The African American Leadership Academy of Charlotte (AALAC), a new initiative focused on expanding the number and impact of African American leaders in the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, recently welcomed its inaugural class.
Inspired by the successful AALA, The Academy’s mission is to intentionally equip, empower, and advance local Black professionals to strengthen the pipeline of executive and c-suite leaders for the public, private and philanthropic sectors.
The CLT Alliance Foundation serves as a Founding partner and host for AALAC.
“The opportunities to lead in the Charlotte Region are immense. It is imperative that we prepare enough talented leaders to take advantage of those future opportunities,” CLT Alliance Foundation President Nate Hogan said. “Supporting AALAC is aligned with our vision to catalyze transformative growth in the Charlotte Region where dynamic small businesses and business leaders thrive, so this is an easy effort for us to get behind.”
Hogan and other Academy board members recently gathered at the Harvey B. Gantt Center for a reception and dinner to welcome the inaugural class of 14 corporate and nonprofit leaders. The event included remarks from JT Saunders, chief diversity officer at Korn Ferry, a key provider of the Academy’s efficacy-based curriculum.
“We are so pleased to invest in the Charlotte community. As a global organizational consultancy, we know the impact that can be realized through empowering Black leaders and cultivating inclusive environments where all talent can thrive,” Saunders said. “Our partnership provides access to our best leadership development content, executive coaching, and other digital assets that have proven to support leaders’ growth and development.”
The day following the reception, the Academy kicked off with an intensive retreat hosted at Ally Financial’s uptown Charlotte location with sessions led by one of the program’s lead facilitators, Mo Wright.
Wright shared insights with the Academy fellows based on his work guiding its sister program in Ohio for more than a decade.
“There are many leadership initiatives, but this is not like other programs. It exclusively focuses on you. It’s about your growth, your acceleration, and creating your own path. You will finish with a greater sense of self, your leadership capabilities, and with real strategies to overcome obstacles at every level of your leadership journey. We know you make an impact in the community, that’s not our focus here, this is specifically about you. You are the project,” Wright said.
The Academy’s inaugural class includes professionals from various corporations including Ally, AvidXchange, Deloitte, Energy United, Lowe’s, Raytheon Technologies, Campbell’s, Wells Fargo, along with some nonprofit executive directors of organizations with budgets of $1 million or more. Fellows were nominated by the Academy’s advisory and governing board members and key partners.
“This is a stellar group of leaders, who will pave the way for the next cohort and move to higher roles in our community. We have individuals from different professional backgrounds and sectors to produce key outcomes,” Elizabeth Carter Trotman, the program’s director and president of One Catalyst Consulting, said. “The Academy is about intentionality when it comes to ‘building the bench’ in our community. Our goals are to help ensure that we have multiple African American executives, CEOs and community leaders at the table for years to come. We will do this by leveraging this successful model with Charlotte-focused content, and by creating a safe, supportive space for Black leaders. We will also do this by ensuring that our leaders leave with a strong, strategic network of support.”
The Academy’s founding partners include: leadership funders, Ally Financial and the CLT Alliance Foundation; empowerment funders, Lowe’s and Wells Fargo; and supportive funders, AvidXchange, Bank of America, the Charlotte Hornets, RAMA Consulting, The Schott Foundation and individual donors, along with seed funding from Foundation For The Carolinas.
The program is administered by One Catalyst Consulting in partnership with the Harvey B. Gantt Center as an event partner. For more information on the African American Leadership Academy of Charlotte, visit aalacharlotte.org.
