2018 Pride Awards E-Magazine

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26 The Westin Charlotte Doors Open: 11:15 am

PRESENTED BY:

l

601 S. College St.

l Lunch and Program:

12:00 pm

l Attire: Business Casual

SUPPORTED BY:

To Our Sponsors, Thank You!...Look Inside for a Sneak Preview

Welcome to Pride Awards 2018!

Pride Awards 2018 will be revolutionary.

We convened, most likely, the biggest outdoor event for our community ever in Charlotte’s history. It was every Sunday in July. Sometimes we’d have 8-10,000 people show up with lawn chairs, children, blankets, picnic baskets and a yearning to hear their beloved local and regional jazz musicians. People still ask about it. The Dee Dixon essence of those gatherings, however, Chief Executive Officer can never be replicated.

If you haven’t heard by now, please pay attention. Pride Awards 2018 will not be a gala! Go figure.

After 24 years of gowns, tuxedos and other creative things, we’ve decided to have a luncheon to commemorate Pride Magazine and the Pride Awards’ positive contributions to the Charlotte community. This is new for us and we are excited, as well as challenged.

Do you remember …

• The first issue of Pride Magazine with Mel Watt on the cover?

• Vintage Foster, the first Pride Magazine publisher?

• Rolfe Neil, the Charlotte Observer publisher who paved the way for the Magazine?

• When Torrey (my eldest son) worked for the magazine?

• The early Pride Award galas at the Adam’s Mark and Omni hotels?

• The launch of our first Living with Pride issue?

• The launch of our first Multicultural issue?

I will never forget these, but let me just say the early days of the Pride Sunset Jazz Festival at Independence Park will forever be etched in my mind.

Pride Sunset Jazz Series

Twenty-five years is a pretty good stint for a small, minority business to survive. Many things have changed along the way, with new trends and players in the market. But, this we know for sure: Our loyal sponsors and advertisers have made it possible for us to continue to shine the spotlight on and be a voice for African Americans and people of color in the Queen City. For this, we are grateful. Thank you!

So, let’s fast forward to the luncheon on January 26. There, you will learn who the selection committee chose as our 2018 “Amazing Millennial.” Take a look at our finalists in this e-mag and note the caliber of these young people. If ever I worried because of our future being entrusted to millennials, no more.

We’re in good hands.

Now, I know many of you are wondering if we will ever have another gala and that’s a very good question. For now, let’s just focus on this year’s revolutionary luncheon.

Okay? Though unsettling, change is good because it allows us to examine, weed out and regenerate.

“Each genera tion imagines itse lf to be more intellig ent than the one that wen t before it, and wiser th an the one that comes af ter it”.

– George Orw

ell

Pride Awards 2018 Luncheon

Friday, January 26

The Westin Charlotte, 601 S. College St.

Doors Open: 11:15 am

Lunch and Program: 12:00 pm

Corporate Table: $2,000

Individual Tickets: $225 Visit WWW.PRIDEAWARDS.NET

Meet Our Hosts Fred Shropshire anchors the 5pm, 6pm and 11pm newscasts at WCNC-TV NBC Charlotte.

Upon his arrival in the Queen City, Fred hit the ground running – field anchoring the station’s award winning coverage of the Charleston, Church Shooting. Weeks later he anchored the confederate flag’s removal from the South Carolina state house, establishing himself as one of the market’s lead field anchors. Fred has also field anchored the station’s coverage of the Keith Scott shooting and the Carolina Panthers Super Bowl 50 appearance from San Francisco.

Fred’s career began at WTCI-TV in New Bern, NC and includes stints at WXII in Winston-Salem, NC and WGNTV in Chicago. Fred came to WCNC from WTVD-TV in Raleigh, NC where he anchored the 4pm and 5:30pm newscasts. He conducted more than a dozen sit-down interviews with then-Senator Barack Obama during his first historic presidential run for the White House. Fred has chased several tropical storms including Hurricane Ike when it made landfall in Galveston, TX. He’s also reported major events, including the 2005 World Series in Chicago, the Jena Six Rally in Louisiana and Michael Jackson's memorial service in Los Angeles.

Sarah French, a twotime Emmy Award winning journalist, joined the WCNC-TV NBC Charlotte Team as their Main Evening Anchor, alongside Fred Shropshire.

Prior to joining NBC Charlotte, Sarah was the morning anchor for WHDH in Boston, MA. She was also the host of What's Cooking, How to Help and Backstage. Prior to WHDH, Sarah was the morning anchor at WTIC in Hartford, CT. She began her career as a reporter for KOMU in Columbia, MO. Sarah has considerable on the ground experience covering major world events. She covered the Boston marathon bombing, the destructive aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She holds two prestigious Emmy Awards and received the “Excellence in Local Television Award” by the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association for an hour-long special called “Gay in America: Tensions & Tolerance.”

Sarah is an inspirational champion for several “First w notable causes, including e are c h i ldren the Make-A-Wish to our parent Foundation and the s, then p arents Susan G. Komen to our childre n Foundation. She is also , then Majoring in journalism, Fred graduated from UNCparent t o s our pa an advocate for Chapel Hill and in 2006 was honored as a rents t childre h domestic violence e distinguished Nelson Benton Lecturer. n n to ou r child victims and, after the ren.” death of a dear friend A board member of Pride Magazine’s nonprofit – Milto n Gree and colleague, worked organization, PEEP (Pride Entrepreneur Education nblatt tirelessly with Connecticut Program) – which awards scholarships and promotes legislators to pass a 911 education among youth ages 16-25, Fred loves to talk to texting bill. students and emcee community events.

His personal motto is, “to whom much is given, much will be required.” (Luke 12:48)

A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and Miss Missouri in 2006, Sarah grew up in Arkansas and is a member of the Cherokee nation. She and her husband Chris have a daughter, Blair and a golden doodle named Buddy.

Visit WWW.PRIDEAWARDS.NET

Celebrating Our Finalists PROFOUND GENTLEMEN, INC. Jason Terrell and Mario Shaw are the co-founders of Profound Gentlemen, Inc. They met in 2012 through Teach for America in Charlotte. They both were keenly aware of the lack of black male teachers at Charlotte schools. In fact, they were the first black male teachers encountered by some students.

They saw the impact they had on young men of color because they reflected their background and could share their experiences as men of color.

Mario Shaw

Jason Terrell

Vanessa Vaughn is the founder and owner of ASFALIS Consulting, which is a boutique business continuity and crisis management firm that assists public and private companies to maintain their reputation, profitability and ability to operate in a crisis. She has worked with corporate brands such as Lowe’s Companies and Gulfstream Aerospace, and is experienced with Fortune 200 global businesses and governmental agencies. Vanessa has developed resilience programs impacting over 16 million customers and crisis management and business continuity implementations in London, Mexico, Brazil and 15 domestic locations.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

SEE MY VOICE

Clinton Jamal Covington and Devin Martin developed a mobile app, See My Voice, which empowers users (residents in a specific neighborhood) to report needed resources by snapping a picture on their phone. While the app is impressive, it is the creative way that they are addressing the social inequities many Charlotte neighborhoods face. In developing the app, Clinton and Devin regularly visited Enderly Park in West Charlotte, interacting with the residents directly about their concerns, issues and fears. It was this information that enabled them to begin addressing the problem of access and inequity.

Clinton Jamal Covington

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE Devin Martin

– Brigham Young

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

ASFALIS CONSULTING

Vanessa Vaughn

“You educate a man; you educate a man.

You educate a woman; you educate a generation.”

CHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS David Spellmon, Jr. is employed as a Behavior Modification Technician in the Department of Discipline and Behavior Support for the CharlotteMecklenburg Schools. The mission of the department is to prepare students behaviorally for academic success. As such, Discipline and Behavior Support is responsible for working with CMS students who have specific needs that have not been met in a traditional educational setting.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

David Spellmon, Jr.

RUBIES RISING, LLC

Passionate about giving back and community involvement, Victoria Watlington is a member of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and has led programs to support African-American students enrolled in engineering programs at UNC-Charlotte, Johnson C. Smith University, North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T University.

She has also played an integral role in the growth and sustainability of the Westover Hills Neighborhood Association (WHNA), where she serves as the Westover Hills community liaison to the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition.

She maintains the neighborhood’s communication channels and is credited with developing the administrative foundation for WHNA. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Victoria Watlington Visit WWW.PRIDEAWARDS.NET

Thanks to our Table Sponsors as of December 4, 2017

SILVER SPONSORS

Charlotte Latin School

BB&T

Community Link

Belk

Compass Group North America

Charlotte Country Day School

Extended Stay America

Charlotte Housing Authority

First Legacy Community Credit Union

Duke Energy & Piedmont Natural Gas

Food Lion

McDonald’s Restaurant

Johnson C. Smith University

PNC Bank

Northeastern University

Rodgers Builders

Providence Day School

The Charlotte Observer

TIAA African American and Caribbean – Empowered Employee

Walmart

TABLE SPONSORS

V101.9

Bank of America

WCNC-TV

Carolina Panthers

Charlotte

Carolinas HealthCare System

Wells Fargo

“If you allow yourself to be closed , especially to a younger generation, then that’s d eath.

That’s instan t death.”

– Ali Shahee d Muhammad

DAY BASH LUNCHEON! Pride Awards 2018 will be a celebration to commemorate 25 years of “Pride” in the Queen City. We’ll take a stroll down memory lane at this unprecedented luncheon, honor an amazing millennial and have a “CONVERSATION WITH THE GENERATIONS.”

Sponsorships, tables and tickets are still available.

Call 704-375-9553 for more information.

Visit WWW.PRIDEAWARDS.NET