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Women's History Month
Barbara Foushee is the mayor of Carrboro. It is an historic moment, as she is the first Black woman mayor for the town and only the second Black person to serve in the position. As mayor, she presides over meetings of the Town Council and represents the town at ceremonies and events. During her time on the council, she has championed housing access and affordability, inclusive community engagement, and community building on issues that matter to all of us.
She has been in service to the Carrboro community since the 2017 municipal election and was re-elected to a second term in November 2021. Barbara has served in various capacities including the Town of Carrboro’s Human Services Advisory Board and the Orange Water and Sewer Authority Board of Directors, where she was instrumental in helping the utility develop and implement a diversity and inclusion program to benefit the community and the workplace culture at OWASA.
Barbara has served as the liaison to the Affordable Housing Advisory Commission, the Planning Board, the Intergovernmental Parks Work Group, the Transportation Advisory Board, the Community Home Trust Board of Directors, the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness (current chair), the Economic Sustainability Commission, the Racial Equity Commission, the Community Safety Task Force and the policy steering committee for the Orange County Transit Plan.
Barbara is passionate about community service and engagement outside of her service as an elected official. She is the immediate past Basileus of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Eta Phi Zeta Graduate Chapter; co-chair of the Community Action and Political Awareness Ministry at First Baptist Church of Chapel Hill; member of the Executive Committee for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP; a Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate; and a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Randolph Chapter #185.
Barbara is the recipient of the 2017 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award, given annually by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP. She has also been honored by her sorority, receiving both the Finer Womanhood Award and the Woman of the Year Award. She was also recognized by Chapel Hill Magazine in 2021 as a Woman of Achievement.
In her work life, Barbara is a senior technologist in a molecular oncology laboratory in Research Triangle Park and has spent her career working in clinical laboratory sciences. She grew up in eastern North Carolina and earned a bachelor’s degree in medical technology from Saint Augustine’s University.
She is married to Mr. Braxton D. Foushee, who was the first Black alderman for the Town of Carrboro.
Patrice Toney has served the Town of Carrboro as the Town Manager since May 2024. She has made history as the first woman and the first African American woman to hold this position in Carrboro. Toney has over 27 dynamic and progressive years working in city, county, and town local governments in North Carolina. She is a respected leader, taking collaborative, innovative, and fiscally sound approaches to implement strategic initiatives and policies for the Town of Carrboro.
Previously, Toney worked since 2016 for the City of Winston-Salem, where she served as an interim city manager and assistant city manager providing direct oversight to police, fire, human relations, emergency management, neighborhood services, and housing development. She also served as budget and evaluation director, where she managed a $500 million annual operating budget and six-year capital improvement plan.
In her earlier employment, Toney served 17 years with Forsyth County Government where she held position as senior budget and management analyst, public health outreach supervisor, community resource consultant, and police department communications for the city of Winston-Salem.
Toney holds numerous honors including the 2024 Power 100 Black Business Inc Magazine Award, which recognizes North Carolina’s most influential black leaders, International City and County Management Association (ICMA) 25 Years of Service Award, Winston-Salem’s Mayor and City Council Outstanding Women Leaders Award, the Chronicle Newspaper Community Service Award, and the YMCA Distinguished Service Award.
Toney has a master’s degree in public affairs/administration from UNC-Greensboro and a bachelor's degree from UNC-Charlotte. Her professional development includes completing senior executives in state and local government from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and the public executive leadership academy from UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government.
Toney has served on numerous community advisory boards and is currently serves as the vice-chair of the International Black Theatre Festival/NC Black Repertory Company, and Winston-Salem State University Graduate School Advisory Board. She also has professional membership in the International City and County Management Association (ICMA), National Black Forum for Public Administrators, and the North Carolina City and County Managers Association.
Anita Jones-McNair (Chief Race and Equity Officer) has been with the Town of Carrboro for the past 22 years serving in various singular and dual capacities throughout her tenure – Recreation, Parks and Cultural Resources Director, Interim Public Works Director and Race and Equity Officer. Prior to working in Carrboro she worked in Dallas and Plano, Texas.
Jones-McNair is an alumnus of the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government Municipal and County Program and the University of South Florida DEI in the Workplace Program. She is an inaugural member of the GARE’s Innovation Cadre, Racial Equity CEOs Working Group and a member of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). She works with many regional groups in advancing race and equity, including her selection to serve with the ICMA Equity Officer Cohort and 2nd Vice President of the NAACP Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chapter. She is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, with service and sisterhood being the cornerstone. Additionally, she is a certified Parks and Recreation Professional.
She has a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration and supervision, and a master’s degree in administration and supervision. She is passionate about her life changing and life sustaining work.
Anne-Marie Vanaman (Housing & Community Services Director) joined the Town of Carrboro in 2018 and was selected as director of the Housing & Community Services Department in October 2023. In her more than 20 years of non-profit and local government career, Vanaman has held a variety of roles -- including 10 years as development director for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.
Some of her career accomplishments include the successful completion of capital campaigns that supported the development of two new affordable housing communities in Orange County. At the Town of Carrboro, she worked to increase accountability in the human services nonprofit funding program by strengthening reporting requirements and data collection.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from UNC-Greensboro and a bachelor’s degree in English from UNC-Chapel Hill.