Month: January 2021

SPECIAL SECTION

Men Moving Mountains

Nicholas Wharton

The Charlotte Area Fund

By Sonja Whitemon   NICHOLAS WHARTON is the President and CEO of the Charlotte Area Fund, a nonprofit that helps people at 200 percent or below the federal poverty guidelines to find their way out of poverty.   The organization provides job training in high-demand fields that include HVAC, broadband fiber, commercial driving (CDL) and construction.…

SPECIAL SECTION

Men Moving Mountains

Jamall Kinard

By Ryan Kouame   EDUCATOR, COACH, COMMUNITY ORGANIZER, and racial equity trainer Jamall Kinard is revitalizing efforts in the community by focusing on family stability and civic awareness. After serving 10 years as an educator in the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System, Kinard eagerly joined the Racial Equity Institute (REI) in August of 2019.   As a community organizer/consultant and executive director of the Lakeview Neighborhood Alliance (LNA), his ultimate goal is to create a community organizing blueprint and foster an environment where the truth is celebrated, strong families are cultivated, and racism is dismantled for all communities, organizations, and institutions to follow.   As a coach, his goals are to educate himself and others on the history of this country and its systems, build generational wealth by bridging the gap between effort and access, and empower people in the Black community through conscious and consistent leadership.   “Plain and simple, there is no way that we can help each other if there is a system in place that thrives off of us staying in our own bubbles and only being concerned about ourselves.…

SPECIAL SECTION

Men Moving Mountains

Rickey Hall

By Ryan Kouame   SENIOR BOARD CHAIR for the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition and Westside Community Land Trust, Rickey Hall, has spent his lifetime working to implement sustainable communitydriven solutions to address systemic social and economic mobility challenges in disenfranchised African-American communities and promoting community-driven initiatives focused on addressing systemic food insecurity and improved health access.   Hall believes west side residents can build a new community that harkens back to the self-contained and self-sustaining Black communities of the 1940s and 1950s.…

SPECIAL SECTION

Men Moving Mountains

William McNeely

Do Greater Charlotte

By Sonja Whitemon   WITHIN ZIP CODE 28208 in the heart of Charlotte, are many neighborhoods such as Ashley Park, Camp Green, and Revolution Park— mostly low income with nearly double the state and national unemployment rates.…

SPECIAL SECTION

Men Moving Mountains

Kenneth Snow

By Ryan Kouame   MANAGING PARTNER AND leading attorney for The Snow Legal Group, Kenneth Snow, does not recall when he first decided to become an attorney but says, “I do know that I became a lawyer to speak for the voiceless and fight for the justice of those who cannot fend for themselves.”   Snow went on to receive his Juris Doctor (J.D.)…

SPECIAL SECTION

Men Moving Mountains

Police Chief Johnny Jennings

Takes the Torch and Ignites a New Era

By Angela Lindsay   “LAW ENFORCEMENT CHOSE ME. I didn’t choose law enforcement.” That is what Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Police Chief Johnny Jennings will tell you about how he became a member of the 108th recruit class in May of 1992.…