GREENVILLE — Dr. Laura Gerald, president of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust and a Lumberton native, will be the keynote speaker for East Carolina University’s fall commencement, which is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 13 in Minges Coliseum.
Gerald joined the Reynolds Charitable Trust in 2016 and oversees the allocation of $24 million in grants annually from assets of more than $570 million. The trust was created to help achieve Reynolds’ vision of improving the health and quality of life of vulnerable North Carolina residents.
A pediatrician raised in rural North Carolina, Gerald now manages such programs as Healthy Places NC, an initiative to improve health in rural counties; and Great Expectations, an early childhood effort in Forsyth County.
“As the outstanding leader of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, Dr. Gerald knows ECU and its mission very well,” said Ron Mitchelson, interim chancellor. “She and the trust have been very supportive of ECU’s efforts to improve health in rural and underserved areas of North Carolina.”
Gerald, a graduate of Lumberton High School, has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and from Radcliffe College, a medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University School of Public Health.
She began her career as a pediatrician in Lumberton before turning her attention to statewide health efforts, including Community Care of North Carolina and the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission. By 2014, Gerald was overseeing statewide health policy, serving as the state health director and the director of the Division of Public Health.
At the national level she has worked at Evolent Health, partnering with health systems across the country to transform health care delivery on a pathway to more value-based care.
Gerald has served on the boards of Grantmakers in Health, the Southeastern Council of Foundations and the N.C. Network of Grantmakers. She is a board-certified pediatrician and fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.
