Justin Belleme
Founder and Director of Strategy at JB Media Group
Justin is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Asheville who has been an Ideas to Action team mentor and a UNC Asheville Social Entrepreneurship competition judge. He is the founder of the JB Media Group, a digital marketing agency that provides marketing for a number of socially and environmentally responsible…
Bradley Cain
COO of Education and Research Consortium of the Western Carolinas
Bradley has been a dedicated judge in the UNC Asheville Social Entrepreneurship competition for three years. Even though most of his career has been as a turnaround / restructuring manager, he now spends his time running a not-for-profit regional fiber network (ERC Broadband), enhancing sustainability of an organization supporting the…
Sandra Dennison
Regional Director, SBTDC at WCU
Sandra has attented Ideas to Action class to provide feedback on student pitches. She has spent most of her life around family entrepreneurship. From 2002-2012, she owned two small businesses and was recognized as the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Western Carolina University College of Business. In 2015,…
George Glackin
President of Hatch AVL
George mentors the entrepreneur community in Asheville, NC, in his role as founding board member and Chair of the Board of Hatch AVL, an Asheville-based startup incubator. During his 35 year career at Procter & Gamble, George led teams innovation efforts on major brands including Pampers, Tide and Pantene. He…
Jacqui Henderson-Scott
Lenoir-Rhyne University & Galaxy Digital
Jacqui is a graduate of the University of North Carolina Asheville where she received her B.S in Management with a minor in Economics. She participated in the Ideas to Action class when attending UNCA and her team won second place in the 2017 UNC Asheville Social Entrepreneurship Competition. Jacqui is…
Jeff Kaplan
Director of Entrepreneurship at Venture Asheville
Jeffrey has visited the Ideas to Action class to provide feedback on student pitches. He is an award-winning entrepreneur, educator, published author, and startup veteran. In his role at Anthroware, Jeffrey helped businesses visualize product and service innovations. In his role at Venture Asheville, he builds entrepreneurs and works on getting companies funded.
George Morosani
President, George W. Morosani & Associates
George Morosani is a monetary supporter of Ideas to Action. He is in the business of development, leasing of commercial, industrial and investment properties and the ownership and management of 1.3 million square feet of commercial and industrial properties, 530 lots of LLC (Land Leased Communities) at 3 manufactured housing…
Sara Sanders
Engineering Design Studio / Lab Mgr
Sara is the UNC Asheville engineering lab manager. At the STEAM studio, she is always willing and able to help students develop their products. She is a 2011 alumna who returned to campus after working at Eaton manufacturing because of the makerspace vision.
Zac Lopez-Ibanez
Designer and Creative Entrepreneur
Zac Lopez-Ibanez is a designer and creative entrepreneur living in Asheville, NC. His design work has appeared in national publications including Dwell Design, The L.A. Times, and Carolina Home + Garden. As a UX/UI designer for Anthroware, he specializes in business strategy, brand development, and user-centered design.
Michael Luney
Channel Account Manager, Flexera
Michael Luney was on the UNCA Social Entrepreneurship 2015 winning team, Sound-Fade. Since winning the competition and competing in the NC state event, Michael has mentored the Entrepreneurship course for 4 years, helping students to improve their pitch delivery. Following graduation, Michael leveraged the contacts gained in the Ideas to…
Pat MacFarland
Starting from public accounting and corporate financial management, Pat’s experience spans small and multi-national business, high-tech and heavy equipment manufacturing sectors, and business functions from sales to after-market. Pat’s career in project management began with the full replacement of company systems in advance of Y2K and since then she has…
Terry Poling
Founder and President of MetaDynamics, Inc. and The Poling Group
For the past 30+ years, Terry has partnered with senior executives, leadership teams, and entire organizations to understand and navigate their critical business and developmental challenges while helping them build the working relationships, organizational dynamics, and leadership capacities required to achieve and sustain success. Terry is President of MetaDynamics, a…
Jorge Riano
Founder and President of GreenBy3
Jorge started GreenBy3 eight years ago to help business owners improve the process of working with the construction industry. He bridges the gaps by bringing back human interaction and creating a conduit where information can flow via one source to minimize mistakes, costs, and time. Located in Hendersonville, NC and…
Elena V. Gupta
Business Counselor, SBTDC
Elena is a General Business Counselor at SBTDC Asheville. Before joining in 2017, she was successfully managing her manufacturing business RGEES, LLC. Elena grew up in Ukraine, where she got her MS Electrical Engineering and MS Marketing degrees. She earned her MBA at Western Carolina University and her certification as…
Tom Mock
SCORE Advisor
Tom is a retired marketing and communications executive from the telecommunications industry. HIs most recent assignment was running corporate marketing and PR for a $2.5B communications equipment manufacturer in the Washington, DC area. His experience includes corporate marketing, market research, product marketing, PR, investor relations, and product management.
Aja Cobbs
C.E.O of The Art Trap (T.aking R.eal A.rt P.laces) House
Asheville native Aja Cobbs is a painter, event curator, creative and founder and C.E.O of The Art Trap (T.aking R.eal A.rt P.laces) House. The Art Trap House is a culturally diverse interactive traveling music and fine arts Festival that serves as a platform and catalyst for rising artists across the…