Front and center.

In previous February editions, Business North Carolina has highlighted more than 70 minority-owned businesses and organizations. As a way to pay it forward, we asked those who have been featured previously to nominate dynamic leaders who deserve the spotlight.

After considering about 60 nominations, the magazine's editors developed a list of 12 dynamic leaders. Those featured include executives at a large health care system and the state's biggest energy company, along with owners of a popular bed-and-breakfast and a disability-inclusion organization. Beyond their day jobs, these leaders are making important impacts by supporting their communities through various initiatives.

MONICA AND DANIEL EDWARDS

OWNERS | MOREHEAD MANOR BED AND BREAKFAST | DURHAM

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Durham's Morehead Manor is one of the states most successful bed-and-breakfasts. It represents a bustling, tech-heavy city that has undergone dramatic transition since James Cobb, CEO of Venable Tobacco, built the home in 1910.

Daniel and Monica Edwards are standard-bearers for the change. He's a former police officer who trained in hostage negotiations. She's an MBA who has been a tax officer and accountant. Their duties now include cooking and baking for as many as a dozen guests at a time in their five-room inn. "We see ourselves as ambassadors for the city of Durham," Monica says.

The couple met at N.C. Central University and in 1997, paid $310,000 for the 8,000-square-foot Colonial Revival house. Its location in Durham's historic Morehead Hills neighborhood was in a transitional zone of old estates, some deteriorating. Others such as their B&B were still linked to families that built them nearly a century earlier.

"We're part of one of the greatest social experiments you can imagine," says Daniel Edwards. "We're bringing people together and connecting them. We're making a safe and comfortable space for people to relax and enjoy themselves. After all that's transpired in the United States in the last few years, that's really important."

Monica, 60, had limited experience in the hospitality business, while Daniel, 58, had none. Her first job was at Mid-Pines Inn in her hometown of Southern Pines. She's since headed the N.C. Bed and Breakfast Inns Association and had leadership positions in the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau. Daniel is a native of Newark, New Jersey.

They were inspired after a friend gave them a stay at Durham's Blooming Garden Inn.

On Vickers Avenue, on a rise that overlooks downtown Durham, they found a stately, yellow-brick mansion with a circular drive and carriage house. Still owned by a relative of another Venable Tobacco executive, the home wasn't for sale but the couple twisted arms until striking a deal.

Today, much of the house is as Cobb left it, with antiques, sunny rooms and original paintings. But it also has a modern feel, avoiding a stuffy B&B stereotype. Monica does much of the cooking, tailoring menus to visitors with dietary restrictions. Guests include both domestic visitors to Duke University, N.C. Central University and other Durham institutions, along with global travelers from Germany, Switzerland, India and other nations.

DR. CHERE CHASE GREGORY

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF HEALTH EQUITY OFFICER | NOVANT HEALTH | WINSTON-SALEM

Dr. Chere Chase Gregory's career has been paved with many firsts at Novant Health and beyond. She led the first team to build a Joint Commission-certified primary stroke center in the Carolinas, was the first Black woman to complete a neurocritical care fellowship at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and was the first Black woman in the United States to design and direct a neurocritical care unit.

At Novant, firsts include a neurosciences hospitalist team, a regional neurology clinic, a stroke research center and a multimillion-dollar federal stroke elimination grant.

In nearly 20 years with Novant, Gregory, 55, has held various leadership positions. Her current role affords her the opportunity to focus on addressing health care disparities and steer health equity efforts throughout the system, which includes a network of more than 1,800 advanced-practice providers, 1,800 physicians and more than 35,000 team members who provide care at more than 800 locations.

While the task may seem tall, Gregory, who is also a board-certified physician in neurology and vascular neurology, finds solace in her team.

"At Novant Health one of our core values is diversity, inclusion and equity. This is the foundation for health equity," she says. "I have the opportunity to partner with stakeholders across the organization who strongly believe in our mission to improve the health of our communities. Novant Health affords me the opportunity to be a physician leader, as well as a change agent, innovator and originator." Gregory, who always wanted to be a doctor, has contributed to Novant's status as a leader in providing patients with fair, just opportunities to achieve high levels of good health. The system is one of two nationally to receive two key "health equity" accreditations from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that promotes health care standards.

"We will continue to advance health equity through listening to community voices, understanding the needs of our patients, engaging in partnerships to address health disparities, and exploring new and innovative ways to ensure all populations achieve the highest level of wellness,."

TIANNADEAN

OWNER HUMMINGBIRD CANDLE COMPANY FAYETTEVILLE

Tianna Dean started Hummingbird Candle in 2019 with $6,000 from a tax-refund check. A few years later, Hummingbird has bustling retail locations in downtown Fayetteville and Asheville, with more expansion on the horizon.

Dean started her career as a labor and delivery nurse, but agreed to join her husbands custom-furniture business after he wrapped up a 21-year Army career. As a mom of six kids, she started making candles "as a way of self care" and sold them in the furniture shop.

The couple decided to close the furniture business in 2020, and Dean "painted everything pink" to reopen the space for Hummingbird Candle. The company makes "eco-friendly" coconut wax candles with an array of scents ranging from lemon pound cake to pear and bourbon. And it offers "candle-making experiences"--think paint-your-own pottery classes but with personalized candles.

"We want to be a safe space for women to come and have some self care and have some fun," Dean says.

She says her company is unique because its staff builds relationships with every customer who walks through the door. "We really want to become besties with all of our customers," she says.

While Hummingbird's first location is in Fayetteville, where Dean lives, she quickly sought out Asheville for a second shop and managed to lease...