Meet Claiborne Linvill

C. Claiborne Linvill has lived in Clemson, S.C., for 20 years. Currently, she is serving in the last year of a 4-year term on Pickens County Council representing District 1 (Clemson). 

Background & Service

Claiborne served as PR and Marketing Director of the South Carolina Botanical Garden, where she was involved in the Lake Hartwell Tourism Alliance. She also taught public relations classes at Clemson University. She later founded Rock Creek Communications, a marketing consultancy that serves several clients at Clemson University as well as many Upstate-area businesses. 

Claiborne has dedicated time and energy to several local nonprofit organizations. She served on the Executive Board of the Community Foundation of Greater Clemson and was appointed to the Keep Pickens County Beautiful committee in 2020. She ran the Reflections for the Arts program of the PTA at Lakes & Bridges Charter School, and previously chaired the International Festival and served as Vice President of the PTA at Clemson Elementary. She has volunteered as a Girl Scout Daisy Leader, a Cub Scout Webelo Den Leader, and as a Central-Clemson Rec assistant softball coach. Claiborne served on the PTO and board of the Episcopal Day School, and served on the Communications Committee for Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Most recently, she and her family volunteer together at Clemson Little Theatre in Pendleton and do litter cleanups with Lake Hartwell Partners for Clean Water.

Along with a group of retired teachers, Claiborne was a member of the founding committee of Lakes & Bridges Charter School, the first public, tuition-free school in the Southeast for children with dyslexia. Starting a new nonprofit school in the Upstate required working with government officials, local business and education leaders, city employees, and charitable organizations. Thanks to the committee’s hard work and a unique partnership with the Pickens County School District, Lakes & Bridges opened in 2018 and now serves 200+ children in Easley.

County Council Service

In her first ever run for office, Claiborne was elected to Pickens County Council in November 2022. She became the second woman to have served on council since its inception in 1975, and the first Democrat to serve in eight years. On council, she has been a champion for family issues including childcare access; smart density development planning; supporting and defending our libraries; expanding recreation and tourism funding in Clemson; improving county resiliency; and investing in road repairs. While she is often in the minority, she makes a point of doing research and asking questions to improve transparency and ensure all voices are heard.

Beyond her regular council duties, Claiborne has served constituents and the county by contributing to groups and boards including:

• Greenville-Pickens Area Transportation Study (GPATS) before transitioning to the Anderson-Clemson Area Transportation Study (ACATS)
• Appalachian Council of Governments (ACOG), serving on the Regional Transportation Committee
• Land Use, Natural Resources and Transportation Policy Steering Committee of the S.C. Association of Counties
• South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Child Care Coalition

She has been an invited participant or panelist at conferences including the National Conference of State Legislators’ Prenatal-to-Three Policy Symposium, the American Flood Coalition’s Local Elected Leaders Summit, and the Institute for Child Success’ Early Childhood Care and Learning Seminar.

Personal

Originally from Dallas, Texas, Claiborne has a B.A. in Communication from Wake Forest University and an M.A. in Professional Communication from Clemson University, and she has completed the Level 1 Institute of Government with the S.C. Association of Counties. She is a member of the City of Clemson’s Leadership Clemson Class of 2015 and a member of the South Carolina Democratic Party’s James E. Clyburn Political Fellowship Class of 2021.

Claiborne is married to Darren Linvill, a Professor of Communication at Clemson and the son of Nancy Linvill, retired teacher from Central Elementary and R.C. Edwards, and the late Dale Linvill, CU Emeritus Professor. Claiborne’s mother, Martha, and brother, Vaughan, both moved to Clemson recently. Darren and Claiborne have two daughters, Sylvia and Amelia, who attend Daniel and Edwards and act in many plays at Clemson Little Theatre. They live with their rescue dog, Cosmo.

When not running lots of carpools, Claiborne enjoys going on hikes throughout the Upstate, traveling, reading novels, playing board games, and talking about the importance of local politics.