Attend this session to learn about leadership opportunities for women in the healthcare industry led by Mary Ward, alumna of UNC Charlotte, from McLeod Centers for Wellbeing.

Ms. Ward became President of McLeod Centers for Wellbeing, a non-profit corporation, in April, 2017. She is responsible for a $20M agency and 230 employees serving the Piedmont and Western regions of North Carolina. Services are available on an outpatient and residential basis through nine (9) treatment service sites. Site-based medication assisted treatment services for opioid use disorder are available in Monroe, Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, Statesville, Hickory, Lenoir, and Marion. In 2022, McLeod Centers offered adult criminal justice and adult substance use disorder treatment services to over 6,000 unique individuals with just over 2,700 patients receiving care at any given point in time.

Previously, Ms. Ward was Assistant Vice President of Addiction Medicine with Atrium Health where she had oversight three (3) hospital and non-hospital based substance use disorder services. She was part of the first addiction medicine dyad leadership team and helped launch the health system’s first site for office-based medication assisted treatment.

She is passionate about the adverse effects of social determinants of health and uses her over 25 years of experience in local and state community corrections to advocate for equal access to care. She currently serves on the Public Policy Committee with the North Carolina Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, is Chair of the Change For Life Tobacco Free Coalition, and serves on several local county substance use disorder coalitions.

She holds a MBA from Queens University McColl School of Business and a BS in Criminal Justice from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Career Meet Ups are 30-45 minute small group sessions focused on specific topics and led by career coaches or industry professionals. Meet Ups may be virtual or in-person, and you’ll have the opportunity to gain information, ask questions, and get some practice. If you need accommodations to access this Meet Up, email career@uncc.edu referencing the name, date, and time of the Meet Up.