Every type of success or measure of Black Excellence started with a dream. Charlotte Football Club brings together Black community leaders to share their personal declaration of what it means to be excellent and how they achieved success in the Carolinas. Join the conversation to be invigorated to inspire the next generation of Black Excellence.
Ohavia (Oh) Phillips is an electrifying media personality from Brooklyn, New York who has achieved significant eminence in the local and international media scenes. She is a successful media figure, skillful communicator, content creator, and Emcee, as well as the host of her own popular show, The Oh Show. Ohavia graduated with honors from Walden University, where she earned a master's degree in crisis communication and public relations. Ohavia is currently an In-Arena Host with the Charlotte Hornets and Greensboro Swarm and a media business owner full-time.
Darrius Barnes is the President of Crown Legacy FC, Charlotte FC’s MLS NEXT Pro team, and is responsible for overseeing the business and technical build of the Club’s developmental team while also assisting on strategic projects associated with all aspects of the business side of Charlotte FC’s First Team. Prior to his current role, Darrius Barnes served as Director of Business Operations for Charlotte FC.
Prior to joining Charlotte FC, Mr. Barnes served as Manager, Partnership Marketing at Major League Soccer (MLS) and Soccer United Marketing (SUM). In this role, he identified insights, created a vision, and implemented strategy on how to approach each corporate partner’s business and grow that business while also overseeing, developing, maximizing, and managing relationships with key partner contacts across a robust portfolio of industry-leading brands.
A native of Raleigh, NC and graduate of Duke University, Mr. Barnes holds extensive knowledge of the sport of soccer, as he enjoyed a successful 4 years as a member of the Duke Men’s Soccer team and then went on to garner a fruitful professional career, playing 8 seasons with the New England Revolution (2009-2016) and 1 season with the New York Cosmos (2017).
Playwright Ruth Sloane is a distinguished thespian, dramatist, and poet who has been contributing to and growing with the Charlotte creative community for over three decades. She started writing plays in junior high school. As a student at West Charlotte High School, a favorite writing spot was underneath a stairwell positioned in front of the office. Throughout her abundant career, Sloane has written eight commissioned plays both locally and nationally, taught 50 courses on playwriting and completed multiple playwrighting residencies. Notably, Sloane researched and wrote the play “Second City” depicting the 100-year history of Charlotte’s Black community—known as Brooklyn—that debuted in 1996 with Charlotte’s longest-running community theater, Theatre Charlotte.
Pee Sheff is a versatile designer specializing in brand development, digital marketing, and apparel design. With a background in fast-paced agencies like The Whitaker Group and The United States Military, she thrives on adaptability and bringing compelling ideas to life. From teaching herself photo editing to leading talented creative teams, she's gained invaluable experience. Collaborating with inspiring partners has not only shaped her skills but also ignited her passion for pushing boundaries and creating remarkable work. She starts by saying "let's tell a story" because through design, countless possibilities await. Let's craft captivating narratives and bring them to life through exceptional design. Pee aims to create a world where imagination takes flight and stories unfold.
William McNeely, is native of Charlotte, NC. He’s an entrepreneur, non-profit executive and a former Apple Market Development Executive and Educator. Following his passion for helping others, McNeely left Corporate America after a double lung transplant and formed Do Greater
Charlotte. This experience has allowed him to utilize his unique skill set to help students explore their passions and create tangible paths to accomplish academic and professional goals. Now retired, William has dedicated his life to inspiring others to do greater things and make a greater impact on the lives others.
Born and raised along the Missouri River in St. Joseph, Missouri, Mike Rucker spent the first part of his career knocking people down-now he is spending a lifetime building people up. In 1994, the University of Nebraska, impressed by Mike’s emerging talent, recruited him for the Cornhuskers football team and offered him a full athletic scholarship. On the football field, Mike’s strength and determination led to noteworthy achievements including playing with the Cornhuskers during the 1994, 1995 and 1997 national championships. Despite being a member of three national title teams, Mike’s football career reached its highest point in 1999 with his selection for the Carolina Panthers during the second round of the NFL Draft picks. During and after his NFL career, Mike has committed his time, energy and philanthropy to help raise the spirits of our nation’s military and their families.
Today, Mike continues to exemplify his Christian values throughout all facets of his life and invest the same level of enthusiasm and commitment that he gave on the football field. He actively seeks opportunities to inspire others through motivational speaking where he provides insights on topics including: Performance Excellence, Entrepreneurship and Team Work.
Alexandria Johnson is a former Special Education teacher, who took her love of education, community advocacy and need for self-care into the running industry. Alex currently works as a Race Director with Start 2 Finish Event Management. She has been a member of Mad Miles Run Club since 2021 and serves as a board member and Race Director. She is a marathoner, run coach and Parkinson’s Disease Champion. Alex’s passion is to bring people together to create a healthy community, remind others that movement is a privilege and is on a mission to help create an inclusive running community.
Every type of success or measure of Black Excellence started with a dream. Charlotte Football Club brings together Black community leaders to share their personal declaration of what it means to be excellent and how they achieved success in the Carolinas. Join the conversation to be invigorated to inspire the next generation of Black Excellence.