Social impact organization Cape Fear Collective announced Tuesday the appointment of Meaghan Dennison as CEO. Dennison was named interim CEO of the Wilmington-based nonprofit in February after former CEO and founder Patrick Brien transitioned into a strategic advisory role. Dennison joined CFC as director of programs in 2019. She was one of CFC’s first hires, h ...

The board of directors that oversees the nonprofit foundation behind Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington has announced plans to open between four and five co-ed early childhood education centers over the next three years.  The first of the centers, which will all be called Spark, will open in July 2023, the recently renamed foundation Beacon Education (formerly ...

Communities In Schools Cape Fear is one of 40 Communities In Schools affiliates chosen by philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to receive a direct gift as part of an overall donation of $133.5 million to the nonprofit organization. Scott, billionaire and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has given $1.5 million to the local CIS. CIS Cape Fear partners with public s ...

Cape Fear Collective (CFC) will be under new leadership with the announcement of a promotion and new hire, according to a press release Tuesday. Meaghan Dennison (pictured left) has been named interim CEO and Wesley Myrick will join the social impact nonprofit as chief financial officer. The organization’s board of directors will officially name the new roles ...

The New Hanover Community Endowment Inc. has announced its inaugural president and CEO after a monthslong search.  William Buster will serve as the endowment’s CEO beginning March 1. He is currently the Asheville-based Dogwood Health Trust’s senior vice president of impact.  Officially christened in February 2021, the endowment was bestowed ...

Two bank-backed programs recently granted big chunks of change to nonprofits in Wilmington that are working on employment initiatives. Bank of America named employment agency StepUp Wilmington its 2021 Bank of America Neighborhood Champion for coastal North Carolina, granting the organization $50,000. Separately, the YWCA Lower Cape Fear announced Wednesday that it r ...

Wilmington-based nCino is donating $1 million to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, which will help develop the food bank’s new facility named nCino Hunger Solutions Center at 1000 Greenfield St., according to a press release Wednesday. The $1 million donation will be distributed over a five-year period and will help the food bank “expand ...

A campus for nonprofit organizations in downtown Wilmington celebrated the completion of a major expansion project Tuesday afternoon. The Jo Ann Carter Harrelson Center Inc. officially opened the Vicki Dull Annex and its new event venue, Plaza on Princess, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the completion of renovations to what had been a New Hanover County jail to ...

With the goal of creating more and better-paying job and career opportunities for the community, StepUp Wilmington is launching its new brand, Beyond Talent, according to an announcement Monday.   Beyond Talent is a division of StepUp Wilmington and a new initiative that, in addition to partnering job candidates with employers, will help support business growth in t ...

The pandemic highlighted the haves and have-nots, amplifying the need for organizations like StepUp Wilmington.   Since 2003, StepUp Wilmington (formerly Phoenix Employment Ministry 2003-2015 and Phoenix Hometown Hires 2015-2018) has served people affected by unemployment and underemployment. Often the challenges of incarceration, homelessness, recovery and/or domes ...