We are here to start something

Karen Calder
Chief Executive Officer

An experienced non-profit professional, Karen excitedly joined Big Brothers Big Sisters as CEO in June, 2011. She is a passionate advocate for children in the Charlotte community and knows firsthand the impact that mentor relationships have on young people’s lives. Karen is a native of Monroe, NC and graduated from the University of North Carolina Charlotte with a BS degree in English and a minor in Visual Arts.

With more than 10 years of service in the non-profit sector, Karen has much experience in the areas of marketing and public relations, fund raising, Board development and operations’ management with both start-up organizations and mid-sized agencies. She was the founding Executive Director of Classroom Central, a non-profit free store for teachers working in the Charlotte region’s most impoverished schools.

Karen is committed to serving her community. She has been a member of Charlotte Rotary since 2005, a Leadership Charlotte graduate (Class 30) and has served on a number of non-profit Boards and committees. In recognition of her dedication to service, Karen was named a WBT Hometown Hero in 2007; Business Leader Magazine’s Woman Extraordinaire in 2008 and one of Mecklenburg Times’ 50 Most Influential Women in 2009.

Greg Hood
Senior Vice President of Programs

Mr. Hood has been with Big Brothers Big Sisters for over 19 years. He began his tenure as a case manager and worked his way to Senior Vice President of Programs. He has been a key member of the leadership team for the Charlotte agency for many years. In 2001, he was instrumental in the Charlotte office becoming an independent agency. This achievement was followed by substantial growth in the agency resulting in Charlotte becoming a member of the Large Agency Alliance in 2006. Mr. Hood was a finalist for the Program Manager of the Year award in both 2004 and 2005 when the agency experience tremendous growth and quality. In 2009 and 2010, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Charlotte had the best quality metrics in the agency’s history.

Prior to coming to Big Brothers Big Sisters, Mr. Hood worked as a counselor at a crisis/runaway shelter for youth. During his 3 years there, he met and counseled hundreds of children and their families. Through this work, he discovered that the children with the most skills and the best chance of success were the children that had at least one caring, positive adult figure in their lives and that prevention and positive guidance was the key to avoiding the pitfalls the youth were falling in to. He identified then that Big Brothers Big Sisters held the key to the tipping point in youths’ lives. 

Alan G. Atwell Jr.
Managing Director
McGladrey, Inc.

Lori Barber
Managing Director
Piedmont Natural Gas

James Bolin
Assistant Professor
Charlotte School of Law

Tom Brydon
Co-Owner
NOVA Residential

Marshall Collins, Vice Chair Fund Development
Sr. Vice President of Operations
Acosta Sales & Marketing

Alex P. Dickey, Board Chairman
SVP, COO
Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group

Dave Finlon, Board Treasurer
Retired

Mary Fout, Chair Fund Development
Sr. Director, Marketing Communications
Time Warner Cable

Steve Goodman, Chair Bowl for Kids' Sake
Human Resources Executive
Bank of America

Clyde Higgs
Vice President, Business Development
Castle & Cooke, Inc.

James Lee
Entrepreneur

Scott Linch
Partner
Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP

Bill Lunsford
Managing Partner
Zabel Capital

Raki McGregor, Vice Chairman
Director of Corporate Enterprise Application Services
TIAA-CREF

Kimberly Miller, Board Secretary
Independent Consultant

Tim Phelps
Principal
KPMG

Ken Pulliam
Director, Investment Analysis
Food Lion

Bob Shaw, Ex-Officiator
President
Concentric Marketing

Avery Staley, Chair Governance
Human Resource Director
Salisbury Rowan Community Action Agency

Catherine Stancombe
Vice President, Human Resources
Duke Energy

Kendria Sweet
Owner
Sweet Tea Consulting

Andre Walters
Sr. Director, Legal Affairs
Charlotte Bobcats

Jonathan Williams
Director of Sales
Rubbermaid