About Us

Director of the Jewish Community Religious School and Educational Director of Beth Israel Synagogue

As a cancer survivor Marci understands that this disease affects families not just individuals and understands the need and value of the establishment of a Hospitality House in Roanoke.

Marci  has been an educator in Jewish Education for over fifty years, the last 37 years in Roanoke, Virginia.  While her focus has been on educating Jewish youth and adults in the traditions and values of Judaism, she has also been a guest lecturer about the Holocaust in the Roanoke County schools and an adjunct Professor at Roanoke College, teaching a course in basic Judaism.  She has a love for theater and has written and directed musical plays dealing with Jewish holidays and themes.  This resulted in the formation of a business called Say It With Plays.

Marci was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia before moving to Roanoke 37 years ago.  She has been married to her husband Dennis for 52 years.  They have two children and four grandchildren who are truly the joy and love of her life.

John co-anchors the 5, 5:30, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on WSLS 10.

A dedicated community servant, John is a board member of Visit Virginia’s Blue Ridge, past board chair of the YMCA of Virginia’s Blue Ridge corporate board of directors, member of the board of Saint Francis Service Dogs and board member of the Associated Press of the Virginias. He is a co-founder and board member for the Blue Ridge Marathon and a past board member of the Virginia chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. John was a member of Rotary International for more than 20 years.

Carlin was a part of the WSLS 10 team that earned the Peabody Award for coverage of the April 16, 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. During his tenure, the team also won three national Edward R. Murrow Awards. John is the recipient of six Emmy awards for reporting, as well as numerous awards from RTNDA, VAB and the Associated Press. In 2015 he received the Best News Anchor of the Year award from the Associated Press of the Virginias.  He has been honored with distinguished service awards by both the Virginia Association of Broadcasters and the Virginia Associated Press.

John’s broadcasting career includes stops at WPTZ in Plattsburgh, NY/Burlington, Vt. WDTV in Clarksburg, West Virginia, and WTVR in Richmond. As part of a news sharing agreement with WFXR (FOX), John co-anchored the 10 p.m. news in Roanoke for more than a decade. He also taught broadcast writing as adjunct faculty at Virginia Tech from 1996 – 2007.  He joined the faculty at Radford University as adjunct faculty in the fall of 2019.

John is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh with a degree in mass communication.

In his spare time, John is an avid cyclist and fisherman. He lives in Roanoke, where he and his wife Mary enjoy time with their three grown sons and their families.

Jim Cherney is a community-focused developer in Roanoke who believes the transformation of property resources can continue to help build a resilient and progressive city. He uses strategic visioning, creative thinking and collaboration between parties to convert underutilized and underperforming properties into new spaces that help revitalize the community and the people they serve. He works together with owners, architects, contractors and others to establish healthy working partnerships that are good for business, good for the community and good for the local economy.

In his 35+ years of experience, he has revitalized and managed various community real estate properties including multi-family housing, commercial buildings, retail and restaurant properties, self-storage, warehouse spaces, farms and more across Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and DC. His forward-focused projects meet the needs of the current populations, with an eye toward meeting the needs of an evolving society and commerce.

Driven by a desire to contribute to the people and vitality of the city he calls home, Jim is also an active supporter of non-profit organizations focused on community development, health and the arts in the Roanoke Valley.

Michelle is a Roanoke native and graduate of the University of Michigan.
Currently, Ms. Davis is the Chief Executive Officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of SWVA, a youth development organization that serves over 850 youth in 6 locations throughout our region. Additionally, Ms. Davis was elected to a 4 year term on Roanoke City Council in 2016, serving Roanoke City at-large.

Michelle lives with her daughter, Elsa, in Roanoke City. She currently serves on the Freedom First Credit Union Board of Directors and was appointed to the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority by Governor Terry McAuliffe. She is Vice Chair of the Roanoke City Legislative Committee and Chair of the Roanoke City Personnel Committee, and was previously President of the Mountain View Neighborhood Association and served on several other boards and commissions.

Kay Dunkley serves as the Executive Director of the Roanoke Higher Education Authority, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia, constituted as a public body that operates the Roanoke Higher Education Center. The Center is comprised of eleven partner institutions-- colleges and workforce training organizations that expand educational opportunities throughout the Roanoke region.  Kay holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Radford University and a doctorate from Virginia Tech.  She has also served in various senior leadership positions at Virginia Tech, the Virginia Community College System and in two public school divisions.

As an ambassador to the Roanoke region, Kay serves on the board of directors for the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce and is an active participant on the Public Policy Committee and the Chamber’s Foundation. She is also a member of the board of directors for the Edith Bolling Wilson Birthplace Museum and Foundation in Wytheville, VA.  Her passion is connecting the rich resources of an academic environment to meet the ever changing workforce training needs of businesses and industries.

Kay is a resident of Roanoke County and is the proud mother of one daughter and one granddaughter.

Dr. William Fintel is a native of the upper Midwest, having grown up in Iowa and Minnesota. He attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa and then graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School. Following medical school, Dr. Fintel did his internal medicine residency and oncology fellowship at the University of Virginia. He serves as adjunct faculty at Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine.  Dr. Fintel has board certifications in internal medicine and medical oncology.

Professional Societies:
• American Board of Internal Medicine
• American Society of Clinical Oncology
• American Medical Association
• Christian Medical and Dental Association

Dr. Fintel is married to Connie and they have four sons. He has published three additions of Cancer: A Medical and Spiritual Guide for patients and their families, with co-author and friend, Gerry McDermott, Ph.D. Among his interests are writing, running, lecturing, boating and travel.

Cynthia founded and led two companies from 1986 – 2015, when they were acquired. She is currently employed by Carilion Clinic as Director of the Office of Workforce Development.

Appointed twice by Governor Kaine and reappointed by Governor McAuliffe, Cynthia is in her third term as a member of the Virginia Lottery Board, holding positions as Board Chair and Audit Committee Chair. She is in her third term on the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport Commission as a City of Roanoke appointee, twice serving as Chair.

She is on the Western Virginia Workforce Development Board, a member of the Virginia Chamber’s Workforce and Education Committee, and is a founding member of the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers. Committed to the importance of women’s education as a critical component of a healthy, economically vibrant community, Cynthia founded an organization of women business leaders in 1996, The Commonwealth Council, focused on mentoring emerging women leaders and funding undergraduate scholarships for adult working women of need. She is on the President’s Advisory Council for Hollins University, the Advisory Boards for the Department of Management at the Pamplin College of Business and Virginia Cooperative Extension at Virginia Tech.

Cynthia is on the Board and serves as a student mentor for House of Bread Roanoke, an ecumenical Christian organization that assistance to formerly incarcerated women with job skills, education, and stable housing.  

A current member and past President of the Mill Mountain Theatre Board of Directors, Cynthia was among the leadership team who in 2009 made the harsh decision to stop MMT’s stage productions in mid-season when the Theatre was overburdened by debt, working the next four years on a new business model and reopening the theatre in 2013.

In 2010 while on the Board of the Virginia Western Community College Foundation, Cynthia founded Food for Thought, an edible education partnership between VWCC, Roanoke City Schools, and the City of Roanoke establishing a teaching garden and agri-science-based program at James Madison Middle School. In 2014, Cynthia was appointed by Governor McAuliffe to the Commonwealth Council on Bridging the Nutritional Divide, a public-private partnership focused on solving childhood hunger.

Cynthia is past President of the Boards of the Science Museum of Western Virginia and the Virginia Museum of Transportation and a past Board member of the Foundation for Roanoke Valley, Opera Roanoke, and Virginia Opera. She has served as Co-Chair for the United Way of Roanoke Valley Presidents Circle and the MS Society Roanoke Dinner of Champions and in a leadership role with the local March of Dimes Celebrity Chefs Gala. As an active member of the Junior League of Roanoke Valley, Cynthia served as Government Affairs chair.  In 1995, she was recognized as Outstanding Young Woman for the Roanoke Valley by the Roanoke Jaycees. In 2018, she and her husband Mark received the Silver Hope Award from the MS Society in honor of their community service. Cynthia is a native and lifelong resident of Roanoke, Virginia.  The Lawrences live in Roanoke City.