Charon Darris: Leadership Under Pressure
A native of Harlem, Charon Darris is a highly accomplished executive leader specializing in turnarounds, fundraising, and strategic planning for small and mid-sized organizations. He holds a BA from Morehouse College, an MBA from Columbia Business School, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. In addition, he has amassed a wealth of for-profit and non-profit leadership experiences across a 25+ year career. Charon’s decision to transition from finance to education was deeply rooted in his experience as a youth growing up in Harlem during the 1980s, witnessing firsthand how poor and underserved communities that lack viable education pathways condemn families to multi-generational poverty.
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The first 15 years of his professional career were spent in financial services and consulting, where Charon was promoted several times, rising from analyst to an exceptional, top ranking business development officer. Mr. Darris was directly responsible for the success of business development teams at Bank of America and M&T Bank in New York City. At M&T Bank, he was recognized with the President’s Club Award, highlighting his effectiveness as the number 1 ranked business banking relationship manager for the entire bank, surpassing over 200 of his peers, and exceeding his annual revenue goals by over 350%.
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In the summer of 2014, Mr. Darris moved from New York City to Oakland to lead the turnaround of a local non-profit, Oakland Technology Exchange West. Within 12 months, Mr. Darris secured over $2,000,000 in funding, expanded the organization’s services to two additional cities, and in his final months, smoothly transitioned the founder into retirement while finding and onboarding a dynamic leader to continue the work he had begun.
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After returning to New York in 2016, Mr. Darris joined the Adams Street Foundation, a college access organization, as its Executive Director. During his time with ASF, Charon grew board membership and fundraising by over 25%, overhauled the junior board, resolved legacy issues with the audit and financial controls, identified and implemented a CRM tool for fundraising, and significantly expanded media and community relationships. In June 2020 of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Charon led a very successful virtual fundraiser, raising nearly $400,000 for ASF, and coordinated a virtual graduation of over 100 12th graders. The following year, he laid the groundwork for ASF to raise over $700,000 through a virtual fundraiser and led the search for their successor Executive Director.
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In February of 2021, Mr. Darris joined Columbia Business School as Executive Director of Individual Giving. In his role with CBS, he managed a team of 10, responsible for the School's $7,000,000 annual fund, donations up to $250,000, reunion class fundraising, affinity program fundraising, and all solicitation communications.
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Since July 2023, Charon has served as the Executive Director of the Reading Team. Founded in 2001, the Reading Team provides evidenced-based literacy coaching to young children from economically challenged backgrounds, primarily residing in Harlem. To date, they have served over 10,000 children.
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Outside of his professional commitments, Charon is an avid marathon runner, enthusiastic world traveler, and board trustee for the Fordham Preparatory School.