As Executive Director, Katie works to provide organizational structure, vision and strategic planning for Changed Choices.  She is also responsible for making connections and seeking funding for the growth Changed Choices anticipates through grant writing and other fundraising efforts.

As Inmate Services Director, Ruth is responsible for the care of all of our inmate clients.  From their time in the Mecklenburg County Jail throughout their sentence, she maintains communication, coordinates pen pals and programming and works with each woman to create a framework for successful change upon release.  Ruth also organizes, trains and connects our volunteers along with an assortment of many other tasks.

As Client Initiatives Manager for Changed Choices, Melissa is currently leading the charge to start our small business, Second Helping, in addition to teaching parenting classes for mothers at the Mecklenburg County Jail.

As Transition Manager, Sylvia cares holistically for each of the women in Phase II of the CARE program (after release).  She provides case management for each client, coordinates the efforts of volunteers, mentors and other key players in that women’s life.  As the COOOL Coordinator, Sylvia is responsible for the coordination of the COOOL program for youthful offenders, which includes one-on-one mentoring, substance abuse prevention training, life skills training and soon it will also include a post-release component for the young women.  As the Parenting Instructor, Sylvia teaches 6 parenting classes each year for mothers in the Mecklenburg County Jail.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Meg is is currently the Wellness Operations Lead for U.S. based wellness programs for IBM and has served in BSF International for over 20 years. She has been involved with Changed Choices as a pen pal as well as with prison visitation.

Betty is currently employed by Winston & Strawn LLP law firm where she works as a paralegal in their Banking and Finance Section. She has used her leadership experiences with Crown Financial Ministries to teach budgeting classes at the Mecklenburg County Jail.

Claire has been a CPA for over 30 years and currently has her own CPA practice where she provides tax and accounting services to individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations. She volunteers her time to provide the accounting services for Changed Choices and several other not-for-profit organizations.

As Field Director for Prison Fellowship of North Carolina, she worked to join the many organizations, churches and government agencies in the greater Charlotte area in a collaborative effort called the Transformation Network. It was through this network that Katie connected with Ruth and Changed Choices.

Formal training in nursing and extensive experience working with a number of volunteer, religious and not-for-profit organizations has built a keen interest in Ruth for the welfare of women in differing situations. Ruth is co-chairperson of the Transformation Network, a member of the MORN Education and Advocacy Committee and the Chaplain of the women's facility at The Center for Community Transitions.

Nancy is a Vice President and Manager at the Wells Fargo Network Services Project Office. She has been involved with Changed Choices for 5 years, volunteering in several areas including serving the female youthful offenders at Mecklenburg County Jail.

Bryan is a data warehousing and business intelligence specialist for Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated. Bryan has helped CCBCC partner with Changed Choices as a volunteer outreach to the community as well as being a member of Grace Covenant Church.

Currently Doris works with Duke Energy and part-time as a real estate broker with Lake Realty, in Cornelius, NC.

During his career, he served as the Chief of Plastic Surgery at Presbyterian Hospital, Clinical Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery for the Department of Surgery at UNC Chapel Hill, as part of a Medical Team Mission to Sierra Leone and Haiti. He is also a board memner of Little Church on the Lane and a volunteer for Harvest Kitchen

Daren has served as the pastor of Grace Covenant since it was founded in 1990. He is also a chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Federal Air Marshals Service.

Ann Noonan is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the founder of Agapé Christian Counseling and Agapé Creative Ministries, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation with the purpose of bringing Biblically integrated psychotherapy to underserved populations.

Bob is a practicing attorney and shareholder with Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., a national labor and employment law firm. He is a m ember in good standing of Bars of U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for Fourth Circuit, U.S. District Court for District of S.C., and Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of N.C. Bob is also an elder at Believers Bible Chapel in Pineville, NC.

Jacqueline has worked with Samaritan's Purse to coordinate the opening of a Women's Vocational Center on the Island of Sumatra. She has also served as a fundraiser, project manager and teacher for a school and advocacy center for at-risk children in Nansana, Uganda.

Lyda currently works with non-profit organizations in the healthcare field with the North Carolina Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Coalition and with the Union County Health Department, administering a Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation grant.