BOARD OF DIRECTORS – NC IDEA
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José D. Alvarez is the vice president of Prospera North Carolina, a nonprofit focused on providing bilingual support and assistance to Hispanic entrepreneurs looking to start or expand their businesses. Prospera North Carolina is providing the state’s Latino community culturally focused and in-language business support to help increase economic opportunities through entrepreneurship. Alvarez’s current responsibilities include statewide operations, fundraising, designing programming, and managing community and government relations. A graduate of the University of Central Florida, Alvarez’s professional experience and passion during the last two decades have been focused on multicultural marketing and small business support.

Jerry Edmonds III, Ed.D. serves as Vice President of Workforce and Community Engagement at Vance Granville Community College in Henderson, NC. Previously he served in varying roles as Dean of Workforce and Economic Development and Small Business Center Director at Halifax Community College in Weldon, NC. In his earlier career, Dr. Edmonds held a variety of executive leadership positions within Johnson & Johnson and IBM where he was the recipient of numerous training, recruitment, marketing and leadership awards. Dr. Edmonds is currently a member of the Henderson, North Carolina Chapter of Rotary International and a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. He also serves on the Mariah Parham Duke Lifepoint’s Board of Trustees, the Lakeland Cultural Arts Center and Working Landscapes’ Board of Directors, and the Kerr Tar Council of Governments. He recently launched Willow Creek Tennis Retreat, LLC and the Edmonds Tennis and Education Foundation.

Krista Covey is president of First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park. Her passion is serving high-impact entrepreneurial ventures and helping them achieve success. She has been supporting the development and growth of early-stage companies through her work building and leading award-winning innovation hubs in Florida and Texas. She has an extensive background in banking and finance and has experience in business incubation and acceleration, strategic management, business development, marketing, economic development, economic gardening for high-growth science and tech companies, and public relations. As an entrepreneur at heart, she has also grown her own successful finance business with a profitable exit and served on several startup boards and numerous community and industry boards.

Linda Hall is the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina. She has led the oversight and management of the Foundation’s finances, investments, human resources, IT and real estate operations for over 12 years. Linda has over 25 years of experience in both public accounting and in private sectors where she has assisted mid-sized partnerships and corporations in financial, tax and strategic business planning.

Spencer Disher most recently served as Senior Vice President at Natixis SA, an international French banking institution. He is an experienced senior executive with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Spencer was one of the founders and co-managers of Natixis ABM Corp, a subsidiary of Natixis SA which was grew into a highly profitable entity with approximately $6 billion of fixed income assets under management. He is currently an adjunct professor for entrepreneurship in the business college at Johnson & Wales University. Spencer also serves on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte and as a director for the Charlotte Angel Fund. In addition, he serves as an advisor and investor to several startups and has worked as a mentor with the following startup organizations: RevTech, City Startup Labs and Innovate Charlotte.

Sonja Ebron is a Durham native and founding CEO of Courtroom5, a 2018 NC IDEA SEED grant recipient that makes an automated legal toolbox for people in court without a lawyer. She serves on the Legal Services Corporation’s Leaders Council and has represented herself in court for many years. Sonja is a PhD electrical engineer and former college professor with a background in utilities and artificial intelligence. As Courtroom5 CEO, Sonja has made it her personal mission to empower people to represent themselves effectively in court.

Keith Luedeman is founder and former CEO of goodmortgage.com, an award winning internet mortgage lender.

Keith led goodmortgage.com to be recognized for many successes including Best Place to Work for Mid-Size Companies and Online Lender of the Year by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Under Keith’s guidance, goodmortgage.com was named to the Inc. 5000 five times, earning it a place on the Inc. 5000 Honor Roll.

Earning individual awards along the way, such as NCTA Tech Exec of the Year, Keith developed a reputation as a passionate entrepreneur who shares his business wisdom as Board Chair of Innovate Charlotte, Board Chair of the Queens University Entrepreneurial Leadership Circle Advisory Board, an active investor in the Charlotte Region and as a mentor to startups.

Luke Walling is the founder of Temprano Techvestors, a group of technology industry experts that acquire, consolidate, optimize and grow information technology sales and distribution companies. The group’s flagship brand, Corporate Armor, provides IT security and infrastructure products to tens of thousands of companies, organizations, schools and reseller partners around the world. Luke began his career in the IT industry when he founded Walling Data, a technology business he originally started in his parents’ basement in the 1990s. In 2010, it was acquired by AVG Technologies, a global pioneer of freemium anti-virus technology, which lead to the creation of over 75 new jobs in North Carolina alone. He then served in executive leadership roles at AVG and Avast Software from 2010 to 2016. He currently serves as a board member for the Charlotte Angel Fund, SCORE Association and formerly Sharpspring, where he was an early-stage investor. Luke is a passionate supporter of programs that improve engagement in public schools, with an emphasis on self-paced learning principals and entrepreneurial thinking. In his home market of Catawba County, North Carolina, where his past and current ventures have been founded, Luke and his company support powerful vehicles for education advancement including the K-64 Learning initiative, and are actively working together with local stakeholders to build a solid entrepreneurial community for current and future startup founders.

Dr. Stelfanie Williams is Vice President for Durham and Community Affairs at Duke University. In this role, Dr. Williams leads and coordinates Duke’s diverse and innovative community efforts in areas such as economic development, affordable housing, early childhood, K-12 and workforce education, student engagement, neighborhood relations and community health. She builds connections between Duke and partners including educational, governmental, non-profit and community-based organizations. Prior to joining Duke, Dr. Williams served as president of Vance-Granville Community College. Among other honors, Dr. Williams was awarded the I.E. Ready Distinguished Leadership Award by NC State University and was named President of the Year by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges. A noted presenter and consultant on topics related to workforce development, Dr. Williams also is active on a number of public and private boards, civic organizations, and commissions.