Challis Lowe

Challis Lowe is a Board member and Business Strategist with Operational and P&L experience. Provided leadership and oversight on difficult governance and risk management issues; management of human and financial assets.

 

Organizational Expertise:

• Experienced Public Board Director, having served on the boards of a $14B Public Bank, a privately held Community Bank, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), a large Catholic Healthcare System and a regional Community Healthcare System. Committee work includes membership on the Audit, Risk and Governance Committees, and Chair of two Compensation Committees, Chair of the Retirement Committee, and Co-Chair of two CEO Search Committees.
• While serving on the public bank board of The South Financial Group, cultivated strategies culminating in the repayment of TARP funds through the successful sale of the bank to an international Canadian-based diversified financial services firm.
• As both a director and corporate executive, developed and participated in CEO succession, transition, and development of executive compensation strategies. Developed board gap analyses and successfully recruited and on-boarded new board members.
• Diverse industry background spanning health care, consumer retail, transportation, logistics, supply chain solutions, and financial services.
• Strong operational and P&L experience as well as asset management experience as a financial services executive.
• Accomplished Human Resources executive with over 20 years of “C” suite experience within global public companies. Retired from Ascension Health, a $23B health system with 118,000 associates serving in more than 500 locations across 21 states.
• Instrumental in orchestrating the global turnaround of Ryder System’s underperforming and financially challenged business units through restructuring businesses and assuring the right people/right job approach to executive-level talent management.
• Extensive experience in business turnarounds, transitions, and growth cycles with significant expertise in risk assessment, risk mitigation, M&A due diligence, and acquisition integration.
• Cultivated the enterprise strategy and framework for consolidating and integrating 85 health plans from across the Ascension system.
• Executive sponsor for major initiatives, including an Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) that integrated business processes for HR, Finance, and Supply Chain.
• Designed both the human resources strategy and the enterprise-wide total rewards strategy necessary for Dollar General to transition from a public company to a private company.

Board Experience Corporate and Not-for-Profit

• Dignity Community Care — Board of Trustees and member of Finance and Quality Committees, 2019-Present
• Catholic Healthcare Initiatives (CHI) –Board of Stewardship Trustees and Chair, Retirement Plans Committee, Member, Audit Committee, 2016-2019
• Catholic Healthcare Audit Network (CHAN) – Board of Directors and Chair, Associate Relations Committee, 2009 to 2013 – Internal Audit firm for Healthcare organizations that outsourced their internal audit functions
• Prairie Holdings Corporation – Board of Directors, 2003 to 2012 – Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) established through the Donnelley family financial holdings and dissolved in December 2012
• South Financial Group – Board of Directors, Co-Chair, CEO Search Committee and Chair, Compensation Committee, 2006 to 2010 – $14B bank headquartered in Greenville, SC (sold to Toronto Dominion Bank)
• The Kenwood Mutual Fund – Director and Member of Audit Committee, 2000 to 2005 – First mutual fund established by an African-American female (sold to Profit Management Group)
• Fisk University – Chair of Financial Strength Committee of the Board of Trustees, 2013 to 2017
• Gaylord & Dorothy Foundation – Member of Finance Committee, former Member of Board of Directors and Chair of Investment Committee, 1997 to 2016
• Florida A&M University – Chair of Board of Trustees; Chair of Audit Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, 2003 to 2007
• Executive Leadership Council – Board of Directors (2004 to 2008) and Treasurer (2006 to 2008)

Other

• Member, National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE)
• Speaker, Executive Women of Color Summit (2016 and 2018)
• Speaker, Private Directors Association, National Conference (2016)
• Speaker, CHRO Board Academy Meeting (2017)
• Featured as a chapter in Wall Street Journal Reporter Joanne Lublin’s book: “EARNING IT Hard-Won Lessons from Trailblazing Women at the Top of the Business World”