Darla Moore
Darla Moore, founder of the Charleston Parks Conservancy, is a prominent businesswoman who grew up in South Carolina and who makes Charleston her second home. She is dedicated to improving the quality of life in Charleston and the state, and in addition to forming the Conservancy, she founded the Palmetto Institute, a nonprofit think tank which aims to bolster the per capita income in South Carolina.
Currently vice president of Rainwater, Inc., Moore also enjoyed a very successful career in banking and was the first woman ever profiled on the cover of Fortune magazine. Fortune also named her to its list of the “50 Most Powerful Women in American Business" in both 1998 and 1999. She also received the "Business Person of the Year Award" from the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and was inducted into the South Carolina Business Hall of Fame.
Moore is well known for her philanthropy to South Carolina institutions, including Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, which named its business school in her honor. She serves on the board of New York University Medical School and Hospital and has served on numerous corporate boards, including the University of South Carolina, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. She is also currently a member of the board of The South Financial Group, MPS Group and the National Advisory Board of JP Morgan and was formerly a managing director of its predecessor, Chemical Bank.
Moore is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and holds an MBA from George Washington University. She grew up in Lake City, S.C., and still owns her family home there.
Jim Fields
Executive Director, Palmetto Institute
Jim Fields currently serves as the executive director of the Palmetto Institute, an independent, non-profit research foundation chaired by Darla Moore that is dedicated to increasing the wealth of all South Carolinians. Fields brings extensive experience and knowledge gained from working with and for governmental institutions throughout the state for many years.
Fields began his work as counsel to the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee under the leadership of Senator L. Marion Gressette, and he later served as Clerk of the South Carolina Senate. During his tenure with the Senate, he worked on such issues as rewriting substantial portions of the South Carolina Constitution, home rule, and major revamping of the tax structure for South Carolina.
He also worked on reapportionment of the Senate, which included litigating twice before the United States Supreme Court. Fields also worked on several committees with the National Conference of State Legislatures and the National Clerks’ Association.
Upon leaving the Senate in 1984 after 10 years of service, Fields joined the McNair Law Firm, P.A., where he continues to serve as manager of the Governmental Affairs Section.
Gregory J. Muth
Faculty Member, Columbia University
Now a private investor and member of the faculty at Columbia University, Muth is the founder and past Chief Executive Officer of StrategicMed, a national disease and population management practice aimed at the chronically afflicted. He is the past President and Chief Executive Officer of International Medical Care, Ltd., a staff model health maintenance organization (HMO) offering western-style primary care in emerging markets. Muth has held responsibilities as Chief of Staff, International SOS Assistance Group of Companies, a private medical assistance company based in Philadelphia, PA and Geneva, Switzerland. He remains active in the medical assistance field as a founder and member of the Board of Directors of Assist America, Inc., a Princeton, NJ–based private company. Muth draws upon 12 years of public service with the US Department of Justice – Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the US Department of Defense – US Navy as an aviator. He began his financial career at what is today J.P. Morgan Chase, with stints at HSBC Bank Group, Banque Indosuez and First Boston Corporation. Muth is a present or past Trustee of multiple private and nonprofit organizations, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Charleston Parks Conservancy, Charleston, SC. Mr. Muth is a member of two Advisory Boards on behalf of Columbia University in the City of New York and the University of the South, Sewanee, TN. He is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals; the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York; the Garden Conservancy; and the Central Park Conservancy. He is a 1970 graduate of Villanova University, Villanova, PA (BS); a 1978 graduate of Long Island University - C.W. Post School of Graduate Studies, Stony Brook, NY (MPA); and a 2007 graduate of Columbia University, New York, NY (MS).
Mr. Muth is married to Suzanne Hammett, a graduate of Wellesley College. She is Executive Vice President at Capital One Financial, Inc. (NYSE: COF). Ms. Hammett is a Director of the Lydall Corporation, Hartford, CT (NYSE: LDL). Mr. and Mrs. Muth live in Manhattan with their two sons, Elliot, Class of 2012 at Lake Forest College; and Harry, Class of 2015 at the University of the South. As a family, the Muths are active members of the Church of the Heavenly Rest; the Westmoor Club, Nantucket, MA; Lyford Cay Club, Nassau, Bahamas; and the River Club of New York.
Scott Parker
Co-Founder, DesignWorks
Scott Parker is the co-founder of DesignWorks, a Charleston, S.C.-based company dedicated to creating memorable landscapes and urban places that meld environmental sensitivity with the creation and enhancement of community and culture. Through DesignWorks, he is currently directing the planning of Magnolia and the Concord Park development, both mix-use communities on the Charleston peninsula; Canalside in downtown Columbia, S.C., and the design of a Master Plan for Christophe Harbor, an exclusive marina resort in St. Kitts, British Virgin Islands.
Through DesignWorks, he also directed master plans for decommissioned military bases in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Anniston, Ala., and Warrenton, Va., as well as destination resorts in Costa Rica; County Clare, Ireland; and Bald Head Island, N.C. Parker has worked on a number of projects across the country. With DesignWorks he has directed master plans for new communities in the Hudson River Valley, Lexington, Ky., and Brevard, N.C. Previously, he helped prepare master plans for Charlottesville, Va., the Tanglewood Music Center in western Massachusetts, and the Hudson River Waterfront Park along the entire edge of Manhattan.
In South Carolina, he directed plans for Seaside Farms in Mount Pleasant and prepared campus plans for the Medical University of South Carolina, the College of Charleston, Porter-Gaud School, Coker College and the Governor’s School for Math and Science. He designed two main public spaces in downtown Greenville as well as the redesign of Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant. He has also worked extensively on several large scale projects on Kiawah Island, including Cassique, Freshfields Village and the Ocean Course. He has also served as chairman of the Sullivan’s Island Planning Commission for six years.
Parker worked for six years with noted architect Benjamin Thompson, assisting with two large urban design and planning projects in London, a Business Improvement District covering 10 miles of streets around Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, the redevelopment of the industrial waterfront in Cardiff, Wales, and the docklands in Dublin. Parker also worked on the main public square in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and harbor-front developments in Tokyo and Auckland, New Zealand. A graduate of the University of Georgia School of Environmental Design, Parker also holds a Masters of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design from the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University.
Sandra Deering
Sandra Deering is the owner and director of Hola Amigos, a Spanish-speaking program for 2- to 5-year-olds, which she started in 2007. She teaches the program through the City of Charleston Recreation Department and at Palmetto Montessori School. Deering previously served as a business process consultant with Accenture in Chicago and holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish and Latin American studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Active in the community, she is on the auxiliary board of the South Carolina Aquarium and the Capital Campaign Cabinet for The Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation. Deering has always loved the outdoors and planting, but has been learning the essentials of the art of gardening since becoming a Park Angel with the Charleston Parks Conservancy in 2008. She enjoys spending time in the parks playing tennis, baseball, soccer and basketball with her two young boys. She and her family live in Charleston.
Michael Brewer
Founder, Gray Wade
Michael Brewer is the founder of Gray Wade, a boutique real estate development firm specializing in residential remodels and infill projects. Actively involved in architectural design and consulting, he believes that real estate development, landscaping and parks are instrumental to each other.
Brewer worked for BB&T as a personal banker before co-founding M Design & Development in 2000. The firm received 3 Carolopolis awards from the Preservation Society of Charleston for use of vacant land and home restoration. Brewer received a Three Sisters Award in 2008 recognizing his work in renovating and building infill projects that maintained the integrity and character of historic Charleston. He has received recognition in both national and local publications including Southern Accents Home, Charleston Home, and the Post and Courier for the restoration of distinctive homes.
A native Charlestonian, Brewer received a BA in Sociology from the College of Charleston and has completed additional graduate hours in Public Administration. He has served on the design charette for the Windermere Neighborhood Stocker Drive project, and on the expansion committee for the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry. He and his wife Alison, a faculty member at Ashley Hall, and their 2 daughters live on Sullivan’s Island.
Pamela M. Pearce
Vice President & Senior Wealth Advisor, BB&T Bank
Pamela M. “Pam” Pearce is a vice president and senior wealth adviser in the Wealth Management Group at BB&T Bank, where she is responsible for integrating a broad range of products and services, including financial asset management, personal trust, estate planning, insurance and general banking services for affluent clients.
Pearce was a vice president, relationship manager and head of the Private Banking Division at Regions Bank, managing a multi-million dollar loan and deposit portfolio. She also has served as the chief operating officer for real estate developer MPRE LLC.
Pearce received a bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from Mary Baldwin College and has a MBA from the University of South Carolina. She has served on the boards of directors for Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy, South Carolina Tennis Association, Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry and the Citizen’s Advisory Board for the Hollings Cancer Center. She is a member with the Junior League of Charleston. Pearce and her family live in Mt. Pleasant.
Thomas J. “TJ” Parsell Jr.
President, Hospitality Management Group
Thomas J. “TJ” Parsell Jr. is president of Hospitality Management Group, which operates Blossom, Cypress and Magnolias restaurants in Charleston.
Parsell has a law degree from the University of South Carolina and practiced employment and labor law as an associate at Ogltree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart in Charleston before joining the family restaurant management business.
He is a member of the South Carolina Bar, former alumni chairman of the Charleston Day School Annual Fund and a member of the board of Louie’s Kids and the Charleston Wine + Food Festival. Parsell also is active in various clubs and organizations, including St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Executive Association of Charleston, the Carolina Yacht Club, Hibernian Society and Country Club of Charleston.
Parsell and his wife, Louisa, live in West Ashley with their 10-year-old daughter Lyles and 8-year-old son James.
