CHARLESTON JAZZ - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Education Outreach Box Office Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Director of the Charleston Jazz Academy
Brent has been the Director of Performances for Charleston Jazz since November of 2015. Raised in Virginia, Brent arrived in Charleston by way of Brussels, Belgium, where he was an Entertainment Operations Director for the United States Air Force Band program. In this role, Brent led the Operations for the SHAPE International Band as it toured 26 countries throughout Europe. His past experience also includes working as a stage manager and audio engineer for Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Disney on Ice. In addition to his management skills, Brent is a professional saxophonist who has performed with the NATO Jazz Orchestra and Rhythm in Blue jazz ensemble that performed for over 100,000 people annually. During his work with the Air Force, Brent performed with Arturo Sandoval, Kurt Elling, New York Voices, and ‘Toots' Thielemans.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- President, Louder Nonprofit Strategies
Claire Louder, IOM, CAE, MPP has been a chamber and association executive since 1989, including most recently 10 years with the West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce in Odenton, Maryland. She is passionate about helping organizations succeed through establishing strategic direction and adopting industry best practices. She is a 2009 graduate of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Organization Management (Northeast), and a Certified Association Executive (CAE). She is a past member of the Northeast Board of Regents, a past President of the Maryland Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (MACCE), and the 2012 recipient of MACCE's Chamber Executive of the Year award. She also holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government (1989), where her focus was community and economic development.
She formed Louder NonProfit Strategies, LLC in 2016 to provide strategic planning, benchmarking, and mentoring to chamber and association clients. As the recent executive of a small chamber, she works with smaller organizations to set an affordable price point. She serves as faculty for the US Chamber's Institute for Organization Management teaching board governance, strategic planning, and leadership, and has also presented on those topics to the Chamber Pros Online Conference, ACCE, and MACCE.
Recognized by Best Lawyers in the categories of "Nonprofit/ Charities Law" and "Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)," and more recently recognized as the 2024 Lawyer of the Year in the category of Business Organizations in the market he serves, Clay M. Grayson has built a law firm dedicated to providing external general and special counsel services to nonprofit organizations.
Clay has extensive experience in federal taxation of exempt organizations, not-for-profit corporate governance, public-private partnerships, executive compensation, unrelated business income tax, excess benefit transactions, charitable and planned giving, and joint ventures. A significant amount of his practice is dedicated to foundations that support universities, colleges, and schools, including endowment foundations, research foundations, real estate foundations, alumni associations, and athletic booster clubs.
In addition to his J.D., Clay has a Masters in International Business Studies from the University of South Carolina, and an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University. Prior to the practice of law, Mr. Grayson worked in the marketing department of the Italian subsidiary of Merck Pharmaceuticals, where he assisted in the launch of new products in Europe.
Hailing from North Charleston, SC, Demetrius Doctor's musical journey began at age 5 as a self-taught pianist in church. The Gullah-Geechee influence of the Black church in the Lowcountry is the foundation on which all of his musicality is built. Demetrius attended The Charleston County School of Arts, where he received numerous musical awards and recognitions for his work in piano and tuba. He went on to receive his B.A. in Music from the College of Charleston and later received his M.A. in Music Technology from Coastal Carolina University. His musical journey has blessed him to work with Gospel artists like Tye Tribbett, Jonathan Nelson, and Duranice Pace, as well as jazz musicians like Fred Wesley and Freddy Cole. He's also toured Italy, Spain, Croatia, and many cities in the United States. Demetrius currently serves as Minister of Music at Royal Baptist Church in N. Charleston, SC, is a board member of the non-profit Charleston Jazz, and can be found playing in multiple venues and settings in and throughout the Charleston Area. Outside of music, Demetrius enjoys watching sports and spending time with his wife, Corinthian, their daughter, Alani, and their twin boys, Weston and Dawson.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- President and CEO, Southeastern Spine Institute
Dr. Johnson graduated with honors from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston. He interned at Spartanburg General Hospital in Spartanburg, SC, and returned to MUSC in Charleston for his residency, where he was selected Chief Resident in Orthopedic Surgery.
While at MUSC, he won the William K. Nelson Academic Excellence Award and was named the Outstanding Resident of the Year from the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. Following his time at MUSC, he completed three Spine Surgery fellowships in 18 months: at the South Texas Spinal Clinic in San Antonio, St. Mary's Spine Center in San Francisco, CA, and the Spine Surgery University of Hong Kong.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Retired Insurance Executive
Edwin Meyer is an accomplished marketing and sales professional who has excelled in the employee benefit and health insurance industries. From 1975 to 1996, Meyer held marketing, advertising, and sales management positions at Metropolitan Life, New York Life, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, culminating in his role as Vice President of Marketing and Sales. In 1996, he founded his own company, EL Meyer & Associates, LLC, which managed group health insurance and welfare benefits for corporate clients in Western New York. Meyer's dedication to helping others extends beyond his professional career, as evidenced by his extensive charitable and volunteer work. He has served on the boards of organizations such as the Erie County Medical Center Foundation and the Rotary Club of Buffalo NY, where he completed a $500,000 gift toward the construction of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Rowing Boathouse. Meyer's interests include piano, classical and jazz music, and golf. He is a veteran of the US Army and holds a Bachelor of Arts from St. Louis University and an MBA in Marketing Management from Fordham University.
Job Titles:
- Business Consultant
- Executive
- Member of the Board
- Adviser
- Advisory Business Consultant
Harry Staley is an accomplished cybersecurity executive, business consultant, educator, and board member with more than 25 years of success across several areas, leveraging extensive experience in government, nonprofit management, information technology, and strategic business planning.
Staley is a valuable adviser for any organization looking to create and implement a technological strategy, an organization in need of IT leadership and guidance, block-chain technology, small businesses looking to develop a business plan or start a new business unit, and any organization looking to implement a data assurance program. He would be the person for any organization looking for organizational or board governance and leadership.His broad areas of expertise include entrepreneurship, strategy and business development, sales leadership, real estate brokerage, real estate acquisitions, business acquisitions, and overall business innovation and growth.
Throughout his executive career, Harry has held leadership positions with Prime Business Solutions, LLC, Anna D Foods, Inc., owner and operator of seven (7) McDonald's restaurant franchises, president of the Black McDonald's Operators Association (BMOA)-New York/New Jersey Region, and chairman/CIO at Omega Technologies.
Harry has served on nonprofit boards of directors at higher education institutions and community foundations.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- President / CEO, East Bay Company, Ltd
- President and CEO of East Bay Co
Hilton is the President and CEO of East Bay Co., LTD, and President and CEO of various real estate development and home building companies in Maryland, West Virginia, and South Carolina. He graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in International Finance and began his career at the World Bank in international finance. Hilton joined his father-in-law, William Murray, at East Bay Company in the late 1970s and has been President since 1998.
Hilton serves on the boards of the Oliver S. and Jennie R. Donaldson Charitable Trust, Spaulding-Paolozzi Foundation, and Hollings Cancer Center of the Medical University of South Carolina. He previously chaired the South Carolina Aquarium board and is Chairman Emeritus. He also served on the Board of the EastWest Institute.
Hilton is past chair of the College of Charleston Foundation Board and is chair of the School of Languages, Cultures & World Affairs Advisory Board. He was also a member of the Boundless Campaign Steering Committee.
Hilton and his wife, Catherine, helped establish the School of Languages, Cultures & World Affairs in 2004, with a lead gift from the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust. They have continued to advocate for the College, and most notably LCWA, in securing significant funding from the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust and the Oliver S. and Jennie R. Donaldson Charitable Trust.
Hilton received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the College of Charleston in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Retired Senior Tax Partner With Deloitte
Jacien Steele is a retired senior tax partner with Deloitte. He and his wife, Laura, an artist, moved to Charleston from Atlanta following his retirement in 2015 and immediately connected with Charleston Jazz.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Attorney, Tax Law Offices
Jeffrey "Anton" Collins was elected to the Charleston Jazz Board shortly after he attended his first CJO show in 2017. He found the organization's attention to the art form, the musicianship, and most of all, the people to be a center where he could easily devote his own energies. He previously served as CJO's Treasurer, and on the organization's Executive Committee. He loves being a season ticket holder. He admits that occasional front row exchanges with CJO Director Robert Lewis is one of his guilty pleasures.
Anton is an attorney with his Chicago-based boutique tax law firm. After six years in Charleston, he currently resides in Greenville, SC with wife, Taylor.
Charleston Jazz
3005 West Montague Avenue
Suite 200
North Charleston, SC 29418
jazz@charlestonjazz.com
(843) 641-0011
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Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Strategy Consultant
Jill Jones is an experienced strategy consultant and government affairs professional with 25 years of leadership experience developing senior-level strategy, legislation, policy, program and budgets in the Defense and Intelligence community, State Department and private industry, specifically the geospatial and remote sensing fields.
Jill is an experienced negotiator and consensus builder with senior USG and foreign officials, corporations and industry associations. Jones is skilled in collaborating with diverse stakeholders to translate complex ideas into successful action.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Managing Partner, Bear Creek Advisory
Joanne spent over three decades in leadership roles in investment strategy at investment banks and asset managers with a focus on index and quantitative products, derivatives, along with volatility and risk management. She is the Managing Partner of her consulting firm, Bear Creek Advisory and serves as Chief Advisor for Research and Strategy at Vest, a fund manager specializing in option-based investments. She is also a Managing Director at SEDA Experts, an expert witness firm specializing in financial services and serves on the Board of Governors of the CFA Institute. Prior to these roles, she was Head of Institutional Investment Strategy at ProShares, and at Goldman Sachs, where she was a Managing Director leading global equity index and derivatives research and advising institutional investors on index and risk management strategies.
Joanne is a co-author of A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Tra ded Funds (ETFs) published in 2015 by the CFA Institute Research Foundation and has published extensively on quantitative investment topics, index products, and derivatives. She was a Founding Member and the first Co-President of Women in ETFs, which has grown in 10 years to be a global networking organization with 10,000 members. Within the Charleston area she serves on the board and heads Investment Committee at Bishop Gadsden and is on the board of Arts, etc. sponsoring arts education. Prior to her career on Wall Street, she was on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the College of Charleston.
Job Titles:
- Treasurer
- Blackbaud As Senior Vice President & General Counsel
Jon Olson joined Blackbaud as Senior Vice President & General Counsel in September 2008. Jon is responsible for Blackbaud's legal activities, including negotiating transactions, managing corporate governance activities and legal compliance. Before joining the company, he was an attorney with Alcatel-Lucent. Prior to joining Alcatel-Lucent, Jon was employed in legal positions with MCI, Unisys and in private practice. He received his BS from Georgetown University, JD from Dickinson School of Law and MBA from Seton Hall University. In addition to being on the Board of Charleston Jazz, Jon is a member of the MUSC (Medical University of South Carolina) Hollings Cancer Center Advisory Board.
Kimberly Gleason grew up in Charleston and its surrounding islands. She attended the Charleston County School of the Arts as a creative writing major and enjoyed spending time with the band and orchestra kids. After publishing a book of poetry and a short stint at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, she headed to the College of Charleston where she completed her BS in Art and Anthropology. She has worked with non-profits for the last 17 years in development, grant writing, organizing events and programming. Kimberly loves to share her love for music and the relationships it can build with her two children, Anderson and Fisher and partner, Ian.
Lacy Miller, a St. Louis native with Charleston family roots, has worked in the entertainment industry for two decades. She has a passion for promoting the work of performing artists and making sure their music is heard. Also a professional vocalist, she performs in the sister act, Gracie and Lacy, which is currently in residence on second Saturdays at Forte Jazz Lounge. She is the writer of many original songs including Morris Island Lighthouse and the Charleston Anthem, selected to be featured at TedX Charleston (2022). Lacy is currently working on publishing her children's book, Broadway On The Driveway," - the true story of how she and her sister got their start in show business. She has been awarded a Missouri Senatorial Resolution for her work in the arts, and, along with her sister, has been featured in various festivals, symphony pops, performing arts series,' and speaking engagements. She has appeared on ABC, NBC, Fox, HBO, SC ETV and in several commercials. When she is not working, she loves to sew her own clothing designs, jazz up the hymns at church, and play her ukulele on Folly Beach.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Executive Business Development
Madeleine Frume is an international entrepreneur with a diverse business background and exceptional linguistic. Frume is an expert in Latin American business and has a proven track record in the development and implementation of marketing and sales programs in Latin America.
Madeleine has over twenty years of international business experience spanning commercial advertising, the airline industry, commercial insurance, real estate and the computer software industry. Her career began as a marketing analyst for the esteemed Leo Burnett Agency in Chicago Illinois where she handled the analytics for the Campbell Soup account. Since entering the computer software industry Madeleine has been involved in establishing and implementing the marketing and sales programs in Latin America for the Santa Cruz Operations (NASDQ) and Hummingbird Communications LTD. She consulted HP during the two years of the merger with Compaq by heading the training program for integration of all HP/Compaq Executives across Europe and Latin American offices in the HP WAY. Madeleine is a pioneer in the mobile world of telephony, through her various positions of EVP in Business Development and build out for mobile operators in the EMEA Region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). She was part of the many groundbreaking applications that today are commonplace such as billing, texting, sharing of photos, gambling via mobile telephony and other social media over the mobile phone. Throughout her career Madeleine was instrumental in many company acquisitions across the European and United States startup companies ecosystem.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Board Member With the South Carolina Aquarium
- Chairman Emeritus of Benefitfocus
Mason Holland has lived in Charleston, SC, since 1988 and has been an active participant in the Charleston business community for over 35 years. Mr. Holland has created, operated, and reorganized multiple businesses in several industries. The common element in all his endeavors has been a strong focus on providing cost-effective, value-oriented service for his customers and the community.
Mr. Holland is Chairman Emeritus of Benefitfocus, Inc., a health care technology company he co-founded in 2000. Benefitfocus is the largest provider of online benefits enrollment software in the country. As a ‘software as a service company', Benefitfocus designed and developed a network to electronically exchange and communicate benefits data with over 1,000 insurance and employee benefit providers to serve over 30 million insurance and benefit consumers.
Upon moving to Charleston in 1988, Mr. Holland founded American Pensions, Inc., a full-service pension administration and investment advisory firm, where he served as Chairman and President until its sale to a southeast regional bank in 2003. Prior to 1988, Mr. Holland was employed by a Wall Street-based investment firm after attending Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA.
In 2017, Mr. Holland was instrumental, along with the board members of what is now Charleston Jazz and the previous Leonard School of Music, in the formation of the Charleston Jazz Academy, by way of a merger of the two entities.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- First Vice President, Wealth Management Raymond James
A Summerville native, Matt started as Board Member for Charleston jazz in 2014. He's held multiple officer roles, including Chair from 2016-2019 and Treasurer 2020-2021. Under his leadership as Chair, Jazz Artists of Charleston rebranded to Charleston Jazz and merged with Leonard School of Music forming the Charleston Jazz Academy. He is also owner of Harbour Wealth Management Group, Inc, author of The Bottom Line of Happiness, and has a beautiful musical wife Alissa and a young talented son Matthew.
Job Titles:
- First Vice President, Wealth Management Raymond James
Job Titles:
- Percussionist and Founder of the New Music Collective
Job Titles:
- Vice President
- Corporate Director, Investor and Former Chief Executive Officer
Ron McCray is a seasoned corporate director, investor and former chief executive officer who has helped lead a strategic transformation, and improved top line, profit margin and profitability, and has developed over a dozen of chief executive, chief strategy, and chief legal officers, of a number of consumer products companies.
Currently, Ron serves as an advisor to RLJ Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm and 645 Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm. He is a qualified financial expert and serves on the boards of Dallas News Corporation, Pathward Meta Financial Inc. and PowerSchool, LLC.
Ron has served on a number of corporate boards, including as chairman of the board, and as chairman of each of the audit, compensation, and nominating and governance committees. Those companies include TESSCO Technologies Incorporated, Career Education Corporation, EveryWare Global, Inc., Knight Ridder, Inc. and Kimberly-Clark de Mexico.
Ron also has served in senior executive roles such as interim ceo and president, chief administrative officer, and chief legal officer. As ceo and president of Career Education, Ron led a strategic transformation which resulted in industry leading top line, margin and profit growth. Prior to that, as the chief administrative officer at Nike, he had oversight responsibilities for the company's global strategy, subsidiary brands, pension investments, internal audit, legal and other administrative functions. In his role as a member of the global strategic leadership team at Kimberly-Clark, Ron helped the company transform from a North American focussed business to a global enterprise.
Ron served as a Senate-confirmed, presidential appointee on the FRTIB, which oversees the world's largest pension fund, and served as vice chairman of the board of trustees of Cornell University, where he is Trustee Emeritus and a Presidential Councillor. He is the vice chairman of Charleston Jazz, a member of the board of the Newport Festivals Foundation, and Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ron previously served on the governing boards of Harvard Law School and Jazz at Lincoln Center. He was also a member of the Boston Celtics ownership group.
Ron graduated from Cornell University, where he earned several academic and athletics honors. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he served as the editor and business manager of the Harvard Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Law Review, and has been named Traphagen Distinguished Alumnus.
Job Titles:
- Director, City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs
Job Titles:
- Director of Development
- Executive Director
Tatjana Beylotte joined Charleston Jazz as the Director of Development in July 2018, subsequently transitioning into the role of Executive Director in December 2019. Most recently, she directed fundraising activities for the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston as Deputy Director. Before her time in Charleston, Tatjana served as the Executive Director of 1708 Gallery, a non-profit contemporary art space in Richmond, VA. Her professional journey also includes roles such as Arts Education Grants Coordinator for the Virginia Commission for the Arts and Director of Development for International Arts and Artists in Washington, DC. Tatjana holds a Master's degree in Museum Studies from George Washington University and a Bachelor's degree in Arts Management from the College of Charleston.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Chairman, OB / GYN Department, Roper St. Francis Hospital
I spent my childhood in Long Island's south shore and worked as a clam digger until I finished medical school. While completing my residency in OB/GYN, I went for an interview in Charleston in September 1980. The breathtaking beauty of the Low Country convinced me to take a job here in June 1981, and I've never regretted it since. Over the course of my career, I've been practicing at Roper and St. Francis hospitals, and I had the honor of serving as the Department's Chairman until my retirement in July 2022. My wife, Randi, and I have four children and two grandchildren. In my free time, I enjoy volunteering and pursuing my hobbies, which include fishing and collecting antique English Cameo glass perfume bottles. Randi and I were fortunate enough to attend the second Charleston Jazz Orchestra concert after she ran into Jack McCray, and we've been season subscribers ever since.