Meet the 2016 Delegates
Anita R. Brown-Graham
Director
Institute for Emerging Issues
Anita R. Brown-Graham joined the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) as director in January 2007. Since then Anita has led IEI’s work to build North Carolina’s capacity for economic development and prosperity. Each year, she and her colleagues at IEI work with leaders across the state in business, government and higher education to focus on issues important to our state’s future. Anita currently teaches the ‘Finding Community Consensus through Deliberation’ seminar (LAR 613) within the Department of Landscape Architecture.
Before coming to IEI Anita served for 13 years on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government, where she published books and articles as well as trained local leaders in community and economic development aimed at revitalizing their distressed communities. Her work inspired both rural and urban communities to work together for a better future. She previously served as law clerk to the Honorable William B. Shubb in the Eastern District of California and as business litigation counsel in a Sacramento, California, law firm.
Anita is a William C. Friday Fellow, American Marshall Fellow, and Eisenhower Fellow. In 2013, the White House named her a Champion of Change for her work at IEI, and the Triangle Business Journal named her a 2014 Woman in Business for her policy leadership in the state. She also currently serves on the boards of several organizations. Anita earned an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and, after attending graduate school at LSU, she earned a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Keith Poston
President and Executive Director
Public School Forum of North Carolina
Keith Poston has more than 25 years of public relations, strategic philanthropy, corporate communications and crisis management experience. His diverse background includes work with corporate, agency, political and non-profit organizations.
Keith has served as President and Executive Director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina since January 2014. Before joining the Public School Forum, Poston served as the Senior Director of Community Investment for Time Warner Cable where he led strategic philanthropy and community engagement for the company’s East Coast operations. In that role he was responsible for developing and implementing programs to promote Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) education as part of the company’s signature philanthropic initiative Connect a Million Minds. Before working with Time Warner Cable, Keith was Managing Director of Corporate Communications at AGL Resources, Director of Public Relations and Employee Communications for Progress Energy (now Duke Energy), and Vice President/Account Supervisor at Ketchum Public Relations in Washington, D.C.
Keith currently serves as President of the Friends of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences Board of Directors. He also serves on the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center Advisory Board and the Kenan Fellows Program Board of Advisors. Keith is a Leadership North Carolina graduate and received the “40 under 40” Leadership Award in 2004 from the Triangle Business Journal. Keith received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Since 1986, the Public School Forum of North Carolina has been an indispensable and nonpartisan champion of better schools and the most trusted source in the state for research and analysis on vital education issues. The Forum brings together leaders from business, education and government to study education issues, develop ideas, seek consensus, and ultimately inform and shape education policy through research, innovative programs, advocacy, and continuing education for educators and policymakers.
Gena Renfrow
Biogen Foundation
Gena Renfrow serves as the NC Administrator for the Biogen Foundation. She leads the Foundation’s work to support science education in North Carolina. The Biogen Foundation is the presenting sponsor of the North Carolina Science Festival, the North Carolina Science and Engineering Fair and the Bridging the Gap STEM summit. The Foundation also supports the Kenan Fellows Program, the Public School Forum of North Carolina, and the Science House at NCSU, among others.
Prior to her work with the Biogen Foundation, Gena served as assistant press secretary to Gov. Jim Hunt, speechwriter for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC CEO Bob Greczyn and news-anchor/reporter for WRAL-FM in Raleigh. Gena attended North Carolina public schools and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While not a science major, she currently practices “kitchen chemistry,” experimenting with Paleo recipes.
Thomas “Tom” Williams
@tomwilliams777
tjwilliams53@gmail.com
After serving 32 years in the public schools of NC, Tom started his own leadership consulting practice in 2007. Based on his experiences and lessons learned as a teacher, coach, principal, and local school superintendent, he loves staying engaged with students, teachers, educational leaders, and policy makers in seeking innovative, collaborative partnerships designed to improve the quality and results of the preK-20 public education system.
Tom described the NCISC trip to Beijing as, “An incredible opportunity to learn from our fabulous NC high school students, and their peers from across the globe, about their passion for science and engineering research and how it will advance the quality of our lives for generations to come”.
One aspect of his life he most enjoys is his active involvement with STEM and public policy related organizations. Currently, he serves as a long-time board member and past chair of the NC Science and Engineering Fair, current Chair of the Board of Trustees Chair for the NC School of Science and Mathematics, and on the Executive Board of the Public School Forum of North Carolina. Tom and his wife, Lisa, reside in Raleigh, NC.