executive Director
Kat Polk started working for NCCC in 2023 as a communications specialist, and as the Executive Director in 2024. Kat previously worked as the Executive Director of a refugee resettlement nonprofit agency, Global Connections, which she founded in Wilmington, NC in 2018 after Hurricane Florence. Kat has more than 13 years of experience working with Wilmington’s refugee community, including as an English as a Second Language teacher, Employment Specialist, and Case Manager/Social Worker. Kat has professional, multicultural experience working with clients from 16 countries!
In 2022, Kat shifted into the composting industry, working as the first program coordinator for the Garbage to Gardens school composting program. Kat earned her B.A. in English from UNCW in 2009, and her M.A. in Communications from Johns Hopkins University in 2020. Kat has a certificate in Basic Immigration Law from World Relief/Immigrant Legal Resource Center, and has 10 years of nonprofit board leadership experience, including former board president for Tidal Creek Co-Op and Friends of the New Hanover County Arboretum. Kat is also a proud mother of 5 children!
Board of Directors
Muriel Williman, Board President
Muriel Williman has been a Solid Waste professional for 25 years, focusing on waste reduction and material management through recycling and composting practices and markets. She worked for 18 years in Orange County NC, leading the state with 64% waste reduction through comprehensive waste reduction programs and communications, especially composting: indoors and out, for events, in businesses, local government, and commercial collections. She has influenced local and regional programs, practices and policy to incorporate food waste reduction and composting strategies. She is now Senior Assistant Solid Waste Manager for the City of Durham, NC where she oversees the daily operation of the City’s Solid Waste Disposal and Recycling Center which holds a regional Transfer Station, Convenience Center, and Type 1 composting facility.
Kate Sullivan, Board Treasurer, Communications & Marketing Committee Chair
Kate obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Agribusiness Management from Penn State University in 2014. Immediately after graduation, she ventured into composting, and now has a decade of experience in the industry. She has held roles in business development, where she was responsible for finding and securing new feedstocks and compost sales, where she managed customer account and promoted compost use. In her current role at McGill, Kate is responsible for siting, permitting, and developing new compost facilities. Beyond her professional endeavors, Kate actively contributes to the composting community. In addition to leading many NCCC committees as a board member, Kate also serves on the US Composting Council’s Chapter Advisory Committee. She recently earned her MBA from UNC Wilmington and lives in Clayton, with her husband, son and two rescue Hounds.
Christine Wittmeier, Interim Treasurer
Christine Wittmeier works for the North Carolina Department of Quality’s state recycling office in the Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service (DEACS). Christine provides technical assistance, resources and grant funding to private businesses, local governments and non-profits for food rescue and compost infrastructure projects. Prior to joining the state, Christine was the environmental educator at a non-profit and then the Environmental Programs Supervisor at Henderson County Solid Waste. While at Henderson County, Christine implemented six school composting programs, backyard compost bin sale and secured funding for a small Type 3 compost facility at the Transfer Station. She has been a volunteer with the NCCC Education and Outreach Committee and is excited to become more involved with the Board. Christine enjoys hiking in WNC, live music, and gardening with native plants to build pollinator habitat.
Erika Fye, Secretary, Education & Outreach Committee Chair
Erika Fye works at the Southeast branch of Energy Foundation where she assists in grant-making and strategic communications to nonprofits focused on climate change and environmental justice work. She graduated from North Carolina State University in 2019 with a B.S. in Environmental Technology and Management and minors in Environmental Sciences and Environmental Toxicology. She has experience with both backyard and industrial composting from her personal efforts to reduce waste and involvement in EcoVillage while at NC State. During her time on the Composting Council, Erika has focused on educating individuals on how to correctly participate in zero-waste events and best practices for composting at home.
Matt Collogan, Board Member, Coastal Composting Committee Chair
Matt is a 2007 UNCW Environmental Studies graduate who became a certified Environmental Educator while working with NHC Parks & Gardens at Airlie Gardens, where he worked for nine years. Matt owns a small mixed produce farm in Hightsville where he actively composts and uses cover crops. As one of the founding members of the Coastal Composting Council in Wilmington and a graduate of the 2014 Compost Operations Training Course, Matt is a proponent of diverting organic materials away from the landfill and back to the community for use in sustainable gardening. After stints at various organic produce farms and working in the nascent industrial hemp industry, Matt was hired in 2021 as the Consumer Horticulture agent for the NC Cooperative Extension Service based at the New Hanover County Arboretum. Also in 2021, Matt was elected to Supervisor of the New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District. Matt joined the NCCC board in 2023.
Archie Griffith
Archie Griffith has been in the heavy equipment industry for 20 years. The first 5 years with Briggs Equipment, Case Industrial Equipment Dealer, as a rep in the Rental Department, then Product Support and Sales. In 2006, he began working for Vermeer Mid Atlantic as the Recycling and Forestry Specialist for the Carolinas, working with customers to aid them in decision making on the right equipment for their business. He provided training on equipment which included operation, safety, maintenance, efficient operational instruction, and provided industry insight on market opportunities. In 2017 Archie briefly left Vermeer All Roads to work for Corbett Timber, to enhance his knowledge in the logging and biomass industries. In his time with Corbett, Archie marketed and sold carbon products such as wood chips and grindings to various markets. After 4 great years with this wonderful company, he decided to return to his passion for equipment and returned to Vermeer All Roads as the Carolina Sales Rep, and R&F Sales Lead.
In 2012 Archie took the NCCC’s Compost Operations Training Course, where he gained serious respect and admiration for those in the field producing a product vital to the health of our soils and environment. Archie joined the NCCC Board of Directors in 2024.
Mallorie Ferrigno
Mallorie Ferrigno specializes in business sales development at Atlas Organics, where she focuses on building partnerships that drive sustainable waste solutions. With a strong background in sales and a passion for fostering environmental change within the composting industry, Mallorie is dedicated to creating meaningful connections and helping make a lasting impact in her community.
Brandis Strickland Email | LinkedIn Brandis Strickland is a quality analyst at Truist Bank, where he has spent over eight years ensuring consistent excellence and dependable service. Beyond the corporate world, Brandis is a passionate advocate for soil health and community resilience. A 2024 graduate of the NC Compost Operations Training Course (COTC), he brings over a decade of hands-on experience in vermicopmosting to the NCCC. As the owner of Organic Life Amendmends, a composting service company powered by worms, Brandis is dedicated to transforming organic waste into a nutrient-rich resource. Brandis actively leads vermicomposting workshops throughout Robeson and Cumberland Counties, where he is expanding NCCC’s footprint and spearheading composting initiatives in schools, communities and local businesses. Brandis lives in Lumberton, NC with his wife and five children, who contiue to inspire his commitment to healing land and community. When asked why, Brandis states, “Everyone is trying to heal from something that can be attributed to poor soil health in some form or fashion. I am just a farmer who loves his neighbor, and it’s time to heal this place and its inhabitants.”
We thank all the past members of the multiple iterations of this nonprofit organization for their commitments, ideas, and actions to make this a better state for composting! Founding Members of the North Carolina Composting Council Frank Franciosi, Rhonda Sherman, and Craig Coker. Past Board Members of the North Carolina Composting Council Gary Bilbro, Amy Brooks, Jim Davis, Frank Franciosi, Analis Fulghum, Gary Gittere, Bianca Howard, John Janes, Jim Lanier, Noah Marsh, Jorge Montezuma PE, Dr. Janel Louise Ohletz, Lyndell Pate, Kathryn (Kat) Pohlman, Glen Roberts, Shane Roberts, Brian Rosa, Margaret Ross, Mike Rowland, Robert Satterfield, Adam Schwartz, Rhonda Sherman, Eric Wallace, Ed Wright Past Members of the Carolina Recycling Association – NC Organics Recycling Council (Prior to 2007) Frank Franciosi, Rhonda Sherman, Ron Alexander, Cindy Salter, and Tom Glendinning.
