The Coalition’s 2025 Charter Advocacy Summit is a wrap! We had a packed reception honoring state lawmakers at the Merrimon-Wynne House in Raleigh on Wednesday evening. We were so pleased to see so many lawmakers, legislative staff members, and charter leaders turn out!
Dave Machado, the Coalition’s new executive director, addresses the crowd at Wednesday’s reception.
On Thursday, we opened the day-long Summit at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley Hotel with a sold-out crowd. We had more than 230 event registrants for the Summit.
Summit speakers and participants included state lawmakers, policymakers, charter leaders and other stakeholders, industry experts, vendors, and members of the media. We will follow up in the coming days with a deeper dive on coverage–and Summit resources–but we wanted to share a few highlights here.
First, we want to extend a big thank you to all of our distinguished speakers:
House Speaker Destin Hall, Aaron Beaulieu, Sarah Crain-McCracken, Erica Nielsen, Matthew Mayo, Rory Spicer, Rep. Hugh Blackwell, Senator Brad Overcash, Donald Bryson, Cheryl Turner, Madeline Hannigan, Matthew Nielsen, Lee Teague, Bruce Friend, John Eldridge, Ashley Baquero, Ben Arcuri, Harry Kaplan, Amanda Falkenbury, Dylan Reel, Matthew Tilley, and Rep. James Roberson. View the final Summit agenda for more information about speakers.
Lindalyn Kakadelis, the Coalition’s outgoing executive director, and Coalition founder Richard Vinroot awarded Cheryl Turner a leadership award (pictured at left). Turner, the superintendent of Sugar Creek Charter School, received the award for her outstanding service to the charter sector. She was also the Coalition’s featured lunchtime speaker.
We share some additional photos from the Summit below:
The Summit featured a packed room of charter leaders and stakeholders, industry experts, vendors, policymakers, and members of the media.
The color guard team from Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy performed at the Summit on Thursday.
Pictured at Thursday’s Summit, from left to right: Coalition lobbyists Dylan Reel (Kilpatrick Townsend), Amanda Falkenbury (McGuireWoods Consulting), Rep. James Roberson, and Coalition lobbyist Harry Kaplan (McGuireWoods Consulting).
Finally, we want to thank our amazing sponsors, who made this event possible and whose products and services benefit the state’s charter sector in so many ways!
