NPower Charlotte Region Begins Leadership Transition

May 31, 2011

After more than eight years in key management roles with NPower Charlotte Region, Chris Meade, founder and executive director, has decided to explore new entrepreneurial opportunities, while working with the organization’s board of directors on a transition in leadership.

“At heart I am an entrepreneur, and I’m ready to explore new opportunities as diverse as art and green energy,” Meade said. “I gain energy from the pursuit of a variety of ideas, and my decision will allow me to move in new directions.

“In addition, as organizations grow and evolve, they benefit from the infusion of new leadership, and NPower has reached this place,” Meade added. “We are fortunate to have developed a talented leadership team that’s been essential to our success and that provides depth and breadth for the future.”

NPower’s Board will soon begin a process of defining the leadership structure for the organization, which currently has 25 professionals who have provided information technology assistance to more than 180 nonprofit agencies in the Charlotte region. The timing for Meade’s departure date from the executive director role is flexible based on how the Board determines to move forward, but will occur before the end of 2011.

“We are deeply indebted to Chris for the passion, creativity and vision he brought to developing NPower into a remarkable organization, yet truly respect his desire to move in a new direction as entrepreneurs are driven to do,” said Alan Atwell, chairman of the NPower Charlotte Region Board of Directors. “The NPower organization has never been stronger than it is today in terms of professional staff and our relationships with nonprofit agencies, funding sources, the community and corporate partners. The Board’s goal is to determine the very best way to build on this momentum as we focus on continuing the NPower mission.”

NPower Charlotte Region traces its roots to Seattle in 1999 when Microsoft provided a grant to create nonprofit agencies to assist other nonprofits with the improved use of information technology. A leadership group in Charlotte decided to pursue funding for the creation of an NPower chapter in Charlotte and retained Meade as a consultant to formulate the business plan.

After helping to secure Microsoft funding – one of only 10 in the U.S. – Meade joined NPower Charlotte as its first employee in 2003. He was named executive director in 2008 with the retirement of the first director, Dow Bauknight. A watershed event for NPower came shortly after Meade assumed the director’s role with a $2.75 million, three-year grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for Project Ignite, an initiative of collaborative technology solution development in the nonprofit sector.

“The Knight grant has greatly accelerated our engagement with the professional IT and nonprofit communities through educational forums, collaborative solutions development and managed services,” Meade said. “The NPower message of helping nonprofits do more with IT resonates with everyone, and the Knight Foundation is inspiring a shift in how IT is valued by local agencies and by funding sources.”

Project Ignite has resulted in the development and launch of six collaborative technology solutions addressing social media, participant registration and volunteer management. Nearly 170 nonprofit agencies sent staff members to attend educational forums on topics ranging from social media to data security and more than 31 small nonprofits have received new hardware and software solutions.

“NPower has exceeded my wildest expectations for what began as a powerful idea and has become a rallying point for Charlotte’s technology community and a major force for positive transformation in our nonprofit community,” Meade said. “I feel it’s time for me to move on to fresh pursuits that will leave space for new leadership to take the foundation of NPower into another chapter of impact through technology service for the community.”


About NPower Charlotte Region

NPower Charlotte Region is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit technology consultancy that works exclusively with 501(c)(3) organizations. NPower Charlotte Region is part of the national NPower network and serves the 14 county region surrounding Charlotte, NC.

NPower works with nonprofit organizations to improve current technology and implement needed technology programs to achieve improvements that enable them to better serve their clients. NPower Charlotte Region was launched in 2003 with funding from Microsoft, Accenture, Bank of America, Duke Energy, Wachovia, Foundation for the Carolinas, the Duke Endowment, the United Way of Central Carolinas and the Arts & Science Council. Visit NPower Charlotte Region at www.npowercharlotteregion.org.