Who We Are
Vision:
Cherokee Gives Back envisions a world with protected natural resources, sustainable production and consumption patterns, and no poverty.
Mission:
Encouraging the transformation of real estate liabilities into assets and advancing global improvements to poverty and the environment.
Method:
Cherokee Gives Back approaches our key focus areas of environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation from three strategic directions:
- Remediate—Promoting the clean-up of contaminated land:
We will identify properties that would be marketable except for the presence of real or perceived contamination and direct other entities in the restoration and repurposing of these sites to benefit their communities.
- Cultivate– Educating and developing leaders to address these issues:
Our programs are based on our core belief that education and leadership development, particularly through cultural exchange, are essential to affect lasting change.
- Collaborate– Partnering with and granting to organizations with similar missions:
Numerous organizations are already working in innovative and effective ways to address social needs and the environment. By making grants to support outstanding efforts, we can increase the overall impact.
Background
Cherokee Investment Partners, a private equity investment firm focused on brownfield redevelopment and sustainable real estate investments, created Cherokee Gives Back in 2005 as a separate, philanthropic entity. We were founded on Cherokee’s enduring belief that nonprofit initiatives, community involvement and public service are fundamental corporate tenets. Since its inception, Gives Back has helped nonprofit and community-based initiatives in the United States, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Romania, Russia, China and India.
Team Members
W. Scott Steele, Executive Director
In addition to his position with Cherokee Gives Back, Mr. Steele serves as the Director and Co-founder of the Milagros Scholarship Program. The Milagros Foundation partners with international organizations in 24 developing countries in order to provide university scholarships and mentoring to future leaders from impoverished areas.
Previously, Mr. Steele served as the Director of Strategic Planning of Medical Ministry International (MMI). MMI attends exclusively to poor patients in 30 countries by hosting over 80 short-term medical projects annually and by establishing permanent self sustaining medical centers in developing nations. Mr. Steele also lived and worked for eleven years overseas to help begin the ministry of Young Life in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. He graduated from North Carolina State and completed his masters in organizational leadership from Azusa Pacific. He currently lives in Winston-Salem, NC, with Jennifer, his wife of 17 years, and his two children, Ellie and Perk. Mr. Steele enjoys rock climbing and scuba diving.
Kim Shaw, Program Coordinator
Prior to joining Cherokee in 2003, Ms. Shaw was the Office Manager of ARP-Phoenix. She has held administrative positions with Concentra Medical Center and Duke University Sports Medicine. Ms. Shaw earned an associate degree in Criminal Justice. She is an active volunteer, involved in several youth mentorship and adult literacy education programs and a member of the NC Triangle Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. Ms. Shaw resides in Raleigh, plays on local softball and kickball teams and enjoys training for fantastic feats of athletic prowess.
Amy Vercler, Research and Program Development
Prior to joining CGB in 2009, Ms. Vercler was the Director of Operations for Almitas, a foundation created to support orphan care around the world. She has held research positions with organizations in Geneva, London and Washington, D.C. Ms. Vercler earned a bachelor’s degree in German and Political Science from Wheaton College (IL) and a J.D. from the University Of Iowa College Of Law. She is a member of the Illinois Bar. Ms. Vercler resides in Raleigh and is addicted to travel.
Ahadu Gebreamlak, Ethiopia Director
Mr. Gebreamlak joined the Cherokee Gives Back team in June 2011, with eleven years of legal and nonprofit consulting experience. In addition to his current position, he works as a leadership development consultant and governance team member for the Center for African Leadership Development PLC. He also sits on the board of directors for Youth Impact Development Association, an organization focused on mentoring and youth leadership development and orphan and street children rehabilitation; and for Redeem the Generation which addresses HIV/AIDS prevention and youth reproductive health programs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Mr. Gebreamlak graduated from Addis Ababa University in Law in 2000. He lives in Addis with his wife and two children.
Board of Directors
Thomas F. Darden, II, CEO, Cherokee Investment Partners
James I. Anthony, Jr., CEO, Colliers Raleigh-Durham
Bret Batchelder, Chief Financial Officer, Cherokee Investment Partners
James Branch, President, Nova Development Group
John Mazzarino, Managing Director, Cherokee Investment Partners
W. Scott Steele, Executive Director, Cherokee Gives Back
Lauren Stump, Director of Organizational Strategy, Burt’s Bees
Treasurer: Jim Fogleman, Cherokee Investment Services
Advisory Committee
History
Cherokee Investment Partners created its philanthropic arm in 2000. Since that time, the organization has been involved with a wide variety of projects in the areas of health, blighted real estate, job creation, poverty relief, education, orphan care and adoption.
While some efforts have been short-term, a few have continued on in their own right. Below are three initiatives Cherokee Gives Back assisted in creating:
Make it Right
Cherokee Gives Back partners with Brad Pitt, William McDonough + Partners and GRAFT to help redevelop New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward with 150 sustainable, affordable homes after the 2005 devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Oak Ranch
Oak Ranch, now part of Baptist Children’s Homes, provides residential care for at-risk children in North Carolina.
Christian Foundation of the Triangle
A branch of the National Christian Foundation, Christian Foundation of the Triangle encourages generous and innovative giving and financial stewardship in the Triangle region of North Carolina.
