Sonja Gantt

Sonja Gantt joined Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 2016 as the executive director of the CMS Public Schools Foundation. She arrived with a deep knowledge of the area, having served more than two decades as a journalist covering Mecklenburg County and the surrounding region as well. Gantt’s community service over the years supports her role with the foundation, which works closely with local business partners.

“Mecklenburg County businesses have a vested interest in the success of Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. Not only is a strong and solid school system a recruiting tool, it is the training ground of their future workforce,” Gantt said. “My goal is to make sure the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools Foundation is a place where businesses can invest with the confidence of knowing they are helping to fund the district’s key priorities.”

Gantt began her career as a reporter for WBTW, a TV station in Florence, S.C. She moved to a reporting job with WBTV in Charlotte, then spent several years as an anchor and reporter for WGN in Chicago. She returned to Charlotte in 1997 as an anchor and reporter for WCNC, working there from 1997 until she joined CMS.

Gantt grew up in Charlotte and is a proud graduate of East Mecklenburg High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to her work she is an active member of the board of directors of the YMCA of Greater Charlotte, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church and the Alpha Lamda Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha.