37 www.ReadMPM.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com | www.MountPleasantPodcast.com Patriots Point will have an even larger economic impact, supporting 3,000 jobs and contributing $393 million to the local economy, with Hunt steering the ship. NATALIE WRIGHT It’s no surprise that many tourists who visit the Charleston area decide to stay and make it their new home. That’s where real estate agent Natalie Wright comes in. But for Wright, the real estate business is more than just selling houses. The vision of Real Estate House International (REHI), the company she co-founded, is to help clients not only find the right home but to launch them on their journey toward financial security. Home ownership is the number one path to creating personal wealth, yet it’s a dream that many people of color and those in marginalized communities consider out of reach. Since Wright’s background is in finance, she can help her clients evaluate their buying power and build wealth through owning their own home. But she doesn’t stop there. Since young people often leave high school without a clue about managing personal finance in the real world, Wright created Youth Financial, a workshop for teenagers and young adults to learn necessary financial skills. As a member of the Realtors Political Action Committee (RPAC), she and her fellow members work at all levels of government to protect business interests of the real estate industry and enable clients to achieve their goal of home ownership. PAMELA BROWNING How does the public follow everything that’s happening in our community? It’s up to news outlets to give us the information we need and to report the truth. The Post and Courier has always been a trusted source of journalism in Charleston, and Pamela (PJ) Browning, its president and publisher, has the responsibility of continuing that legacy of trust. She also heads the Journalism Preservation Society, whose goal is public service through investigative journalism while also safeguarding the First Amendment. Two years ago, she was named Executive of the Year by the Inter American Press Association, an international group devoted to defending freedom of the press. Browning has been with the Post and Courier for more than a decade, formerly as senior vice president of Evening Post Industries, the paper’s parent company, as well as VP of its Newspaper Division. Under her leadership, the newspaper has won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and was named a finalist three other times. Browning has also guided her team at the Post and Courier into the age of social media, utilizing platforms like Instagram and digital newsletters. MARY MARGARET NELMS It also falls to television broadcasting to cover what’s making news. With the challenges of cable TV biases and internet falsehoods often hindering that effort, Mary Margaret Nelms is confident that those whom she leads as general manager of WCIV Channel 4 are willing and able to pursue the facts. Nelms has been GM at Channel 4 since 2014 and was named General Manager of the Year in 2015 by parent company the Sinclair Media Group, which praised her professionalism and dedication to public service. That was the year that the Charleston area witnessed three tragic news events: the Mother Emanuel AME Church mass shooting, the shooting of Walter Scott by a police officer and the 1,000-year flood. Through it all, Nelms our town
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