Social Justice Power Forward Program
After years of Hornets Sports & Entertainment (HSE) having a strong commitment to social justice causes the organization launched their social justice platform focusing on voting, economic mobility and racial equity.
As part of HSE’s continuing efforts toward social justice reform, our organization created the Social Justice Power Forward program to honor one local leader who has made a difference in the realm of social justice issues, powering through obstacles and pushing forward a positive impact. Five times throughout the season, this program we will work to bring to light all the work community leaders are doing through the activation of numerous events and initiatives that dive deeper into both raising awareness while simultaneously helping provide support in the areas of social justice.
Sherri Chisholm
Executive Director, Leading On Opportunity
Sherri Chisholm joined Leading on Opportunity as its director in September 2020, bringing nearly a decade of experience as an educational and nonprofit strategist to the role. She has worked in senior leadership at national nonprofits and major school districts across the country, where she drove transformation through strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, and leadership development. Prior to joining Leading on Opportunity, Sherri served as the founding Executive Director of Urban Alliance Detroit, a national youth workforce development nonprofit that aims to expand access to economic opportunity for youth from under-resourced neighborhoods through paid internships, job skills training, and mentoring. She is also the founder and CEO of FreeSpace Consulting Group where she has worked to guide and support districts and nonprofit organizations across the country seeking to effect positive change in public education.
Tiffany Capers
Executive Director of CrossRoads Corporation
Tiffany Capers has served as executive director of CrossRoads Corporation since 2019. Capers, who has more than 20 years of experience in public service, leads the efforts in the Grier Heights community to create a network of resources in response to community needs, working with other nonprofits, community stakeholders, residents and more to provide support to the neighborhood.
Janet LaBar
CEO, Charlotte Regional Business Alliance
Janet LaBar joined the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance® as CEO in April 2019 through a national executive search. A seasoned regional economic development leader with strong communications, strategy, and operations skills, she is leading the CLT Alliance in a new direction to ensure the Charlotte region is the most vibrant, innovative, and healthy economy in the nation. Through collaboration, the CLT Alliance is advancing a region that creates economic opportunities and prosperity for all.
LaBar’s regional economic development experience spans 20 years, including serving as CEO at Greater Portland Inc from 2014-2019, and a decade at the Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC). LaBar started her economic development career in 2002 at the Center for Workforce Development at the Maricopa Community Colleges in Tempe, Arizona.
LaBar serves on the boards of Charlotte Center City Partners, Charlotte Sports Foundation, Central Piedmont Community College, and UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics Dean’s Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Charlotte Industrial Roundtable for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, IEDC’s Equitable Economic Development Playbook Advisory Committee, and she is the Charlotte market lead for Southern Communities Initiative.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from the University of West Florida and an MBA in marketing from the University of Phoenix. LaBar and her husband are proud parents to an older daughter and younger daughter/son twins.
Dr. Crystal L. Hill
Superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Dr. Crystal L. Hill currently serves as the superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the 17th largest public school district in the nation. Prior to this role, she served as chief of staff where she oversaw the Office of Strategy Management and Title IX and was responsible for the management of the superintendent’s cabinet operations. She also served as the chief adviser to the superintendent and the liaison between the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education and the cabinet.
Prior to joining CMS, she served as chief academic officer for Cabarrus County Schools, where she led the district in achieving the highest level of academic performance in history.
She began her 25-year career in education as a first-grade teacher in Guilford County Schools. Following, Hill served in various roles including assistant principal, principal and as executive director of elementary education and federal programs in Mooresville Graded School District; curriculum coordinator in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools; and personnel director in Cabarrus.
She currently serves on the Leading on Opportunity Council and, in 2020, co-chaired the North Carolina State Board of Education Literacy Task Force.
Dr. Hill earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in instructional technology, both from North Carolina A&T State University. She also earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Gardner-Webb University.