The National Business Incubation Association (NBIA), an international non-profit organization and global advocate for stakeholders within entrepreneur-driven economic ecosystems, recently completed its board elections, and five new board members were elected to three-year terms. NBIA’s board of directors is comprised of 15 members who are elected by other members. The newly elected board members will begin their term October 1, 2015.
Ted Baker
An NBIA member since 2010, Ted Baker is in his fifth year as CEO and Executive Director of the Muncie Innovation Connector, a technology incubator and coworking space in Muncie, Indiana. Ted previously built, grew, and sold several successful businesses and has remained involved with several community economic development projects.
Other members to be elected include: David Fonesca, Associate Director of the Innovation Center and an Adjunct Professor at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi; Gail Billian-Bain, President of the Canadian Association of Business Incubation (CABI) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Leslie Lynn Smith, President of EPIcenter in Memphis, Tennessee; and Jorge Varela, Assistant Director at TECH Fort Worth and Executive Chair of the Alliance of Texas Angel Networks.
“NBIA’s board is a working board, and these new members will play a vital role within the association by bringing new perspectives that are critical in ensuring NBIA serves the needs of our membership,” says Kirstie Chadwick, NBIA President and CEO. “As our governing body, the board sets policy and directs the Association’s affairs, and I am confident that David, Ted, Gail, Leslie Lynn and Jorge will be wonderful additions to the team. I am very excited to work each of them over the next three years.”
The five new board members will replace the following members whose terms have expired: Tom O’Neal , Darlene Bourdreaux , Sandra Cochrane, Russ Yelton and Karl LaPan. The remaining active term board members include:
- John Hanak, Entrepreneur in Residence and Venture Funding Relations Officer, The Purdue Foundry, West Lafayette, Ind.
- Chuck Wolfe, President, Claggett Wolfe Associates, Auburn, Calif.
- Charles Ross, Director, Enterprise Innovation Institute, Atlanta, Ga.
- DeAnna Adams, Interim Incubator Professional, Hattiesburg, Miss.
- Jamie Coughlin, Director, New Venture Incubator Programs, Dartmouth College, Lebanon, N.H.
- Terry Howerton, Partner, TechNexus, Chicago, Ill.
- Devon Laney, President & CEO, Innovation Depot, Birmingham, Ala.
- Jeff Milanette, President, Innovative Partners Incubation, Annapolis, Md.
- Catherine Pommier, Director, Montpellier Mediterranee Metropole, Montpellier, France
- Rick Roeser, Business Development Specialist, Wisconsin Business Innovation Corp., Spooner, Wis.
The Board of Directors for NBIA sets policy and directs the Association’s affairs, conducts strategic planning, sets financial objectives and monitors their achievements, shapes, approves, and evaluates programs and activities of the Association, and hires and evaluates the performance of NBIA’s chief staff executives. The Board also advises NBIA staff on issues pertaining to the entrepreneurial support ecosystem.
To learn more about NBIA’s board of directors or to read the current board member bios, click here.
