The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation has appointed seven local community leaders to its Charlotte Community Advisory Committee.

“These leaders will provide counsel to Knight Foundation as we seek to make grants in Charlotte with the potential to transform the community,” said Susan Patterson, the foundation’s program director for Charlotte.

Charlotte is one of 26 U.S. cities and towns served by Knight Foundation, a $2.3 billion national foundation with local roots where the Knight brothers owned newspapers in their lifetimes.

Community Advisory Committee members are an integral part of Knight Foundation’s grant-making work. Each committee is a small group of creative, connected and strategic advisers who work with Patterson and other program directors to discover opportunities that produce maximum impact and lasting change in the communities they serve.

Charlotte’s appointed advisers are: Laura L. Meyer, executive vice president, Foundation for  the Carolinas; Charles M. Brown, director of libraries, Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County; Ann Caulkins, president and publisher, The Charlotte Observer; Denisa Leach, community outreach vice president, Wachovia Corporation; Joan F. Lorden, provost and vice chancellor, University of North Carolina Charlotte; Todd Mansfield, chief executive officer, Crosland Group; Stoney D. Sellars, president, Technology Project Management, Inc.

“We thank these individuals for their leadership and willingness to share their knowledge and ideas as Knight Foundation explores how we can best invest in Charlotte,” said Patterson. “We look forward to our future work together.”

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of Charlotte and 25 other communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation supports ideas and projects that create transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfdn.org.