Ashley Tee grew up on a farm in Mills River, one that has been in her family for five generations, and because of this she understands how important food is for every person in Western North Carolina, the country and the world.

As Executive Director of Community Health for YMCA of WNC, she leads efforts to expand food access and support people managing chronic health conditions, ensuring all community members have the resources to live healthier lives.

It was due to her work in the community that she was honored on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce annual WomanUP Celebration and Awards Ceremony.

“The pride I saw my father and grandfather have in sharing the food that we grew with our community is what drives me to this day,” Tee told a sold-out crowd of more than 600 people that was held at the Crowne Plaza in Asheville. “It has been my life's work to ensure that our community has food, because that was instilled in me at a young age. Giving back to Western North Carolina has always been my mission, and being able to do it with our community and our wide network across the nation is really meaningful.”

Tee was one of seven award winners during the event that celebrated women who are changemakers and who “lead, innovate and inspire in Asheville,” said Whitney Whitson from Wells-Fargo. Janet Cone, UNC Asheville’s Athletics Director, called it a “who’s who of Asheville.”

Some of Tee’s coworkers couldn’t make the event where she was honored, as they were out doing the work that she has helped coordinate. Tee thanked those workers, those who were in attendance, and the larger gathering of women and men who were there.

“Thank you to all of you, to our neighbors, to so many of you that are partners of ours,” Tee said. “This is a huge honor, and it's really great to give back to the community that raised me you.”

A similar sentiment was conveyed during the speeches of other award winners.

The event came close to the one-year anniversary of Helene’s destruction across the area, which coincided with the day that Rachael Chestnut moved from Washington, D.C., to Asheville. Chestnut, who won the Women Entrepreneurs, Best in Business Award, is the founder and CEO of The Play Nice Agency. The agency is a full-service marketing and branding firm, that helps business leaders reimagine their brands, amplify their influence, and create lasting impact through human-centric marketing practices.

“I bounced from Airbnb to Airbnb for every seven months, unsure if I'd ever find a home or even have a couch,” Chestnut said. “But despite the chaos and the instability, I experienced, something that I will never forget, the people I met in my first months here, many of whom had lost everything, still managed to smile and express gratitude they cared for strangers, always asking, ‘How can I help?’

“This is what community should look like, and that's why, in the first months of coming to Asheville, I officially moved our agency's headquarters here. I found Asheville to be the perfect place to grow a business where giving back is the default, not the exception, and a place where the community will actively call you out if you try to be anything less than a decent human.”

Amanda Bryant, who serves as the Executive Director of the Asheville Museum of Science (AMOS), won the STEM Award, which recognizes women who make an impact on the STEM industry.

Under Bryant’s leadership, AMOS has grown field trips, afterschool clubs, summer camps and rural outreach, reaching more than 20,000 students a year. She launched the region’s Women in STEM initiative, pairing visibility with mentorship so girls can see themselves in science, engineering, climate work and tech. Amanda also helped stand up recovery support after Hurricane Helene, turning the museum into a family resource hub.

“I’m honored to advocate for STEM education for women and access for women and girls,” Bryant said. “We still have a lot of work to do in that, but this community is a community that stands tall and proud. We have a lot of industries and a lot of women in leadership in those industries, and there's more that can be done. I'm so proud to see that work and the work with the kiddos who are going to work in those industries or solve the problems that are today and of tomorrow.”

Jennifer Bennett, who serves Buncombe, Haywood, Madison, Mitchell, Yancey and Avery Counties as the Government & Community Relations Manager for Duke Energy, earned the Woman Executive of the Year Award. The Woman Executive of the Year Award recognizes a woman who exhibits leadership in her organization, profession, and community.

Bennett leads government and community relations, focusing on issue management, philanthropic investments, and building partnerships with local leaders and organizations.

During her acceptance speech Bennett said that she had recently been thinking about her career journey and the people she had met along the way.

“I'm reminded that having a seat at the table is not guaranteed. Sometimes that seat is hard fought and won,” she said. “Sometimes it's offered by people who believe in us that already have a seat at the table, and sometimes we pull out the chair and we sit down in it with confidence on our own.”

She mentioned her husband, mentors, colleagues and friends who made space for her at the table.

“They have encouraged my voice, and they have challenged me to excel in what over the past year and a half feels like particularly hard and challenging times,” she said. “And so, I would say, let's keep lifting as we climb. Let's ensure that the table is continually getting bigger and bigger and more welcoming, and ultimately, it will be more powerful, because we are making space for one another.”

Courtney van Dalen, Assistant Farm Manager at Biltmore Farms, was one of the youngest women honored at the event. She won the Rising Star Young Woman Professional Award, which is given to a professional under the age of 35 who has distinguished herself as a leader and role model to other young women.

Van Dalen, who oversees the legacy Jersey dairy herd while pursuing her master’s at N.C. State, was outwardly excited to win the honor.

“This moment doesn't just belong to me,” she said. “It belongs to every woman who's ever been told that agriculture or any other STEM career aren't for her. I truly believe, with everything in me, that women belong in every barn, every lab, and every boardroom,” she said. “I’m more committed than ever to the hard work, the learning and the advocacy that are still to come, not only for my company and our agricultural industry, but for the next generation of women in agriculture.”

Storyteller Phyllis Utley, a Hurricane Hero and Indigenous Literary Word Artist, who has shared her voice since childhood in schools, communities and faith-based spaces, won the Impact Award. This award recognizes women who are trailblazers and who make a significant impact through their leadership and innovation.

Utley, who has received many honors over her career, said receiving the honor was “really a surprise, because everyone is a superstar, everyone in that's been nominated does amazing, phenomenal work.”

The morning’s final award was the Suzanne DeFerie Lifetime Achievement Award, and it was given with DeFerie, who served as the Executive Vice President and Regional President for the Asheville Region of First Bank until her retirement, in attendance.

The award recognizes a woman who has distinguished herself in business over a lifetime, demonstrating excellence and leadership in business throughout her career.

This year’s winner was Deborah Austin with the Asheville Community Theater. She has spent her career in the arts creating joyful, memorable experiences. As Executive Director of the Community Arts Council (1975–1990), she helped revitalize Asheville through partnerships that brought festivals like Bele Chere and Sunday-in-the-Park to life. Today, she works part-time at Asheville Community Theatre, volunteers with The Autumn Players, and continues sharing stories and poetry with schools and seniors – keeping the magic of the arts alive.

“Throughout my career in the arts, my simple goal has been to create remarkable and joyful memories for community residents and visitors,” she said. “That goal has been met so many times, especially with the projects that brought together in partnership the Community Arts Council with the Chamber of Commerce, Asheville Parks and Recreation, Quality Forward, which is now Green Works, and dozens of arts organizations and artists,” she said. “I thank the chamber for recognizing the arts as business.

“Memories are shaped every day in Asheville as artists weave stories into imaginings on canvas and paper, forms in clay, in fiber, plastic, metal and wood. Images in woods, in words, in musical notes and in movement. In our community, we get to experience these creations in theaters, concert halls, museums, clubs, galleries, on the street corner, in churches, in schools and when we open a book.”

 

For more information on the awards, check out: www.ashevillechamber.org.