Esther Bailey is a Professor of Practice at the C. T. Bauer College of Business. She teaches in the SURE℠ Program as well as the Government and Not-for-Profit Accounting elective course. Dr. Bailey first became involved with the SURE℠ Program in its infancy when it was listed as a course in Microfinance in 2009 during her studies in the Master in Accountancy Program at Bauer College of Business. In her role as a Professor with the SURE℠ Program, Dr. Bailey has worked as a Senior Consultant and developed Accounting curriculum and materials for the Program. She is currently in the process of implementing a research agenda associated with the SURE℠ Program designed to evaluate the challenges facing the advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion in Main Street Small Businesses as well as potential solutions to these challenges.

Dr. Bailey received her Bachelors in Business Administration with a major in Accountancy and minor in Spanish in May 2009 and her Master of Science in Accountancy in May 2010, both from the University of Houston. After working in consulting and living abroad she obtained her Ph.D. in Accounting at the University of California – Irvine in June 2019. She returned to Houston in 2019 to perform a two year Post-doctoral Fellowship in Entrepreneurship at Rice University and then began her work at the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.