As we approach our second-year anniversary of Raleigh Convergence, we’re making big steps to create a business that is sustainable.
That starts with people: Raleigh Convergence is working with Lee Pike to create a brand-new corporate membership. Lee is a Raleigh native who knows mission-driven organizations and marketing — plus, she’s a past storyteller for Converging Stories!
I’m thrilled to work with Lee on corporate membership, which we’ll be launching soon!
Corporate membership is another piece of the sustainability puzzle for Raleigh Convergence, a locally-rooted local journalism, storytelling and community-driven organization.
I believe our business community will support a modern media business that is all about Raleigh and Wake County. But I’m also asking you, the person reading this, to advocate to decision makers that Raleigh Convergence is worth supporting.
I’ll be honest in what corporate membership is not: We’re not going to be better at advertising than Google or Facebook. We won’t win at scale or price point. But that’s rarely the value proposition for local business.
That’s why corporate membership includes perks for businesses or organizations who truly want to support local — storytelling, community building, employment.
I’m excited to introduce Lee today and our corporate membership soon! Feel free to reply to this email to say hello and welcome to Lee!
About Lee Pike:
Originally from Raleigh, Lee attended East Carolina University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in dance, the latter motivating her to relocate to Chicago shortly after graduation.
In addition to modern dance performance and teaching, she found work in the world of independent and custom publishing with companies such as Unscene Urban Navigator and Guerrero Howe.
Somewhere within those strangely overlapping spheres, she discovered—and fell in love with—Chicago’s burgeoning coffee industry. Soon she embarked on her own coffee career, beginning as a barista and sales administrator for Hubbard and Cravens in Indianapolis, and taking positions with Whole Foods as a coffee buyer and Centerplate Food & Beverage.
Then, when she and her spouse decided they could not weather another Midwestern winter, they moved back to Raleigh, and Lee joined Larry’s Coffee, a certified B Corporation, where she took a special interest in building community fundraising events and expanding the brand’s nonprofit-benefitting Coffees For a Cause collection.
Currently she is the Development and Outreach Coordinator with Activate Good and studies Non-Profit Management at NC State University, while continuing her work as a board member for the International Women’s Coffee Alliance and the North Carolina Specialty Foods Association.
She also co-founded the Raleigh Chapter of The Handsome Ladies, a 501(c)3 supporting women in bluegrass and participates in monthly bluegrass jams (while attempting to sing as little as possible). Lee also enjoys practicing yoga and still dances.
Reach Lee at membership@raleighconvergence.com
