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Kai Stinson
Ms. Douglas
UWRIT 1101-090
10/14/14

Leadership is given and never finished

I interviewed Charlene Cowell a young leader who has been instrumental in

the Hemophilia of North Carolina (HNC) communitys growth over the past three
years. Born in New Jersey and raised in North Carolina, Charlene and I met through
HNC in 2010. At the time, she was a college student trying to get her masters in
Psychology attending Wake Tech. and University of North Carolina Charlotte. After
her mom left being HNCs president she thought her involvement was done, but she
was far from finish as a very supportive community saw her as the next individual
to push us forward. Now, three years later, we have become a larger organization
being recognized on even a national level with the National Hemophilia Foundation
(NHF) thanks to Charlenes dedication. I interviewed Charlene to find out how she
became the president of HNC and how I can apply the same strategy to become a
leader in the Von Willebrands Community myself.

Interview:
Me: What I am going to ask first is some basic background stuff, the first one being
of coursewere where you born?

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Charlene: I was born in Newark, New Jersey, on May 12, 1990.
Me: How long where you raised there for?
Charlene: I lived in New Jersey till I was sixteen years old, and then I moved to North
Carolina
Me: That means you must have moved in the middle of high school right?
Charlene: I did yes, after my sophomore year.
Me: Was that a hard transition for you?
Charlene: It was, my sister and I my sister was a junior in high school or going into
her senior year, so both of us are close to our friends in New Jersey, but what we had
to do in order to succeed in life, because there was a lot going on in New Jersey. We
came here and had clean starts.
Me: Thats good, so out of the two schools what were the names of the two you
where in?
Charlene: Yes, so in New Jersey it was called Ocean City high school, and in North
Carolina it was Green Hope high school.
Me: After high school where did you go to college?
Charlene: I went to Wake Tech for a year and ended up at UNC Charlotte from 2009
to 2011 at UNC Charlotte.
Me: Before you had been offered the position at HNC, what was your job before
hand?
Charlene: I worked at a daycare for many years, then at Target and then volunteered
for HNC throughout college. I had a few internships with them during the summer.
Me: All right, did you see yourself being the overall leader in HNC that long ago?

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Charlene: No back then it was something I just really enjoyed doing but I kinda
figured that when my mom left I would leave. I figured I would be with her, but it is
different I didnt expect this.
Me: What was your original goal, what did you originally want to do?
Charlene: Be a psychologist, I just really have to go back and get my masters in order
to practice.
Me: Im guessing you will get that here in the Carolinas?
Charlene: Yes, I will probably attend to do that sometime soon with HNC and
graduate school. It is not impossible, just challenging.
Me: Would you go back to the same college to get your masters or go to a different
college.
Charlene: I would probably go to a different college just for a change of atmosphere,
and just a change in general. Nothing is wrong with going to the same college for
undergrad and graduate, but I just feel like a different experience would help.
Me: Do you have anywhere particular in mind? Like Chapel Hill or State?
Charlene: Yes, Chapel Hill is probably one of my number one picks.
Me: So, another question I wanted to ask you is how long have you been apart of
HNC, going back as far as time wise and including before you become the president
there?
Charlene: It was February 2007
Me: At that time what was the organization like; because it is obvious it is a lot
different now?

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Charlene: I would say since 2007 till now we had a core group of members then and
now there are so many people involved today. It is just turning out to be such a
larger community then it ever was, and to me that in a senseI dont wish a
bleeding disorder on anybody, but to know this many people are connecting who
are advocates for each other and themselves; is really heart warming to see the
sense of community that there is these days. I would say that I one of the biggest
changes, is that the strength of the community not just the numbers but in
everything. Their power, their self-confidence, I think we have seen a ton of growth
in the community from the teen retreats to the adult retreats. Its been a great
experience to watch people grow.
Me: Now on the subject of the youth side of that, was that one of the things you
where involved in heavily, and was the first steep?
Charlene: Yes, the first event I ever went to was actually the family retreat that my
mom started and then the teen retreat. Those where the events I used to plan,
because that is where my passion is, that is when I go into psychology and Im
planning to work with adolescents so that is really where my passion is, I love the
whole community but the teens have a special place in my heart.
Me: Was it you who started the whole leadership group, similar to that on the
national level?
Charlene: Yes it was.
Me: And in that, did you bring that Idea to the table mainly because you part of that
national organization as far as that group?

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Charlene: Actually no I just thought it was important, we actually North Carolina
has been ahead of nationally in many initiatives and that was something I saw from
working with the teens and talking to them. They felt empowered but they felt there
wasnt any huge structure behind it and there was just individuals, and I wanted the
entire community all the teens, from those who felt that way and those who didnt
and need encouragement.
Me: What is your next big step as far as planning for the ending of this year and the
upcoming next year.
Charlene: Something we have been working on for years is to get ourselves in stable
positions in so many aspects. Still to this day we dont have a database system, we
are an organization much larger then others that have databases. So things like that,
getting us to a stable positions really looking at exactly what we are doing in the
office and what are board members are doing, and figuring out where the holes are,
just so we can strengthen ourselves. Until we do that we cant continue to add or
grow programs until things are in a stable condition. Then I think just re-evaluating
the program and services, where I dont want to say the same thing every year but
close to, so I think just looking at it and seeing what the needs are of the community.
Because there is nothing that Hemophilia of North Carolina, myself, Lakia, however
does, isnt for the community. We dont do an event because we think its fun; we do
an event because we think the community wants what we have heard.
Me: What do you think, personally, is the hardest part of being the overall
leadership? One that is a bearing weight to have by far, but what do you think is the
hardest part to the job?

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Charlene: Not being able to do it all, realizing that, and coming to terms with it. I
dont know if I completely done that yet but I would say that is the hardest task,
because I have seen so many executive directors before me or at least two executive
directors before me that didnt attempt there best to do everything they could and it
is impossible.
Me: Being the company nonprofit, is that job more of a community service or is
there some kind of for lack of better wordspay?
Charlene: Oh yes there is pay, that was one of our first goals in 2007, to put
ourselves in a financial position where we could be competitive organization of our
size. For me it is not a job and not all the benefits or salary in the world would be the
thing that keeps me here. Its the sense of making a difference, and feeling like you
are apart of something, making a difference.
Me: You said you where trying to make it more competitive, what would you
consider being competitive, who would your competitor, and why would you want
to be competitive?
Charlene: So competitors would be any other community service or health nonprofit
in the arena. The problem is there is not enough money for everyone; we are all
taping into the same donors, the same grants, same business, and stuff like that.
Me: Do you find that the competition of who ever raised the most donation money
for research is a misinterpretation, or over use of pride?
Charlene: I think its great for people to get recognition for the money they donate or
the support they provided, but we should not let it get in the way of our ultimate
goal which is a cure.

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Me: If you could describe your mind with one word, what would that word be?
Charlene: Complicated
Me: How do you deal with all of the incoming information?
Charlene: Compartmentalize it, and a lot of sticky notes, and a pretty good memory.

Conclusion/Reflection
If I could have done anything differently in the interview process, I would
have done the interview face to face instead of FaceTime. The main reason for this is
technical difficulties that can interrupt or delay the interview in process, be it
incoming calls that interrupted the video camera or bad connections that made the
interviewed person hard to understand at times. The difficulties made me employ
my best listening skills in order to get all of the information successfully, this by far
was the hardest part because I am not one to sit and listen quietly for extended
periods of time. I have to say the assignment challenged me mentally, teaching me
who to sit and listen to what is oral history in the making. Oral history means the
questions you ask and the notes you take impact what becomes history will be add
to mankinds historical timeline of the world by the writers hand.