Charlene Crusoe-Ingram is an art lover.
As the CEO of Meals on Wheels Atlanta — and a member of the board of trustees for the High Museum of Art — she helped bring the SCAD Collection to the nonprofit in 2022. It is comprised of more than 50 pieces of artwork, including the Ayana Ross painting, “What If,” that hangs in her office.
Looking around during a recent interview, she described it as “kind of a pinch me moment” as “the wallpaper — everything — is art.”
That sense of design and intention extends into how she leads.
Since taking on the CEO role in 2015, Crusoe-Ingram has spearheaded big changes at the 60-year-old nonprofit, which prepares more than 1,800 meals a day for 540 Atlanta seniors.
“About 25% of seniors in Atlanta experience food insecurity. It’s a big population,” Crusoe-Ingram said. “About 70% of the seniors that we serve depend on us for their food, so the idea of us failing to provide those meals is just incomprehensible.”
Kitchen renovations
After holding executive roles at companies like Coca-Cola, NDCHealth and Abbott Laboratories, Crusoe-Ingram retired more than 20 years ago, but never really stopped working.
“I had to stay busy,” Crusoe-Ingram said.
It was her role on the MOWA board that led to her current position.
“I’m not a maintenance person — I need to be changing things,” she added.
At the top of the list was a bigger kitchen, funded by a $4.5 million capital campaign. An additional $4 million came from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
Credit: Courtesy of Meals On Wheels Atlanta
Credit: Courtesy of Meals On Wheels Atlanta
The new kitchen opened in 2022 and has helped increase output, but MOWA still has a waitlist of more than 800 Atlanta seniors.
Demand is growing as seniors live longer — and remain in the program longer — but also as more people struggle to make ends meet. According to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, 1 in 10 seniors throughout the state of Georgia is food insecure, which the USDA defines as having limited or uncertain access to adequate food.
“We could do 3,500 meals a day out of that kitchen (if we had) the funds, and, believe me, we have the senior population in this city who needs that food for sure,” she said.
Credit: contributed by Meals On Wheels Atlanta
Credit: contributed by Meals On Wheels Atlanta
Focus on fundraising
Now, her focus is on fundraising — and building relationships with younger donors.
MOWA hosts multiple events each year, including the culinary event Taste 2026, which took place May 29. More than 500 attended, and the event raised more than $174,000. This fundraiser, in particular, is meant to appeal to Atlanta’s young professionals, influencers and tastemakers.
“We’ve worked hard to attract that audience because we need them for the future,” Crusoe-Ingram added.
MOWA’s biggest annual fundraiser is A Meal to Remember, which features four courses and wine pairings from chefs all over the U.S.
“We raised $1.3 million — the most we’ve ever raised,” Crusoe-Ingram said of the 2025 event.
And she herself has helped attract new MOWA donors like Coca-Cola, where she worked for nearly 16 years.
“I’m the main moneymaker here because of relationships that I had,” she added.
Path to Atlanta
Crusoe-Ingram knew she wanted to “do something around selecting people for jobs” by the time she was pursuing a graduate degree at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. She held early recruiting roles at a department store and university before landing at financial services and insurance company Northwestern Mutual.
“They really wanted me to start a college recruitment program for people of color,” she said. “They didn’t have one. They never recruited at colleges, in fact.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
But Crusoe-Ingram wanted broader experience in HR. That led to an 18-month assignment at medical supply company American Hospital Supply in Milledgeville, Georgia.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want to move to Georgia, but hopefully 18 months will go quickly,’” she said. “It was so interesting, in fact, and that 18 months did go quickly.”
She later recruited scientists and lawyers for Abbott Laboratories.
“I loved it because Abbott was really stepping up its research arm, bringing in really noted scientists from Yale and Harvard and Caltech,” she said.
Then Coke called.
“My mom let me get six-ounce Cokes as a treat when I was growing up,” she said. “Of course I took the interview.”
Crusoe-Ingram accepted a role as a recruiter and moved to Atlanta. Before she started, she was promoted to director of human resources for Coca-Cola’s U.S. fountain business.
“I think they were trying to find the right thing and that HR director’s role opened up, so they put me in it,” she said.
Crusoe-Ingram ended her career at Coca-Cola as corporate vice president of diversity in 2003.
Developing talent
Her advice to young people is to pursue a passion and “(impress) somebody enough that they will sponsor you.”
That may not necessarily be your boss — it could be any leader with a project you can learn from.
“People need to go for their passion because I think they put their entire self into that,” she said. “But you have to step up. It’s not about kissing up. It’s about doing good work.”
For leaders, her advice is to model behavior. Among many good bosses throughout her career, Crusoe-Ingram pointed to Jack Stahl, former president and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola, who modeled the importance of treating everyone with respect, regardless of their role — along with an aversion to paper clips. She does not use paper clips to this day.
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
She’s also an advocate for developing young talent.
“The young man who started the marketing department, (Jason Tucker), … is one of the best writers in the building, and he never got to show that talent, but I’m willing to take a chance,” she said. “It’s amazing how people will step up and they’ll shine. We only have 27 employees, so we have to be good at what we do, and we have to support each other.”
Crusoe-Ingram plans to retire again eventually and travel. In the meantime, she wants to hire a chief operating officer who “will think of this nonprofit not as a nonprofit, but as a business.”
The goal is to continue to bring in money to feed seniors.
“This place is important to this city,” she added. “It needs to continue.”
AJC Her+Story is a series in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution highlighting women founders, creators, executives and professionals. It is about building a community. Know someone the AJC should feature in AJC Her+Story? Email us at herstory@ajc.com with your suggestions. Check out more of our AJC Her+Story coverage at ajc.com/herstory.
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