Name: Juli Ghazi
Leadership Charlotte Class: 32
Title: Owner/Founder of Pure Pizza
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
Education: BBA–Valdosta State University, German Studies–Graz University, Austria
If you could describe your Leadership Charlotte experience in three words, what would they be?
Definitely Life Changing
Favorite way to spend a weekend in Charlotte:
A lazy morning of coffee & playing with my dogs, riding bikes on the Greenway, finding lunch on a patio of one of the many fantastic restaurants and catching a live band.
Favorite nonprofit or community organization in Charlotte and why:
I am very partial to the many nonprofits addressing homelessness and food insecurities in our community. Crisis Assistance, Charlotte Family Housing and Urban Ministries are just a couple of organizations working to help a growing need in Charlotte. As housing prices continue to rise and wages continue to remain stagnant, housing is an increasing problem among the working poor. We know that when housing is unstable, all other factors such as food, education, health and medicine become equally affected. We have to take care of the under-served in our community–it’s not an easy cycle to break.
What do you hope to be doing differently in five years?
In 5 years I hope to have had more time to cultivate a little farm I started in Treasure Beach, Jamaica a few years ago. I’m working on a visa to bring the farmer up to the States to learn about organic and sustainable techniques so we can implement them into the community in Jamaica. It would be amazing to see farmers helping farmers across borders.