The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust is excited to announce Adam Linker, director of programs, has been promoted to vice president of programs, and Alison Duncan, program coordinator, has been promoted to grants administrator.
“Over the past five years, the Trust has shifted its strategy to have a greater impact on the people Mrs. Reynolds asked us to serve by focusing our investments on changing the systems that have intentionally held people back and bringing an equity lens to everything we do,” said Dr. Laura Gerald, president of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. “Promoting Adam Linker to vice president of programs and Alison Duncan to grants administrator gives us critical capacity to support thriving communities and residents, equitable access to care, and equitable health outcomes.”
As vice president of programs, Adam will serve as a key strategist and work with the executive team to envision and execute strategies that move the Trust’s mission forward. He also oversees and manages the grantmaking process and leads the program team as it works to invest in systems change work that increases equitable access to health, education, and economic opportunity.
Adam joined the Trust in 2016 as a Health Improvement program officer. He became a senior program officer in 2019 and was promoted to director of programs in 2020. Since joining the Trust, Adam has played a leadership role in developing grantmaking strategies, building the capacity of rural leaders, and growing the Trust’s portfolio of grantees led by people of color and rural residents. He is an expert on the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid coverage gap and has spent years advocating for health care policies that benefit residents who lack health insurance and access to quality, affordable health care.
Prior to joining the Trust, Adam served as the co-director of the North Carolina Justice Center’s Health Care Access Coalition. He holds a master’s degree in African American history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He grew up in Raleigh and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as an undergraduate. Adam and his wife live in Greensboro with their children.
As grants administrator, Alison will lead the Grants Administration team, serve as the first point of contact for prospective grantees, and work with the vice president of programs to manage the grantmaking process. She will supervise all aspects of grants management and information technology. Alison joined the Trust as program coordinator in 2017 where she served as the first point of contact for grantees and worked across Trust departments to provide key administrative and operations support for the program team and the Trust’s two long-term special initiatives, Healthy Places NC and Great Expectations.
Prior to joining the Trust, Alison served as the development assistant at Guilford Child Development. Originally from Winston-Salem, Alison earned a Master of Public Affairs with a concentration in nonprofit management from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from High Point University. Alison lives in Mooresville with her husband and her son.