Staff

Kathy Ridge is President & Executive Director. Prior to beginning her career in education advocacy, Kathy was an Executive Vice President for First Union, later Wachovia Corporation. In 2005, she left her established corporate career to head the Community School of the Arts, located in Charlotte.

In 2007, she joined the national staff of Teach for America as director of the alumni movement and led the engagement of former TFA core members in continued public education advocacy. Kathy joined MeckEd in May 2008.

A community leader, Kathy has been the Board Chair of Davidson College Friends of the Arts, and remains on that board, while also serving on the boards of Child Care Resources Inc., the Women’s Impact Fund, and the First Presbyterian Church’s Community Service Committee. Kathy was educated in the public schools of Burlington, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 

704.335.0100 ext. 223
kridge@mecked.org

Toni Freeman is Director of Community Engagement and Donor Relations, and joined the staff in October 2008. Toni holds both a B.A. and M.A. in education, and she worked in education early in her professional career.  Prior to joining MeckEd, Toni worked in senior leadership roles at The Duke Endowment as Director of Research and Evaluation; the Charlotte Convention & Visitors Bureau as Senior Vice President for Finance, Administration, and Membership; and SunHealth (Premier) as Associate Vice President of Corporate Services. She is a community leader and serves as the president of the Women’s Impact Fund. She is the past president of the Junior League of Charlotte, and has served as Treasurer of the Association of Junior Leagues, and a director on the NPower, Habitat for Humanity, and YWCA boards.    

704.335.0100 ext. 225
tfreeman@mecked.org

Sarah Pierce is Office Manager. Prior to joining MeckEd in August 2008, she was the project coordinator for the direct marketing team at The Charlotte Observer. She started her career at The Observer in circulation, working with “Newspapers In Education,” a program that puts sponsored newspapers into the hands of students on a daily basis. Sarah attended the public schools of northern New York, where both of her parents were teachers. She graduated from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh with a B.A. in Speech Communications. She and her husband are certified foster parents. She also is a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Charlotte and volunteers with Hands On Charlotte.

704.335.0100 ext. 221
spierce@mecked.org