Carrie Bovill is the Program Director of CO-LAB at UNC Charlotte Center City and a higher education innovation leader with experience at Clark Atlanta University, Coastal Carolina University, and Duke University. At Duke, she managed the Duke Engage program in Detroit, Michigan, supporting community-based initiatives focused on small business development. Carrie holds a master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Community and Economic Development and advances higher education’s social contract by aligning institutional expertise with community needs. She is also an award winning author and owner of a boutique publishing consultancy that help authors publish their work while retaining full rights.

Nevyn Brown is a Computer Science major with a concentration in Data Analytics. He previously worked as a Data Analyst intern at Sunbelt Rentals and will be returning to Bank of America as a Software Engineering Intern this summer. Nevyn has a strong interest in building data-driven products that sit at the intersection of technology, design, and social impact. He is the founder of FundU, a fundraising and analytics platform designed to help organizations run smarter, more effective campaigns. His experience spans full-stack development, cloud infrastructure, and data analytics, with a focus on creating scalable tools that empower users and communities. 

Colleen Hammelman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences and the Director of the Charlotte Action Research Project (CHARP) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her community- engaged research and teaching focus on urban food systems in marginalized communities across the Americas, including in the Charlotte region, and in Southeast Asia. She has published widely on efforts to build more equitable and sustainable urban food systems, including Growing Greener Cities: A Political Ecology Analysis of Urban Agriculture in the Americas (2022, Springer Nature) and Radical Food Geographies: Power, Resistance and Knowledge (co-editor, 2024, Bristol University Press). Hammelman was named the 2025 Bonnie E. Cone Professor in Civic Engagement in recognition of her leadership in community-engaged research, advocacy and teaching. 

Professionally, Nate is a senior executive with proven success in defining strategic vision, providing transformational leadership, and driving business growth in hyper-competitive markets. Nate is experienced and successful in turnaround, change, and growth situations and in diverse sectors. 

Civically, Nate leads with authenticity and creates a shared, organization-wide intent to establish an environment where stakeholders actively contribute and the organization succeeds. As Board Chair of Kansas City Public Schools, Nate leveraged his personal story as a mobile student of the district who grew up experiencing some of the same challenges as KCPS students to advocate for students and their families.

Kendra Jason, Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Health Management and Policy, is an interdisciplinary health disparities scholar who examines individual level factors, contextual level factors (i.e. the workplace), and life events that may influence the relationship between health and desired workforce participation for older workers. Her program of research seeks  to identify contributing factors to health disparities by examining the links between race, discrimination, workforce behaviors and practices, and care processes. Her current program of research seeks to understand how COVID-19 is affecting older Black and Hispanic adults, how they navigate work responsibilities while managing their own health needs, and how workplace policies and practices influence changes in work participation for these higher-risk populations.

As Director of Engaged Scholarship in urbanCORE, Tamara Johnson develops policies, structures, and programs that support community-based teaching and research for faculty, and that enrich the student experience through community-based learning, civic engagement, and international education. Tamara’s community engagement activities reflect wide-ranging experience from institutional strategic planning for community engagement to hands-on program design and management. She works collaboratively with academic and non-academic units to create strategic initiatives that align scholarship to urgent community needs, and to assess the University’s community engagement efforts. Tamara served as adjunct faculty in Global Studies, teaching courses on global cities as well as education abroad courses on food justice in South Africa where she was a Peace Corps volunteer and a Fulbright scholar.

Julia is the Charlotte Urban Institute Student Engagement Fellow, where she plays a vital role in connecting CRU students with meaningful service and civic engagement opportunities across the greater Charlotte area. With over 10 years of experience in community engagement, Julia focuses on building strong, reciprocal relationships between students and local community partners. Her work centers on creating transformative, place-based learning experiences that foster leadership development while addressing real community needs. Through this work, Julia aims to cultivate a sense of purpose, responsibility, and long-term civic commitment in students—equipping them to make a lasting impact in Charlotte and beyond.  

I am a sophomore at  UNC Charlotte, currently in the middle of my third semester pursuing a degree in marketing. I have a strong passion for marketing, leadership, and community engagement. I am presenting Girl Pod, a vending machine designed to provide free menstrual care products to anyone in need. Users are not required to pay for the products, ensuring accessibility for all. The goal of Girl Pod is to help normalize conversations around menstruation while actively working to reduce period poverty. Through this initiative, I aim to create meaningful social impact while applying marketing knowledge to real-world situations.

Abi Olukeye is the CEO of Smart Girls HQ (soon to be Ingenia Learning), leading the design of experiential learning systems that connect STEM education to future workforce pathways. With over 20 years of experience in product design and digital transformation, she has developed learning solutions reaching more than 25,000 students nationwide. Her work operates at the intersection of education, workforce, and innovation, grounded in research collaborations with the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation and her ongoing PhD research in AI-driven adaptive learning systems.

A Professor of Chemistry at UNC Charlotte, Jordan’s Dr. Jordan Poler’s expertise is in materials synthesis and characterization. His Ph.D. is in Physical Chemistry from UNC Chapel Hill and his Postdoctoral Fellowship at Princeton University was in biomaterials. He is an expert in macromolecular, supramolecular, and nanoscale systems.  He has extensive managerial experience and success at bringing projects from concept to completion. Dr. Poler loves working in the lab training the research students, providing professional mentorship, and assisting with community outreach efforts. Lately, Dr. Poler is focusing on the optimization and scale-up novel materials for water purification, specifically PFAS and microplastics removal.  His foundational work in molecular system design directly influences our next-generation water purification technologies. 

Savir Shingne, a finance and computer science undergraduate student, is driven by a strong appetite for learning and applying solutions to real-world problems. His work includes conducting independent research across DeFi and stablecoins, building a Black-Scholes pricing model and a Downside Risk screening model, and founding a nonprofit that empowers senior citizens to avoid scams through education and outreach. He also authors articles on platforms like Medium, voicing his opinions on FinTech current events 

Kyle Spence is an Assistant Professor of Critical Design Futures and Computation and a 2025 Gambrell Faculty Fellow at UNC Charlotte. His research synthesizes advanced digital fabrication, artificial intelligence, and cultural sustainability. As the founder of The BAKLab, Spence develops "Agri-Cultural Infrastructure"—design strategies that amplify community resilience through high-tech making. His current work, Roots of Change, partners with Deep Roots CPS Farm to implement advanced, digitally fabricated structures that address food sovereignty in Northwest Charlotte. Previously an architect on Terra — the Dubai 2020 Sustainability Pavilion, Spence applies global innovation principles to local, site-specific justice.

Adrienne Threatt is a UNC Charlotte alumna, social entrepreneur, and nonprofit executive based in Charlotte, NC. She is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Hope Vibes Inc., an organization recognized for innovative, dignity-centered approaches to addressing homelessness through direct service, advocacy, and systems-level solutions. Adrienne also leads Give Hope Daily, a consulting and coaching practice supporting leaders and organizations in ethical entrepreneurship, community engagement, and sustainable impact. Her work centers on collaborative innovation, social responsibility, and building initiatives that align mission with measurable outcomes.

Emmanuel Threatt is a social innovator, nonprofit co-founder, and community leader with a background in education and public service. He is the Co-Founder and Innovation Director of Hope Vibes Inc., where he helps design and scale creative solutions addressing homelessness and community inequities. Emmanuel brings a practitioner’s perspective to ethical entrepreneurship, focusing on cross-sector collaboration, sustainable innovation, and community-driven problem solving that moves beyond short-term aid toward long-term impact. 

Deborah Thomas is Associate Vice Chancellor of Research and Professor of Geography at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In this role, she oversees operations and special initiatives for research and innovation across the university. Her research focuses on disasters and environmental health with more than 25 years of experience in the social science application of geographic information science & technology (GIS&T). She was a Fulbright Scholar to Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey in 2005, and continues to work in global environmental health in Tanzania as part of a 15-year partnership with the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences in Mwanza, Tanzania. 

Dr. Jennifer Troyer is the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.  Dr. Troyer is also Professor of Economics in the Belk College of Business. Since joining the University over 25 years ago, Dr. Troyer has served as Dean of the Belk College, Chair of the Department of Economics, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, the Interim Dean of the College of Health and Human Services, and Interim Dean of the Belk College of Business. As a Professor, she has taught numerous courses in health economics and econometrics, and she has conducted policy-relevant research on the quality of U.S. nursing homes, the cost-effectiveness of medical interventions, and strategic behavior in the pharmaceutical industry.  Her research has earned several awards and been funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Toye Watson is a dynamic and experienced social impact leader dedicated to bridging institutional resources with community assets to foster change. With a foundation in community organizing, education, and strategic design, she excels at building the collaborative partnerships necessary to address complex social challenges. As the Director of Community Impact at the Charlotte Urban Institute, she leads the Innovation Incubator.  In this role, she leads initiatives that empower community stakeholders by aligning the talent of students, faculty, and staff with community-identified goals. She aids in facilitating a campus-wide vision for social impact, cultivating long-term partnerships with nonprofits and local agencies, and integrating hands-on, community-based learning into the academic experience. By championing data-driven strategies and a community-centered approach, she ensures that these collaborations are reciprocal, sustainable, and lead to measurable, positive outcomes.