Laura Hodge

Laura has always been rooted in community by being a voice for collaboration and making a positive difference for those around her. She took on an effort in 2014 to protect the mountains around her Coker Creek home through the Tennessee Wilderness Act. There, Laura led a diverse coalition of stakeholders through five years of non-stop lobbying to see the bill pass in December of 2018, and 20,000 acres of the Cherokee National Forest became designated as wilderness.

Her diverse background includes place-based tourism work, community development, and passing legislation to protect the natural landscape. Art is a passion (and a frustration), and having always been an artist at heart, she is always creating. Laura served as a Director of Tourism and focused on community leadership on various boards and as chairman of the Coker Creek Heritage Group before turning her attention to growing a successful art and fine craft gallery (Coker Creek Gallery) as an accomplished nature and adventure photographer.