Mary C. Haddad

Mary C. Haddad is President and Co-founder of the Haddad Foundation whose focus is empowering those in need, throughout the Hampton Roads region and beyond.  She currently serves on the Board of Chesapeake Bay Academy (CBA) where she works on the Education, Board Development, and Development committees of this K-12 private school, which brings students to their full academic potential through individualized education.  She is Co-Chair of the Suffolk and Western Tidewater Advisory Committee of ForKids, which facilitates the Suffolk homeless shelter division of this regional organization.

Previous volunteer leadership positions and appointments include an appointment by Governor Warner to the Governor’s Task Force on Cervical Cancer.  This task force determined the plan for distribution of the HPV vaccine to Virginia students.  Mrs. Haddad was appointed by Governors Allen and Gilmore to two terms on the Board of Visitors at Old Dominion University where she vice-chaired Academic Affairs, chaired Academic Research and Advancement, and was elected by her piers as Vice-Rector.  Mrs. Haddad chaired the American Heart Association Board of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.  Known for organizing volunteers through enthusiastic consensus building, Mrs. Haddad was asked by the Chesapeake Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce to coordinate the construction of a playground which, designed with educational aspects, also became the largest handicap-accessible playground on the East Coast, winning regional and national awards.  As General Coordinator of Fun Forest, Mrs. Haddad headed fifteen committees who recruited and maintained two thousand volunteers.  Mrs. Haddad was appointed by Governor Wilder to serve two terms on the Family & Children’s Trust Fund (FACT), which works to coordinate Commonwealth efforts to fight domestic violence.  As a Trustee, Mrs. Haddad was elected Secretary and due to her penchant for the art of compromise, was assigned to chair the first FACT Commonwealth-wide Symposium designed to teach non-profits how to raise money.

Mrs. Haddad’s professional career was in commercial real estate with Armada Hoffler, leasing quality office space to major corporations, DOD contractors and the Department of Defense.  She was recognized as a top junior and senior Marketing Representative and became Vice President of Marketing during the development of Virginia Design and Arts Center, an AH subsidiary. 

Her awards include:  Local Hero Award from the Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative; Humanitarian Award from the National Committee for Community and Justice (NCCJ); Safe Harbor Award from Programs and Places for Children; Woman of the Year from Hampton Roads Youth Center; Volunteer Achievement Honorary from Volunteer Hampton Roads; Chairman’s Award from the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce; Service to Mankind Award from Sertoma Greenbrier; Mayor William E. Ward Special Recognition from Chesapeake City Council; Community Service Award from Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations; Volunteer and Community Service Award from Outstanding Professional Women of Hampton Roads; and appointed Norfolk Ambassador by Mayor Joseph A. Leafe, City of Norfolk.

Mrs. Haddad graduated from Hampton University, Suma Cum Laude.

Mrs. Haddad and her husband live in the countryside of Suffolk, Virginia.  They have four children.