2020 Social Hour for Social Issues | Panelist and Moderator Bios

Panelists

Tanya S. Blackmon | EVP & Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Officer for Novant Health As CDIEO of Novant Health, Tanya Blackmon leads the system-wide culture change strategy to embed diversity and inclusion throughout the $5B health system, which employs 30,000 team members.

Blackmon is uniquely qualified to lead such significant and impactful efforts within Novant Health. During her 25- year tenure at Novant Health, Tanya has cultivated a keen understanding of both patient and team member needs utilizing her formal education in social work and extending to community outreach. Tanya broadened her perspective to include an executive lens as the president of two medical centers within the Novant Health footprint.

In addition to her extensive responsibilities as CDIEO, Blackmon is also very active in the community for which she donates her time and talents to several boards as a member or occupying a leadership role. Blackmon has been acknowledged for her illustrious career of service and leadership by many organizations including Modern Healthcare Magazine as one of its “Top 25 Minority Executives in Healthcare”, the United Negro College Fund’s “Maya Angelou Women Who Lead” award, White Men as Full Diversity Partners “Courageous Leader Award” and additional honors from a host of local publications.

Blackmon’s triple assets of business operations, clinical service and focus on the patient experience make her an asset in her charge to employ culture change and people development strategies to ensure Novant Health’s position as a leader in diversity, inclusion and equity.

Kinneil Coltman, DHA | SVP and Chief Community & External Affairs Officer for Atrium Health As a member of the senior leadership team, Dr. Kinneil Coltman is responsible for developing a unified strategy to advance the well-being of communities that Atrium Health serves by leveraging Atrium Health’s initiatives and programming to improve health access, address the social and environmental determinants of health and advance health equity. Within the organization, Coltman’s areas of responsibility include Community Health, Community Engagement & Corporate Responsibility, the Career Development Center, Diversity & Inclusion, Supplier Diversity, Language Access, Health Equity and oversight of the enterprise social impact strategy.

Coltman has nearly 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry, having devoted the majority of her career to leading diversity and inclusion initiatives inside healthcare organizations. Coltman joined Atrium Health in 2016 and, prior to her current role, served as vice president and chief diversity officer. Before joining Atrium Health, Coltman held dual appointments as Chief Diversity Officer for Greenville Health System, now known as Prisma Health, and the University of South Carolina, School of Medicine Greenville.

Coltman’s research interests focus on interventions to promote equity within healthcare systems, and she has lectured across the United States on these topics.

Coltman earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, a Masters in cross cultural studies from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, a Doctorate of Health Administration from the Medical University of South Carolina, and was a Fellow in the Health Research and Educational Trust’s Cross Cultural Leadership Fellowship, sponsored by the American Hospital Association.

Becca Kearl | Managing Partner at Living Room Conversations At her core, Kearl believes in the power of dialogue around difficult topics to strengthen communities locally and nationally and finds a way to weave it into all her nonprofit efforts. She is a founding member of the Utah Dialogue Practice Network and has designed and led healthy dialogue practices in high schools, universities, civic organizations, faith communities, and community at large. Kearl’s primary areas of focus at Living Room Conversations includes designing and delivering training, advising volunteers and clients on methodology, creating proprietary conversation guides, and leading efforts to grow communities of practice. When she's not doing community work, Kearl is fully engaged in the nonprofit venture of raising 5 kids, coaching their soccer teams and haggling them about homework and screen time. She is an avid book reader, Italophile (after living several years in Italy), and yoga enthusiast. Although a Maine native, she now resides in Provo, Utah.

Gil McGregor | Nationally Known Keynote and Motivational Speaker, Hornet’s “Stay In School” Ambassador McGregor is an original member of the Hornets broadcast team and begins his 21st year behind the microphone. He formerly served as an analyst for all Hornets telecasts on Cox Sports Television. McGregor was also an analyst of Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball telecasts with Jefferson Pilot/Raycom Sports. His other broadcast experience includes the NCAA Tournament on ESPN, MEAC Basketball telecasts on ESPN2, CIAA Basketball and Football and analyst for Southern University Jaguar basketball on Cox Sports Television.

He has also been a regular visitor at area schools with the Hornet’s “Stay In School” program where he addresses the importance of students completing their education and staying away from drugs and violence. McGregor has addressed educators on issues of school morale and professional development.

Kama Pierce | Chief Operating Officer at the Levine Museum of the New South As COO, Pierce provides strategic oversight and management of programs and services for an innovative history museum whose mission is to “connect the past to the future to realize the promises of a New South.” Pierce joined Levine Museum as its Director of Development in 2018.

Prior to joining the Museum, Pierce was an Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Law at the Charlotte School of Law. She served as a member of the faculty from 2009 until 2017 where she taught Appellate Advocacy, Criminal Law, Lawyering Process I and II, Writing in Chambers, and Comparative Law courses offered in Haiti and Lithuania. As Associate Dean of Practice Ready, Pierce oversaw the legal clinic, externship and advocacy programs. Pierce also taught as an adjunct faculty member at Johnson C. Smith University teaching both Constitutional Law and Introduction to Legal Studies.

Prior to joining the academic community, Pierce served several years as a judicial law clerk in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, PA, with The Honorable Theodore McKee and in the Office of the Staff Attorney. She also practiced criminal defense law as an Assistant Public Defender in Bucks County, PA, and briefly practiced tort defense for a medium-sized law firm in Oakland, CA. Pierce is a member of both the California and Pennsylvania Bar. She earned her B.A. in English from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., prior to earning her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, IL, in 1994.

Moderator

Octavia Seawell | Process and Organization Development Consultant, OZS Consulting Octavia Seawell’s areas of interest and experience are organizational and community change; leadership and team development; diversity, inclusion and equity, civic engagement and executive coaching.

Seawell and her company, OZS Consulting, offer strategic planning, program and process design, facilitation and coaching. Her work focuses on change at the individual, group, organizational and community levels. Her experience includes large-scale interventions for organizations and communities. Seawell conceived, developed and now directs the Leadership Development Initiative, a full year program, sponsored by the Community Building Initiative. LDI, in its twentieth year, strengthens leaders and organizations to influence for inclusion and equity.

Seawell developed and/or directed several other leadership programs focused on civic engagement, inclusion and equity, and community change in Charlotte and North Carolina. She has been a strategic culture change consultant for several organizations on diversity, inclusion and equity, currently including Novant Health, Aldersgate, and Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.

Seawell was lead consultant for organizational engagement for Crossroads Charlotte, a large scale four-year community change process involving 40 nonprofit, corporate and public sector organizations. She has designed models for several large, successful community dialogue efforts in partnership with Charlotte cultural organizations. Over her career, Seawell has worked with large businesses and public institutions as well as small and large nonprofit organizations.

Earlier in her career, Seawell was a Program Director for both the Maryland Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities, a high school biology teacher, and in medical research at Harvard Medical School. Her undergraduate degree is from Vanderbilt University, and her master’s degree is from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has completed several professional development programs, including a two-year Organization and System Development Program (and additional shorter programs) at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.

She is active in a variety of ways in the Charlotte - Mecklenburg Community, including being a member of Women’s Impact Fund since 2014.