The Leonard G. Herring Family Foundation and NC Tech Paths with Craig DeLucia

Life In the Carolina's Podcast

On this episode of the Life in the Carolinas podcast, Carl sits down with Craig DeLucia, CEO at The Leonard G. Herring Family Foundation and President and CFO at NC Tech Paths. Craig speaks on the crucial difference between charity and philanthropy. To him, being charitable is writing a check to help a good organization do well, whereas philanthropy involves human capital—direct involvement—in helping the community or organization solve problems. Discussing his role at The Leonard G. Herring Family Foundation in Wilkes County, Craig believes that the challenges presented by the pandemic over the past couple of years have heightened the urgency of his work at the nonprofit. Fueling Craig’s passion for his role is the fact that he had worked directly with the Leonards’ as their CPA before their passing. The foundation supports a variety of projects from coast to coast, with a focus on impacting the quality of life of the citizens of Wilkes County via expanding access to education. “Our work is honoring the legacy of Leonard and Rose Herring—two incredible human beings—and their service to the community in Wilkes County, as well as their family’s desire to impact their communities where they live.” Another nonprofit led by Craig is NC Tech Paths which aims to “break the urban world divide in the digital economy.” While The Leonard G. Herring Family Foundation aims to equal the playing field with regards to education, NC Tech Paths is a logical extension of sorts, as it works to provide greater access to technology jobs to young professionals in an economy where virtually every company today has technology needs. Craig says that part of succeeding in the modern economy when it comes to attracting and retaining a workforce is access to quality-of-life amenities. With greater access to education and the technological skills required to thrive in the new normal, those quality-of-life amenities naturally flow into the community. Looking to the future, Craig sees his philanthropic collaborations with amazing organizations as serving as a model for the rest of North Carolina. In his words: “We are living a case study that will be written about in the most positive ways for how a community can come together and roll up its sleeves and do the hard work to make it the best place it can be.”