Name: Michael (Mike) Tanck
Leadership Charlotte Class: 30
Title/Company: Director of Government Relations, Time Warner Cable, Charlotte
Hometown: Valparaiso, Indiana
Education: BS Finance, University of Evansville, Evansville Indiana
What advice that you would you give to current Leadership Charlotte participants and why?
Leadership Charlotte participants are already leaders and very knowledgeable. I think one of the benefits is that the variety of program days can provide new perspectives. Current participants should embrace this diversity and be open to learn more about what they don’t know. This may open unexpected avenues of interest.
If you could relive any program day, what would it be and why? What program day stands out in your memory and why?
My favorite Program Day was Government Day. I enjoyed getting to know our elected officials and staff outside of a pure business environment. We learned about their political positions but also got to know them as individuals. Over time I’ve learned that these folks do this because they believe in public service and dedicate a great amount of personal time to their work. I strongly believe that we are fortunate to have good elected officials and staff that we can be very proud of.
What would you like to see Leadership Charlotte alumni get involved in and why?
I’ve been involved with the Leadership Charlotte Alumni Committee for a few years. What I would like to see is each Alumni commit to attend a minimum of one activity a year. The Committee offers multiple events, some being social and others expanding the educational opportunities similar to program days. I think this involvement will stimulate some of the experiences of going through the LC program, but maybe the best is the continued networking of the Leadership Charlotte participant family.
What’re you doing in the community these days?
I was appointed by the Charlotte City Council to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee (CRC). The CRC works to positively address community issues of race relations, discrimination or other potentially divisive issues. Charlotte is a diverse and growing community and the CRC is involved developing programs and fostering conversations that provide a responsible forum to address relevant local and national issues. I serve as Chair of the Communications Committee and on the CRC leadership team.
I also serve on the Charlotte / Mecklenburg Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Planning Committee and chaired the Marketing / Communications Committee.