Circles of Influence – Change Agent

Mention the word “influencer,” and many people will think of someone who promotes a product, a style, or even their personal brand on social media. But that’s not what, PENNY SPICER-SIDBURY, ROZ WILLIAMS, and SHANNON WINSLOW are all about. Within their separate arenas, these three women strive to educate, inform, and connect area residents.

• Community Connector: To read more about Roz Williams and What’s Up Wilmington, click here.
• Government Hub: Click here to learn about city clerk, Penny Spicer-Sidbury.
• Change Agent: Read more about Shannon Winslow, the vice-chair of the New Hanover Community Endowment, below.

To her role as vice-chair of the New Hanover Community Endowment, SHANNON WINSLOW brings professional experience in banking and health care strategic planning, along with a generous dollop of energy and desire to be of service.

As director of strategic accounts with WebMD Health Services, she works with Fortune 100 companies in the area of global health and well-being. Previously, she was a director of client strategy for Walgreens and worked with health systems and employer clients to implement national pharmacy and healthcare strategies.

Winslow’s first career was in banking. After earning her undergraduate degree in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she returned to Wilmington where she worked for a number of years for Bank of America.

She has also served on boards and committees of numerous local social service organizations. She’s a member of UNCW’s Cameron Executive Network.

Winslow’s background made her a natural fit for the more than $1 billion community endowment, which was established from the sale of the New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health in 2021.

“I was one of the first five people who were named to the board. I am tremendously humbled by this opportunity,” she says. “As it relates to our community at this point, the greatest ability for me to have impact comes from my involvement as a board member. I can leverage my expertise for impact.”

Two of her passions, Winslow says, are education and health care. Those fit well with the endowment’s charge.

“Our endowment board is very focused on our mission, which is for all members of this community to thrive,” she says, listing the endowment’s “four pillars” of focus: education, health and social equity, public safety, and community development.

A major project for the board will be the search for a new executive director after the resignation in February of its first director, William Buster.

The endowment’s recent $22 million grant toward a joint project for growing the county’s health care workforce is an example of how the endowment can use its strategic planning and resources to address major problems, Winslow says. The current nursing shortage will affect everyone, she says.

“We need to think out of the box about these really complex issues,” she says. “Area nonprofits have not necessarily collaborated with each other; there’s been a perception that folks are competing for grant dollars. I’m a change agent, and as a change agent, I say, let’s think about these things in a collaborative manner.”

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

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