Staff
Eleanor H. Herndon, Ed.D, Interim Executive Director
Dr. Herndon came to NC REAL in 1999 as Associate Director for Eastern North Carolina; and was selected by the Board in 2004 to serve as Executive Director, a position she held until retiring in 2007. She returned as Interim Executive Director on July 8, 2010 to assist the organization until the Board of Directors completes the process of interviewing and selecting the next Director to lead NC REAL. Prior to coming to NC REAL Dr. Herndon had a 31 year career in public school education. She was a teacher in Wake County, Chapel Hill and Chatham County Schools and a high school counselor for five years. She became Coordinator for Guidance and Testing for Guilford County Schools and Coordinator of Guidance and Dropout Prevention for Cumberland County Schools. In 1996 she returned to Greensboro as a joint employee of Guilford County Schools and Guilford Technical Community College to form partnerships between high schools, community college, and employees. During this time she served on the board of Junior Achievement, was a trainer for the Department of Public Instruction in Career Development and led the statewide revision of the Standard Course of Study for School Counseling. She has served on staff at several REAL Institutes. She completed the Duke Program in Non-Profit Management and the Educational Public Policy Fellowship Program through the Public School Forum. She has a Bachelors Degree in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Masters in Counselor Education, and a Doctor of Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor.
Malinda Todd, Associate Director
Malinda joined the NC REAL staff in February of 2006. Her primary responsibilities at NC REAL are reaching out to new facilitators and providing support, training, and networking opportunities for current REAL facilitators. Her previous experience with entrepreneurship includes working at the NC Rural Center in entrepreneurship development and microfinance. She also served as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator for Orange County Habitat for Humanity. She has an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Latin American Studies and master’s degree in Public Administration both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Arlene Childers, Assistant Director
Arlene joined the NC REAL staff in January, 2008. Formerly a public school teacher, she is a REAL certified facilitator and has offered REAL in both the public schools and also as a part time facilitator at the community college level. Arlene has been a staff member for a REAL Institute and helped develop and deliver the first K-8 REAL Institute in 2007. She has experience working with Broyhill Furniture Industries and Blue Ridge Healthcare as a Computer Programmer and Senior Systems Analyst. She also worked as a Project Manager for ITP Business Communications. Prior to accepting the position of Program Coordinator for NC REAL, Ms. Childers integrated the REAL Entrepreneurship Curriculum into computer technology classes at Liberty Middle School in Morganton, NC. She has a B.S. in Computer Science from Appalachian State University; and has additional certifications in Business Education and as a CWNA, Certified Wireless Networking Administrator.
Laura Tanzini, Office Manager
Laura joined NC REAL Enterprises in August 2006. She graduated from Peace College in 2004 with a B.A. in Graphic Design. Her previous office experience includes work with Flywheel Design and the NC Farm Bureau Insurance Group. She provides administrative support to staff and facilitators and is the editor of NC REAL’s newsletter REAL Talk.