Charles has helped build and scale many nonprofits in and out of the freedom movement. Currently, he is co-founder & CEO of the Open Discourse Coalition, a new and innovative nonprofit bringing a variety of viewpoints to higher education on the ground level, and co-founder & president of Threefold Schoolhouse, a nontraditional educational institution in his community.

Previously, Charles served for 15 years in executive roles at the Commonwealth Foundation, Cardinal’s neighboring think tank in Pennsylvania, where he remains a senior fellow. Alongside his work at Commonwealth, Charles served as founding president of a public interest law firm representing mistreated workers and founding chairman of a First Amendment watchdog group. During those years, Commonwealth grew more than tenfold, protected workers from $33 billion in tax increases, turned the first school choice scholarship program into one of the largest in America, and changed the state constitution to ensure the destruction of the Covid shutdowns could never happen again. The State Policy Network recognized these efforts with its Joseph Overton and Thomas Roe Awards, making Charles the first person to receive both.

In addition to his work in educational entrepreneurship, Charles is a visiting fellow at State Policy Network, a senior advisor to Commonwealth Partners, an affiliated advisor to the Athos Group, the chairman of the board of Black Pastors United for Education, and an elder in his family’s church. He lives just off the Appalachian Trail with his wife and their four daughters.