Phillip joined the Wholespire team in April 2018. Prior to joining the team, Phillip was the grant writer for the Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg & Calhoun Counties, where he successfully wrote $1.3 million in funding. Phillip worked closely with the Healthy Eating, Active Living Committee in Orangeburg to implement a plan of increasing community gardens, starting a community cooking class, and executing the Faithful Families Eating Smart and Moving More program. With more than 10 years of experience in politics, nonprofit consulting, and community organization, Phillip believes in a grassroots approach to making change happen.
Brandie Freeman is a seasoned public relations and communications professional with more than 25 years of experience. As marketing and communications manager at Wholespire, Brandie leads all public relations strategies related to the organization’s strategic plan and focus areas.
She has gained considerable experience in strategic communications, media relations, digital marketing, public affairs and other areas of public relations. Brandie ensures the mission, vision and impact are communicated accurately with Wholespire chapters, partners, community coalitions, and various audiences. She is responsible for developing and implementing marketing strategies and tools that complement community health improvement efforts. She works closely with Wholespire staff to ensure the Wholespire strategic plan goals are being met through a public relations lens.
Before joining Wholespire, Brandie was the director of communications and education at the Home Builders Association of South Carolina, where she gained extensive experience in public affairs at the state level and managed the Certified Master Builders of South Carolina, an educational certification for association members. She also led professional development initiatives for home builders by collaborating with an education committee and the National Association of Home Builders.
She was also a media buyer at RESH Marketing Consultants, Inc., a full-service advertising, marketing, market and economic research and public relations firm. As a media buyer, she was responsible for developing and managing advertising budgets for clients and securing print, radio and television media buys in markets across the United States. She also produced and directed radio and television advertisements in South Carolina and Florida markets.
Brandie is a Public Relations Society of America and the South Carolina chapter member. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of South Carolina, where she studied television and radio production.
Nyia Langley is the Digital Marketing Coordinator at Wholespire. Nyia plays a key role in ensuring the organization achieves its plans for growth in alignment with its mission, vision, and values. She conceptualizes, creates, and manages engaging social media and email marketing content to promote the Wholespire and The HYPE Project® brands, initiatives, chapters and community investment work. Nyia is also responsible for search engine optimization, digital advertising and analyzing all digital marketing platforms to ensure key performance indicators and goals are being met.
Nyis is an accomplished social media specialist with a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Claflin University and a Master’s in Fashion Merchandising and Retail from LIM College. She received a Data Analytics Certificate from Google and is currently in the TikTok Creative Program. She is a TikTok influencer with more than 20,000 TikTok followers. Her highest-viewed video has more than 5 million views and growing.
Nyia is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the National Society of Leadership and Success. During her free time, she enjoys shopping, spending time with her line sisters and making TikTok videos.
Stacy Rivera earned her bachelor’s of science in accounting from Florida Southern College. She has over 25 years of experience working in a corporate accounting environment, with over 15 years in the not-for-profit sector. Stacy works with the executive director to develop the annual operating budget for review and approval by the board of directors. She prepares and analyzes the monthly financial reports, and tracks expenditures by funding source and program year. Stacy also provides back-office services such as accounts payable, payroll, and general ledger maintenance.
Kelsey works with local coalitions throughout the state by providing technical assistance and supporting community change toward improving access to healthy eating and active living. Before working with Wholespire, she was a health educator for SC DHEC as well as a WIC nutritionist where she counseled mothers of young children on healthy eating and active living. She received her master’s in public health from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s of science in nutritional sciences from Michigan State University. Kelsey is passionate about seeing communities create sustainable changes and working with diverse groups of local coalition members.
Meg Stanley leads the organization in its efforts to increase access to healthy choices for all people. As executive director, Meg oversees Wholespire’s operations, including strategic planning, grant management, fund development, advocacy campaigns, community and youth engagement, and project implementation while ensuring the values of Wholespire are incorporated throughout all of the organization’s work.
Before joining the Wholespire staff in 2019, Meg was no stranger to the organization. She served on its advocacy committee since 2010 and has testified on behalf of the organization’s advocacy campaigns before the SC General Assembly and the State Board of Education. She had also partnered with the organization while working on public policy campaigns as a consultant. She was appointed by Governor McMaster to the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, where she served with the organization’s staff, and served as a school representative for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation helping create healthier campuses and achieve award status for three schools.
Meg’s career has included several political and advocacy campaigns as a fundraiser and communications advisor, as well as the establishment of her own corporate wellness and personal fitness business. Her passion for healthy eating and active living personally inspires her to help others to be able to adopt healthier lifestyles.
Meg represents Wholespire serving on the Statewide Diabetes Action Council’s Executive Committee, University of South Carolina’s Prevention Research Center’s Community Advisory Board, Alliance for a Healthier SC’s Policy and Advocacy Action Team, and Together SC Advocacy Allies. She is also on the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina Nurses Foundation. Meg is a Riley Institute Diversity Fellow.
Meg received a bachelor’s of arts degree in political science and a master’s of mass communications from the University of South Carolina.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors jogging, hiking, biking, snow skiing, and being on the beach. Meg lives in Columbia and is married to Chip Stanley and has two children, Porter and Isabel, as well as two dogs, Molly and Henry.
