Tya Bolton joined the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance® in April 2023 as the director of small business and entrepreneurship for the CLT Alliance Foundation. In this role, Bolton helps small businesses navigate the business support ecosystem, creates intentional connections among employers and entrepreneurs for supplier diversity opportunities, and heavily serves the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) communities, targeting underresourced neighborhoods and corridors of opportunity. She is a one-stop referral source to other technical assistance providers and community development financial institutions throughout the region.
As an advocate, cultivating community partnerships and helping small businesses reach higher levels is her jam! She is dedicated to helping the businesses in this region develop wealth, legacy, and healthy business mindsets. Bolton’s Top 5 StrengthsFinder traits are: strategic, achiever, connectedness, relator, and learner. With more than two decades of international management consulting experience that cross pollinates community engagement, social and racial equity, economic development, project management, business management, event production, training and coaching entrepreneurs, and nonprofit management, she is well equipped to guide others to success.
“Tya is the right leader at the right time in the CLT Alliance Foundation’s history,” CLT Alliance Foundation President Nate Hogan said. “As we create opportunities for access to capital, connections, and customers for our small businesses, Tya brings a wealth of relationships, expertise, trust and credibility that are critical to our ability to grow businesses in the Charlotte Region! I couldn’t be more pleased with the team we have built over the last few months and Tya is an important part of the CLT Alliance Foundation’s strategic direction.”
Deeply rooted in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Charlotte, you may have seen Bolton around town in one of the many projects she supports. Bolton led the community outreach and engagement within the Six Corridors of Opportunity for the Beyond Open grant, administered by Foundation For The Carolinas. She served as an interim contract director for ASPIRE Community Capital to help launch, scale, and grow the organization. She also served as director of the Global Wealth Exchange, and helped improve Mecklenburg County’s Office of Economic Development MWSBE goals. Through her work with Project 70Forward, Bolton was a consultant to help lead several census caravans and activations, as well as 18 voter safety events during the 2020 elections.
Bolton is a graduate of Amp Up! Charlotte and the American Leadership Forum. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Washington Post Magazine, Propel Charlotte, PRIDE Magazine, The Daily Journal, QCityMetro, WBTV, FabJob, and other media outlets. Bolton is a sought after speaker and strategist, and she has been recognized by Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and Airbnb.
A native of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area, Bolton loves traveling around the world, being immersed in other cultures. She loves to dance, and fun fact: she’s a certified beekeeper.
