Brownd
WilliamsBELMONT — The Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation has named two experienced women to newly created leadership positions effective Jan. 1, 2017.
They are Mercy Sister Paulette Williams, who will serve as executive vice president, and Cheryl Brownd, who will step into the role of program director. The positions are being created as Executive Director Michelle Maidt concludes her service to the foundation at the end of December.
Perhaps best known as the former principal of Charlotte Catholic High School, Sister Paulette also served as vice president of the Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community and as the president of the North Carolina Region of the Sisters of Mercy. In her new part-time position, she will become the foundation’s spokesperson and will provide mission, governance and fiscal oversight.
A 17-year veteran of the foundation’s staff, Brownd currently is senior program officer. She began her tenure as program assistant and later was named program officer before assuming her current role in 2013. Prior to coming to North Carolina, Brownd was grants administrator with the Russell Sage Foundation in New York.
In her new role as program director, Brownd will oversee day-to-day operations and will represent the foundation at community meetings and forums, as well as continuing her current duties.
“We are fortunate to have two such capable women to assume these newly defined roles,” said Mercy Sister Linda Falquette, president and chairperson of the foundation’s board of directors. “The Sisters of Mercy value and appreciate the work the foundation carries out daily and the integrity of its grant process in serving women, children, seniors and those who struggle with poverty.”
Since 1996, the Sisters of Mercy of North Carolina Foundation has awarded 1,730 grants totaling nearly $78 million to organizations assisting unserved or underserved populations.
On behalf of the Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community, the foundation provides grants to tax-exempt health care, educational and social service organizations that meet its criteria and effectively assist women, children, those who are elderly, and who are economically poor to improve the quality of their lives.
— Myra Joines, communications director for the Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community