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Ted AbernathyManaging PartnerEconomic Leadership LLCTed Abernathy is the ManagingPartner of Economic Leader-ship LLC, a consultancy that iscurrently working in more thana dozen states to develop eco-nomic and workforce strate-gies. Ted has 35 years ofexperience in directing eco-nomic development and work-force development programs.From 2008 to 2013, Ted wasthe Executive Director of the Southern Growth PoliciesBoard, a 42-year old public policy think tank that pro-vided economic development research, strategy andmarketing advice, to states and communities across theSouth. He also served as economic development policyadvisor to the Southern Governors Association. Beforecoming to Southern Growth, Ted was a practicing eco-nomic developer for 28 years. From 2000-2008, he servedas Executive Vice President and COO for the ResearchTriangle Regional Partnership. Ted’s current projects in-clude developing economic and workforce strategies inmore than a dozen states and regions across the country,designing an economic development and innovationecosystem for a new science city in Kenya, evaluatingcluster opportunities ranging from value-added agricul-ture to advanced technologies, building dashboardsusing advanced data analytics, and producing the annualHome of Future Thinking conference. Born in Dallas,North Carolina, Ted received his bachelor’s degree fromthe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and amaster’s from Johns Hopkins University. He is a gradu-ate of the Economic Development Institute, and is anEisenhower Fellow for global economics.

Marchell Adams DavidAssistant City Manager for CommunityCity of RaleighAs Assistant City Manager forCommunity, Marchell AdamsDavid serves as liaison to thefollowing departments: Emer-gency Communications; Emer-gency Management/SpecialEvents; Fire; Housing andNeighborhoods; Parks, Recre-ation and Cultural Resources;and Police. Before joining theCity of Raleigh’s senior manage-ment team as Assistant City Manager for Community,Ms. Adams David was the City Manager of the City ofHamlet, a position she had held since 2001. She servedon the staff of that Richmond County municipality since1993, starting as Assistant to the City Manager until 1999when she was promoted to the position of Assistant CityManager. Ms. Adams David received her bachelor’s de-gree in public policy analysis with a specialization in stateand local government administration from the Universityof North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also receiveda master’s degree in public administration with a spe-cialization in public management. The North Carolinanative was named Richmond County’s 2014 NAACP Hu-manitarian of the Year. In addition to her professional in-volvement, she serves on the North Carolina ArtsCouncil Board of Directors and is a member of theUnited Way’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program forRichmond County. For the past 15 years, Ms. AdamsDavid has served as an adjunct professor at the Univer-sity of North Carolina at Pembroke, instructing studentson the principles of American government, political sci-ence, and state and local government. In 2005, she wasnamed the Region N Manager of the Year by the LumberRiver Council of Governments.

LEADERSHIP VISIT PRESENTED BY

Leadership Visit Speakers

Raleigh

Speaker information submitted as of May 2, 2019.

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LEADERSHIP VISIT PRESENTED BYRaleigh

Jesica AverhartExecutive DirectorLeadership TriangleJes came to Leadership Triangle after working with en-trepreneurs in Durham at the American Underground,named the “Startup Capital of the South” by CNBC. Aver-hart was director of corporate partnerships for this re-gional leader in tech and world-changing ideas. TheAmerican Underground is one of only nine “Google forEntrepreneurs” hubs, so her work there connected herto not only leaders in the Triangle region, but globalmovers and shakers. While at American Underground,Jes co-founded Black Wall Street Homecoming a non-profit aimed at closing the funding gap for Black andBrown tech founders and created partnerships withGoogle, Fidelity Labs, Coastal Credit Union, Wells Fargo,Lincoln Financial and more. Before that, she worked withthe American Tobacco Campus connecting leaders innonprofit organizations to each other and the outsideworld in order to achieve their missions. All of this pre-pared Jes for her new role at Leadership Triangle. She’sbeen connecting, training, and preparing leaders to taketheir rightful roles in the community for years.

Jenn BosserSenior Business Retention & Expansion ManagerCity of Raleigh, Office of Economic Development and InnovationJenn Bosser joined the City ofRaleigh’s Office of Economic De-velopment and Innovation as theSenior Business Retention andExpansion Manager in October2016 where she leads businessrecruitment, retention and work-force development efforts for theCity of Raleigh. Prior to joiningthe City, Bosser served as the firstExecutive Director of the Re-search Triangle Cleantech Cluster (RTCC), a program of theResearch Triangle Regional Partnership, an industry-ledmembership organization focused on growing the clean-tech economy in the Research Triangle Region. Bosserserved as assistant executive director for Wake County Eco-nomic Development, where she managed and imple-

mented strategic marketing initiatives and projects includ-ing targeted industry cluster recruitment, marketing and de-velopment, development of a national media and publicrelations campaign, and the creation of a regional talent re-cruitment and retention strategy, Work in the Triangle, thathas been recognized nationally as a model in economic de-velopment. Bosser served as vice president of executive en-gagement and enterprise strategy for the North CarolinaTechnology Association (NCTA). She moved to North Car-olina in 2005 from Washington, D.C., where she worked ineconomic development and marketing for Washington,D.C. Economic Development Partnership, Hard Rock Cafeand Destination DC. Bosser serves on the executive com-mittee of the board of directors for Community WorkforceSolutions and was formerly on the board of directors andpresident of Triangle Commercial Real Estate Women. Shereceived her bachelor’s degree in communications/ publicrelations from Towson University in Maryland and a certifi-cate in economic development from the Oklahoma Univer-sity Economic Development Institute and received thedesignation of Certified Economic Development Profes-sional by the International Economic Development Councilin December 2018.

Corey BranchMayor Pro TemporeCity of RaleighAs a native of Raleigh, Corey hasserved the city of his birth in nu-merous ways since graduatingand returning home from NorthCarolina A&T State Universitywith a degree in Electrical Engi-neering. While working at AT&Tas a Senior Technical Director,Corey speaks out on behalf ofthe citizens of District C. He isparticularly passionate about re-liable bus service and adequate coverage in District Cand works toward that goal as a member of the RaleighTransit Authority. As a member of the Board of Directorsfor WakeUp Wake County, he works to be a voice for Dis-trict C, while looking out for all of Raleigh and WakeCounty. Corey also serves as Chairman for the MarrkensDevelopment Group which focuses on education andpartnerships.

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Keith BurnsMember, Nexsen-PruetBoard Chair, Research Triangle Regional PartnershipKeith Burns is a real estate attor-ney in Raleigh-Durham, where herepresents clients in matters in-volving lending, business trans-actions and general contracts.He is experienced in deliveringcounsel on original loans, refi-nances, and restructuring; theformation of LLCs, corporations,and partnerships; and real estatepurchases, leases, supplier andcustomer contracts, acquisitions, and dissolutions. In his20-plus years of experience practicing law, Keith has devel-oped a firm belief that the difference between good andgreat outcomes lies at the intersection of details and busi-ness goals. His legal strategies reflect that philosophy ofmeticulousness combined with pursuit of practical solu-tions and his record further underscores a fine-tuned ap-proach to helping clients mitigate risk and capture return.

Ashley CagleVice President, Greater Raleigh ChamberAssistant Executive Director, Wake County Economic DevelopmentAshley Cagle leads Wake CountyEconomic Development’s com-prehensive business expansion,recruitment, and relocation ef-forts focused on four key marketsegments: Information Technol-ogy, Life Sciences, Cleantech,and Advanced Manufacturing.As a component of this, shealso oversees Wake County’stalent attraction, retention andpipeline strategy, focused on growing and recruitinghighly-skilled talent within the Triangle. Prior to joiningWCED, Ashley was the Executive Director of the Mont-gomery County (NC) Economic Development Corpora-tion. Born and raised in Richmond County, NorthCarolina on her parents' farm, Ashley holds a B.A. in Or-ganizational Communications from UNC-Charlotte and

a certificate in nonprofit management from Duke Uni-versity. Ashley and her husband Andy moved to HollySprings four years ago, and enjoy cheering on the Wolf-pack and the Hurricanes with their three kids: Emma,Hall, and Eli.

Anthony CaisonVice President, Workforce Continuing EducationWake Tech Community CollegeAnthony Caison has worked ineducation for over 20 years andhas been with Wake Tech Com-munity College since 1997 inseveral leadership positions, in-cluding Chief Campus Officerfor Wake Tech’s Western Wakeand Public Safety EducationCampuses. Anthony was ap-pointed to the position of VicePresident of Workforce Continu-ing Education In 2013 and leads nine divisions in pro-viding Workforce Continuing Education training to WakeCounty’s citizens, corporations, businesses, communityorganizations, municipalities and the public safety com-munity. Anthony also serves on the following boards andadvisory committees: Capital Area Workforce Develop-ment Board; State Employees Credit Union; and theWake County Economic Development Board.

Adrienne ColePresident & CEOGreater Raleigh Chamber of CommerceAs president and CEO of theGreater Raleigh Chamber ofCommerce, Adrienne Coleheads the Triangle’s largest non-profit business membership or-ganization representingtwo-thirds of the private sectoremployment in Wake County.Previously, Adrienne served asthe chamber’s senior vice presi-dent of Economic Developmentand executive director of Wake County Economic Devel-opment, where she led her team to recruit new busi-

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nesses, support existing industries, market Wake Countyand the Triangle region, and help companies attract andretain the talent needed to grow and thrive. In her currentrole, Adrienne and the Raleigh Chamber work to createa thriving economy, support business-friendly public pol-icy, encourage investments in transportation and educa-tion infrastructure, foster entrepreneurship and growWake County’s future leaders. Adrienne is a graduate ofMeredith College and received a master’s degree in pub-lic administration from Appalachian State University.Adrienne and her husband, Walt, live in Raleigh and havethree children.

Veronica CreechManager, Office of Economic Development +InnovationCity of RaleighVeronica Creech leads Eco-nomic Development at the Cityof Raleigh and is known as a re-sults-driven leader who under-stands and appreciatesevidence-based practice. She isa decision influencer in theareas of new business develop-ment and program replicationwith experience building strate-gic partnerships and leadingplace-based strategies. Under her leadership, the Officeof Economic Development + Innovation has outlined anequitable economic development strategy that prioritizessupport for small, local and start-up businesses, whilebalancing attraction and expansion that will continuegrowing a vibrant Raleigh with the vision of prosperityfor all.

Joy FrankoffSchool to Career CoordinatorWake County Public SchoolsJoy Frankoff is currently theSchool-To-Career Coordinatorfor the Wake County PublicSchool System. Her role is to fa-cilitate the School-To-Career ini-tiatives, which also includecoordinating the Business Al-liance Leadership Team of WakeCounty for middle and highschools, working with the 19high school Career Academiesin the Wake County Public School System, and oversee-ing the Career Advisory Teams representing fifteen pro-gram areas in Career and Technical Education. Beforereturning to WCPSS, Joy served as the Human ResourceDirector for Piedmont Service Group in Raleigh. Duringher tenure in private industry, Joy served on the Con-struction Technology Career Academy Advisory Board,was a member of two different Business Alliances inWake County, and served on the School-To-Career Coun-cil. Before working at Piedmont, Joy worked for sixteenyears with WCPSS as the Industry Education Coordinator(Career Counselor) and also formerly as a teacher. Shereceived her Bachelor of Science and Master’s Degreefrom N.C. State University. Joy also has her Principal’sCertification and SPHR Certification (Senior Professionalof Human Resources).

Michael HaleyExecutive Director, Wake County Economic Development (WCED)Senior Vice President, Greater Raleigh ChamberMichael Haley leads and over-sees WCED’s economic devel-opment program and staff, andis the primary partner for provid-ing support to the 12 other mu-nicipalities. In his role, Michaelis instrumental in creating anenvironment in Wake Countythat can grow and thrive andspends most of his time with


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community partners working to do so. Previously, heserved as the Director of Business Recruitment and Ex-pansion for WCED and prior to that, he was a programmanager at WCED. Before he joined the chamber,Michael led strategic economic development policy ef-forts for the North Carolina Department of Commerceas the Director of Public Policy. Michael is a native NorthCarolinian, growing up in Jacksonville before earning aB.A. degree from the University of North Carolina atChapel Hill and a M.A. in Public Policy from East Car-olina University. He and his family are active membersof the community and enjoy cheering on local teams likethe Hurricanes. He is also active in his children’s sportsand enjoys coaching soccer and basketball. Michael andhis family enjoy calling a place like Wake County homeand is dedicated to continuing to promote North Car-olina as a great place to live, work, and play.

Bridgett HarringtonExecutive DirectorInnovate RaleighBridget Harrington is the Exec-utive Director of InnovateRaleigh, where she helps thegrowing entrepreneurial com-munity through new initiativesand support services. Bridgetdraws on two decades of lead-ing innovative organizations asa marketing leader, businessstrategy consultant, andfounder. Bridget graduatedfrom the School of Media and Journalism at UNC ChapelHill. Soon after moving to New York after college, sheco-founded Syndicate Media Group, a strategic market-ing agency that helped clients like Microsoft, Coca Cola,Land Rover, and Soho House develop ground-breakingexperiential campaigns. Bridget led finance and opera-tions of a team of over 40 employees across offices inNew York and Los Angeles. After exiting Syndicate andtraveling the world for a year, Bridget was hired by Gan-nett’s Head of Innovation to work on a new local mediastrategy as Director of Revenue for The Bold Italic in SanFrancisco. Working closely with the executive team, shecrafted a viable financial strategy, oversaw the relaunchof the brand, and built a marketing and sales team that

led the organization to profitability. After 18 months ofgrowth, Harrington worked closely with Gannett’s exec-utive team to successfully sell the company. Bridget thenjoined global financial services provider KPMG, workingon some of the leading venture capital firms in SiliconValley. She earned an MS in Accounting from San Fran-cisco State University, and became a CPA to gain deeperexpertise within finance and accounting.

Larry JarvisDirector, Housing and NeighborhoodsCity of RaleighLarry Jarvis, AICP, joined theCity of Raleigh in 2014 as Direc-tor of the Housing and Neigh-borhoods Department, whichcombines three divisions: Com-munity Development, Commu-nity Engagement, and CodeEnforcement. He is a seasonedhousing professional with morethan 37 years of experience incommunity development andaffordable housing, real estate development, and neigh-borhood revitalization/redevelopment. He brings morethan 25 years of experience in the administration ofHUD-funded programs, including the Community De-velopment Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Part-nership Program (HOME), the Emergency SolutionsGrant Program (ESG), and Continuum of Care. Larrybegan his career as a housing planner with the city ofTampa, where he was responsible for the Housing Ele-ment of the Comprehensive Plan and Tampa’s first Sys-tematic Code Enforcement Plan. He joined the privatesector as the planning coordinator for Exxon’sFriendswood Development Company in Houston, wherehe oversaw the programming and master planning ofland development projects ranging from 3,000 to 15,000acres. A North Carolina native, he returned to make hishome in Raleigh in the mid-1980s, and became Directorof Development Services for the Wooten Company, ad-ministering CDBG grants for many non-entitlementcommunities across the state. He then accepted the po-sition of Assistant Director of the City of Durham’s Com-munity Development Department, where he workedbefore joining the City of Raleigh. In Durham, he was in-


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Leadership Visit Speakersstrumental in creating the vision, implementation strat-egy and multiyear/multisource funding plan for theSouthside Revitalization Project. Larry received a bache-lor’s degree from the University of North Carolina atChapel Hill, a Master’s Degree in Urban and RegionalPlanning from Virginia Tech, and a Master’s Degree inBusiness Administration from the Kenan Flagler Schoolof Business at UNC Chapel Hill.

Danya PerryDirector, Equitable Economic DevelopmentWake County Economic Development Danya Perry serves as the Direc-tor, Equitable Economic Devel-opment with Wake CountyEconomic Development(WCED) and Director, Diversity,Equity, and Inclusion with theRaleigh Chamber of Commerce.In this role, Perry supports ef-forts to ensure economic devel-opment in Wake County’s mostvulnerable communities. Thisincludes increasing economic mobility, workforce devel-opment, strengthening municipal economic ecosystems,and supporting small businesses.

Jess Porta Director of HQ RaleighJess Porta is the Director of HQRaleigh, an entrepreneurialcommunity in the heart ofRaleigh. Jess works to helpstart-up companies connectwith the resources they need togrow their businesses. Jess’spassion for helping others isrooted in her background inhuman rights. Prior to her roleas director, Jess ran her ownconsulting company for educational and human rightsorganizations and was the Training and Education Man-ager for the Salvation Army’s Anti-Human TraffickingProgram, Project FIGHT. She received her Master’s ofInternational Studies from North Carolina State Univer-

sity. Jess is also a children’s book author and consultantwith the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Tor-ture.

Harvey A. Schmitt, CCEPresident EmeritusGreater Raleigh Chamber of CommerceHarvey Schmitt was president ofthe Greater Raleigh Chamber ofCommerce from January 1994 toJune 2015. He is a graduate ofLoras College in Dubuque, Iowa.His 43-year career includedchamber leadership positionswith the Dubuque (IA) AreaChamber of Commerce, Jack-sonville (FL) Area Chamber ofCommerce, Greater Greenville(SC) Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Tampa(FL) Chamber of Commerce. He served as Chairman ofthe Board of the American Chamber of Commerce Exec-utives Association (ACCE) in 1995-96. He was a memberof the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee of 100. InRaleigh, Mr. Schmitt played a leadership role in coalesc-ing support for the PNC Center (sports arena), recruitingthe NHL Carolina Hurricanes, building the Raleigh Con-vention Center, and launching the Downtown Raleigh Al-liance, the Greater Raleigh Sports Council and theRegional Transportation Alliance. He has served on nu-merous local and regional boards. He is currently aboard member of the Carolina Hurricanes Foundationand chairs the Greater Raleigh CVB Destination StrategyBlue Ribbon Task Force. In retirement, Schmitt has re-mained active working with the Research Triangle Re-gional Partnership, the Carolina Hurricanes and servingas Co-Chair of the Department of Commerce TransitionTeam for Governor Roy Cooper.

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Leadership Visit SpeakersNate SpilkerVice President, Business Transformation &Raleigh Site LeadCitrixNate Spilker is the Vice Presi-dent of Business Transforma-tion at Citrix, an 8,000-employeetechnology company with of-fices around the world. Nateserves as the Site Leader for theCitrix office in Raleigh, an officethat has grown from 80 to morethan 700 employees over thelast six years. Nate has led vari-ous technology and softwaredevelopment teams in the Triangle area since graduatingfrom Duke University with a Bachelor’s degree in Reli-gious Studies in 1995. Nate is proud to call Raleighhome, where he lives with his wife Jennifer and two sons.He is deeply engaged with the local community andserves on the Boards of Marbles Kids Museum and Art-space. He also serves as the Vice Chair of the EconomicDevelopment Department with the Raleigh Chamber ofCommerce.

Pat E. SturdivantExecutive DirectorCapital Area Workforce Development Board Pat E. Sturdivant is the Execu-tive Director of the Capital AreaWorkforce Development Board(CAWDB). CAWDB serves busi-nesses and citizens of Wake andJohnston counties by planningand administering workforceinitiatives designed to provideemployers with skilled workersand offer citizens training andemployment opportunities thatpromote job satisfaction and economic stability. Pat hasworked in public administration for ten-plus years, pro-viding leadership in workforce development programs inWake, Johnston, and Durham counties. Pat currentlyserves as the president of the North Carolina Associationof Workforce Boards Director’s Council. CAWDB was re-

cently awarded the Laurie Moran Partnership Award bythe National Association of Workforce Boards. Pat is the2019 recipient of the Peter E. Kaiser Leadership Awardfrom the National Association of Workforce Develop-ment Professionals. Prior to workforce development, Patspent 20 years working in the private sector in variousleadership roles: Director of Process Development withFidelity Investments; Knowledge Services Program Man-ager with Innovatia Inc.; and Project Development Man-ager, Customer Account Manager, and Senior TrainingManager with Nortel Network. As teaching is one of herpassions, Pat also occasionally worked part-time in thecommunity college system teaching adult basic educa-tion.

Malinda ToddStrategic Initiatives DirectorCapital Area Workforce Development BoardMalinda Todd is the StrategicInitiatives Director at CapitalArea Workforce DevelopmentBoard. In that position, sheseeks innovative ways for CAWDto expand workforce services tomore citizens in Wake and John-ston Counties. She has led thedevelopment of career pathwaysin in-demand fields and securedsupport for Access NCWorks, acontact center that provides career center servicesthrough virtual settings. Prior to CAWD, she worked atDurham Workforce Development Board, leading effortsto recruit employers to support youth work-based learn-ing. She has also worked in rural economic and entre-preneurial development at the NC Rural Center and NCREAL. Through that work, she visited all 100 counties.She received both her undergraduate degree and Mas-ter’s in Public Administration from UNC at Chapel Hill.

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Gregg WarrenPresidentDowntown Housing Improvement CorporationSince 1985, Gregg Warren hasserved as President of DHIC,Inc. based in Raleigh. Under hisleadership, the organization hasdeveloped 40 rental communi-ties, comprising 2,500+ apart-ments across North Carolina, aswell as over 400 homes for sale.During the next two years, DHICwill be building or renovating500 apartment homes. Last year,DHIC’s Homeownership Center deployed over $4 millionin down payment assistance to 420 first-time homebuyersin the region. Prior to serving at DHIC, Gregg spent sixyears in North Carolina State Government directing theannual expenditure of $50+ million in federal funds andtechnical assistance to help small towns and rural com-munities meet housing and community developmentneeds. Earlier, he served as the first Executive Director ofa rural housing authority. Gregg has taught classes atUNC at Chapel Hill’s School of Government and the De-partment of City and Regional Planning, where he receiveda Master’s degree in Regional Planning in 1974. Greggalso completed Harvard’s Achieving Excellence Programat the Kennedy School of Government.

Tom WhiteDirector, Economic Dev. PartnershipNorth Carolina State UniversityTom White serves as the directorof the Economic DevelopmentPartnership at N.C. State Univer-sity. Previously, he was the direc-tor of the N.C. Department ofCommerce, Division of Employ-ment and Training, and then be-fore that he served as the vicepresident of economic develop-ment for the Greater DurhamChamber of Commerce. Heholds a B.A. in English from Duke University and a Mas-ter’s in Public Affairs from N.C. State University.

Smedes YorkChairman of the BoardYork PropertiesAs Chairman of the Board forYork Properties, Smedes York isinvolved in matters related tothe board and in all major deci-sions, contributes to develop-ment of strategies, offerssuggestions and ideas abouthow to improve the company,provides views on the perform-ance of management, and en-sures the company remainsstrong financially. Smedes is also an Owner, Director andChairman of the Board of McDonald York Building Com-pany. He is a multi-generation Raleigh native who hassignificantly contributed to making his hometown the dy-namic place it is today. After earning a Bachelor of Sci-ence degree in Civil Engineering from North CarolinaState University, Smedes served as a Lieutenant in theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers, receiving anArmy Commendation Medal in 1966 for his service inSouth Korea. He returned home to continue his studiesat the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiv-ing a Master’s degree in Business Administration in1968. Soon after, he took a job with his father’s company.He served on the Raleigh City Council in the late seven-ties, followed by two terms as the city’s mayor from 1979until 1983, and is a past chairman of the North CarolinaState Chamber and the Greater Raleigh Chamber ofCommerce.

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