360: The ABCs of Grassroots to Grasstops Community Impact (Tchernavia Montgomery)

Episode Summary

Most nonprofit leaders understand that community impact requires both frontline relationships and institutional influence — but building a strategy that connects those two worlds takes a very different kind of leadership. In this episode, Tchernavia Montgomery, CEO of Care Ring in Charlotte, NC, shares her ABCs of grassroots to grasstops community impact: Authentic Leadership, Board Engagement, and Capital Campaign Navigation. Drawing on five years of leading one of Charlotte’s most vital health and human services organizations through a facility relocation and a capital campaign without a chief development officer, Tchernavia speaks with the directness of a leader who has lived every lesson she teaches — from what vulnerability actually looks like in the CEO seat, to building a board culture that moves beyond governance into genuine advocacy, to the trust-based relationships that made a seemingly impossible campaign possible. Listeners will walk away with a clear picture of what it means to lead from proximity to the problem, and why emotional intelligence and the courage to ask hard questions are the real engine of sustainable impact.

About Tchernavia

Tchernavia Montgomery is the CEO of Care Ring, a Charlotte-based nonprofit that has served the community since 1955, connecting approximately 10,000 uninsured and underserved individuals each year to primary care, maternal and child health programs, and a $70 million donated care network of more than 1,600 specialists. A licensed clinical social worker with two decades of experience in health and human services, she is a double graduate of UNC Charlotte’s School of Social Work (BSW ’08, MSW ’09). Under her leadership, Care Ring completed a major facility relocation and a successful capital campaign, expanding its capacity to deliver integrated, community-centered care. Tchernavia is a member of the Charlotte Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and brings a deep personal commitment to humanizing systems of care — ensuring that every person served feels seen, supported, and able to dream beyond today.

Resources

Tchernavia Montgomery on LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/tchernavia-montgomery
Care Ring — carering.org
Black Love Charlotte — blacklovecharlotte.org
Bells Board — bellsboard.com
Bank of America Study on Philanthropy
Book: The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
Follow the Podcast — podpage.com/your-path-to-nonprofit-leadership
More leadership resources at Armstrong McGuire (ArmstrongMcGuire.com)