UEDA’s Board of Director’s is a group of committed individuals who work at all levels of higher education, including chancellors, presidents, directors, managers and professors. Each member brings their unique perspective and experience to round out our leadership and inform the direction of the organization. Those institutions and organizations who currently allow their employees to serve on the Board comprise the UEDA Leadership Council.

Executive Committee

Dominique Halaby, D.P.A. is the Associate Provost for Innovation and Commercialization & Founding Director of the Business Innovation Group (BIG) at Georgia Southern University. BIG includes the Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research, Center for Entrepreneurial Learning and Leadership, Small Business Development Center, Innovation Incubator and Fab Lab. In 2015, BIG was recognized as a Gold Award Winner in Entrepreneurship by the IEDC.

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Jeffrey Sachse is the Interim Director of CCRS.  In this role he is responsible for providing research and development support for several university initiatives, including the Oshkosh Community Success Coalition, Forum for Innovation, and Wisconsin Aerospace Partners.  He also works closely with the Center for Customized Research Services to serve a variety of client and partner needs. He is passionate about the developing the data analytics capacity of the University and broader region.  Finally, Mr. Sachse is affiliated with the Department of Public Administration and Office of Continuing Education through several teaching assignments.

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Dr. Teresa Merriweather Orok is an expert on economic and business innovation. While her career spans more than 30 years of experience across grants, government contract management, economic development, government, and higher education, she currently serves as the inaugural Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Development at Alabama A&M University.

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Marcela (Marce) Zuchovicki is the founder of Jalima Coffee, Jalima Aranis and Jalima & Associates. Her passion for helping individuals and small businesses, as well as her background in working for large corporations and internationally renowned not-for-profits, created the desire to own businesses that would assist companies with business planning, strategic and financial solutions for their accounting and bookkeeping needs, as well as provide growth and quality control methodologies. 

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Margo leads facilitation, strategic planning, and client services for CED. Previously, she served as CED’s Lead Analyst and worked in the education sector for numerous school districts and universities in California and Alaska, as well as served as a VISTA volunteer with UCLA BruinCorps.

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Rebecca is the Chief Corporate Engagement & Economic Development Officer at Kansas State University Innovation Partners, where she leads the organization’s corporate engagement and economic development efforts, including the university/community economic development partnership, Knowledge-Based Economic Development, LLC in Manhattan, KS.

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Members-At-Large

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Ms. Golemi is the Director of the EDA University Center at Georgia Tech. The University Center (UC) program is specifically designed to marshal the resources located within colleges and universities to support regional economic development strategies in regions of chronic and acute economic distress. She is also Senior Research Faculty at Georgia Tech.

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Prior to his current role, Keith served as the U’s associate vice president for technology & venture commercialization and corporate partners. Since joining the U, Marmer has helped transform the culture of commercialization and rolled out three accelerators, a business incubator and a venture fund to support startup companies. Marmer provides more than 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, executive and investor. He has personally launched and scaled four companies as well as helped entrepreneurs raise more than $1 billion in investment capital. During the course of his career, Marmer has overseen the creation of more than 140 companies.

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Mary Frances Postupack is the Vice President for Economic Development and Research Support at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. She manages the ESU division of Research and Economic Development (RED) which includes an award-winning Business Accelerator Program, the Office of Workforce Development, Entrepreneurial Leadership Center, and the Office of Sponsored Projects and Research which secured in excess of $38 million from FY02-11. Mary Frances has over 20 years of experience in the areas of education, business, community and economic development. She received a BS from the Pennsylvania State University, M.Ed. from East Stroudsburg University, and Corporate Entrepreneurship Certification from Lehigh University. She is a certified Stephen Covey Trainer and was recognized as one of the top 25 women in business in NE PA by the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal.

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Carol Stewart, a long-standing authority on research parks, is the Vice President for Tech Parks Arizona at the University of Arizona. Carol Stewart leads the UA Tech Park at Rita Road and is developing the UA Tech Park at the Bridges. She is also president of the University of Arizona Center for Innovation, a technology business incubator network serving the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the international community.

Stewart’s expertise in university research parks spans decades and nations with more than 20 years of experience working with research parks, technology commercialization, business incubation, governmental relations and business development.

As a pioneer in the research parks world, she has driven national policy, standardized programs, created national and international networks, built technology clusters, engaged stakeholders, and assisted countries with the development of their national science and technology policies.

Stewart is passionate about her community and serves as a champion in university-based economic development. She is a member of Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Flinn Foundation Steering Committee, a member of the Canadian Global Mentor Program and she also serves on the Board of Directors for Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, Pima County’s Workforce Investment Board, Sun Corridor Inc., Arizona Technology Council, Desert Angels, and is a member of the City of Tucson Mayor’s Economic Development Advisory Council.

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Lenore VanderZee is the Executive Director for University Relations at the State University of New York at Canton, where she oversees economic development initiatives (including the Small Business Development Center), public & community relations, and government relations. She is the campuslead for the creation of an innovative community-serving Entrepreneurship Center in downtown Canton. She is passionate about rural economic development and placemaking in her beloved North Country New York region.

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