Leadership – Charles Lea Center North Carolina Leadership
The Charles Lea Center has a highly dedicated and experienced leadership team that is focused on providing excellent services that meet the individual needs of each person served by the Charles Lea Center.
Ben Funaro
Eastern NC Director of Operations
Ben Funaro
Eastern NC Director of Operations
- Phone:(910) 894-2292
- Email:benjamin.funaro@charleslea.org
Morgan Tapper
Director of North Carolina Services
Morgan Tapper
Director of North Carolina Services
What others need to know about me:
- I am a little OCD with my organization skills and planning.
- I adapt well to change.
- I enjoy learning.
- I lead by example. I believe there is no “I” in team. It takes everyone’s’ part to make everything successful in life.
- I can come across very shy until I get comfortable.
- I am a “yes” person. I want everyone to be successful and be valued.
- I am a rule follower, but up for any challenge thrown my way.
- I truly wear my heart on my sleeve. I am EXTERMELY passionate about helping those with IDD (both children and adults).
- My family and friends. Being present it very important to me.
- My team and their success as we grow in NC.
- I have an open-door policy. I will always be an active listener to my team, co-workers or members I serve.
- Being prepared and on time for all events.
- Making a positive impact in the lives I touch and serve each day.
- Having a clear vision and expectation of my role/roles.
- Being heard and valued. Along with making others feel that same way in return.
- Professional and personal growth. I have high expectations for myself and team.
- Being goal driven and accomplishing set goals.
- I am a true “gold personality”.
- I will always take everything to heart- the good, bad, and ugly.
- I am a direct person.
- I see obstacles as personal challenges to overcome and not a burden.
- I tend to be quite when I am learning a new skill or processing information given to me.
- I prefer clear expectation and commutation.
- I will always support the individuals I serve and team members to the best of my ability.
- Provide me feedback or suggestions.
- Phone:(910) 651-1101
- Email:morgan.tapper@charleslea.org
Shannon Childress
Senior VP of North Carolina and Ancillary Services
Shannon Childress
Senior VP of North Carolina and Ancillary Services
What others need to know about me:
- I am a typical extravert
- I enjoy giving compliments to others and helping people feel better
- I really enjoy joking and laughing with others
- I try not to take offense to what others might say negatively about me
- My patience with others is most challenged when I’m driving my car.
- I would rather be outdoors than indoors.
- I would rather be uncomfortably hot than uncomfortably cold.
- I am very patriotic
- I am a Clemson University fan
- Spending time with my family
- Being ethical and honest
- Being considerate towards others
- Respecting my country, as I am very patriotic
- Giving my best when something is asked or expected of me
- Having a voice when I am passionate about something
- Doing my job well and learning how I can continue to become better at what I do
- Being able to pursue my dreams and goals
- I am a Risk vs Benefit analyzer
- I enjoy looking at ways to be more efficient without the risk of losing quality or meaning
- I like to learn new and/or different ways of doing things to reach desired outcomes
- Talk with me about anything that may be bothering you or that you do not agree with. I do not like to feel alone in work practices
- I would rather find solutions to a problem as opposed to continually complaining about it
- I struggle with rumors or hearsay. I try to find things out for myself
- I really like working as a Team and feeling like everyone is in agreement
- Phone:(864) 327-2680
- Email:Shannon.childress@charleslea.org
Jerry Bernard
Chief Executive Officer
Jerry Bernard
Chief Executive Officer
What others need to know about me:
- I am a bit unorthodox in the way I do things.
- I think having a sense of humor is important.
- I need time to process things sometimes.
- Like being organized (yes really).
- I am a strong believer in servant leadership.
- I am more of an introvert than an extravert.
- I try not to take myself too seriously.
- I like being around positive people.
- I like creativity and willingness to take appropriate risks.
- Having time with my family.
- Seeing others succeed and be successful.
- Being ethical.
- Traveling.
- Being outdoors, hiking etc.
- Huge Soccer Fan (Liverpool FC).
- Being on time.
- Making sure that everyone has a voice.
- Being able to share my ideas and thoughts and hearing what others think.
- Everyone should be able to achieve their dreams regardless how far out they seem to be.
- Doing my job well and learning how I can continue to become better at what I do.
- Being able to dream about possibilities.
- If we are going to do something, I need to know why we are going to do it, and how we will get there and what impact it will have on our future.
- Sometimes you need to give me a little extra time to think through things (need to time to reflect) before I can give an opinion on something.
- Let me know when something bad happens or there is a serious problem. I do not like surprises!
- I look for solutions. I am not interested in others telling me what will not work. I want to know what can and will work.
- Be honest, even if it means that you may disagree with me. I want to know how you really feel about something. I am not interested in “yes sir” robots.
- Sometimes I need some time alone to think. This does not mean that I am upset or angry. I just need time to get things back into perspective. It does not take long, and it will be ok. It always is.
- Phone:(864) 562-2222
- Email:jbernard@charleslea.org