Alfred Thompson - Owner/Director
Alfred Thompson is the Director and owns Camp Carolina with his wife Ec. Alfred grew up at Camp Carolina while his father managed and Directed Camp Carolina and Camp Rockbrook for the McConnell family. In 1982 the Thompson family bought the camp and moved it one valley deeper into the backcountry to border the Pisgah National Forest. Alfred has spent a total of 42 summers working at The Best Place on Earth!
He has been working year-round at camp since 1993 and has worn many hats during his summers-from being the Head of mucking out stables and building trails at the ages of 10, 11 and 12 to being a counselor, Head of Mountaineering, Head of Whitewater, Head of Team sports, Head Counselor, Head of the Kitchen, Head of Maintenance, Program Director to the Director! Alfred graduated from UNC Wilmington with a Math and Computer Science Degree and a master degree of Computer Engineering at NC State University. Alfred spends his free time playing tennis and surfing and as he says "trying to play sports that he still can do!" and loves traveling to places where the waves are good! Alfred's favorite thing about working at Camp Carolina is being able to provide a place for young people to grow, make lifelong friends and work to become better people each summer.
Mary Eccles Thompson - Office Manager
Mary Eccles Thompson or "Ec" as she is known by has been working at Camp Carolina since 1993 for a total of 27 summers. Ec and her husband Alfred live on-site and are the Owners of Camp Carolina and are the parents of Alfred Jnr and Bren. Ec graduated from Meredith College with a Studio Arts Major which led her to a perfect role in Arts n Crafts when she first started working at camp. Since then Ec has worked in a variety of roles at camp- from bookkeeping to the kitchen to her current role as the Office Manager where she keeps everyone and everything at camp organized!
When not working at camp you can find Ec playing tennis, painting, working out, finding great new restaurants, surfing, golfing, and traveling. She loves all the people that make Camp Carolina-the parents, the campers, and the staff and is grateful to be working in an industry where the opportunity to positively change children's lives is part of the daily!
Kylie Collins - Associate Director
Growing up in Perth, Western Australia Kylie has been working at Camp Carolina for the past 11 years. She holds a Bachelors's degree in Sports and Recreation and a Post Graduate degree in Education from the University of Western Australia and has a passion for working with children and staff in an outdoor setting. She loves spending free time at camp with a vitapup on the office porch listening to the camper's adventures and successes of the day!
Kylie is an avid Equestrian and has worked at the Equestrian Director and Adventure Trip Director previously at Camp Carolina and is a certified Wilderness First Responder, Red Cross Lifeguard, Raft Guide, Certified Horsemanship Instructor and holds her CDL license. She loves hiking and lake activities with her camp dog "Chubs" and husband Max and traveling and experiencing other cultures. Kylie and Max are welcoming their first child in November 2020!
Max Collins - In Camp Program Director
Hailing originally from just outside of London, UK Max has been working at camp for the past 6 years. He holds many qualifications to help train our seasonal staff, including his American Red Cross Lifeguard Instructor, USA Archery Instructor, Raft Guide, CMP Riflery Instructor and holds his CDL license. Max started working with children when he was 14 as a tennis coach which eventually led him to coaching at Camp Carolina his first summer! Max has also been the Head Counselor for the Newts tribe before becoming the In Camp Program Director year-round and loves providing support and training to our staff to provide top-notch programming. He also spends a lot of time with our campers during free times getting feedback about how we can improve camp and enjoys meeting our families during our Fall Pizza Parties!
Max is a passionate tennis, golf and soccer player (but loves playing and coaching most sports!) and has recently started mountain biking. Max and his wife Kylie are welcoming their first child in November 2020 and he can't wait to be a dad get back to his "counselor" roots!
Alfred Thompson, JR. - Tripping Director
Alfred Jr. grew up at Camp Carolina. From the age of 5-16, he enjoyed summers as a camper creating lifelong friendships. Alfred has worked in a variety of roles at camp. He has been an activity instructor on tennis, the head of our skateboarding and mountaineering department, and a Head Counselor for the Newts tribe. Most recently he has lead the Maintenance team year-round for the past 2 years. In 2021, we are excited to have him as our Tripping Director!
Alfred holds a degree in Recreation Management with a concentration in Outdoor Experiential Education from Appalachian State University. He spends his free time climbing, skating, snowboarding, surfing, mountain biking, playing tennis and working in his ceramic studio. He lives on-site with his wife Emily and dog Little Bear. Every summer he looks forward to building relationships with our campers, helping them gain new experiences and helping the campers grow and discover a lifelong passion in the outdoors.
Robin McCain - Camper Registrar
Robin coordinates the registration and accounts for Camp Carolina's campers. She has been at Camp Carolina since 2015 and has loved every minute of it – working directly with camper families, working with the Camp Carolina team to enrich the CCB experience for both campers and staff, and working on strategies to enhance the registration process. She is a logistics professional with extensive project management. She grew up in Greenville, SC and spent a lot of time in Brevard – visiting family, enjoying hiking and rainy days, and getting a taste of the camp community as a camper, counselor, and staffer.
She has a BA in Psychology and a MEd in Educational Counseling. She arrived at Camp Carolina by way of Washington, DC where she was a Director of Scheduling on Capitol Hill. After a long stint in Washington, she moved full time to Brevard. As luck would have it, she ran into the Camp Carolina team at a local venue and joined up. With her background working with people, internally and externally, attention to detail, and working on teams to solve problems, she fit in well in the camp environment and with Camp Carolina. Robin enjoys traveling, hiking, friendships all over the world, and her golden retriever "Bella" who joins her at camp every day.
Kelsey Kushner - Accounting/Bookkeeping
Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, Kelsey moved to Brevard in 2016 where she went to Brevard College. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, as well as two certifications in Pre-Law and Social Sciences. Kelsey has spent 2 summers at CCB and started working year-round in February 2020.
She has a love for travel and adventure, and also enjoys playing tennis and spending time in the lovely Brevard area. Kelsey currently works in the office as the Bookkeeping/Accounting Princess! She has come to call Camp Carolina her home, and can't wait for more summer days and nights with all the amazing CCB campers and staff.
Bren Thompson - Office Assistant
Born and raised at Camp Carolina, a love for CCB runs through her blood. Bren has been working at Camp Carolina on and off for the past 11 years. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Appalachian State University. At 15 years old Bren started off working as a Vita Pup girl, since then she has taught Arts and crafts, been in charge of Earthworks, and ran the Kitchen. Bren is a certified Red Cross Lifeguard, Raftguide, and Backcountry Institute Outdoor Instructor.
She loves to go on an adventure whether it's backpacking the Art Loeb Trail, going for a run to end the day, snowboarding out west, mountain biking with her friends in Dupont, wakeboarding on the beautiful Lake Jocassee or traveling to a new country. Bren recently got married to former counselor Alex and they are excited to spend the whole year at Camp Carolina!