Advertising & Graphic Design Association – NC
About Us
The AGDA is you. Seriously. This organization was established to give resources to AGD instructors throughout the state and every initiative we take part in is in effort to create collaboration and opportunity for faculty and students!
Meet the weirdos behind the AGDA curtain!
2024-25 Executive Leadership Team
Meet the board members of the Advertising & Graphic Design Association. These individuals have graciously committed themselves and their time to help kick things off in grand fashion. The leadership of AGDA are elected on a bi-annual basis and information regarding additional positions and upcoming elections will be posted in the coming weeks!
Erik Perel
President
Erik’s bio is being meticulously vetted to make sure it wasn’t written by AI. Until then…
Josh Gooch
Vice President
I’m a graphic designer and educator working on the community college level teaching graphic design. My passions are for art, design, photography and music.
Jen Cousar
2023-2024 Officer to be
Jen is a passionate and curious Graphic Designer and Design Educator based in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am currently working full time as a faculty member in the Advertising + Graphic Design program at Central Piedmont. I have recently completed a masters degree in User Experience Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). I have an eclectic perspective to offer and a lot of passion and spunk to go along with it.
Hope Carroll
Dr. Carroll is a full-time faculty member in the Graphic Arts & Imaging Technology and Advertising and Graphic Design departments. She teaches the Computer Graphics series, along with the Image Manipulation series, Graphic Design I & II, Photographic Imaging I & II, and E-Document Publishing. She holds an AAS from Lenoir Community College, BS and MA from Appalachian State University, and EdD from Virginia Tech (in Integrative STEM Ed).
Hope briefly worked in the printing industry in customer service, prepress, and estimating before accepting a teaching position at East Wake HS in Wendell, NC where she taught Printing and Graphics for 3 years. Since 2005 Hope has taught graphics at Clemson University, Appalachian State University, Georgia Southern University, and University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Hope feels that collaboration and networking with peers are the key to staying up-to-date and supporting instruction. As an instructor, she strays away from the “cookbook” approach to teaching and tries to focus on designing classroom activities that involve real-world problem scenarios that help students connect with their community and surroundings. Hope feels that serving in an officer role with the AGDA_NC will offer the opportunity for her to get to know her NC A+GD peers, and help her be part of a growing community of Graphic Design educators.
Michael Lawson
Mike Lawson is a designer, printmaker and educator. He holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Savannah College of Art & Design. Mike currently teaches graphic design, typography, web design and the Adobe Creative Cloud suite at several institutions in North Carolina, and is just starting his 18th year as full-time faculty at Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, NC.
Drawing on his eclectic background as both a traditional letterpress printer, screen printer, and forward thinking user experience and interface designer in the work he does for both private and corporate clients, he loves all things problem-solving and pushing design-thinking in new directions. Lawson has presented at design conferences, received multiple industry award honors and served as a board member with design-focused organizations such as AIGA and AdClub.
El Nicholl
Effective, egalitarian professional with twenty five years of experience teaching and advising post-secondary students. Demonstrated skills in hiring, developing, and supervising quality faculty and staff. Administrative experience developing and growing both university transfer and career and technical education programs. Excellent oral and written skills and ability to effectively communicate with faculty, students, staff, and community members. Proven ability to work as a team player to strengthen the quality of teaching and the learning environment, always with the intention of promoting student success.
Join the Advertising & Graphic Design Association Today!
We hope you'll take advantage of this valuable resource and join our ranks. As an instructor in Advertising, Graphic Design, Photography, Illustration or Art, the AGDA can provide not only curriculum and project ideas, but also a community of like-minded souls seeking the best ways to help our students succeed in today's design field.