Meet the DGEP Executive Leadership Team
Henry McKoy, Ph.D.
DGEP Director
Dr. Henry C. McKoy, Jr., is considered by many as the leading thinker and researcher in the area of inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems. He currently serves as Faculty Entrepreneurship Lead, Director of Entrepreneurship, and Director of the Eagle Angel Network at North Carolina Central University School of Business, as well as the founding Director of the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Research Clinic and Lab. In addition to NCCU, he holds simultaneous academic appointments at: Kenan Flagler School of Business at UNC-Chapel Hill; Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity; and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government – where he leads an effort to create a network of equitable global cities. He is a former Aspen Institute Scholar, former Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise Entrepreneurship Fellow, and former Assistant Secretary of the NC Department of Commerce – where he was the top community and economic development official in the state of North Carolina. Dr. McKoy is one of the top researchers in the United States and highly sought out to complete research projects with government agencies at the local and state levels. In addition, he is a sought-after speaker on entrepreneurial inequity and ecosystems. He is frequently quoted in local, regional and national media on the topic of racial equity in entrepreneurship and economic development.
Eric Guckian
CEO, United Way Greater Triangle
Eric has led the growth of United Way Greater Triangle to one of the leading United Way agencies in the United States focused on racial equity. Eric previously served as a senior education advisor to the Governor of North Carolina, as well as the Executive Director of Teach for America – North Carolina, where he worked in partnership with 10 urban and rural school districts. During his tenure with TFA, student achievement dramatically increased: students taught by TFA teachers in North Carolina had the strongest outcomes in the country among their TFA peers. Guckian has played leading roles in North Carolina’s public school reform efforts, serving as the director of strategic partnerships for the North Carolina New Schools Project, a consultant to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and leading a strategic planning effort for KIPP. Guckian began his professional career as an elementary science teacher and TFA corps member in the South Bronx. He also taught in public schools in North Carolina and Massachusetts. Eric and UWGT bring national funding relationships and deep community engagement relationships to the DGEP effort.
Alexandra Zagbayou
Executive Director, Student U
Alex was Student U’s second employee and as Executive Director of Student U has helped grow it into a multi-million dollar organization to serve 550 first-generation college bound students from Middle and High School, as well as college students. Student U is situated in a historic building in the heart of the historic Hayti district across the street from the DGEP Park site. Alex and Student U brings direct connection to children and families in the local community.
Bertha Johnson
Director, Budget & Management Services City of Durham
Bertha leads the management of the City of Durham’s $500 million annual budget. The City of Durham made the needed $ 4 .2 million dollar investment in June 2017 to acquire the 20 acre site for the equity hub through a grant to the Durham Housing Authority. Bertha has led Durham’s Innovation Team efforts focused on how to use public innovations to address long-term systematic problems such as racial inequity and supporting the formerly incarcerated. She also serves as a professor in Masters of Public Administration at North Carolina Central University and brings intimate knowledge of how to direct city investments into large scale equity projects like DGEP.
Bishop Clarence Laney, Jr., D.Div
Senior Pastor, Monument of Faith Church
Bishop Laney was appointed Pastor of the Church of God of Prophecy in Durham NC in 1996. In May of 1998 the name Monument of Faith Church (MOF) was added to personalize the ministry. In January of 2004 a new sanctuary was built to accommodate the congregational growth. Since his appointment, significant growth in membership and finances has occurred. Existing ministries have been strengthened and over twenty new ministries have been birthed. Under Bishop Laney’s leadership, education, both spiritually and academically has become the cornerstone of this ministry. MOF is a progressive liturgical Pentecostal church with a strong commitment to social justice and community outreach. Bishop Laney has preached and taught throughout the United States, Canada and Sierra Leone, West Africa. MOF is located in the heart of the historic Hayti district and also is a neighbor to the DGEP Park site. Bishop Laney has been a community staple for 25 years and is a well-respected community leader. He has been a tireless advocate for bringing investment back into the Hayti community.
Dr. Dorian Burton, Ed.L.D.
Assistant Executive Director, William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust
Dorian is the chief program officer and assistant executive director at the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust in Chapel Hill, NC, a foundation that supports building healthy and whole communities. He was formerly the co-director of The TandemED Initiative for Black Male Achievement and Community Improvement at Harvard University Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, and was the Wasserman Foundation Fellow in the Doctor of Education Leadership Program at Harvard. In 2019, Black Enterprise selected Dorian as a 2019 Modern Man of Distinction, and The Root 100 honored him as one of the 100 most influential African Americans in the country. The Boston Business Journal has also selected Drorian for its “40 under 40” list. Dorian has led efforts to make multi-million dollar investments through the Kenan Trust into community ecosystems aimed at addressing racial inequity and injustice. He brings much knowledge to the DGEP effort from the lens of a funder and has invested into DGEP planning.
DGEP Proposal Chair
Annette Taylor
Project Chair
Annette is a civic leader, public administrator, nonprofit specialist and women’s advocate. Currently, she serves as the newly appointed Manager of Minority Business and Community Affairs at the NC Education Lottery. Annette’s background includes more than 25 years in workforce development, and the nonprofit and philanthropic arena, directing resources to organizations across North Carolina. Annette has worked at the two largest philanthropic foundations of their kind in North Carolina – the Foundation for the Carolinas and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation. Annette also led the Durham office for Congressman GK Butterfield. In 2017, Annette was appointed by North Carolina Governor to the statewide Board of the NC Council for Women and Youth, where she is currently the vice-chair. In 2020, she was appointed by the Governor to serve on the statewide Andrea Harris Task Force, which focuses on finding public sector recommendations to racial, social, and economic justice problems in the state. Annette also serves as an adjunct professor and advisory board member in the NCCU Public Administration Department. She offers wisdom and perspective to DGEP team members having been engaged in so many elevated roles of impact.
DGEP Co-PIs and Steering Committee
Faye J. Calhoun, Ph.D.
Director, NCCU-Duke Partnership Agreement and Senior Advisor to Chancellor on Partnerships and Cooperative Agreements, North Carolina Central University
Faye serves as Senior Advisor to the NCCU Chancellor for Partnerships and Cooperative Agreements. In that capacity she is the Director of the NCCU-Duke Partnership Agreement that addresses pilot studies, community engagement and workforce development and serves as an advisor for several other Duke programs. Until September, 2018 Faye served as Interim Director of the Bio-manufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise. She was formerly, the Associate Director of the JLC Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute. From 2012 to 2015 she served as Program Director for the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation grant program to increase the number of students graduating from majors in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). From 2009 to 2011 she served as Interim Director for the JLC Biomedical, Biotechnology Research Institute and Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development. Faye retired from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland as the Deputy Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
William Darity, Jr Ph.D.
Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, Duke University
William is the Samuel DuBois Cook Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University. He is a professor of public policy, African and African American studies, and economics. He was the founding director of the Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality at Duke. He previously served as director of the Institute of African American Research, director of the Moore Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program, and the director of Undergraduate Honors Program in Economics (all at UNC-CH) among others. He was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a fellow at the National Humanities Center, and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. He is a past president of the National Economic Association (where he received their highest honor) and the Southern Economic Association. He has published or edited 12 books and published more than 210 articles in professional journals. His research is widely referenced. His co-authored book, From Here to Eternity, is considered the leading work in support of federal reparations for descendants of slavery in America.
James H. Johnson Jr., Ph.D.
William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of the Urban Investment Strategies Group, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Jim is the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Kenan-Flagler Business School. He focuses his research on entrepreneurial approaches to poverty alleviation. Jim has published more than 100 scholarly research articles and three research monographs and has co-edited four themed issues of scholarly journals, including one focused on expanding the researcher pipeline in minority entrepreneurship. Jim examines the growing inequality in American society, particularly as it affects disadvantaged youth; entrepreneurial approaches to poverty alleviation, job creation and community development; interethnic minority conflict in advanced industrial societies; and business demography and workforce diversity issues.
Jessica Thomas
Director of Business Sustainability Collaborative and Assistant Professor of Practice, North Carolina State University
Jessica has over fifteen years of experience working domestically and internationally in sustainable enterprise, social innovation and business development. She currently serves as Director of the Business Sustainability Collaborative at the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. Jessica previously was managing director of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and program director of that center’s Business Accelerator for Sustainable Entrepreneurship. She also has held leadership roles at Duke University’s Competition for Underserved and Resource-poor Economies (CUREs); CFED, an economic development corporation in Durham, N.C.; and new product development roles in educational toy and communications industries. Jessica is a leading B Corp scholar, leading the B Corp Clinic at NCSU, and serving as the founding President of the B Corp global academic network. Jessica brings deep sustainability knowledge to DGEP and a worldwide network of academics focused on how for-profit businesses can better society.
Ruthie Lyle-Cannon, Ph.D.
Patent Architect, NVIDIA and Senior Fellow, NCCU Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Research Clinic and Lab (EERCL)
Ruthie is the former lead researcher at USAA and currently Principal Technical Patent Architect at NVIDIA. She has the distinction of being the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. from Polytechnic University and one of the rare women to be named Master Inventor at IBM. She is credited with more than 180 issued patents. Ruthie has a particular passion for Applied Research exploration, experimentation and evangelism of emerging technologies. A key gap in the effort to address systematic racial inequity is translating ideas that are protectable to wealth creation for individuals, families, and communities. Ruthie brings a skillset as the most successful black female patent holder in US history, and among the most successful of any demographic, to the DGEP efforts to inspire and train a generation of young people on how to translate their ideas into ownership and wealth that can benefit themselves, their families, and their communities. She is a Senior Fellow of NCCU’s EERCL initiative.