By Sharonne Hayes, American Red Cross

On most days, you’ll find Elaine Lyerly exactly where the American Red Cross has always called her—somewhere between a hand to hold and a path forward. In conversation, she is measured and kind, with the steady presence of someone who has learned that the most powerful change often begins in the small moments—at a shelter table, in a distribution line, around a circle of women deciding how to uplift their communities. Together. 

Her public résumé is capacious: Vice Chair of the American Red Cross Board of Governors, National Chair of the Tiffany Circle, and Founding Chair of the Tiffany Circle International Counci*l, along with an almost 50‑year career in marketing and public relations as co‑founder of the esteemed *Lyerly Agency. But what lingers, most of all, is the way she relates to people—from neighbors here in Charlotte to leaders across the globe—who meet her in the mission moments and stay with her, year after year. 

“The most powerful moments rarely happen on stages,” said Elaine. “They happen at shelter tables, in quiet corners, and in the places where people simply decide to show up.”

Roots in Compassion and Resilience

“What has kept me involved over the years is that I have seen firsthand the difference the [American Red Cross] organization makes—right in our backyard, around the country, and all around the world,” said Elaine. 

Elaine grew up in Charlotte—with four formative years in Greensboro—and stepped into leadership early. At just 26, she and her sister launched the Lyerly Agency in an era when few women in the Southeast were running firms of their own. She still remembers the headlines from those early days, proof that women could not only enter the business world but help reshape it. 

Those years, she says, were equal parts grit and idealism: learning how to build something from the ground up, how to communicate with purpose, and how to navigate a landscape where she and her sister were often the only women in the room. The challenges of entrepreneurship—especially as two young women leading in a male‑dominated sector—taught her resilience, diplomacy, and decisive leadership. These became the same skills she later poured into the Red Cross in crisis response, board strategy, and women’s philanthropy. 

Over time, the Lyerly Agency grew into a nationally honored firm known for creative excellence and a culture of compassion. But for Elaine, the heart of the work was always the same: seeing people clearly, lifting them up, and helping them find their voice. 

“Leadership isn’t a title,” says Elaine. “It’s a responsibility to lift someone else with you.” 

It was never just one moment that anchored her commitment to service, she insists…though she can summon many. Sitting shoulder‑to‑shoulder in shelters where the quiet work of rest, paperwork, and coffee becomes a lifeline. Driving out with teams trained to turn chaos into care. Watching grief soften—just a little—because someone decided to show up that day. 

“Whether it’s holding a hand and comforting someone who has lost everything in a flood or a fire, to seeing women in Africa holding goats with a program that enabled them to feed their families whole milk twice a day—it’s life‑saving, this work.”

A Global Sisterhood Through Tiffany Circle

The Tiffany Circle is a network of women philanthropists who each contribute thousands of dollars annually to accelerate the Red Cross mission locally, nationally, and worldwide. Its name honors the 1917 Louis C. Tiffany stained glass windows in the Red Cross Board of Governors Hall, commissioned jointly by women of the North and South as a symbol of reconciliation and hope. Since its formation, the Tiffany Circle has raised more than $174 million for lifesaving work across the country. 

“Being a part of the Tiffany Circle is really being a part of a global sisterhood where women come together,” Elaine explains. “If we look at some of the Tiffany Circles in Africa, for example, women strengthen their families and their communities…and when they do, change becomes inevitable. It’s not just powerful; it’s transformational.” 

Elaine helped build the Tiffany Circle in the United States and later launched its International Council, connecting women leaders across the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Through international forums in Geneva, members return home with deeper understanding of the global mission and the seven Fundamental Principles—humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality—bringing renewed purpose to their local chapters. 

“I was the first woman to chair the board here in the Charlotte metro area, so that was an exciting milestone for me,” she says. “As I’ve grown in my Red Cross volunteer career, it’s especially rewarding for me to see how women come together… that there’s a place for women in the American Red Cross, and there’s a network of volunteers all around the world.”

On the Ground: Compassion in Action

Family has always been Elaine’s grounding place, both the one she was born into and the one she chose. She and her sister built their agency side by side for decades, a partnership that mirrored the collaboration she would later champion in Red Cross circles. And when she became a mother through adoption, bringing home her son from Paraguay, her understanding of global connection and human vulnerability deepened. 

She often reflects that adoption and motherhood broadened her sense of responsibility—not just to her own child but to families everywhere navigating uncertainty and hope at the same time. That blend of personal and professional “heart work” is part of why the Red Cross became, as she says, her second family: a place where her values and vocation aligned. 

“I like to say I have two families,” Elaine said. “There’s the family I was born into, and then there’s my Red Cross family.” 

Meanwhile, disaster volunteers are the backbone of the American Red Cross mission—ordinary neighbors who step into extraordinary moments. They make up about 90% of the Red Cross workforce, responding to more than 65,000 emergencies each year, most of them local home fires that never make the news but upend lives all the same. As members of Disaster Action Teams, volunteers deliver the very first layer of care: immediate relief, emotional support, emergency financial assistance, and a steady presence when families are facing their darkest hours. 

“Our volunteers are hope in motion,” said Elaine. “They are the steady hand between someone’s worst day and their first step forward.”

One of the most unforgettable moments for Elaine came during Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, one of the most devastating disasters in U.S. history and marks the largest humanitarian relief effort ever untaken by the American Red Cross. The storm displaced hundreds of thousands across the Gulf Coast, and nearly 250,000 Red Cross workers (most of them volunteers) were mobilized after the storm…Elaine was one of them. 

She remembers being on the ground offering comfort—standing in a long line of volunteers handing out cleaning supplies to families who had lost almost everything. 

“To see the tears of joy just knowing that Red Cross was there helping them get back on their feet… I looked down the line of volunteers, and all of us were crying, too—being able to help, even in just a small way, to make an impact in the lives of the people and families who were facing historical circumstances.” 

Glow Red: Elevating Women in Global Governance

Elaine is also a passionate supporter of Glow Red, the Global Network for Women Leaders in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The network emerged after the 2017 IFRC General Assembly, where women held just 13% of Governing Board seats. Today, Glow Red includes more than 700 members across 120+ National Societies and has helped push the IFRC Governing Board to over 50% women. 

She lights up when she speaks about her friend Kate Forbes, a Tiffany Circle member from Phoenix, now serving as President of the IFRC—only the second woman in history to hold the role. Representation matters, Elaine reminds us; it signals to daughters, colleagues, and volunteers that leadership is theirs to claim.

How Service Has Evolved 

Ask Elaine what the Red Cross needs most today, and she doesn’t hesitate: preparedness and community. 

“I think the most pressing issue for the Red Cross is to help people be prepared,” she says. “There’s a need for more volunteers. There’s a need for more money to take care of people and give them the financial resources they need to get back on their feet.” 

Elaine often says that her volunteer service has been the most defining part of her Red Cross journey. Whether she’s helping families navigate the first steps after a fire or supporting volunteers during major deployments, she helps bring a steady blend of empathy and pragmatism that keeps people grounded. 

Meanwhile, the landscape of volunteerism continues to evolve—more training, more responsibility, and more front‑line leadership. With disasters growing in both frequency and severity, volunteer roles have expanded and become more specialized, requiring greater readiness, deeper skill‑building, and a more agile volunteer force capable of mobilizing quickly and sustaining support through longer, more complex responses. 

…And yet, the heart remains the same: neighbors helping neighbors. 

Elaine sees that evolution clearly: “We need more and more volunteers all the time because disasters are getting bigger and more numerous and more powerful,” she says. “I love the way Red Cross engages volunteers and has them on the front line; it empowers them to take charge, be responsible, and really make a difference.”

A Lasting Legacy

“If I leave anything behind, I hope it’s the reminder that love—organized and accountable—can move mountains,” said Elaine.

Elaine Lyerly’s legacy is both local and global: pioneering leadership in Charlotte, national and international roles that opened doors for women, and decades spent standing beside families on their hardest days. 

In reflecting on her service, she turns to Maya Angelou: “Whenever I decide to do something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.”

And her hopes for the future echo that same spirit: “Ultimately, my goal for the Red Cross is to play a role in having peace on this planet,” says Elaine. “If our work can move even one step closer to peace—real peace—then every moment has been worth it.” 

Fifty years in, Elaine still believes that a global sisterhood is not only beautiful but essential—and that the best way to change the world is to keep showing up, hand in hand, with an open heart.