REA Board of Directors

The agency consists of five members to be appointed by the Governor of North Carolina. All appointments made by the Governor shall be made for terms of four years. View the list of past and present Board Members.

• Donna began her career in telecommunications in 1998, joining the Marketing Department at Star Communications (STAR).
• Throughout her career, Donna advanced to Information Systems as well as the Revenue department. In 2022, Donna began her service as Assistant General Manager, and was later named Executive Vice President & CEO at STAR serving Sampson, Bladen, Cumberland, Duplin, and Columbus counties.
• Donna is proud to have initiated over $60M in grant awards for STAR.
• Donna is also a member of the Board of Directors of AccessOn, NC Broadband Cooperative Coalition, NC Cooperative Council, and Carolina-Virginias Broadband Membership Association. Donna is a fellow Kiwanian and representative on the MYFUTURENC foundation with Sampson Community College. She also volunteers with the Beaver Dam ladies auxiliary and is an active member at Evergreen Baptist Church.
• Donna holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Mount Olive along with two Associate of Applied Science degrees from Sampson Community College in Information Systems and Networking.
• Donna and her husband, Jeff, live in Roseboro, NC with their two children.
• Mrs. Bullard was appointed to the NCREA Board by Governor Roy Cooper 2023, and her term will expire in June 2027.

• Mr. Oxendine is a life-long resident of Robeson County where he is involved with agri-business, community service and his church. He is co-owner of Oxendine Farms and the operation consists of 5,000 acres of corn, wheat, soybeans, tobacco and hogs.
• Mr. Oxendine is involved in community service and serves on the Board of Directors for Lumbee River EMC; is a member of the North Carolina Southeast Partnership Board; he serves as Chairman of the Board of Comtech Park and previously served as a Commissioner for Robeson County.
• Mr. Oxendine is a graduate of Fairgrove High School and a member of Piney Grove Baptist Church where he is the Sunday School Director and Treasurer. He has a wife, Bobbie, and four children and eight grandchildren.
• Mr. Oxendine was appointed to the REA Board by Governor Roy Cooper in June, 2020. Governor Cooper reappointed Mr. Oxendine for an additional four-year term which expired in June, 2025. Governor Josh Stein reappointed Mr. Oxendine for an additional four year term that will expire in June, 2029.

• Paul began his career in local government in 1998 serving as the Town Administrator, Assistant County Manager, and County Manager in the Town of Grifton, Chatham County, and Beaufort County respectively.
• In 2011, Paul began his service in his current role of General Manager & CEO at Tideland Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) serving portions of Dare, Hyde, Washington, Beaufort, Pamlico, and Craven counties.
• Paul is immediate past president of North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC) after completing his service in this role in March, 2021.
• Paul is also a member of the Board of Directors of North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives. Paul is a voluntary member of the Beaufort County Community College Foundation.
• Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Wake Forest University and a Master of Public Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Paul and his wife, Keely, live in Washington, NC.
• Mr. Spruill was appointed to the REA Board by Governor Roy Cooper in June, 2021 and his term will expire in June, 2025.

• Carolyn Bradley currently serves as a Director for the Roanoke Electric Cooperative (EC) Board.
• As a member of the Roanoke EC Board, she assisted in the establishment of Roanoke Economic Development, Inc. (REDI), a non-profit subsidiary and also assisted in the establishment of several community outreach programs that enhance the quality of life in the Roanoke EC serving area.
• Mrs. Bradley has a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Elizabeth City State University. She is a credential certified Director; a Board Leadership Certified Director and a Gold Certified Director of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.
• Mrs. Bradley is active in the Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church and serves on the Steward Board, has served as Sunday School Superintendent and on the Missionary Society.
• Mrs. Bradley is married and has three children and two grandchildren. Her hobbies include watching sports, solving crossword puzzles and gardening.
• Mrs. Bradley was appointed to the REA Board by Governor Roy Cooper and her term expired in June, 2021 and Governor Cooper reappointed her for a second term which expired in June, 2025. Governor Josh Stein reappointed Ms. Bradley for a third term that will expire in June, 2029.

• Cynthia Wallace lives in Charlotte, NC but was born and raised in rural southeastern GA, where all of her grandparents were farmers. Cynthia credits her late mother, Mary Tanksley Wallace, and late father, Homer Lee Wallace, with inspiring her passion for civic engagement. Her father was a civil rights activist and made history as the first African American elected to the Effingham County Commission in 1985. She frequently returns to visit her family in rural Georgia, where she grew up alongside two sisters and a brother.
• Ms. Wallace is the Executive Director of the non-profit, New Rural Project, which she co-founded in April 2021. The organization focuses on amplifying the voices of young rural people and marginalized residents in North Carolina so that they are heard and seen, and they get electorally and civically engaged.
• Before co-founding the New Rural Project, Ms. Wallace spent over 25 years in financial services retiring from Synchrony (formerly GE Capital) after 20 years spent there.
• Ms. Wallace was the 2020 Democratic Nominee for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District.
• NC Governor Roy Cooper appointed Cynthia to the NC State Banking Commission where she served from 2021 until June 2025. Since 2021, she has served on the Boards of Democracy NC and the Levine Museum of the New South.
• She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Spelman College and a master’s degree in Statistics from the University of North Florida.
• Ms. Wallace was appointed to the NC Rural Electrification Authority Board of Directors by Governor Josh Stein in July 2025 to a four year term.