Brenda Lyerly

Brenda Lyerly has served as the Mayor of Banner Elk since 2011, bringing decades of dedicated public service and deep community roots to the role N.C. Department of Transportation. Before her mayoralty, she held positions on the Town Council starting in 1985, as well as roles on the Planning Board and Board of Adjustments High Country Press . A retired higher-education leader, Lyerly spent 21 years as Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Appalachian State University, preceded by admissions leadership at Lees‑McRae College and Mayland Community College.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of Houston and a Master of Arts in Higher Education Administration from Appalachian State University. Mayor Lyerly’s civic involvement is extensive: she chairs and represents Banner Elk on the High Country Council of Governments, formerly served as Chair of the Rural Transportation Advisory Board, and holds leadership roles with the North Carolina Resort Towns and Convention Centers board, the Banner Elk Kiwanis Club, the Banner Elk Heritage Foundation, and Habitat for Humanity Town of Banner Elk, North Carolina. Mayor Lyerly’s leadership is deeply shaped by her commitment to listening, inclusion, and enhancing Banner Elk’s quality of life—from transforming the historic Banner Elk School into a thriving arts and community hub, to expanding pedestrian-friendly infrastructure like sidewalks and parks, while preserving the town’s small-town charm and natural beauty.