Charles Thomas, an artist, educator and entrepreneur, is the Executive Director of Queen City Forward. As a social innovation accelerator and incubator, Queen City Forward’s mission is to unleash the potential of high growth, high impact social entrepreneurs in Charlotte to create sustained economic and social impact that spurs economic development, improves the lives of citizens and drives a new model for sustainable growth.
Prior to leading Queen City Forward, Charles served as the Director of Education of The Light Factory Contemporary Museum of Photography and Film. During his tenure he expanded the Museum’s outreach program, increasing impact and earned revenue.
Charles is a professional photographer and recently co-published a book of photography and stories with author Valaida Fullwood called which recently won the 2012 Terry McAdam Book Award.
After graduating from Duke University with a degree in Economics, Charles started his career as a consultant for Andersen Consulting (Accenture). Charles is active in the community and currently serves on the board of the New Generation of African American Philanthropy (NGAAP) and is the former Vice President of the Community Charter School Board and served on the TEDxCharlotte Steering Committee.
Charles enjoys traveling internationally. His passport includes stamps from India, South Africa, Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico, China and most recently Italy. Charles is married to Micaila Milburn and is the proud father of three beautiful boys ages 6, 8, and 14. In his free time, Charles likes to draw, practice origami, fly paper airplanes and drum with his family.