Charles Lee, Institutional Advancement Portfolio

Background:

I live half the year in Charlotte and half in Sarasota FL. I have a BA and MPH fron UNC Chapel Hill. My wife Lois and I are members of both the UUCCharlotte and the UUCSarasota. We have a son and a daughter as well as two granddaughters. I have held numerous positions in the UCCCharlotte, inlcuding President of the Board. I am keeping a lower profile in Sarasota. My professional career was in the not-for-profit health agency field. I spent 22 years with the National Kidney Foundation, where I started the first affiliate in NC, then served as the S.E. Affiliate Director and finally as the National Affiliate Development Director. I have been active with various civic organizations such as the Top of the Week Rotary Club in Charlotte where I served as President and worked on international water projects in Honduras. I also was the President of the Charlotte Community Health Clinic which serves the community's uninsured.

What attracted you to The Mountain?

My son first went to youth cons here in his teens. I also went to leadership training here before serving as President at UUCC. While President I held a board retreat at The Mountain.

What would you like to accomplish in your work at The Mountain?

I want to insure that The Mountain is able to attain enough support from donors to maintain an operation that maintains the property, and employs enough staff to provide the camp, youth cons, and other opportunities for people of like beliefs and values as UUs to visit our very special place of natural beauty to either experience their own programs or when necessary, those provided by us.

About your family:

My wife, Lois, is a retired elementary school principal. My daughter, Laura, is married and lived in Greenboro with her husband Michael. Laura's children are Elizabeth, 17, and Rebecca, 15. Our son also live in Greensboro and is unmarried.

What do you find most important in life?

Freedom to grow, mature, and share while making certain that all those around me, to the extent possible, also have those same opportunities is most imporant to me. I want to always respect the worth and dignity of all human beings and to provide opportunities for others to, if not already there, to come to that same special place of being. The Beatles' "Imagine" and Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" perhaps says it all for me with those two beautiful pieces.

Charles Lee