At a time where few people can come to a consensus on much, there can be no argument that the Gantt family has been a blessing to the city of Charlotte.

After graduating from East Mecklenburg High School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sonja Gantt began her career as a reporter at WBTW in Florence, S.C. and WBTV in Charlotte, before moving to Chicago to work with WGN.

She returned to Charlotte in 1997 as an anchor and reporter for WCNC, where she became a trusted mainstay of Queen City journalism until 2016 when she decided to transition from nearly 30 years as a broadcast journalist into her current role as the executive director of the CMS Public Schools Foundation. This organization is dedicated to generating “financial investment to support Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and develop a community-wide culture of schoolanthropy—the support of public education.”

The Art of Ending Well

Throughout her career, Sonja has displayed a passion for the Charlotte community a commitment to honesty, candor and integrity.

On Friday, July 12,  she demonstrated that once again.

Before an audience of more than 350 in historic Biddle Hall on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte’s only HBCU (Historically Black College and University), she spoke of “ending well.” She candidly explored her decision to fight conventional wisdom to transition from a successful career as a journalist into education.

Thanks to Charlotte Star Room, you can watch Sonja’s talk below. 

And, you can explore still photos of the event taken by Rebecca Stone.