Charlotte nonprofit formed to boost economic mobility will close after city’s growth
A nonprofit that set out to improve economic mobility in Charlotte will shut down this summer as outcomes improved and funding slowed.
Leading on Opportunity will close at the end of June after 9 years.
In a written statement provided to The Charlotte Observer, Executive Director Sherri Chisholm said her team was “immensely proud” of its work and hopes to see it continued in other ways.
“The landscape for economic mobility work remains vital, but has shifted to focus on more immediate community needs like transportation, public safety, and food insecurity,” Chisholm said. “Our organization, which focused on systems, saw that change coming, and made the decision to wind down with intention as a result.”
The Charlotte Business Journal first reported the news.
The nonprofit formed in response to a Harvard-based research group’s 2014 study that ranked Charlotte last among 50 cities nationally. The study compared the financial health of residents born in 1978 to the generation that came before them.
The study gained national attention and spurred $1 billion in investments. City leaders galvanized behind the issue and formed the Opportunity Task Force, which created 100 recommendations to advance economic mobility.
Leading on Opportunity emerged from that movement to improve the city’s economic mobility by analyzing data, engaging with the community and influencing policy. In 2022 it launched the Opportunity Compass, which measures how much progress the city has made on improving opportunity for Charlotteans.
In 2024, the research group published a follow-up study that tracked children born into poverty in 1992. That study found Charlotte had moved considerably up the ranks, to 38th. It also ranked third out of 50 on economic mobility progress.
“In a lot of ways, (the gains in the 2024 study) meant that the initiative was a victim of our own success,” Chisholm told the Business Journal. “Folks said, ‘Sherri, this is phenomenal. You’ve done such great work. What else can you do?’ We accomplished what folks wanted us to. There was a desire for us to move on to something else.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2026 at 1:16 PM.
