Get to Know the CED Board

CED was built by Founders and Business Leaders nearly 40 years ago and is still led by them today.

We are proud to be represented by some of the area’s most talented and successful leaders committed to ensuring the success of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in this area. The formation of the board is intentional to ensure balanced representation from each component of the ecosystem. We are split into a third entrepreneur, investor, and ecosystem partner. Learn more about our dynamic board below.

BILL SPRUILL
Board Chair

Tech Founder, Bill Spruill and CED’s CEO, Kelly Rowell are shaping a vision for the future, leveraging the legacy and impact CED has had on the entrepreneurial ecosystem in North Carolina.

“My mission is to bring the Triangle Ecosystem to a point of national dominance over the next ten years.” says Spruill. ”And I believe CED is the organization to do it.”

KELLY ROWELL
CEO

2023-2024 Executive Committee: 

CEO | Zaloni

Susan Cook

Investment Partner | XFactor Ventures

Michelle Egger

Partner | Cherry Bekaert LLP

Ronnie Eubanks

Founder | Learn Platform

Karl Rectanus

CEO | VQ Biomedical

Galen Robertson

CEO/President | 2NDF

Bill Spruill

Co-CEO | AgBiome

Scott Uknes

Director, Patents | SAS Institute, Inc.

Tim Wilson

Partner | Cofounders Capital

Tim McLoughlin

CEO | Zaloni

Susan Cook

Investment Partner | XFactor Ventures

Michelle Egger

Partner | Cherry Bekaert LLP

Ronnie Eubanks

Ronnie advises an array of private-equity and venture backed companies typically found in industries involving innovation at their core; including the Technology and Healthcare & Life Science industries. Ronnie’s clients rely on his expertise to optimize corporate structure and evaluate/select the most effective internal finance structure. He helps companies navigate financial reporting, funding options and impact, equity vs. debt and related matters, governance and compliance with investors, and private equity owner requirements.
For more than 27 years, Ronnie has worked with Technology, Healthcare & Life Science and Industrial companies, providing clients with the guidance essential to achieving growth, creating and retaining value, meeting short and long-term goals and mitigating unnecessary setbacks.

Founder | Learn Platform

Karl Rectanus

Karl Rectanus is an operator, entrepreneur, policy advisor, and impact investor, whose professional career has focused on expanding the effectiveness of systems to deliver better outcomes, especially for those that the system has traditionally under-served.

Originally an educator and administrator in the United States and abroad, Karl has launched four successful education innovation organizations, including cofounding and leading LearnPlatform – a disruptive, for-benefit organization that was named #38 on the 2023 Forbes Most Innovative Companies in the World list – before it was acquired by Instructure (NYSE:INST). LearnPlatform’s ground-breaking work in measuring the impact of education technology created and expanded the use of an industry standard for evidence in education.

Karl has lived, worked and studied in 12 countries, was a James M. Johnston Scholar and NC Teaching Fellow at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and completed graduate courses at UCLA’s Anderson Business School and California Institute of Technology executive extension. Karl serves on multiple non-profit and for-profit boards driving equity, innovation and impact, including Davinci Education, Mapt, UC-Irvine’s CERES network for education research, the EDSafe AI Alliance, CED, and the NC Public School Forum.

Karl, his wife and three daughters call Raleigh, North Carolina, home.

CEO | VQ Biomedical

Galen Robertson

CEO/President | 2NDF

Bill Spruill

Co-CEO | AgBiome

Scott Uknes

Director, Patents | SAS Institute, Inc.

Tim Wilson

Partner | Cofounders Capital

Tim McLoughlin

2023 – 2024 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CEO | Tax CSA LLC

Silvia Aguirre

Managing Partner | Bagchi Law

Neil Bagchi

CEO | Wild Earth, Inc

Ryan Bethencourt

Managing Partner | Front Porch Venture Partners

Greggory Bordes

CEO | Zaloni

Susan Cook

Partner | Davis Moore

Matthew Cooke

Vice Chancellor and Foundation President | NCSSM

Barb Coury

Wells Fargo

Michael Crooke

Investment Partner | XFactor Ventures

Michelle Egger

CEO | Catalyst Research Alliance

Doug Eisner

Chief Strategy Officer | Allobee

Anne English

Partner | Cherry Bekaert LLP

Ronnie Eubanks

Audit Managing Director | Deloitte & Touche LLP

Tim Fleischman

Assistant Vice Chancellor | NC State Office of Research Commercialization

Wade Fulghum

Vice President | Gray Ventures

Alex Gray

Partner | KdT Ventures

Phil Grayeski

Head of External Affairs, Southeast | Google

Lilyn Hester

Co-Found & Partner | Sustainable Food Ventures

Mariliis Holm

Principle | Pappas Capital

Elizabeth Kelly

CEO | LUMINELLE

Allison London Brown

Partner | Balentine

John Maddison

VP, Trade Strategy and Operations

Jackie Mancini

Partner | Cofounders Capital

Tim McLoughlin

Managing Partner | Topmark Partners

Travis Milks

General Partner | Jurassic Capital

Kevin Mosely

General Manager | Bronto

George Moser

Founder and Managing Partner | Zane Venture Fund

Shila Nieves Burney

Partner | BDO

Will Owens

Managing Director | Syngenta Ventures

David Pierson

CTO | Cisco

Carlos Pignatoro

President, NuPulseCV

Sonna Patel-Raman

Founder | Learn Platform

Karl Rectanus

CEO | VQ Biomedical

Galen Robertson

CEO/President | 2NDF

Bill Spruill

Principle | Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund

Mahati Sridhar

Managing Partner | RevUp Capital

Allan Tear

Managing Partner | Hutchison PLLC

Anna Tharrington

Co-CEO | AgBiome

Scott Uknes

VP, New Ventures & Strategic Alliances | Labcorp

Megann Vaughn Watters

SAS Institute

Tim Wilson

CEO | Tax CSA LLC

Silvia Aguirre

Managing Partner | Bagchi Law

Neil Bagchi

CEO | Wild Earth, Inc

Ryan Bethencourt

Managing Partner | Front Porch Venture Partners

Greggory Bordes

CEO | Zaloni

Susan Cook

Partner | Davis Moore

Matthew Cooke

Vice Chancellor and Foundation President | NCSSM

Barb Coury

Barb Coury has been the Vice Chancellor for Development and the Foundation President of the North Carolina School of Science and Math (NCSSM) Foundation for the past four years, where she leads the team responsible for increasing and diversifying philanthropic revenue in support of the school.
Barb was formerly the National Director of Foundation and Federated Giving and Special Event revenue for the American Red Cross. She was responsible for leading field-based fundraisers across the U.S. with a revenue line of $250 million annually. Prior to this position, she was the Chief Development Officer for the American Red Cross of Indiana for five years where she managed a large fundraising team. Barb earned an executive MA in nonprofit management and philanthropic studies from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IU, where she served as a member of the board. In 2016, Barb was named the Outstanding Fundraising Professional for Indiana by the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Indiana (AFP – I) and later named the Outstanding Fundraising Professional by AFP International in 2017. Barb is currently a member of the inaugural class of the first professional doctorate offered in civil society (PhilD) through the LFSOP at IU.

Wells Fargo

Michael Crooke

Investment Partner | XFactor Ventures

Michelle Egger

CEO | Catalyst Research Alliance

Doug Eisner

Chief Strategy Officer | Allobee

Anne English

Partner | Cherry Bekaert LLP

Ronnie Eubanks

Ronnie advises an array of private-equity and venture backed companies typically found in industries involving innovation at their core; including the Technology and Healthcare & Life Science industries. Ronnie’s clients rely on his expertise to optimize corporate structure and evaluate/select the most effective internal finance structure. He helps companies navigate financial reporting, funding options and impact, equity vs. debt and related matters, governance and compliance with investors, and private equity owner requirements.
For more than 27 years, Ronnie has worked with Technology, Healthcare & Life Science and Industrial companies, providing clients with the guidance essential to achieving growth, creating and retaining value, meeting short and long-term goals and mitigating unnecessary setbacks.

Audit Managing Director | Deloitte & Touche LLP

Tim Fleischman

Assistant Vice Chancellor | NC State Office of Research Commercialization

Wade Fulghum

Vice President | Gray Ventures

Alex Gray

Partner | KdT Ventures

Phil Grayeski

Head of External Affairs, Southeast | Google

Lilyn Hester

Co-Found & Partner | Sustainable Food Ventures

Mariliis Holm

Principle | Pappas Capital

Elizabeth Kelly

Elizabeth re-joined Pappas Capital in 2021 and works across funds, including Pappas Ventures and Asia Innovation Ventures (AIV), the firm’s newest specialized fund. She led AIV’s investments in Horizon Quantum Computing, NuProbe, RoboCT, Us2.ai, and VFlowTech, and serves as a board observer for Horizon and VFlowTech.

Prior to Pappas, she invested in digital health and healthcare technology companies at Echo Health Ventures, and its predecessor, Mosaic Health Solutions, both subsidiaries of Blue Cross NC. Prior to Mosaic, Elizabeth had a variety of cross-functional responsibilities at Chimerix (NASDAQ: CMRX), a biopharmaceutical company developing antiviral therapies for immunocompromised transplant patients. In addition to playing a leadership role in the company’s 2013 IPO, she spearheaded activities in corporate development, finance, marketing, IR, and PR. She began her career as an Analyst at Pappas Ventures, where she managed the deal flow process, supported portfolio companies, and contributed to fundraising efforts for a new venture fund.

CEO | LUMINELLE

Allison London Brown

Partner | Balentine

John Maddison

VP, Trade Strategy and Operations

Jackie Mancini

Partner | Cofounders Capital

Tim McLoughlin

Managing Partner | Topmark Partners

Travis Milks

General Partner | Jurassic Capital

Kevin Mosely

General Manager | Bronto

George Moser

35 year of software / tech experience in leadership roles . Specific focus – General Management, Sales, and Business Development. Several successful Startups, Multiple acquisitions and an IPO.

Contact ID

No answer given

Founder and Managing Partner | Zane Venture Fund

Shila Nieves Burney

Partner | BDO

Will Owens

Managing Director | Syngenta Ventures

David Pierson

CTO | Cisco

Carlos Pignatoro

President, NuPulseCV

Sonna Patel-Raman

Founder | Learn Platform

Karl Rectanus

Karl Rectanus is an operator, entrepreneur, policy advisor, and impact investor, whose professional career has focused on expanding the effectiveness of systems to deliver better outcomes, especially for those that the system has traditionally under-served.

Originally an educator and administrator in the United States and abroad, Karl has launched four successful education innovation organizations, including cofounding and leading LearnPlatform – a disruptive, for-benefit organization that was named #38 on the 2023 Forbes Most Innovative Companies in the World list – before it was acquired by Instructure (NYSE:INST). LearnPlatform’s ground-breaking work in measuring the impact of education technology created and expanded the use of an industry standard for evidence in education.

Karl has lived, worked and studied in 12 countries, was a James M. Johnston Scholar and NC Teaching Fellow at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and completed graduate courses at UCLA’s Anderson Business School and California Institute of Technology executive extension. Karl serves on multiple non-profit and for-profit boards driving equity, innovation and impact, including Davinci Education, Mapt, UC-Irvine’s CERES network for education research, the EDSafe AI Alliance, CED, and the NC Public School Forum.

Karl, his wife and three daughters call Raleigh, North Carolina, home.

CEO | VQ Biomedical

Galen Robertson

CEO/President | 2NDF

Bill Spruill

Principle | Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund

Mahati Sridhar

Managing Partner | RevUp Capital

Allan Tear

Managing Partner | Hutchison PLLC

Anna Tharrington

Co-CEO | AgBiome

Scott Uknes

VP, New Ventures & Strategic Alliances | Labcorp

Megann Vaughn Watters

Megann Vaughn Watters is an experienced corporate development executive and investor with over 12 years of novel technology identification, partnership development, deal execution, alliance management, financial and strategic return, and venture-backed board experience within the healthcare industry. As the Vice President of New Ventures & Strategic Alliances at Labcorp, Megann manages the Labcorp Venture Fund and leads the Corporate Development team tasked to identify, assess, and bring innovative science and technology to Labcorp through partnerships, such as equity investments, licensing, commercial collaborations, including Sponsored Testing with pharma. As one of the founding members of the Labcorp Venture Fund, Megann has managed more than $200M in total equity investments in over 65 early-stage private companies with novel science and technology making healthcare more convenient, accessible, and personalized.
Megann previously held positions at the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a Patent Examiner for medical devices and Humacyte conducting tissue engineering research. Megann received her M.B.A. from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business and her B.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University Pratt School of Engineering.

SAS Institute

Tim Wilson

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