CHARLOTTE BALLET ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS
AND LEADERSHIP
Prominent Community Leaders and Visionaries
Advance Company’s Mission
Charlotte, NC – August 26, 2021 – Charlotte Ballet announced today the appointment of 13 new members to its Board of Trustees. The new members, who will join 25 other Trustees and serve three-year terms, are: Kobi Brinson, John FitzHugh, Kathy Giannuzzi, Ashley Larkin, Lucrecia Moore, Brook Muller, Alexandra Naranjo-Myrick, Russell Raath, Kelly Sherman, Carl Showalter, Tamara Smith, Tracy Stouse and Krista Wilson.
These Trustees join a robust and generous Board committed to upholding Charlotte Ballet’s mission to bring artistically excellent programming to diverse audiences in Charlotte and beyond. It should be noted that three of the 13 Trustees – Kobi Brinson, John FitzHugh and Carl Showalter – are alumni of the Ballet’s annual Dancing with the Starts of Charlotte Gala.
In addition, the Company announced Claire Rauscher and Meghan Clithero, current Trustees, as Board Chair and Chair-Elect respectively.
“We are honored to have this group of leaders – the largest and most diverse class ever – join Charlotte Ballet’s Board of Trustees,” said Charlotte Ballet Executive Director Douglas Singleton. “Their unmatched expertise, passion for philanthropy and strategic planning will be instrumental as Charlotte Ballet emerges stronger from the pandemic and looks forward to celebrating 50 years.”
Kobi Brinson
Kobi Kennedy Brinson is a partner in Winston & Strawn LLP’s Charlotte office in the White Collar, Regulatory Defense & Investigations practice group. She has spent more than 20 years defending corporate clients nationwide. She earned her bachelor’s degree in international studies with an economics concentration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her law degree from Harvard Law School, where she served as Special Projects Editor for the Harvard Civil Rights – Civil Liberties Law Review.
John FitzHugh
John is a Managing Director for Wells Fargo’s Asset Backed Finance Sales group. He graduated in 1988 with a finance degree from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of business and joined First Union’s management training program, which began his 30-year career with Wells Fargo. He played on the Hokies’ Peach Bowl championship team and was the starting center on Hall of Fame Coach Frank Beamer’s first team at Virginia Tech. He serves on the Board of Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center Foundation and has served on the board of Alexander Youth Network and Trinity Episcopal School.
Kathy Giannuzzi
Kathy Giannuzzi grew up in Winston-Salem, where she and her mother enjoyed North Carolina Dance Theatre performances. She danced as a child and continued dancing through college and when she first moved to Charlotte, where she settled after graduating from Duke University. She was reintroduced to the world of ballet when her youngest son pursued a ballet career. Gianuzzi has held management positions with Bank of America and First Data. She has served on several boards, including Theatre Charlotte, and is currently on the Board of Time Out Youth.
Ashley Larkin
Ashley Larkin has been a community volunteer for more than 20 years. A former development and sales professional, she is heavily involved in fundraising. Originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana, Larkin has a lifelong love of ballet rooted in youth and teen years spent at a rigorous ballet academy in southwest Louisiana. She has fond memories of the dance world – ranging from helping her mother, president of the local ballet auxiliary group for many years, to supporting her friends on fundraising initiatives.
Lucrecia Moore
Lucrecia Moore is a Senior Company Counsel and Senior Vice President with Wells Fargo Bank, NA. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her law degree from Marquette University Law School. Moore is a graduate of the 2016 Arts and Science Council’s Cultural Leadership Training Program. She has served on the Board of Directors for Festival in the Park and ArtP.O.P. Street Gallery, which provides access to art in places where people commute every day.
Brook Muller
Brook Muller is dean of the College of Arts + Architecture, coming to UNC Charlotte from University of Oregon, where he was a professor in the Department of Architecture and director of the University of Oregon Portland Architecture Program. After earning a Master of Architecture from University of Oregon, Muller worked with Behnisch and Partners Architects in Stuttgart, Germany. He is author of Ecology and the Architectural Imagination (Routledge, 2014), and Blue Architectures: Water, Design, and Environmental Futures, which will be published by The University of Texas Press.
Alexandra Naranjo-Myrick
Alexandra Naranjo-Myrick is from Quito, Ecuador, where she danced classical ballet for 10 years. At 17, she was selected as a Rotary Scholar and moved to Beaufort, S.C. She graduated from University of South Carolina, earning her bachelor’s degree in finance and international business from The Darla Moore School of Business. She is head of Client Experience and Relations at DeSoto Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley. She is a member of the Board of Advisors for Fashion & Compassion, The Rotary Club of Charlotte, The World Affairs Council, and The International House/Doorways.
Russell Raath
Russell Raath is CEO of Ambition 212, a performance and growth consulting firm. Previously, Raath was president of Kotter International, the consulting firm founded by leadership and culture expert Dr. John Kotter of Harvard Business School. Originally from Zimbabwe, Raath studied law and business at Nelson Mandela University and is now on the Advisory Board of the Nelson Mandela Business School. He also has studied behavioral science at Columbia University and operations management at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.
Kelly Sherman
Kelly Sherman has been a patron and volunteer with Charlotte Ballet over the past decade and served as President of the Corps de Ballet from 2012-2014. She is a past participant of the Arts & Science Council’s leadership program and past Apprentice Trustee on the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Board. As a Merchandise Director for Lowe’s, she spent the last decade managing the strategy for billion-dollar product portfolios. Kelly was recently selected for a new brand marketing role, where she is responsible for the décor private brands portfolio at Lowe’s.
Carl Showalter
Carl Showalter is Founder and President of Showalter Construction Company, a commercial site work contractor. He attended the Virginia Military Institute on a football scholarship, earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. He moved to Charlotte in 1983 and started his business in 1986. He served on the Board of Charlotte Country Day School for 14 years and as Board Chair for Camp Thunderbird YMCA of Greater Charlotte. He currently serves on the Central Piedmont Community College Foundation Board and UNC School of Medicine Foundation Board.
Tamara Smith
Tamara Smith is Vice President of Community Engagement at Novant Health. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Exceptional Children and sits on the Renaissance West Community Initiatives Development Committee. Her past service: vice chair of the Winston-Salem Urban League, chair of Girls on the Run Triad, and member of the Institute for Dismantling Racism. Smith earned her bachelor’s degree in health and exercise science from Wake Forest University and her master’s degree in healthcare management and promotion from Nebraska Methodist College.
Tracy Stouse
Tracy Stouse is an attorney in the Charlotte office of Alan Gordon Immigration Law. Her practice is focused on family and employment-based immigration. Stouse has volunteered with the Latin American Coalition, The Harvest Center, St. Patrick Catholic School, Charlotte Latin School and Myers Park High School. She is the Vice Chair of the Pastoral Council of St. Peter’s Catholic Church. She has also served on the Board of Directors of the Myers Park High School Field Hockey Club for the past six years. Stouse earned her bachelor’s and law degrees from Tulane University.
Krista Wilson
The University of Florida grad worked in Chicago for Crate & Barrel. Her team developed the Charlotte store, and she fell in love with the city during her visits. For 14 years, Wilson has been a stay-at-home mom and active volunteer, serving as chair of The Nutcracker Ball and holding board positions at Charlotte Country Day School, Myers Park United Methodist Church, Baby Bundles, and Madelyn’s Fund. She has written for several blogs, including Charlotte Smarty Pants. In September, Wilson’s first children’s book, Flight of the Flower, will be published by BumbleBee Press.
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