Last week, the Coalition held its first-ever Charter Advocacy Summit in Raleigh! The event launched Tuesday evening with a reception at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. We had a great turnout–200 attendees!– and were pleased to welcome so many lawmakers, General Assembly staff members, and school leaders. On Wednesday morning, state lawmakers–Rep. Saine, Rep. Elmore, Sen. Lee, and Rep. Torbett–along with State Superintendent Truitt, industry experts, school leaders, and charter stakeholders, convened for the Summit at the Raleigh Crabtree Valley Marriott Hotel. Over 160 charter leaders and stakeholders attended the Summit.
Altogether, we had 87 schools represented at the reception and/or Summit!
Sessions and an honor for Coalition founder, Richard Vinroot
Summit sessions proceeded at a fast and engaging clip, covering the education budget, local funding, enrollment diversity, the charter legal landscape, and much more. Dave Machado, the former director of the Office of Charter Schools and Charter Schools USA’s State Superintendent for NC, had this to say about the Summit: “Best charter gathering I have ever attended.” We consider that high praise–and we’re delighted to hear it! In addition, we were honored to present Richard Vinroot, the Coalition’s founding board chair, with a commemorative plaque. We are deeply indebted to Richard for his expertise, leadership, vision, and generosity of time and spirit.
We share some photos below …

Rep. Frank Sossamon speaks with attendees at the reception honoring members of the N.C. General Assembly on February 21, 2023.

Lawmakers, including Sen. Mike Lee, speak with colleagues and attendees at the Coalition reception.

Shae Faraday and Rhon’ya Talib of the Frederick Douglass Foundation NC greet Summit participants.



- Left: Rep. John Torbett speaks to Summit attendees about funding students rather than systems.
- Middle: Coalition Executive Director Lindalyn Kakadelis stands with Alpha Academy CEO/Superintendent Eugene Slocum and State Superintendent Catherine Truitt.
- Right: Former lawmaker Marcus Brandon speaks about the political challenges charter schools face.
A round of thanks
We also want to extend a huge thank you to all who joined us–we loved gathering to talk about how to leverage the power of public policy to protect all charters! We want to express our gratitude to our corporate sponsors, whose support made it possible for us to hold this event. THANK YOU!

Finally, we share a thank you to our distinguished roster of speakers, our Coalition Board and team–and to several others: Brian Jodice for his onsite media support, graphic designer Jeff Blair, and Shae Faraday and Rhon’ya Talib of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of NC, who helped with registration and check-in.
See you next year!
Summit resources
Recent Comments