Richard Vinroot with former mayor Harvey Gantt. Photo courtesy of Robinson Bradshaw/Instagram.
We want to express our heartfelt congratulations to Richard Vinroot, an exemplary attorney and great friend to charter schools, on receiving two awards recently: the YMCA of Charlotte’s John R. Mott Award and the Rotary Club of Charlotte’s Excellence in Leadership Award.
Both are so well-deserved! Richard is a class act and an amazing leader to whom the Coalition owes a great debt.
You may also know Richard as the former mayor of Charlotte and a commercial litigator at Robinson Bradshaw. However, Richard is also a Coalition founder. Our organization was born from his legal savvy and pioneering work on local charter school funding with the “Sugar Creek Lawsuits”–as well as his conviction that charter schools needed a defender and strong advocate at the General Assembly. You can read the Coalition’s origin story, based on our in-depth interview with Richard back in 2023, here.
Below, we share the write-up of these awards from Business North Carolina’s Daily Digest:
Charlotte attorney Richard Vinroot recently received two awards recognizing his long commitment to the Charlotte area. He was honored on separate occasions with the YMCA of Greater Charlotte’s John R. Mott Award and the Rotary Club of Charlotte’s Excellence in Leadership Award.
“We are proud — but not surprised — that Richard was chosen for these honors,” said Stephen Cox, managing partner of Robinson Bradshaw. “His entire career has been dedicated to public service and civic-mindedness, and these awards are additional testaments to those values.”
The John R. Mott Award is the highest honor presented by the YMCA of Greater Charlotte. He’s a former association board member and chair, and helped shape the long-term direction of the group.
The Rotary award recognizes leaders who demonstrate extraordinary achievements in their profession, visionary leadership and execution, significant contributions for the good of the Charlotte region, civic-mindedness, community involvement and humility. Vinroot was mayor of Charlotte from 1991 to 1995 after serving eight years on the City Council. Vinroot has also been active in other community organizations and his church, and he served in the U.S. Army as a Bronze Star Medal recipient.
“I’m proud to be a lifelong Charlottean,” said Vinroot. “My late wife, Judy, and I raised our family and built our careers here, always with a focus on serving our great city. Giving back to the Charlotte community is how I honor her memory.”
Vinroot has worked at the Robinson Bradshaw law firm for 50 years, focused on land use and zoning, real estate development and construction, and employment matters. He received his bachelor’s and law degrees from UNC Chapel Hill, where he was a John Motley Morehead Scholar and a varsity basketball player under Dean Smith.
Read more from Robinson Bradshaw or the Rotary Club of Charlotte.
Congratulations, Richard! We’re so pleased to hear about these well-deserved honors and awards.
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