About Us
We’re Building
Since 2014, Ready for School, Ready for Life (Ready Ready) has served as a backbone organization charged with building a connected, innovative early childhood system within Guilford County, North Carolina.
We worked with hundreds of families and more than 110 agencies and organizations to develop and implement a community-wide vision to improve outcomes while reducing persistent disparities in five areas:
- Planned and well-timed pregnancies
- Healthy births
- On-track development for infants, toddlers & preschoolers
- School readiness at kindergarten entry
- Success at the end of third grade

Learn More
Effective Dec. 21, 2017, Ready for School, Ready for Life became an independent 501(c)(3) organization with a Board of Directors consisting of community leaders who are dedicated to the work of early childhood system-building and improved outcomes for children and their families
Officers
Mr. J. Edward Kitchen, co-chair
Joseph M. Bryan Foundation, Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Susan S. Schwartz, co-chair
The Cemala Foundation, Executive Director
Ms. Michelle Gethers-Clark, co-vice chair
United Way of Greensboro, President and CEO
Mr. Brian Maness, co-vice chair
Children’s Home Society, President and CEO
Ms. Teresa Huffman, Secretary
Culp, Inc.
Vice President, Human Resources
Mr. David Leeper, Treasurer
Leeper, Kean & Rumley, L.L.P., Partner
Board of Directors
Mr. Terry Akin
Cone Health System
President and CEO
Dr. Allison Blosser
High Point University
Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Education Studies Program
Mr. Robin Britt
Community Volunteer
Dr. Sharon Contreras
Guilford County Schools
Superintendent
Mr. Pat Danahy
NC Partnership for Children
The Honorable Alan Duncan
NC Board of Education
Dr. Daniel Erb
High Point University
Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs
Ms. Barbara Frye
Community Volunteer
Mr. Kevin Gray
Weaver Foundation, President
Mr. Mike Halford
Guilford County Manager
Mr. Curtis Holloman
Foundation for a Healthy High Point
Executive Director
Dr. Harold Martin
North Carolina A&T State University
Chancellor
Mr. Dell McCormick
Macedonia Family Resource Center
Executive Director
Ms. Mindy Oakley
Edward M. Armfield, Sr. Foundation
Executive Director
Dr. Martin Portillo, M.D.
Cone Health Medical Group
President and Chief Medical Officer
Ms. Meka Sales
The Duke Endowment
Director of Special Initiatives
Dr. Terri Shelton
UNCG Research and Engagement
Vice Chancellor of Research and Engagement
Mr. Adam Tarleton
Brooks Pierce
Partner
Dr. Iulia Vann
Guilford County
Public Health Director
Ms. Cindy Watkins
Guilford County Partnership for Children
Interim Executive Director
Staff
Charrise Hart (Bio), Chief Executive Officer
Heather Adams (Bio) Director of Engagement & Literacy Initiatives
Kelly McKee, (Bio) Vice President of Operations
Michelle Chapin, (Bio) Project Manager
Christina Dobson, (Bio) Director of Navigation Services
Deepti Panjabi, (Bio) Director of Continuous Quality Improvement
Stephanie Skordas, (Bio) Director of Marketing & Communications
Leonard Lawson, (Bio) Director of Systems Integration
Karthik Dhakshanamoorthy, (Bio) Salesforce Administrator
Madhuri Dilliker, (Bio) Business/Data Analyst
Stormi Covington, (Bio) Community Alignment Specialist, Team Lead
Mollie Blafer, (Bio) Community Alignment Specialist
Felicia Evans, (Bio) Community Alignment Specialist
Angela Powell, (Bio), Grants Manager
Kristi Greene, (Bio), Executive Coordinator