Managing Director at Next Stage Consulting
Josh Jacobson brings years of organizational development experience to his leadership of Next Stage Consulting. He has worked in-depth with every nonprofit sector, including arts and culture, children and families, primary and secondary education, higher education, faith, environment and science and health and human services.
Managing Director at The Lee Insitutue
Chrystal Joy joined The Lee Institute in June 2013 as Director and was promoted to her current role in October 2019. Prior to joining the Lee team, Chrystal spent nine years leading a number of enterprise-wide organizational development initiatives at Time Warner Cable including management of the VP women’s leadership development program, the 360 degree feedback and executive coaching processes, and the performance management process. At the Lee Institute, Chrystal is responsible for guiding the strategic direction of the organization under the leadership of Cyndee Patterson, President. In her current (and previous) role, Chrystal leads efforts that focus on strategic planning, board and leader development and community capacity building.
Facilitator, Strategist, Consultant, Coach, Teacher at Beam Outcomes
Joanne O’Brien Beam is an experienced fundraiser, planner, and presenter. Her diverse background in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors enables her to provide clients with candid advice from a broad perspective. A founding partner of Capstone Advancement Partners, Joanne is currently President. She assists clients with capital and endowment campaigns, major gift programs, strategic planning, start-up plans and programs, volunteer and staff training, and board development and governance to higher educational institutions, independent schools, religious organizations, arts and cultural organizations, and health and human service organizations.
Executive Director of Loaves & Fishes
Tina Postel is the executive director at Loaves & Fishes Inc., a local nonprofit that provides food to families in need. Loaves & Fishes and Friendship Trays are merging to strengthen their capacity to tackle all the faces and phases of food insecurity in Charlotte. This is a merger of two strong, healthy and historic equals who saw this as an opportunity to have a greater impact in meeting the ever escalating hunger needs of individuals and families, now intensified by the global pandemic and its continuing impact on our economy.
Executive Director of Gardhouse
Jonathan started Gardhouse, a first of its kind nonprofit, developed to create a new pipeline to employment for college students of color through local minority-owned businesses. Unlike other organizations, students are encouraged to broaden their horizons by first identifying their strengths, then connecting those strengths to the profession they are working towards. Gardhouse connects students with paid internships within minority-owned businesses during their fall and spring semester. Then, students are connected with generally-owned companies and organizations for summer internships.
Executive Director of Common Wealth Charlotte
Chuck joined Common Wealth Charlotte after a 33-year background in business, advertising, and marketing, including 25 years managing the firm he co-owned with his wife, Aprill. A Charlotte resident since 1987, Chuck cares deeply about the city, its people and its future. Common Wealth Charlotte (CWC) empowers Charlotte’s working poor to achieve financial independence through innovative financial education and capability services. Embedded within this mission is CWC’s commitment to be an integral part of Charlotte’s community-wide upward mobility solution for our working poor.
Executive Director of Charlotte Bilingual Preschool
Banu is a proven leader and manager of statewide arts and education programs, resources and staff with over 15 years’ experience in nonprofit administration, specializing in forming strategic partnerships with national, state and local agencies to develop programs that respond to agencies’ mission, community needs, and revenue goals. Charlotte Bilingual Preschool (CltBP) has dedicated 20 years to providing innovative, two-generation solutions for preparing Spanish-speaking children for success.
CEO of Apparo
Kim Lanphear is the CEO of Apparo, a nonprofit connecting local nonprofits to technology expertise & resources that amplify their impact in the community. Recognized for her skills in change management and cultural leadership, Kim has led Apparo to focus on achieving solution sustainability for nonprofits and a leverage of $1.60+ of community value for every dollar donated. Lanphear has a diverse career background with more than 20 years of expertise in strategy development, international business, marketing, fundraising, and P&L management as well as Board governance and leadership.
Principal Architect and Vision Keeper at The Soul of Philanthropy; Founding Member of NGAAP-Charlotte
Described an “idea whisperer,” Valaida Fullwood brings unbridled imagination and a gift for harnessing wild ideas to her work as a writer, public speaker and consultant on various projects and events. Valaida is the award-winning author of Giving Back, a 400-page hardcover book profiling stories of philanthropy among African Americans that was developed with photographer Charles Thomas. Giving Back was named one of the 10 Best Black Books of 2011 and received the prestigious 2012 McAdam Book Award, which recognizes “the most inspirational and useful new book for the nonprofit sector.”
Executive Director at CrossRoads Corporation
Tiffany brings 25 years of nonprofit & public sector experience to her role as Executive Director at CrossRoads Corporation after spending the last 11 years as a Teach for America Managing Director in Network Strategy & Public Affairs as well as in Development. She also served as a Vice President at Foundation For The Carolinas preceded by 14 years with the City of Charlotte.
Founder and Principal at Stevenson Wallace LLC
Consultant, senior nonprofit executive, strategist, facilitator, and speaker. Andi has 25 years of experience in the social sector, with expertise in nonprofit governance, strategic planning, process design, organizational change, and stakeholder research. Andi and her firm, Stevenson Wallace LLC, consult with small businesses and nonprofits searching for clarity: Clarity about strategy, community impact, constituent relationships, mission, and competitive advantage.
Director, Technology Center at Lowe’s
Randy Alexander serves as Director, Technology Business Management at Lowe’s Companies. In this role, he is the site leader for the Global Technology Hub based in Uptown (soon to be South End). He works tirelessly to create opportunities for Lowe’s technology associates to engage with local nonprofit organizations through fundraising and volunteerism. Randy works closely with the Lowe’s Community Relations team to build out and execute the strategy for Charlotte-based nonprofit partnerships that focus on technology exposure, education, and training. He enjoys meeting with nonprofit partners to develop programs that engage Lowe’s associates, as well as rolling up his sleeves and volunteering at various events. Randy is passionate about lifting up underserved parts of our community and serves on the Board of Directors for Charlotte-based nonprofits Digi-Bridge, and E2D.
Head of Corporate Citizenship at LendingTree; Executive Director, LendingTree Foundation
April Whitlock is a connector and champion. To add a third ‘C,’ she is also all about community. Those three ‘C’s are woven into the common thread of her decades-long career – as a corporate marketing executive, entrepreneur, nonprofit director, and now as a corporate foundation executive. April is the Head of Corporate Citizenship at LendingTree and Executive Director of the LendingTree Foundation. These are new roles at a company that isn’t new to her. She joined the financial services company when it was a start-up and is proud to say that back then she was employee No. 32.
Head of Social Impact & Equitable Foundation
Jarian Kerekes serves as the Head of Equitable Foundation and Social Impact. In this role, he is responsible for the overall social impact strategy, partnership programs, and engagements in alignment with Equitable’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals and objectives of being a force for good.
Jarian joined Equitable after serving as the Senior Vice President of Team Member Philanthropy at Wells Fargo where his responsibilities included managing an enterprise-wide strategy supporting volunteerism programs that provided opportunities for employees to make positive impacts in their communities.
Previous roles include Corporate Social Responsibility roles with Teachers Insurance Annuity Association (TIAA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he managed the TIAA and NBA community programs and key platforms.
Jarian currently serves on the board of SHARE Charlotte and holds a master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. In 2017, Jarian was named as one of the Charlotte Business Journal’s 40 under 40 recipients for his leadership.
Government & Community Affairs Manager at Google