Melissa Nemec
Program Director
Melissa Nemec currently serves as Program Director of The Gambrell Foundation. Melissa works closely with the Foundation team, grantee organizations, and trusted partners to further the Foundation’s commitment to transform Charlotte and beyond into a beacon of human flourishing.
Before joining The Gambrell Foundation team, Melissa served as Executive Assistant to Brian Collier during his time as Executive Vice President of Community Programs & Civic Leadership at Foundation For The Carolinas. Melissa provided direct support to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation, Cole Foundation, Community Foundation of Richmond County, Foundation for a Healthy Carolina, A Way Home Endowment, and Children’s Medical Fund boards and grant programs. Melissa also served a critical supporting role in a variety of special projects, including the Arts Infusion Fund, Knight Arts Tech Infusion Fund, and Beyond Open.
Prior to entering the foundation world, Melissa’s career focused on social media marketing, public relations, and influencer marketing, with roles at Social Ape Marketing, Tech Talent South, and PureRED Marketing. She enjoyed working with clients such as Legion Brewing, Lowe’s, Rich & Bennett (known for the largest St. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl), WORX, and Northwood Retail.
Melissa lives in East Charlotte with her husband, two sons, and their Holland Lop rabbit, Waffles. Melissa’s hobbies include reading (her Goodreads goal for 2025 is 75 books in total), digging into astrology, keeping up with pop culture, needlepointing, playing Mahjong, and spending time with friends and family.
On Melissa’s Desk
Deficit
In Deficit, Emma Holten traces how economic thinkers – from the Enlightenment onwards – created a value framework that overlooked and neglected ‘women’s work’ and acts of care. She reveals how the economic models that drive political decisions today are just as flawed, giving us unparalleled monetary wealth, but causing deep social harms that are hurting us all.
by Emma Holten
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Irreplacable
Through exotic storytelling, human behavior insights, and proven design techniques, Kevin Kelley—an attention architect and cofounder of Shook Kelley, a strategic design firm that pioneered the field of “convening”—unfolds why physical places are essential to civil society, business, and community.
In these pages, he reveals what it takes for physical places to attract an audience and maintain a competitive edge in our increasingly digital world.
by Kevin Ervin Kelley
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The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
An affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations
by Evan Friss
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Meditations for Mortals
Reflecting on ideas drawn from philosophy, religion, literature, psychology, and self-help, Burkeman explores practical tools and shifts in perspective. The result is a bracing challenge to much familiar advice, and a profound yet entertaining crash course in living more fully.
by Oliver Burkeman
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