Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

MaryAnne Gucciardi, Candidate for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Co-Founder, G.O.Gamewear LLC

MaryAnne Gucciardi began her career at Kidder, Peabody as an investment banking analyst.  After graduate school, Ms. Gucciardi moved to Hong Kong, where she worked in brand management for Johnson&Johnson and later, founded and operated Pacific Rim Trading Partners, Ltd., a hotel supply firm specializing in sales of US and European made goods into Asia. 

Upon the sale of her business in 2001 and a sabbatical in Italy, MaryAnne repatriated to the US and spent three years working as a fundraiser for Stanford University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  In 2009, Ms. Gucciardi co-founded G.O. Gamewear LLC, which specializes in performance active-wear for nine to 12 year old girls.  On a select basis she serves as a strategist, advisor and consultant to businesses and not-for profit organizations.  Ms. Gucciardi holds an MBA from The Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics with honors from Wellesley College. Ms. Gucciardi is a board member of the American Association of Fundraising Professionals and of the North Carolina Center for Women in Public Service.  She is a member of the American Association of Marketing Professionals.

I am running for school board because I am passionate about children and education.  I am driven to elevate achievement of our Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools.  If elected, I pledge to use my resourcefulness, interpersonal and business skills to improve academic achievement for all students.

Elevating academic achievement in the face of growth and steep budget cuts is our greatest challenge.  The increasing cost of technology, teachers and building maintenance demands innovative solutions.

"We have limited resources, but we should not limit our goals.  We must be tactical in using resources, innovative in our approach and clear on priorities."

Increased partnership between parents, teachers, administration, business and the community will conserve our funds and create better outcomes for our children.

Why can I get the job done?

1. Entrepreneurial success with limited resources. 

I founded and ran Pacific Rim Trading for 13 years, selling American-made products to Asia's leading hotels, and creating a thriving business from nothing -- all with an extremely limited budget.

Experience as school founder. 
We were a founding family of an English/Mandarin bilingual school that now enrolls 250 children.  I wrote the school policy manual and PTA by-laws, started and headed the PTA and led fund-raising for a 5,000 book library with supporting computer system.

Proven ability to bring valuable programs to our community.
I organized the Family Health Fair with UNC's Department of Family Medicine and UNC Women's Basketball. I partnered UNC with Barnes & Noble to help fund the first year of "Reach Out and Read", promoting child literacy.  I partnered UNC with WCHL to create the medical show "Here's to Your Health". (Mondays at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday noon).

Join me in my campaign to improve the student achievement for all students of our Chapel Hill - Carrboro City Schools.