Abbie Darst has crafted stories that change lives and change minds for two decades. Earning her degree in English writing and communication from Berea College in 2003 set her on a fast and furious career path pursuing her love of writing and storytelling. That path led to countless hours in the back of a police car when writing 13 years for the Kentucky Law Enforcement magazine, coverage of D1-committed athletes as a sportswriter and editor for two Kentucky newspapers and venturing deep into the hills and communities of Appalachia to tell the heart-wrenching yet extraordinary stories of Berea College alumni and students as the editor of the Berea College Magazine. Abbie is an experienced communicator with superior writing and editing skills who is well versed in managing print and online publications. As the executive director for Marketing and Communications, she has enjoyed building strategy with and wrangling the wildly talented and creative marketing and communications team to effectively communicate Berea’s radical mission to a world that desperately needs it.

Abbie is also a happily married mom of three teenagers, and in her free time (yeah, like that exists) she yells spiritedly at high school girls’ soccer games and high school cheer events and supports the high school FFA chapter, while also (over) volunteering for multiple school-related councils and committees. And if all that was not enough to make your head spin, since 2015 she also has coached the Berea College cheerleading squad, effectively fostering 16 amazing young women and men for nine months of the year!