Eight New Members Appointed to Goodwill® 2022 Board of Directors

Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont is pleased to welcome Holly Alexander, Dr. Monica Allen, Bruce Clark, Joe Machicote, John Marshall, Leigh Ann Merchant, Cedric Thomas, and Derrick R. Thompson as the newest members of its Board of Directors. One of the largest nonprofits in the Charlotte region, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization governed by an elected board of directors. The board provides strategic leadership and fiduciary oversight as it works to ensure progress towards organizational goals.

“We are honored and grateful to be able to attract a diverse group of passionate leaders to join our Board of Directors who have a desire to partner with us as we move forward with bold plans to build pathways that help people pursue the life they want to achieve,” said LaRita Barber, chief advancement officer.

Holly Alexander, a broker for New South Properties, specializes in commercial real estate brokerage in the greater Charlotte region. She focuses on relationship development and meeting the needs of her clients, tenants and prospects by identifying and facilitating strategic partnerships, teaming opportunities and community involvement. She has experience working on behalf of end-users, building owners and developers in leasing and construction, and implementing value-added strategies for their assets.

Dr. Monica Allen joined the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2014 as an adjunct instructor in the MPA program. She is also director of strategic planning and evaluation for Mecklenburg County, where she focuses on leading, developing and executing the county’s corporate performance management, strategic planning and program evaluation initiatives. Allen was the recipient of the 2016 Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Young Professional Public Servant Award as well as the Association for Strategic Planning’s 2017 Richard M. Goodman Award for Strategic Planning. She also led efforts in performance management that resulted in Mecklenburg County receiving the International City/County Management Association’s 2017 Certificate of Distinction for Performance Management.

Bruce Clark is a seasoned executive and expert consultant adept at infusing order, urgency and purpose into complex endeavors. Having served across public, private and nonprofit sectors, he brings a senior-level perspective on how disciplined planning, cooperation and execution can bring even the loftiest of goals within reach. As executive director at Digital Charlotte, he has helped redefine the municipal roadmap for closing digital divides so that low-income or historically marginalized communities have full access to the opportunities of an increasingly technological economy and culture.

Joe Machicote is the chief diversity and inclusion officer for Premier, Inc. with nearly 30 years of experience in human resources, organizational development and diversity and inclusion. Machicote is responsible for the company’s overall diversity, inclusion and belonging strategy. He is passionate about community service and has chaired several community boards following his passion for education, nutrition, culture, diversity and inclusion, and the advancement of underprivileged and at-risk individuals.

John Marshall is the head of retail and home vertical at Citizens Pay, a division of Citizens Financial Group that provides unique installment point of sale financing programs to drive sales growth for partners and an exceptional customer experience for their consumers. Marshall recently joined Citizens Pay after spending the previous 17 years of his career in a variety of roles at Experian, GE Capital/Synchrony Financial, FedEx and Newell Rubbermaid.

Leigh Ann Merchant is a CRA senior credit manager with Ally Bank, where she manages the bank’s Tax Credit investment portfolio (Low Income Housing, Historic Rehab and New Markets) as well as Opportunity Zone investments. Prior to joining Ally, she held a similar role at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She serves as vice-chair of the Board of Commissioners for Inlivian (formerly the Charlotte Housing Authority) and volunteers as a Guardian Ad Litem for a family of seven children in foster care. 

Cedric Thomas is vice president and general manager at Cox Media Group (CMG) Charlotte, which consists of WSOC-TV, WAXN-TV and Telemundo Charlotte. Thomas is responsible for growing news ratings, revenue and controlling expenses. Actively involved in his community, Thomas is a board member for the ABC Affiliate Board, the North Carolina Association of Broadcasters, and NXT CLT, a nonprofit organization that provides mentoring to minority businesses.

Derrick R. Thompson, global head of partner differentiation at Google Cloud, is an executive and business leader with U.S. and international experience in startup and emerging markets. He leverages a valuable blend of strategic vision and tactical execution expertise to drive new revenue, increase profitability and strengthen competitive market advantage. He has proven ability to build and lead motivated, high-performance, cross-cultural and cross-functional teams in geographies across the globe, positively impacting revenue generation without formal influence.

These members join existing board members Ronnie Bryant, chairperson-elect, Renee Ford, vice chairperson-elect, Anne Predieri, secretary and treasurer-elect and board member Gerard Camacho, MPA, JCDC, who was appointed in September 2021.

Welcome to the Goodwill family!

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