Brad Carter first visited African Christian College in 2011 as a lecturer. While teaching the course, he and his family decided to apply to fill openings in the administration of the college. After an extensive interview process with the Board of Trustees, Brad was selected as the next President of the college. Brad moved to Swaziland in 2012 in order to get more acquainted with the operations of the college and farm before taking the reigns of the college in January 2013.
As President, he oversees academic and Tree of Life operations, serves on the leadership faculty, and is responsible for the college’s fund raising and macadamia business in the United States. Though he first visited the college in 2011, Brad had been familiar with the work at ACC since 2003, when his parents first came as administrators.
Before coming to Swaziland, Brad worked with nonprofit organizations for over ten years. He held nonprofit positions in both large and small organizations, including serving as chief executive of a growing, community-based organization and as director of Chapel at Abilene Christian University.
With a deep commitment to building a stronger nonprofit/NGO sector, Brad was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to the Texas Health & Human Services Commission (HHSC)’s Task Force on Strengthening Nonprofit Capacity in 2010. Previously, he developed the Abilene Social Impact Connection, a network of area nonprofits, and launched Abilene Gives, a strategy to increase awareness and use of online giving to charities.
In December 2010, Brad combined various nonprofit/NGO projects into Inspire Action, a leadership education and consulting business. He often spoke and consulted on implementing Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), Christian Community Development and ministry, event planning, web design and social media, strategic partnerships and program evaluation.
For seven years, Brad taught and advised students as a adjunct professor at Abilene Christian University. He also served and held leadership positions on advisory councils and boards in the City of Abilene and for other nonprofit agencies and religious congregations, including time as board member and communications director for the Texas Association of Nonprofit Organizations (TANO).
In 2009, Brad was recognized in the “Top 20 under 40” business leaders by the Abilene Reporter-News. The Abilene Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-TX) honored Brad as its 2008 Public Citizen of the Year – the organization’s top honor for someone not licensed as a social worker – for the high impact work he was leading as Executive Director of Connecting Caring Communities.
He has earned degrees from Abilene Christian University in ministry– a bachelor’s degree with emphasis on youth and families and a Master of Arts in Religion. Brad and his wife Rachael have three beautiful daughters.
