Leadership Transition

CHARLOTTE, NC (June 16, 2022) – We are proud to announce that the CBI Board of Directors has selected Janeen Bryant to be Community Building Initiative’s next Executive Director, beginning July 25th, 2022. 

Janeen is a tireless advocate for issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.  She knows Charlotte, knows CBI and understands our mission, vision and needs. After more than 20 years in our community, she brings to CBI a wealth of experience in nonprofit leadership, community engagement strategies and pragmatic partnership processes.

“I have taken part in CBI programming and worked with them in the past, so I am thrilled at the opportunity to now lead Community Building Initiative,” says Bryant. “CBI’s mission and values align perfectly with mine:  A human-centered society in which we see all individuals as valuable and move closer to our goal of community equity. My intention is to both preserve the legacy of Community Building Initiative, and to guide it onward as CBI evolves to meet the ever-changing needs of Charlotte-Mecklenburg.”

CBI Board Member Ely Portillo sat down with new Executive Director Janeen Bryant to discuss her vision for this next chapter in the CBI story.  Janeen talks about her history here in Charlotte and with CBI, her vision of equity in action, and how CBI will be instrumental in advancing this in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

CBI envisions a connected community where everyone WAKES UP to discrimination and injustice; INTERRUPTS inequitable systems and structures; and STEPS UP to champion equal rights, access and opportunity. Janeen Bryant’s life encapsulates these goals. She credits the start of her own personal development to her upbringing in Greenville, SC. Sitting around the dinner table, Bryant and her siblings were encouraged to express their opinions, with her mother sometimes playing devil’s advocate to teach the children how to defend their positions.

She took these skills with her to Davidson College, where she graduated with a degree in Anthropology, and focused on Ethnic Studies. Being a first-generation college student in her family, Bryant recognized the opportunities that were available to her and took full advantage – traveling to India, Bolivia and Ghana to study abroad. These experiences broadened her perspective and led to a deep appreciation for diversity and the value to be found in differences of belief and culture.  

Leveraging her degree in Anthropology, Janeen has studied cultural and systems dynamics as a classroom educator, museum leader, multi-region advocate, and entrepreneur. She received her Master of Science in Management and Leadership from Montreat College.

Most recently, Janeen worked as the Founder and Principal Consultant for Facilitate Movement, LLC where she and her team specialized in crafting proactive strategies that guided institutions to address shifting demographics with responsive leadership to strengthen long-term vision, cultural competency and empathy. Janeen also served as a liaison and Community Catalyst Coach for 12 communities in the Southeast through her work with My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, an initiative of the Obama Foundation. She has served on the boards of MeckEd and the Brenda H. Tapia Family Foundation, and is a 2021 Black Voices for Black Justice Award recipient.  

Janeen is proudly raising her 16-year-old daughter, a student in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools. She still very much believes parents play a vital role in the education and development of students, much as her own mother did for her.  

After more than 20 years in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community, Janeen brings a wealth of experience in nonprofit leadership, community engagement strategies and pragmatic partnership processes to the work of Community Building Initiative. CBI’s mission and work very much align with her own belief that once we accept and value others, we can move forward as a stronger and more connected community.  Janeen has come to view herself as an architect building a more just and equitable world. Her current role at CBI is a natural continuation of that work.