Dr. Susie Wise is an equity designer and currently the Director of Strategy at the Alameda County Community Food Bank. She is the author of  Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities (2022) and a co-creator of Liberatory Design. She is a long-time educator at the d.school at Stanford University with a PhD in Learning Sciences and Technology Design from there as well. She lives in Oakland, California with her family and their somewhat difficult dog, Hijiki.

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Bruce Clark is a seasoned executive and consultant skilled in bringing order, urgency, and purpose to complex projects. As Executive Director of the Center for Digital Equity at Queens, he has championed digital equity ecosystems to ensure marginalized communities access the opportunities of the digital age. Formerly a strategy leader at Common Thread Strategies, Bruce advised major philanthropies and impact initiatives, driving themes of shared prosperity in regional and national campaigns. With experience managing high-stakes political campaigns, including for Anthony Foxx and Barack Obama, Bruce combines strategic insight with a commitment to uniting people around ambitious goals.

Erin Gillespie is the interim Executive Manager for the City of Charlotte Corridors of Opportunity program. She leads a cross-departmental team to advance the City’s goals for equitable development in six priority corridors. Her focus is on guiding public and private investments into the corridors, building capacity within corridor-based organizations, and seeking new opportunities for city support.  Erin has been with the City of Charlotte for over six years, leading place-based economic development strategies.

Susan B. Harden, is an Associate Professor of Education and Director for the Civic Minor in Urban Youth and Communities at the Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte. Susan’s research interests and expertise are largely centered around understanding community engagement at cultural institutions and developing engaged scholarship in higher education. Susan’s commitment to civic engagement and social justice led to her receiving Leadership Charlotte’s “Unsung Hero” award in 2017, and was clear during her recent term as a Mecklenburg County Commissioner and President of the Faculty. Susan was awarded Mecklenburg County’s highest civic honor, The Order of the Hornet in 2020.

Nate Hogan currently serves as president of the CLT Alliance Foundation, supporting the economic and social development of the Charlotte region. Previously he was president/board chair of the Kansas City Public School board, where he leveraged his personal life story as a mobile student of the district who grew up experiencing a lot of the same challenges as KCPS students to advocate for students and their families. Nate has 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, intrapreneur and senior executive with proven success in defining strategic vision, providing transformational leadership, advocating for equity in urban public education, leading high-performing public and nonprofit boards and driving business growth in hyper-competitive markets.

Matthew Livingston is a results-driven professional who leverages organizational leadership and community engagement expertise to promote equity and drive impactful initiatives. As the Assistant to the Chief Strategist, Matthew helps establish, monitor, and maintain effective and sustainable programs that contribute to the transformation of Johnson C. Smith University as a top-tier institution.

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Vanessa Fanning

Viola’s Dream

Adrian Gordon

Song of the Ocean Winds

Lauryn Hill

Doo Wop

 Beyoncé 

Love on Top

 Mary J. Blige 

Family Affair

 Earth, Wind & Fire 

September

Charlotte Strings Collective is a collection of student musicians, faculty and alumni from UNC Charlotte, Winthrop University and Northwest School of the Arts, plus members of the Charlotte and Union Symphonies, Charlotte-area public school music teachers and freelance musicians.  The group was created with the aim of highlighting the work of Black composers, and have been performing together since 2020.

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Hannah Hasan is the recipient of the 2021 Hermitage Fellowship and an award-winning, highly acclaimed spoken word poet and storyteller who believes that our stories can set us free. With themes that center on home, social justice, racial justice, women’s rights, and more – Hannah is often commissioned to write and perform customized powerful poetry and provide speeches and workshops for events, conferences, and meetings. In addition to her work as a performance artist, Hannah is a skilled event hostess and facilitator. You can learn more about Hannah and her work on her website at hannahhasan.com

(AS OF 12/06/24)