Say hello to The Ledger’s newest employee: Ava Mikeal
New director of business development
The following article appeared in the May 28, 2025, edition of The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Ava, The Ledger’s 4th full-time staffer, will help us solidify our business
From Ledger editor Tony Mecia:
The Ledger is overjoyed to announce that we are hiring our first-ever full-time business-side employee: Ava Mikeal.
Starting this week, Ava is our new director of business development. In this newly created role, Ava will manage The Ledger’s sponsorships, client relationships and strategic partnerships. She is The Ledger’s fourth full-time employee and will help drive the financial success and reach of our independent journalism in the Charlotte area.
Team Ledger meets for breakfast in SouthPark. From L to R: Director of business development Ava Mikeal, managing editor Cristina Bolling, executive editor Tony Mecia, staff writer Lindsey Banks.
You might find it astonishing that The Ledger has been around six years now and has had nobody working exclusively in a full-time capacity to ensure the strength of our business. The Ledger is run by journalists, which is great, and our focus has rightly been on developing top-notch, insightful articles that serve our readers in the way nobody else can.
But we’re also a business, and to continue and expand on our mission of delivering smart and essential information, we need someone waking up every day thinking about how we can grow and solidify our operation financially, while still remaining true to our core values. About three-quarters of our revenue comes from reader subscriptions, and most of the balance from sponsorships. We like that mix, as it keeps us scrappy, reader-focused and independent.
Ava, a Charlotte native, graduated this month from UNC Chapel Hill with a journalism degree. She was the student ad manager for the school paper, The Daily Tar Heel, where she oversaw a team of 11. She’s a quick learner and a strategic thinker, and we look forward to working with her.
For those keeping score at home, Ava is the second Tar Heel on our team, following our staff writer, Lindsey Banks. As a Duke grad, part of me finds that hard to swallow, but they are both capable and vital members of our small and hardworking team.
(Incidentally, Ledger managing editor Cristina Bolling and I used to work with Ava’s grandfather, respected copy editor Roger Mikeal, at The Charlotte Observer.)
Ava is replacing part of the role of Brie Chrisman, who had been our part-time business manager, a role where she excelled. Brie, who has worked with us since 2020, will stay with us and at her request is sliding over to become our part-time operations manager.
Cristina, Lindsey, Brie and I are excited to have Ava with us! We hope you are, too. If you’d like to drop her a note to say welcome, she’s at ava@cltledger.com .
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