Our Team
Mark Peres is founder and president of Charlotte ViewPoint. He is an Assistant Professor in the School of Arts & Sciences at Johnson & Wales University, Charlotte Campus, teaching courses on leadership and business ethics. He is a graduate of Rollins College and The Florida State University College of Law. Mark finds joy in the liberal arts, the creativity of friends, and being involved in a great city.
Lila Allen is the editor-in-chief of Charlotte ViewPoint. She is a cum laude graduate of Davidson College, where she studied art history and gender studies, and served as editor of Libertas, the Davidson literary arts journal. Lila currently works for the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art and plans to pursue a graduate degree in visual culture studies.
Elise Anderson is Culture Editor of Charlotte ViewPoint. She graduated from Davidson College with a degree in English Literature and concentration in French Language and International Studies. Now residing in Charlotte, she spends her time reading, fronting the band Brain Flannel, and working as an order coordinator and web copy editor for Journalbooks.
Carolie Brekke is Design Editor of Charlotte ViewPoint Magazine. After years spent touring the US and Canada with theatre & the circus, co-owning a restaurant, working as a wardrobe mistress in Ireland, teaching outdoor education in the beautiful NC mountains, and living in Sasebo, Japan, she and her husband now live in Virginia. Carolie enjoys her work as a freelance graphic designer, copywriter and professional storyteller.
Casey Brewton is Director of Marketing for Charlotte ViewPoint. A native Texan and art history graduate of Davidson College, Casey enjoys cultivating her interests in all things art from photography and fashion to dance and the visual arts. She currently works for Arts & Science Council. With the free time she plans to have in the distant future, Casey plans on traveling the world, learning the intricate art of French cuisine, and becoming a fashion historian.
Suzie Eckl is the Director of Film of Charlotte ViewPoint. Before graduating from Davidson College with an English degree and concentration in Film and Media Studies, she served as editor-in-chief of the college’s weekly newspaper, The Davidsonian. Now she works for the college in the development office while looking forward to life in the classroom again, hopefully to pursue a master of fine arts degree.
Angela Gala is Director of Events for Charlotte ViewPoint. Angela is founder and principal of Rogers & Gala Creative Partners, Inc., an event design and production firm. Her firm is built on the foundation that events are vehicles for connecting people to each other, ideas, concepts and products. Angela feels that effective events communicate a message, engage an audience or are catalysts for change. Good events engage humanity.
Jeff Jackson is Arts Editor of Charlotte ViewPoint. He is a freelance writer covering the arts, founding director of the NoDa Film Festival, and member of the Obie-winning Collapsable Giraffe theatre company in New York City. He is also co-proprietor of www.destination-out.com, an acclaimed website dedicated to avant garde jazz. Jeff received an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from New York University and is a three-time fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Originally from the Midwest, Ty Shaffer moved to Charlotte in the spring of 2008. He is a proud graduate of Centre College, and an indebted graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School.
Michael J. Solender is a 20+ year Human Resources professional who spent the bulk of his career supporting Fortune 500 Corporations with HR and Organization Development strategy and implementation. Recently retired from Corporate America, Michael is a freelance writer. He writes a weekly Neighborhoods column for the Charlotte Observer and his Micro-Fiction is featured online and in print in over 1 dozen venues.
Jonathan Webber is Photography Editor for Charlotte ViewPoint. He has pursued the aesthetic in pure and practical forms for most of his life. He lives in East Charlotte and loves it there.