Board of Directors
Kay Carter
Kay joined Second Harvest Food Bank as CEO in January of 2004. During Kay’s tenure at the Food Bank the total pounds of food and household items distributed have increased from 7 million pounds to almost 80 million pounds annually. Kay has established a set of key goals that have served as a guide for the staff as they work to end hunger in the 24 county region of North and South Carolina served by Second Harvest. Nutritional pounds including fresh produce, meat, and dairy products have grown by 464%, an average of 23% per year. Pounds in these categories, which people living in poverty can least afford but need to stay healthy, are vitally important in improving the overall health of our community.
Volunteer hours at Second Harvest have increased by 45% per year since 2004. During the most recent fiscal year, volunteer hours donated to Second Harvest totaled almost 300,000. These hours saved the Food Bank over 7.5 million dollars in labor costs, funds that are being redirected to feeding more people in need.
The number one goal of Second Harvest during Kay’s tenure has been to end child hunger in our region. These programs including the backpack program, Kids Café programs, and the school based mobile pantry program have grown an average of 61% every year since 2004.
Today, Second Harvest is the largest nonprofit in the area of health and human services in the greater Charlotte region with annual revenues including food donations of over 143 million dollars.
Prior to joining Second Harvest, Kay served as the Director of the York County Department of Social Services for seven years and as a City Manager for ten years. Kay holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Winthrop University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of South Carolina.
Ryan Schalles
Ryan Schalles is an influential restaurant leader with a proven track record as a Franchise Business Consultant. Ryan is currently a “FBC” for Culver’s restaurants and supports franchisee’s throughout the Carolinas. Ryan is a result driven entrepreneur with demonstrated history of leading others in the restaurant industry for over 28 years and is an experienced servant leader. Ryan is known for his commitment to the Brand, the Guest, and his team with a servant attitude. Leadership is about inspiration, engagement, creating a clear vision and a path forward that allows everyone on your team to be successful!
Ryan is always networking, meeting new people, and looking to make new friends in the industry. Ryan is an accomplished restaurant people leader with the ability to influence high standards of excellence in the field. Ryan is a true believer, that people don’t care about how much you know until they know how much you care. Ryan makes it a real point to with all levels of employees and management by always saying hello and goodbye, then learning what’s important to each team member and fostering a strong culture of respect. Ryan has a proven record of building high performing teams! Ryan has served in a variety of restaurant roles including Marketing Manager, Quality Assurance, Community Ambassador, and Operations.
Ryan enjoys giving back to the Charlotte community and is passionate about giving something back to his community! Previously, Ryan Schalles was the Customer Support Manager for The Wendy’s Company where he was recognized for several accolades including receiving an “MBA” prestigious award in honor of Dave Thomas and he received the Community Ambassador award twice (2016 & 2020) for his work in the Charlotte Community. Ryan has organized and executed several extraordinarily successful Celebrity Charity Events for the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption over years while raising thousands of dollars.
Ryan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing from Bluefield University. He graduated with Honors while playing soccer all four years at Bluefield and was the team soccer captain for two years. Ryan holds a Nonprofit Leadership course recently. Ryan was elder and deacon at his church in Charlotte. Ryan’s favorite quotes: “Focus on blessing others first, not yourself. Success will follow.” Great dreams are accomplished by great teams. You can’t succeed alone. Dreams are never intentional solitude. They simply can’t happen without a team. Great teams are a breeding ground respect, unity and loyalty.
Jeff Naper
Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Jeff Naper is a graduate of Wake Forest University holding a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. After graduation, Jeff decided to stay in North Carolina accepting a position with Arthur Anderson and earning his CPA. He quickly learned that he preferred interacting with others, and rather than sitting behind an auditing desk, he accepted a position in radio sales for WEND radio. If you had happened to see the Price Is Right in October of 1994, you would have known that this change was not surprising. Jeff energetically bounded on stage in his Wake Forest sweatshirt to spin the wheel alongside Bob Barker. His enthusiasm for meeting new people and working with others is contagious.
Fast forward 27 years and Jeff remains a Major Account Executive for iHeartMedia. His focus now expands to selling multiplatform assets nationwide. He is one of the top sellers in the company, most recently winning iHeartMedia’s highest performer award, the 2022 CEO Club Award, as one of the top account executives in the country..
More importantly, Jeff enjoys bringing people together. He especially loves making connections to give a greater impact to the community. Most recently, Jeff served on the board of the Make a Wish Foundation of the Central and Western Carolinas which raised record donations that will be used to grant wishes for children experiencing a critical illness.
Jeff is married with three teenage sons, a college sophomore at Duke, and twin high school seniors at Myers Park. He loves spending his free time traveling, golfing and watching sports with his family, especially cheering on his favorite team the Baltimore Orioles.