Local business leaders Mary-Ann Baldwin, Mike Conlon, Samantha Hatem, Kirk Mader, and Walt Tippett have joined the board of directors of the Wake Tech Foundation. The new members were selected for their community leadership and commitment to the mission of the college. The Foundation Board has also named a new leadership team that includes Judy Fourie (chair), David Brownlee (chair-elect), Pam Williams (treasurer), and Dr. Stephen Scott (secretary). The Foundation’s executive director is Matt Smith.

Mary-Ann Baldwin is a vice president at Holt Brothers Construction, Inc., and executive director of the Holt Brothers Foundation, which supports the children of parents with cancer. She markets the firm’s four divisions, oversees business development, and raises money and awards grants for the Foundation. Baldwin has more than two decades of experience in marketing and communications. She has worked for the Carolina Hurricanes and the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and owned a business. She is an at-large member of the Raleigh City Council, chairs the city’s Transportation Committee, and is a member of the GoTriangle Board of Trustees. Baldwin is a community college alumna and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island.

Mike Conlon is CEO and majority owner of Affordable Communities Group (ACG), LLC, based in Cary, NC, which owns 35 manufactured home communities with more than 4,000 units in Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, North Carolina and Ohio. Prior to ACG, Mike owned Southeast Financial, LLC, based in Orlando, FL, where he rehabbed and sold affordable apartment complexes yielding more than $70 million in proceeds. In the 1990s, Mike grew a financial planning broker-dealership from $1.2 million in gross revenue to more than $40 million in five years. He also owned a financial planning practice that he grew to more than $100 million in assets. Mike received his law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1990.

Samantha Hatem works in public relations for Empire Eats restaurant group, where she oversees social media and some restaurant marketing. She is also a freelance writer for Walter magazine. Hatem is a graduate of East Carolina University with a degree in English and has an MBA from Northeastern University with a concentration in international marketing. She worked for 20 years as a newspaper reporter, the last 10 at The News & Observer. Hatem is pursuing a Culinary Arts diploma at Wake Tech. She is an active member of the Junior League of Raleigh and serves on the boards of SAFEchild and the Alexander Family YMCA.

Walt Tippett is a partner in the Raleigh office of Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard. He earned undergraduate and law degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill. He staffed a standing joint committee of the U.S. Congress and worked as a barrister’s research assistant in Lincoln’s Inn, London. Tippett serves primarily as legal counsel to privately-held businesses in real estate, construction, and development. He is regularly named among Business North Carolina magazine’s “Legal Elite” and honored in the “Best Lawyers in America” guide. He serves on the board of directors for Wake Education Partnership.

Other board members are: Doug Ball, Nathan Becker, David Campbell, Clymer Cease, Tom Cline, Linda Coleman, Mike Desmond, Allin Foulkrod, Larry Hamilton, Jill Heath, Kirk Mader, Cesar Merlos, Arne Morris, Tom Murry, Joan Myers, Andy Penry, Patricia Poe, John Saparilas, Kent Thompson, and Joe Trabocco.