CWC Welcomes Four New Members to Its Board of Directors
Common Wealth Charlotte is excited to announce the addition of four new members to the CWC Board of Directors: Ben Bellury (Edward Jones), Joyce Cadesca (Novant Health), Steven Friedman (retired, VITA Latino volunteer), and Sean Meisler (USAA).
Ben Bellury is a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones and strives to live each day by the values he was raised on such as "serve others" and "leave it better than you found it,” utilizing them in partnership with his clients. From his 20+ years in financial services, Ben has been able to help other people understand the importance of having a strategy and then help them stay on track, as he is reminded many times over the years how that is still a fundamental strategy for success.
“I partner with clients to help them articulate what's important to them, using an established process to create personalized strategies for them to meet those goals. As a result, my clients can feel they're living meaningful, fulfilling lives,” he exclaims. Ben’s clients are like family, and he wants each one of them to know that [he] cares about their money as much as they do, someone who is just as committed as they are to being successful in reaching their goals.
Married since 2016, Ben and his wife, Sherry, have five children. Sherry's background in nonprofit fundraising led him to consider how he could serve the community even more. He says, “I was able to learn about strategies that helped with charitable giving and using tools such as education planning and insurance to leverage gifting for future generations.” Welcome to the CWC Board of Directors, Ben!
Joyce Cadesca designs and scales social capital systems inside institutions and through physical spaces that anchor community, leadership, and access to opportunity. As a multi-passionate cross-sector executive, her professional expertise spans business strategy, finance, program management, and talent development. In Joyce’s role at Novant Health as Director of Community Engagement, she leads a team of purpose-driven professionals, investing in organizations that help drive healthier futures for communities across the Greater Charlotte and Winston-Salem regions. Joyce earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and is currently studying in the Executive Master’s Program for Mental Health Counseling at the University of Pennsylvania. As a parent to a ‘Gen alpha’ pre-teen, she has been enjoying all that her South Charlotte neighborhood has to offer. We are excited to have you as a member of our Board, Joyce!
Steven Friedman is a native New Yorker who has lived in Charlotte since 1999. He appreciates that Charlotte provides elements of both a large city and a smaller town and believes that it is important to help the broader community benefit from what the region has to offer. His favorite financial motto is, “small, consistent actions can lead to great results over time.” Steve recently retired from his career in financial services, most recently as a Managing Director at Bank of America. He currently serves as Treasurer and Board member at Temple Beth El and has also supported CWC as a volunteer with VITA Latino. Welcome to the CWC family, Steven!
Originally from Los Angeles, Sean Meisler has lived in Charlotte since June 2017. Sean has volunteered for Common Wealth Charlotte, applying his experience to credit counseling, investments education, Generation2080, and VITA Latino. His favorite financial advice is to “ensure your budget is aligned with what you value most.” Professionally, Sean works at the intersection of financial crimes and data science at USAA. Sean holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Tulane University, a Master of Arts in International Trade and Investment Policy from George Washington University. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Analytics at Georgia Institute of Technology. Outside of work and school, Sean is passionate about native plants, animals, and learning languages; he also loves to eat out, so restaurants are always a dominant line-item. Welcome, Sean, we are excited to have you as the newest Board member!