The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is pleased to announce its newest cohort of Community Leadership Council members.
Established in 2012, the Community Leadership Council is a group of 20 diverse leaders from across North Carolina who represent various sectors, professions and backgrounds. Each cohort spends three years working alongside the Foundation to better understand the opportunities and challenges facing our communities and State. This new group is the Foundation’s second cohort of Council members.
“The appointment of this exceptional group of leaders could not have come at a better time,” said Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s Executive Director Maurice “Mo” Green. “In May, the Foundation announced plans to launch a yearlong strategic assessment to determine how we can best serve North Carolina communities in light of changes to the State’s landscape as well as to examine and evaluate our current approach to grantmaking and broader work. The Community Leadership Council, in so far as it represents a microcosm of North Carolina, is the ideal group to assist us throughout this process. We are excited to have them on board during this important time in the Foundation’s history.”
The predecessor to the Community Leadership Council is what was known as the Advisory Panel. The Advisory Panel was established in 1977 and later took on responsibility for selecting the recipients of the Foundation’s Nancy Susan Reynolds Awards, which were presented annually to three individuals in one of three categories – race relations, advocacy and personal service. Award winners were considered North Carolina’s unsung heroes.
The Board and staff of the Foundation have appointed the following individuals to serve on the 2016-2019 Community Leadership Council.
- Adam Klein, Chief Strategist, American Underground (Durham)
- Adam Tarleton, Partner, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP (Greensboro)
- Anna Warburton Munroe, Shareholder, Allman Spry Davis Leggett & Crumpler, PA (Winston-Salem)
- Charles Thomas, Program Director, Knight Foundation (Charlotte)
- Dawn Chavez, Executive Director, Asheville Greenworks (Asheville)
- Edward Boyd, Chief Strategy Officer, iNvictus Group Holdings, LLC (Durham)
- James Moore, Police Chief, City of Rocky Mount (Rocky Mount)
- Jamilla Hawkins, Extension Agent, Community & Rural Development, Edgecombe County Center, NC Cooperative Extension (Tarboro)
- Jill Swain, Executive Director, Huntersville Chamber of Commerce (Huntersville)
- Juanita Wilson, Director of Snowbird/Cherokee County Services, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (Cherokee)
- Kate Pett, Executive Director, Asheville City Schools Foundation (Asheville)
- Lorelei Costa, Executive Director, Outer Banks Community Foundation (Southern Shores)
- Marcus Hill, Lead Coordinator, Forsyth Community Food Consortium (Winston-Salem)
- Mary Joan Pugh, Deputy Director, N.C. Zoo (Asheboro)
- Matt Calabria, Wake County Commissioner, Wake County (Raleigh)
- Misty Chase, Director of Greene County Transportation, Greene County (Snow Hill)
- Peter St. Onge, Associate Editor, Editorial Board, The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte)
- Ricky Hurtado, Executive Director, NC Scholar's Latino Initiative (Chapel Hill)
- Shorlette Ammons, Community Foods Systems Outreach Coordinator, NC A&T State University, Center for Environmental Farming Systems (Greensboro)
- Sonja Gantt, Executive Director, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Foundation (Charlotte)
The Foundation held orientation for the group in late August. The next meeting is scheduled for October.