9 minute read
Agents of Change
By Ryan Kouame
Black men in Charlotte who are making positive changes and forging new paths in the community.
Samuel L. Smith Jr.
Executive Director, GreenLight Fund Charlotte
SAMUEL L. SMITH JR. is a community cultivator, advocate, servant-leader and the new executive director of the GreenLight Fund Charlotte, a nonprofit organization at the intersection of community need and social innovation. Smith has over a decade of experience working with numerous corporate and nonprofit institutions. He currently partners with GreenLight’s Selection Advisory Council — an inclusive, cross-sector group of community leaders and residents with life experiences. The council vets and selects proven models to help create opportunities for children, youth and families experiencing poverty and bring the next set of social innovations to Charlotte. Previously, he served as the director of external engagement with the United Way of Central Carolinas.
Smith is also the founder of Tailored Career Coaching, a professional development and resume writing boutique, and co-founder of Black Market Exchange, a technology platform that connects businesses and freelancers to support the Buy Black Movement.
“It provides me great pleasure to convene stakeholders from the philanthropic, nonprofit, private sector, government and community leaders to invest in solutions and drive measurable results that improve opportunity and mobility for children and families in the CharlotteMecklenburg community,” said Smith.
Kevin Harris
Visual Artist
KEVIN HARRIS is an American portrait, figurative and abstract painter who specializes in oil, acrylic and pastel paintings. Born in the 1960s, Harris experienced a variety of cultures throughout Washington, D.C., and Harlem, where he was raised, creating a blend of styles and genres that led to who is as an artist today. While Harris is primarily self-taught, he studied with Joan Bevelaqua, professor of studio art at the University of Maryland, as well as with artist Robin Wellner. Harris became an ArtPopCLT artist after being named to ArtPop Street Gallery’s Class of 2022, a program built to showcase local artists by featuring their art in public spaces and equipping them to achieve sustained success.
Harris’ artwork is now displayed on billboards in Cabarrus County Courthouse and multiple galleries and outdoor spaces throughout Charlotte, Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. His work has also been featured in Art & Beyond Magazine.
“Since I was very young, I knew that I loved to draw and paint – people primarily – but anything that I could envision. I never imagined that my love would eventually become my profession, and I am so grateful that it happened this way,” said Harris.
Kenneth Gorham
Principal, Movement Middle School
KENNETH
GORHAM is the principal of Movement Middle School, a tuition-free public charter school, where he is helping prepare a new generation of leaders.
Gorham, an HBCU graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, received his bachelor’s degree in political science and government then started his career as a fourth-grade reading teacher and worked his way up to becoming principal at Movement Middle. Despite his age, his leadership competencies and impressive test scores throughout the years helped break the mold of what a traditional educator looks like and, ultimately, landed his appointment as the youngest principal of Movement Middle at the age of 24.
“My belief in our children is endless. As a Black male leader and educator, my job is to truly empower our children to show them life beyond what the world may say, believe or perceive of them. You can change that narrative every single day,” said Gorham.
Aaron Randolph
As the executive director and co-founder of the Carolina Youth Coalition (CYC), AARON RANDOLPH has orchestrated the success of an organization that grooms high-achieving, under-resourced students in Charlotte who want to attend college. Randolph, who earned his doctorate degree in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, has worked in youth development for the Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He also taught social studies to middle and high school students.
Founded in 2018, with a donation from the Albemarle Foundation, CYC, a nonprofit organization, helps prepare motivated students (called College Fellows) to be wellprepared to take the college entrance standardized tests; research and apply for many grants and scholarships; and apply to several colleges to increase the chances of acceptance to the best school match with the best financial aid offers. CYC also takes students on college tours to schools, mostly in the Northeast and Southeast.
In August 2022, CYC sent its fourth cohort of fellows off to colleges across the country. Fellows attend 36 universities in 17 states from community colleges to Ivy League universities, giving them “the opportunity to learn among like-minded peers,” Randolph said. Many in the first cohort of fellows will graduate from college this year. According to the CYC website, Randolph is “driven by a fervent belief in the power of education to create lasting generational change.”
Agents of Change
By Cheryl Clemmons
Tre’ McGriff
Founder, CineOdyssey Film Festival
TRE’ MCGRIFF’S fascination with cinema and filmmaking began as a college student in Upstate New York where he discovered classic “black exploitation” films of the 1970s, directed by legends such as Melvin Van Peebles and Gordon Parks, who were among the few black filmmakers then. He said it wasn’t until he saw the work of director Spike Lee — classics like “School Daze ‘’ and “She’s Gotta Have It” — that he knew learning about and promoting films was his passion. “Spike changed the game,” he said. McGriff brought his love of film with him to Charlotte when he moved here 10 years ago, and the independent filmmaking community immediately embraced him.
After discovering there were no platforms for filmmakers of color, he launched the CineOdyssey Film Festival in 2017. Held annually in the fall, the festival is an “all-inclusive umbrella film festival” that had never been done before in the city, he said. CineOdyssey showcases films in non-traditional venues, including the Mint Museum and the Little Rock Cultural Center.
At the festival, movie lovers can view diverse, contemporary and cutting-edge films from the region and world films from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and other places. McGriff plans to expand the scope of the festival to include other venues and themes. He said he also plans to offer innovative classes, panel discussions and workshops to expose moviegoers to all genres of filmmaking.
Terry Bradley
TERRY
BRADLEY, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Livingstone College and his master’s degree in business and public administration from the University of Phoenix, is the deputy director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations team and the city of Charlotte Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator.
Bradley is also president of the North Carolina Chapter of the National Association of Human Rights Workers and the developer of Charlotte’s Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan, a living and working document used as a guideline to make the city more accessible for all residents and visitors.
The transition plan outlines how physical barriers identified through self-evaluation will be removed.
Bradley said the transition has been very successful and noted that Charlotte residents need access to public venues and buildings for many reasons, not limited to physical handicaps, including: long-term and chronic illness, mental health issues, aging and other reasons.
“Making sure all our residents have access to buildings and venues in Charlotte is an ongoing process,” he said. “Almost everyone will need this type of assistance at some point in their lives.”
Agents of Change
By Alicia Benjamin
Gregory “Dee” Rankin
Newly elected CMS School Board Member
GREGORY “DEE” RANKIN, a native Charlottean, was elected in November to serve as a school board member of CharlotteMecklenburg Schools. Rankin, who earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembrooke, is a program supervisor at Thompson Child & Family Focus serving youth in a psychiatric residential treatment facility. He is also the founder of the nonprofit organization Future L.E.A.D.E.R.S., where he educates and mentors young people.
Before starting his nonprofit, Rankin taught at an alternative school in Charlotte, so he knows the importance of offering students’ quality education resources. “I have a passion for serving youth and have been doing so for a very long time,” he said. “I have been an education advocate for black children for a while so I thought, ‘What better way to advocate for children than by serving on the board of education where I can create policy that is meaningful and purpose driven.’”
CMS faces several challenges that Rankin said he’s eager to help solve, including finding a school superintendent who is willing to make a long-term commitment to CMS students and families; identifying how to improve student outcomes, especially for economically challenged and Black and Brown students; and developing an effective strategy to recruit and retain quality teachers.
Rankin attended his first CMS school board meeting as a member in December after he was sworn in.
Jonathan Gardner
Founder and Executive Director, GardHouse
JONATHAN GARDNER founded GardHouse in 2019 after he learned students of color are twice as likely to be unemployed after graduating from college than their white counterparts. GardHouse prepares BIPOC college students to get paid internships and workforce development opportunities. Gardner, who grew up in Philadelphia, earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from La Salle University. He entered the Charlotte School of Law in 2015, but because of financial challenges, he left the school; and then he had to find a job. But after facing many rejections from potential employers, Gardner was frustrated with the process of looking for employment. He shared his exasperation with his peers and found they were experiencing similar problems.
GardHouse is Gardner’s vehicle to help diverse college students more successfully navigate their professional paths before they graduate from college. Each fall, Gardhouse selects a group of students through an application process. GardHouse then helps students shape their resumes, prepare for interviews and offers them career coaching. GardHouse places those students in a 16-week internship with employer partners in Charlotte which include small businesses, nonprofits and government agencies from various industries.
The students that GardHouse serves look to the organization “to provide them with true support that’ll set them up for great success after graduation and beyond,” Gardner said. “It is not taken lightly. The team operates as if we’re doing open heart surgery for each intern.”
Fulton Meachem
President and CEO of INLIVIAN
FULTON
MEACHEM grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina, and received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from North Carolina Central University. Meachem is the president and CEO of Inlivian, a non-profit real estate holding company that works to provide decent, safe housing that is affordable to low and moderate-income families while supporting their efforts to achieve self-sufficiency.
Meachem, who has over 20 years of experience in the affordable housing industry, said, “Having a place to call home is where we all find a sense of peace.” By creating housing opportunities, Inlivan helps families break the cycle of poverty, gives seniors a chance to age with dignity, and offers veterans a sense of peace, he said. “This is not my job; it is my passion, commitment and honor.”
Inlivian is creating a space where everyone can access housing and find comfort in a place of their own, Meachem said. “We do not believe a person’s income is indicative of their character.”
Fulton serves on several boards and committees, including the Urban Land Institute Steering Committee, Charlotte Works and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Coalition on Housing. He’s also a member of the Public Housing Authorities Directors Association. P
