Chris Ahearn

Chris Ahearn is a results-driven communications professional with more than 30 years’ experience in corporate communications and reputation management. Chris has led communications, public affairs and philanthropy for FORTUNE® 50 retailer Lowe’s Companies, Inc., Food Lion, Inc., as well as wholesale distribution and healthcare organizations. Chris’s strategic communication counsel to senior executives and boards of directors has helped launch and deliver on opportunities ranging from merger integrations and shareholder communication to culture-shifting, transformational change initiatives. Most recently, Chris served as CEO of Our Towns Habitat for Humanity.

Chris has been front and center on issues from product recalls to corporate reorganizations, including executive leadership changes and reductions in force.  Her battle-tested experience goes far beyond counsel. She has stood on the front lines of both crisis and opportunity–managing a 24/7 news cycle for Food Lion on the steps of a Federal courthouse and representing the company on a 90-minute Nightline broadcast opposite renowned journalist Diane Sawyer. Chris co-chaired Lowe’s Crisis Response Team and routinely served as a national spokesperson for the company.

Chris began her career as a news reporter and anchor. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Broadcasting from the University of Florida and an M.B.A. from Oklahoma City University. Chris has been recognized as a University of Florida Alumna of Distinction and as a Women in Business Achievement Award winner. She is on the boards of directors of NC Habitat for Humanity and the Davidson Community Foundation, and is a member of the Women’s Impact Fund, North Mecklenburg Rotary Club, and Davidson College Presbyterian Church.

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