She works specifically on the drivers of place-based economic growth as part of the American Growth Project initiative. This includes helping to expand the institute’s outreach and visibility with public officials, corporate partners and other stakeholders in major metropolitan areas around the country.

She also serves as a professor of the practice in the strategy and entrepreneurship area at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, creating and teaching courses on economic development as well as developing experiential learning programs for undergraduate and MBA students.

Before this role, LaChaun worked at Harvard University’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative where she managed the deployment and adoption of the newly launched City Leader Guide for Equitable Economic Development with mayors across the country and internationally.

LaChaun has also served as the associate director for practitioner communities with the Ash Center’s Innovations in Government Program, where she managed a network of the 45 largest cities and urban markets in the United States. She was previously the associate director for NCGrowth, where she led programs in economic development and managed teams that supported local startups and businesses in rural areas.

LaChaun earned a B.A. in international studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a concentration in global economics, trade and development. She later earned an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler and an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. LaChaun has a certificate in Management, Leadership, and Decision Sciences from Harvard Kennedy School. In addition, LaChaun studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, studying Asian business and management, and Chinese government and politics.

Theresa has been with SAS Institute since 2008. Prior to joining SAS, she worked at Lucent Technologies for 10 years. Theresa is a transformative HR leader whose career is marked by her passion for HR innovation. In her current role, she leads SAS’s HR People Systems and Analytics strategy with a specific focus on enhancing employee engagement and making data driven decision. Theresa partners with business leaders to develop and implement talent management strategies that revolve around engagement and continuous learning. Her deep understanding of the intersection between technology and human interaction ensures that SAS’s talent remains motivated, enthusiastic, and committed. Her approach prioritizes the well-being and satisfaction of employees, making them integral to the company’s success.

Theresa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Sekou’s research also explores the antecedents and consequences of human capital mobility and how different forms of employee movement impact a firm’s ability to compete with rivals.

Dr. Bermiss teaches courses in people analytics, managing human capital, leading for impact, and organizational theory and design. He is a Fellow at the Filene Institute, where he leads the research efforts of the “War for Talent” Center of Excellence.

His award-winning research has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Research in Organizational Behavior. His research has been highlighted by Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio.

Dr. Bermiss was honored as a Poets & Quants 2018 Top Undergraduate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where he served on the faculty before joining UNC Kenan-Flagler. Before entering academia, he worked for Deloitte Consulting in New York City.

He received his Ph.D and M.S. in Management and Organizations from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Ronnie works at the intersection of academia, public policy, and business, investigating the most important forces shaping our economy and society. His primary appointment is in the Fuqua School of Business, from where he has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles in the top journals in strategic management, economics, finance and organizational studies and two books, “Can Business Save the Earth?” (Stanford University Press) and “The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth” (University of Chicago Press).

Chatterji is committed to public service, both at the national level and in his home state of North Carolina. He most recently held senior economic policy positions in the Biden Administration. Chatterji served as the White House CHIPS coordinator, overseeing the implementation of the $52 billion CHIPS and Science Act, one of the largest industrial policy initiatives in a generation. He was also the Acting Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council, overseeing the Administration’s work on supporting American manufacturing, building more resilient supply chains, and driving technological innovation. Prior to his White House role, he served as the Chief Economist of the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he was the principal economic adviser to the Secretary of Commerce and responsible for policy development related to U.S. competitiveness, innovation, trade, and economic growth.

Ronnie previously worked for President Obama as a Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Chatterji served on the North Carolina FIRST Commission and the Governor’s Entrepreneurial Council, two statewide bodies advising Governor Roy Cooper on economic policy. During his sabbatical leave in 2020, Ronnie ran for State Treasurer of North Carolina, winning the statewide primary election and earning more than 2 million votes in the general election.

He has received several awards for his research, including the Kauffman Prize Medal for Distinguished Research in entrepreneurship, the Rising Star award from the Aspen Institute, and the Strategic Management Society Emerging Scholar award. Chatterji has authored several op-ed pieces in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, including influential essays introducing the concept of CEO activism with co-author Michael Toffel. He writes widely for management and policy audiences with several recent pieces in Harvard Business Review and for the Brookings Institution.

Ronnie has won multiple teaching awards at Duke, both for his teaching in the core curriculum and electives. He created a new elective on business and politics that was profiled in national media and became one of the most popular courses at the Fuqua School of Business. He is a frequent keynote speaker and experienced facilitator who has worked with top companies in finance, healthcare, technology, energy, retail, real estate, and sports.

Chatterji is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and was previously a visiting Associate Professor at The Harvard Business School. He also holds a secondary appointment at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy.

Ronnie was previously a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and worked as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs. He received his Ph.D. from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and his B.A. in Economics from Cornell University.

He has worked in both the public and private sectors, focusing on the intersection between financial markets and economic fundamentals. During the Obama Administration, Gerald was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Macroeconomic Analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he helped formulate and evaluate the impact of policy proposals on the U.S. economy. Prior to Treasury, he co-managed a global macro fund at Ziff Brothers Investments.

Gerald holds a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He is a contributing author to 30-Second Money and a co-author of Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy.

She joined Lowe’s in 2019. Betsy has 15 years of community relations and corporate philanthropic experience. In a prior role at Lowe’s, she led the company’s volunteer program and community partnerships in the Charlotte region as director, community relations. Before joining Lowe’s, she served as a director of community engagement at Novant Health and manager of community affairs at Duke Energy.

Betsy earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UNC Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University. She serves on the boards of directors for the Duke Mansion & Lee Institute and Central Piedmont Community College Foundation.

Dr. Cox earned his Bachelor of Science in English-secondary education from Appalachian State University in 1992 and later completed a Master of School Administration degree from ASU. He also holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from UNC-Charlotte.

His career began in Greensboro and Sparta, where he received the North Carolina Principal Fellows Scholarship. Dr. Cox served as Assistant Principal at Indian Trail Elementary School and as Principal at Benton Heights Elementary. His leadership extended to roles such as Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction with Lee County Schools.

In 2005, Jeff became Superintendent of Schools for Alleghany County, achieving remarkable academic success. He was appointed to state education boards and received an Aspen Presidential Fellowship for Community College Excellence in 2017 while serving as the President of Wilkes Community College. Dr. Cox, along with his wife Reba and their three sons, Dylan, Evan, and Zack, continues to make impactful contributions to education.

David holds teaching appointments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Education, and the Kennedy School of Government. Prior to his current role, he served as Academic Dean of the Kennedy School and, with his wife Janine, as Co-Faculty Dean of Kirkland House.

David is a Principal Investigator (along with Raj Chetty and John Friedman) at the CLIMB Initiative, an organization that seeks to study and improve the role of higher education in social mobility. He is also a faculty lead of the Project on Workforce, a cross-Harvard initiative that focuses on building better pathways to economic mobility through the school-to-work transition. He recently co-founded (with Ben Weidmann) the Skills Lab, which creates performance-based measures of “soft skills” such as teamwork and decision-making.

In 2022, he won the Sherwin Rosen Prize for outstanding contributions to labor economics. In 2018, he was awarded the David N. Kershaw Prize for distinguished contributions to the field of public policy and management under the age of 40. He served as a Co-Editor of the AEJ: Applied from 2018 to 2021. David writes occasional columns for The Atlantic, previously contributed to the New York Times Economic View, and publishes on his Substack newsletter, Forked Lightning. David’s research and additional details are available on his personal website.

In her current role leading Global People & Purpose, she collaborates with member firm and global business leadership, and the Global Executive Committee, to define the People & Purpose agenda globally in service to Deloitte’s partners and people. She leads the development and activation of strategies to deliver a distinctive and inclusive Deloitte talent experience around the globe and embed Deloitte’s Purpose to help drive significant positive environmental and social impact.

Elizabeth has been with Deloitte for over 30 years and is the Executive responsible for the sustainability strategies and results. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Prior to that, Faber led People & Purpose for the Asia Pacific (AP) member firm, as a founding member of the first AP Executive Committee. Throughout her career, Elizabeth has been recognized on multiple occasions internally and externally as a strong advocate for inclusion and for her Human Resources leadership.

Elizabeth lived in Asia for 20 years with her husband of over 30 years, and their two daughters, who were both born in China. She has an MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and a B.S. from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Fitzpatrick, President of Citizens Mid-Atlantic and Midwest Regions, is a CPA (nonpracticing) and a Chartered Financial Analyst. His career progressed through ever increasing levels of banking and leadership responsibility at Wells Fargo, PNC Capital Markets, Banc of America Securities and now at Citizens for the last 18 years. He serves on Citizens Financial Group’s Executive Leadership Group, the company’s senior leadership team.

A native of Northeast Philadelphia, Fitzpatrick is a former chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia and serves on its Executive Committee and its CEO Council for Growth. Fitzpatrick is Mayor Cherelle Parker’s designated Chairman of Philadelphia Works Inc., the fiduciary Workforce Investment Board for Philadelphia County. Fitzpatrick is a member of the Allegheny Conference and Chairs the Public Policy Committee for this Pittsburgh business leadership organization.

For more than 20 years, Fitzpatrick has focused on collaborating with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to provide workforce development solutions and opportunities to disadvantaged populations. Fitzpatrick is also a member of the Penn Abramson Cancer Center Innovation Advisory Board. As a result of Fitzpatrick’s community efforts, he and Citizens have received numerous community awards from various state and local organizations. In addition, Fitzpatrick was named the Emerging Icon in Financial Services by The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2018 and was the 2024 William Penn Award honoree, the highest business and civic leadership award bestowed by the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce.

Fitzpatrick earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from La Salle University and an MBA from Drexel University. Fitzpatrick lives in Philadelphia, Pa., with his wife Beth and they have four adult children.

The academic interests of Dean Mary Margaret Frank include the integration of business principles and public policy objectives, cross-sector collaboration, leadership, and sustainable investing. These interests stem from her research on the effects of regulation—specifically tax, financial accounting, and patent reporting—on the strategy of corporate management, investors, and entrepreneurs.

Dr. Frank returns to UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where she was the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Development and John Tyler Professor of Business Administration. She also was Co-Founder and Academic Director of the Institute for Business in Society. In that role, she led the development of the P3 Impact Award, which recognizes leading cross-sector collaboration to improve communities around the world, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Partnerships and Concordia. Her passion for cross-sector collaboration also led her to establish the Tri-Sector Leadership Fellows Program, which brings together graduate students from business, law, and public policy.

Additionally, Dr. Frank has served on the faculty of University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she received its Phoenix Award in recognition of faculty who, in addition to classroom responsibilities, greatly enrich the learning experience of campus students. She has served as Board Director and Chairperson of the Audit Committee of a small publicly traded company, The Female Health Company, for 14 years, which merged with a biotech company in 2016 to become Veru Inc. The medical device company’s mission was to empower women, most of whom were from developing economies, to protect themselves against HIV and AIDS.

Before returning to UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School to enroll in the Accounting PhD Program, she practiced as a CPA and Senior Tax Consultant for Arthur Andersen in Washington, D.C. Dean Mary Margaret Frank received her PhD, Master of Accounting, and BSBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Originally from Windsor, Ontario, Shanna graduated from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business with a focus in Finance and International Business. She is currently pursuing her MBA from Kelley in the evenings. Shanna enjoys mentoring students and veterans interested in careers in the industry. She and her husband live outside Raleigh, where they love spending time outdoors and planning their next adventure together.

Dr. Goger’s recent work investigates how to align  education systems and employer demand to scale earn-and-learn opportunities in the U.S.; how to improve labor and education data systems to promote  in hiring; and how to improve  economic mobility for youth  through human-centered program design. She is an expert in U.S. workforce development policy, apprenticeships, global supply chains, and economic development.

Dr. Goger’s work has been prominently featured in  TEDx  San  Quentin , CNN, NPR, Washington Monthly, The Hill, and a number of local outlets and podcasts. Dr. Goger’s work has challenged the dominant “skills gap” narrative, arguing that building stronger education and labor market institutions, addressing information asymmetries about careers and resulting patterns of occupational segregation, and making long-term investments in talent development are the key to unleashing regional innovation and addressing racial and gender inequities in the labor market.

He holds a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from North Carolina A&T State University, an M.B.A. from The University of Tennessee, and a B.S. in Organizational Management from Crichton College.

Over the course of a forty-year career spanning multiple industries and countries, Harrington has held executive and leadership roles with organizations including the U.S. Army, Technicolor, Sony, Dräger, and Elastic Therapy (ETI). Prior to his current role, he served as Professor of the Practice of Management at High Point University.

Harrington’s engagement with apprenticeship began as an employer. He launched an apprenticeship program at ETI, co-founded the youth apprenticeship consortium Apprenticeship Randolph, and conducted doctoral research on the factors influencing firms’ decisions to participate in apprenticeship programs. He also serves on several executive boards dedicated to workforce and economic development.

In that position, she led company-wide DEI strategies, partnering with a global network of diversity champions, councils, and Employee Resource Groups across a workforce of 40,000 employees. With over 20 years of HR experience, Timitra has also held roles in employee relations, recruiting, and HR generalist functions at Bank of America, Lincoln Financial Group, and GMAC Insurance.

She holds a Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University, an M.S. in Human Resources and Labor Relations from North Carolina A&T State University, and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Timitra serves on the board of Make-A-Wish Central and Western North Carolina and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She was named one of Diversity Global Magazine’s 2021 Top 15 Champions of Diversity.

Originally from Reidsville, N.C., Timitra lives in Charlotte with her husband, DeJuan, and their two children.

As strategy officer, he oversees strategic planning, governance and strategic risk management. As head of consumer products, he is responsible for deposits, credit cards, unsecured lending, product and marketing analytics, and the online and mobile experiences for Fifth Third’s consumer and small business clients. Ben joined the Bank in March 2016 as head of corporate strategy, fintech, customer experience and digital lending. Before that, Ben spent over a decade in consulting as a partner in the financial services practice at Oliver Wyman. There, he advised leading banks and other financial institutions both in the U.S. and globally.

Ben earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University.

Ben serves as a director for PayCo Inc., a payment-system infrastructure formed by The Clearing House that operates an electronic check clearing and settlement system, a clearing house and a wholesale funds transfer system. He’s also a member of the Plaid Industry Advisory Board and of the Entrepreneurship Program Advisory Board at Miami University’s Farmer School of Business. Ben has written on behalf of Oliver Wyman and the World Economic Forum, chaired the American Banker Marketplace Lending & Investing conference. He also sits on the board of the Santi School Project, a nonprofit dedicated to giving girls and disadvantaged ethnic minorities in Nepal access to quality education. Along with his wife and two children, Ben lives in Cincinnati and is enjoying his return to suburban living, even as he maintains his passion for international football and world travel.

Among other public service, Holden served as the Chief of Staff for the North Carolina Department of Commerce and as Director of Government and Community Affairs for the State Board of Education. Her private sector experience includes a career with IBM, as well as a Registered Investment Advisory firm. Cecilia holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Duke University, a certificate in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina School of Government and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Business from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Prior to joining the institute, David was director of economic development and engagement for UNC’s Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), where he led the formation of two public-private partnerships: the National Consortium for Data Science and the iRODS Consortium.

David has a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Virginia, and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

He is an award-winning author whose writings have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Newsweek, and many other national and regional publications. Jeff has appeared regularly on CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox Business News. Policymakers have sought his expertise on a variety of topics, leading to Jeff testifying before state legislatures and on Capitol Hill.

His groundbreaking book, Untapped Talent: How Second Chance Hiring Works for Your Business and the Community (HarperCollins Leadership, April 2021), shares the business case and best practices of hiring people with criminal records. He was elected to membership in the Council on Criminal Justice in recognition of his work on the intersection of the justice system and the labor market.

Jeff graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a certificate of proficiency in Near Eastern Studies.

She serves as Department Editor at Management Science and Associate Editor at the Journal of Finance. Previously, she was an Editor at the Review of Corporate Finance Studies and Associate Editor at the Review of Financial Studies.

Dr. Kuhnen is the incoming President of the Society for Experimental Finance, has served as President of the Society for Neuroeconomics, and is a Director of the American Finance Association.

She is a Faculty Affiliate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and also serves as Director of Research at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Prior to joining the faculty at UNC Kenan-Flagler, Dr. Kuhnen served on the faculty of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

She received her Ph.D. in finance from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and two bachelor’s degrees – in finance and neuroscience – from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He is the co-chair of the NC Senate Education Policy Committee and Base Budget Committee. Additionally, Senator Lee is a member of the following NC Senate Committees: Commerce and Insurance, Health Care, Judiciary, Rules and Operations, and the Select Committee on Nominations. Senator Lee was elected Majority Leader of the North Carolina Senate in April 2025.

Prior to his tenure in the NC Senate, Michael served on the NCDOT Board of Transportation and Chaired the NC Port Authority.

Outside of his legislative roles, Michael contributes his expertise to several organizations. He serves on the Board of Directors for The Hunt Institute and is a Hunt Kean Fellow. He is also an Advisory Board Member for the South State Bank, and a member of the Education Commission of the States and the Education Committee of the Council of State Governments Southern Office.

As a practicing lawyer, Michael has been recognized for his numerous achievements including being listed in The Best Lawyers of America directory, receiving Business North Carolina Magazine’s Legal Elite designation, and being named a Super Lawyer by Law & Politics Magazine.

Michael is the father of four children and has been a resident of the Cape Fear Region for over 24 years. Michael is a graduate of UNC-CH and obtained his law degree with honors from Wake Forest University.

Throughout her career, Dean Mayer-Davis has mentored numerous graduate students. She is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and to ensuring that our graduate students have access to professional development and mental health and well-being tools to support them during their time at Carolina.

Dean Mayer-Davis believes that graduate students are emblematic of innovation made fundamental and are capable and prepared to address humanity’s greatest challenges. Simply put, graduate students are pivotal to how Carolina powers its economic and research engine—reaching all areas of our state through research, teaching, and public service. Under her leadership, The Graduate School supports graduate students and champions graduate education in our state.

Formerly the Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, she also co-directs the Nutrition Obesity Research Center. An accomplished scholar, she is the principal investigator for the Carolina site of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study, and she serves as the national co-chairperson for a large multi-center study. She has served on the University’s Faculty Executive Committee for several years. Dean Mayer-Davis serves as principal investigator for a National Institutes of Health Nutrition for Precision Health Consortium Initiative and has received additional funding from the NIH to promote diversity in nutrition, obesity, and diabetes research. She is active in the American Diabetes Association and was the 2011 President for Health Care and Education for the Association.

Dean Mayer-Davis was recently appointed to the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee by the Secretary of the USDA and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has also served as an appointee of President Obama on the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health.

His portfolio includes external affairs, marketing, media relations, event management and brand development for the institute. He is advancing the national reputation for the institute through an integrated marketing strategy that showcases thought leadership, research excellence, community development and student engagement. He devotes time to supporting his two college-age children and, in his spare time, enjoys running, hiking and photography.

He is President of Jewish for Good and serves on the boards of the Durham Convention Center, Duke’s Aging Center Advisory Board and Learning Innovation Advisory Council, A.M. and R.Z. Fleishman Foundation, and Canary Benefits.

Ari earned an MBA/MPP at the Harvard Business School and Kennedy School of Government with Rubenstein and George Fellowships. Medoff graduated from Duke University as a BN Duke Scholar and went to Durham Tech to become a CNA in 2013.

Ouimet’s research agenda is concentrated at the juncture of finance and labor economics. She is interested in how decisions studied in finance impact employee stakeholders—specifically how those effects are reflected in firm performance and corporate finance decisions.

Her work has been published in the American Economic Review, Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, and Journal of Financial Economics.

Paige previously worked at the Center for Clean Air Policy, an independent nonprofit think tank focused on climate and air quality policy at the local, national, and international levels.

Ouimet earned her Ph.D. and MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and her B.A. from Dartmouth College.

As an experienced brand-builder, she is passionate about maximizing the potential of Revlon’s powerful collection of brands, ensuring they remain deeply loved for generations of beauty and wellness consumers to come.

Prior to Revlon, Ms. Peluso was the Executive Vice President and Chief Customer and Experience Officer at CVS Health, where she oversaw the end-to-end consumer experience across all channels, including leading the brand and marketing efforts. She also previously served as Co-President, Pharmacy and Consumer Wellness, where she transformed the retail business across 9,000 stores.

Prior to joining CVS Health, Ms. Peluso was Senior Vice President, Digital Sales and Chief Marketing Officer at IBM from 2016 to 2021. She oversaw marketing, digital sales, client experience and the commercial business, globally. Additionally, Ms. Peluso has previously served as Chief Executive Officer of online shopping destination Gilt Groupe, Inc. (“Gilt”) from 2013 until its sale to Hudson’s Bay Company in February 2016 and was on Gilt’s Board of Directors from 2009 to 2016.

Prior to Gilt, Ms. Peluso served as Global Consumer Chief Marketing and Internet Officer of Citigroup Inc. She was the CEO of Travelocity and the Founder and CEO of Site59, an online travel site that Travelocity acquired. She started her career as a consultant and case leader at the Boston Consulting Group in New York.

Ms. Peluso earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and an M.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Pembroke College at Oxford University as a Thouron Scholar. She is a White House Fellow and served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Labor. Ms. Peluso is on the Board of Nike, and she lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

After a 15-year career in corporate human resources and ten years of side hustle as a self-taught remodeler, Nora decided to switch directions to pursue a Master of Social Work from UNC-Chapel Hill with a focus on social entrepreneurship. In Summer 2020, Nora combined her passion for women’s workforce development, her interest in preserving housing for older adults, and her love for construction to launch Hope Renovations.

Nora has received multiple honors for her work, including being named One of AdWeek’s Most Influential SMB Marketers in 2024, National Association of Home Builders’ Woman of the Year in 2023, and a Top Ten CNN Hero in 2022. She speaks about gender equity in the trades and the importance of supporting aging-in-place throughout the country. She is a UNC Tar Heels and LA Dodgers fan, a Master Gardener, a crazy cat lady, and a beach addict. Nora lives in Chapel Hill with her husband Brian and her beautiful toddler Isaac, a future feminist tradesman.

Thomas’s career spans numerous industries, including state and local government, higher education, technology, nonprofits, health care, transportation and energy/utilities. His commitment to driving measurable organizational and community change is at the core of his work.

Earlier in his career, Thomas served as a Special Assistant to the Governor of North Carolina. He also served three terms as a Councilman with the City of Durham. Later, he returned to the Governor’s Office as Governor McCrory’s Chief of Staff, where among other responsibilities, he led the establishment of the $60M Venture Capital Multiplier Fund to support entrepreneurship and innovation in the state.

Thomas’s devotion to improving his community is evidenced through his work with organizations such as the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he served as the District Director for North Carolina and the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At the SBA, he facilitated $16B in direct assistance to North Carolina small businesses, contributing to the stability and growth of the state during the COVID 19 pandemic. Through his work with the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, Thomas bolstered the entrepreneurial and small business ecosystem of North Carolina and promoted private enterprise as a critical component of capitalism.

Thomas’s most recent tenure was as President of the North Carolina Community College System, the nation’s third largest, comprised of 58 individual colleges across North Carolina. During his tenure, he secured a historic $1.4B legislative investment, turned around a declining enrollment, and redesigned recruiting efforts that resulted in an unprecedented number of diversity hires within the senior team leadership.

Thomas earned a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Business Administration from North Carolina Central University. He is also certified in nonprofit management from Duke University and holds a Directorship Certification from the National Association of Corporate Directors. Thomas and his wife Yolanda have three adult children and live in the Triangle area of North Carolina. Stith was a 2023 Distinguished Fellow and participated in the Kenan Institute Grand Challenge Workforce Disrupted: Seeking the Labor Market’s Next Equilibrium.

Under Tucker’s stewardship, IALR continues to demonstrate success in economic development, workforce development, applied research, advanced learning and conferencing services. For the past three years, IALR has grown substantially to more than 150 employees and has developed a national reputation in delivering manufacturing training and technology development initiatives in partnership with the U.S. Navy and Department of Defense.

Previously Tucker served as Director of Arlington Economic Development, where he led a team that successfully landed companies like Boeing’s Global Headquarters and Microsoft while continuing to build on the momentum of Amazon HQ2. Prior to that role, Tucker served five years as the Director of Economic Development for the City of Danville, where he experienced much success helping to revive the Southern Virginia economy with major economic development announcements like AeroFarms, FasTech and Litehouse. Before holding other various state and local economic development and leadership roles, Tucker began his career as an educator for Lynchburg City Schools.

Tucker holds current board appointments for the IALR Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Broadband Communities Corporation, Southern Virginia Regional Alliance (Chair), Dan River Business Development Center, Future of the Piedmont Foundation, Danville Area Development Foundation, Danville Industrial Development and Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. He has served on various other boards in the past, including the Leadership Center for Excellence Board of Regents and George Mason University President’s Innovation Advisory Council. Tucker has received the prestigious Certified Economic Development (CEcD) designation granted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) in Washington, D.C., and for four consecutive years has been named to the Virginia 500 Power List of most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics and education. Tucker is an accomplished pianist, a Lynchburg native and obtained his Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business and Spanish from James Madison University.

She is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the Workforce Development, Accreditation, Audit, and Customer Success Teams. Cathy has served NCCER’s mission for 24 years and has led the implementation of influential partnerships such as Future Farmers of America (FFA), the Coalition on Adult Basic Education (COABE), and numerous industry and educational programs nationwide.

Building on decades of experience, Tyler is a recognized expert in workforce development solutions and has served on the Board of the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE) and the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC). In 2024, she represented NCCER to receive the key to the city of Port Arthur, TX, as well as two state proclamations in honor of contributions made to community-based workforce development initiatives. Cathy is passionate about comprehensive workforce development solutions and building cross-sector connections to advance industry objectives.

She is also Professor of Economics at Williams College, where she has been on the faculty since 2004; a Research Associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Co-Editor of the Journal of Human Resources. Watson was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Microeconomic Analysis at the U.S. Treasury from 2015 to 2016. She has also been a visiting researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, a Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at the University of Michigan, and a Research Associate with Princeton University’s Center for Research on Child and Family Wellbeing. She earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 2003.

Watson’s work focuses on U.S. social policy, including immigration and the safety net. Watson’s book with journalist Kalee Thompson, The Border Within: The Economics of Immigration in an Age of Fear, was published by University of Chicago Press in 2021.

Watson lives in the D.C. area with her family and poorly behaved dog.