Charles W. (Chuck) Holmes

A distinguished career in journalism formed Chuck’s passion to lead the Alabama Humanities Alliance. Chuck believes in the power of storytelling and civic engagement to propel positive change. The humanities, he says, provide the vital ingredients that tell us who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Years in public radio and newspapers took Chuck around the world, but he has deep roots in Alabama (his mother from Decatur, his father from Birmingham). In 2017, he came back South from Washington, D.C., to lead and expand WBHM, Birmingham’s NPR affiliate. Previously, at NPR and Atlanta-based Cox Newspapers, he served in leadership roles and as an editor and correspondent, including postings in Jerusalem and Moscow. At NPR, he shared a Murrow Award for Afghanistan war coverage and a Peabody Award for The Race Card Project, a grassroots storytelling initiative.

Chuck holds a B.A. from George Washington University and an executive leadership program certificate from Harvard Business School. He serves on several nonprofit boards and is active in Leadership Alabama (2020) and Leadership Birmingham (2018).