GreenLight Fund Charlotte

04/09/2026

Jalisa returned home in 2021 and joined Center for Employment Opportunities - CEO Charlotte as a participant in 2022. As a single parent, she faced daily challenges, from securing stable employment and housing to navigating mental health challenges. Within three months of joining CEO Charlotte’s reentry transitional jobs program, she was promoted to Crew Coach, becoming CEO Charlotte’s first Black woman site supervisor and, at the time, the only woman leading a CEO crew in the Southern Region.

Jalisa draws inspiration from her own journey and from powerful women like Maya and Tiffany, who also rose to leadership at CEO Charlotte and are dedicated to empowering other women to succeed, too.

Read her full story and explore more impact stories from women and girls across the country: https://greenlightfund.org/stories-of-impact/

GreenLight Fund Charlotte

02/06/2026

Last week, hosted Lindsay Reusser, Regional Director for Senator Ted Budd.

During her visit, Lindsay met with CEO alums Eddie and Yasmeen, who shared their reentry experiences and spoke about how access to employment helped them build stability after incarceration.

We look forward to continuing these conversations as we work to better meet the needs of formerly incarcerated jobseekers!

01/16/2026

Just announced! GreenLight Fund Baltimore launches its latest portfolio organization investment, bringing First Step Staffing to Baltimore. First Step Staffing will open pathways to economic mobility by connecting individuals facing barriers to employment with immediate, stable work placements and providing wraparound support that promotes long-term workforce success.

Beginning this spring and over the next five years, First Step Staffing aims to provide 1,100 Baltimore residents with jobs, valued at $15.9 million in wages. Read the full press release: https://greenlightfund.org/greenlight-brings-first-step-staffing-to-baltimore/

01/16/2026

Just announced! GreenLight Fund Denver launches its second portfolio organization, bringing Health Career Connection (HCC) to Denver. HCC will expand pathways to economic mobility by connecting local college students, including those who are first-generation to graduate or whose backgrounds have limited their opportunities, to paid internships and professional development that lead to high-demand, living-wage careers in healthcare, mental health, and public health, strengthening the region’s health workforce. Read the full press release: https://greenlightfund.org/greenlight-brings-health-career-connections-to-denver

12/09/2025

Just announced this week!

A major milestone for GreenLight Fund: our $30M Third National Fund for Exponential Impact, the largest national fund in our 20-year history!

Deep gratitude to the 40+ national philanthropic investors who made this possible, including MacKenzie Scott, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, NFL, Bain Capital, Truist Foundation, Deloitte, and many others. This fund positions GreenLight to expand to at least one new city every year, deepen our community-driven work, and drive measurable, exponential impact on urban poverty nationwide.

Read the full press release:

We actively engage with local communities to identify needs not being met and invite in best-in-class nonprofits uniquely suited to address them.

11/12/2025

-Fund’s annual Impact Report is live!
The 2024-25 report highlights GreenLight’s growth and impact with 63 portfolio organizations across 14 sites (now 15!), including GreenLight Fund Charlotte. Over the last year, portfolio organizations across the network reached more than 1.3 million individuals and families nationwide.

Here in Charlotte, we’re proud to partner with Inner Explorer, Charlotte NC/Mecklenburg County Youth Advocate Programs, Inc., Center for Employment Opportunities - CEO, North Carolina ParentChild+ to bring proven solutions to our community and be part of GreenLight’s 20 years of impact.

Learn more:

We actively engage with local communities to identify needs not being met and invite in best-in-class nonprofits uniquely suited to address them.

09/17/2025

What if the key to solving urban poverty isn’t creating new programs, but matching proven solutions with communities that need them most?

What if the key to solving urban poverty isn’t creating new programs, but matching proven solutions with communities that need them most?

GreenLight Fund CEO, Ali Knight, sat down with Denver Frederick on The Business of Giving podcast to share GreenLight Fund’s community-driven approach that has invested $40M+ in solutions across 14 cities (and growing).

“We don’t have an agenda. We’re issue agnostic. We’re helping identify problems, understanding the nuances of ways you might solve that problem, and then identifying something that could do it.”

Ali reflects on why patience, discipline, and listening first help create lasting change.

Listen here: https://denver-frederick.com/2025/09/03/community-driven-solutions-how-greenlight-fund-is-cracking-the-code-on-urban-poverty/

08/22/2025

Center for Employment Opportunities incorporates life skills education, paid transitional employment, and full-time job placement and retention services to empower participants to successfully build career capital and financial stability.

Recently, GreenLight Fund Charlotte saw participants in action at the Hickory Grove Recycling Center, where CEO teams have recycled about 86 thousand tons of styrofoam over the past fiscal year. This has significantly reduced the amount of styrofoam going into our landfills.

08/20/2025

Earlier this summer we sat down with Tiffany Miller to discuss her experience in the Charlotte nonprofit sector and the work she is doing as Charlotte CEO Site Director.

Check out the full interview on our website at the link below!
https://greenlightfund.org/restoring-opportunity-tiffany-miller-and-ceos-work-with-returning-citizens/

08/15/2025

Recently GreenLight Charlotte was able to see Inner Explorer in action through a summer camp program with the Greater Enrichment Program! We visited Ms. Nicole’s classroom and were able to see and hear about IE’s impact on elementary school students’ focus in class. GEP has used IE for the past three years and seen an improvement in students’ ability to identify and express their emotions.