Photo caption: 2024 ZSR Sabbatical Program awardees from left to right: April Cox, Stacey Carless, Chris Watson, Chavi Khanna Koneru, James E. Ford
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After years of serving others, five NC nonprofit leaders will take well-deserved time over the next year to turn their attention to themselves.
We are thrilled to introduce the 2024 awardees of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR) Sabbatical Program:
- Stacey Carless, Founder and Executive Director, NC Counts Coalition
- April Cox, Executive Director, Rockingham County Partnership for Children
- James E. Ford, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Racial Equity in Education
- Chavi Khanna Koneru, Founder and Executive Director, NC Asian Americans Together
- Chris Watson, Executive Director, Community Housing Coalition of Madison County
As the newest awardees of the ZSR Sabbatical Program, these committed leaders will take up to six months away from their jobs to rest, heal, reconnect with family and friends, travel, and make space for activities that have nothing to do with work.
Established in 1990 as one of the first of its kind, ZSR’s Sabbatical Program provides veteran nonprofit leaders with time away from work to focus on personal rejuvenation, allowing them to return to their organizations with fresh momentum and renewed focus. Sabbaticals also encourage leaders to share leadership responsibilities across their organizations during their absence, which can enhance organizations’ capacity in the long term. ZSR offers up to five paid sabbaticals every other year.
Each of the 2024 awardees demonstrates incredible commitment to their organizations’ missions, from advancing justice and equity to supporting children to promoting safe and affordable housing.
You can learn more about the 2024 ZSR Sabbatical Program awardees below. Please join us in congratulating them as they embark on their journeys of rest and rejuvenation!
2024 Sabbatical Program Awardee Profiles
Stacey Carless, Founder and Executive Director, NC Counts Coalition
In 2017, following years of practicing law, Stacey Carless embarked on a new venture by founding NC Counts Coalition. With an initial investment of $50,000 and a mission to advance a complete, fair and accurate 2020 Census, Stacey dedicated her early days and nights to reaching out to foundations and organizing statewide meetings to establish a cross-sector coalition. Now, in addition to being North Carolina’s census experts, Stacey and NC Counts Coalition leverage their extensive network to advance solutions for communities facing systemic barriers in health, civic participation, digital equity and more. In five years, Stacey has grown NC Counts into a $7 million organization with 18 staff, a statewide presence and multiple equity-focused programs.
April Cox, Executive Director, Rockingham County Partnership for Children
Rockingham County native April Cox has spent her career advocating for her community’s youngest kids. Her passion for early childhood is rooted in her belief that a community is only as healthy as its youngest members, and she is known as a fierce advocate who gives freely of herself for the benefit of all kids in Rockingham County. Now, as Executive Director of Rockingham County Partnership for Children, April is at the helm of an organization that serves as an ally for families and a catalyst for community change to ensure children enter school prepared to reach their full potential.
James E. Ford, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Racial Equity in Education
After being named North Carolina Teacher of the Year in 2014, James E. Ford was tapped to travel the state for a year, serving as an ambassador for public schools. He toured schools in all 115 NC school districts and saw that across NC, students of color were not being served equitably. To address the racial nature of the disparities he witnessed, he founded the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED) in 2018, while completing his PhD, and has since grown it from a start-up to a sustainable nonprofit. Today, CREED works to close educational opportunity gaps for all children by centering students and families of color and helping partners in the field turn knowledge into action.
Chavi Khanna Koneru, Founder and Executive Director, NC Asian Americans Together
In May of 2016, at seven months pregnant, Chavi Khanna Koneru left her full-time job, purchased a book called How to Start a Nonprofit, and, with just a $10,000 regrant from a local nonprofit, launched North Carolina Asian Americans Together (NCAAT), the first pan-Asian civic engagement organization in the state. Eight years later, NCAAT is a statewide, 5-million-dollar organization with 20 full-time staff members and a canvass team of almost 100. NCAAT’s mission is to support equity and justice for all by fostering community among Asian Americans and allies in North Carolina through civic engagement, leadership development, grassroots mobilization and political participation.
Chris Watson, Executive Director, Community Housing Coalition of Madison County
Chris Watson spent his childhood summers helping his dad fix up homes for families who didn’t have adequate housing. Years later, when Chris found himself living with his wife and newborn in a 25-year-old mobile home with a mold problem, he gained new appreciation for how critical a safe and solid home can be for a family. Now, as Executive Director of the Community Housing Coalition of Madison County, Chris helps advance the organization’s mission to promote and facilitate healthy, safe, and affordable housing through advocacy, education, and resource development.