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SIIRs – Shuford’s Innovators-in-Residence

SHUFORD INNOVATORS-IN-RESIDENCE

Diverse Entrepreneurial Expertise & Experiences

 

The inaugural Shuford Innovator-in-Residence Program brought together a cohort of industry subject-matter experts with an intentional focus on diversity of personal and professional backgrounds, experiences, and identities.

These leaders in innovation — all Carolina alumni — support students in the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship through academic lectures, professional development initiatives, mentoring opportunities, and candid conversations across campus. Each innovator visits campus for one week per academic year to build connections and then networks with the University and Shuford to continue to build community beyond that week.

Additionally, each SIIR receives $4,000 stipend along with $1,000 in support for travel to and housing during their time on campus. Click here to read more.

 

APPLY TO BE A SIIR!

 

 

Soltan Bryce

Soltan Bryce

Healthcare

 

Eric Campbell

Eric Campbell

Venture Capital

 

Courtney Couch

Courtney Couch

Entertainment

 

Hannah Elly

Hannah Elly

Marketing & Design

 

Desbee McDaniel

Desbee McDaniel

Healthcare & Communication Technology

Shruti Shah

Shruti Shah

E-Commerce

 

Dedren Snead

Dedren Snead

Tech & Afrofuturism

 

Hi, I’m Soltan!

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Soltan Bryce is the Harvard Business School Leadership Fellow and Special Assistant to the COO & EVP of Strategy at Boston Medical Center Health System. During his time at HBS, he helped launch Plume, a venture-backed digital health company focused on the trans community, as Head of Growth. In his spare time, he advises venture-backed digital health companies focused on population-specific virtual care models and scouts for Gaingels, an angel investor network.

Hi, I’m Eric!

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Eric Campbell is the Managing Partner at Value Investment Group, a private family office focused on influencer-backed private equity and value investing. Eric has deployed over $50 million in capital and invested in over 30 companies with 7 exits to date including Draftkings, Coinbase, Airbnb and others. Eric was recognized by Forbes as a 2020 30 Under 30 recipient in Venture Capital. Prior to VC, Eric worked at Google and then Uber for almost 4 years. At Uber, Eric was responsible for Regional Operations and Strategy for the Middle East and Africa.

Hi, I’m Courtney!

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Courtney Couch is a businesswoman who is passionate about many things, but these three top her list: making meaningful connections, building quality brands, and strengthening her community. After graduating from UNC Chapel Hill, Courtney earned her Masters at NYU in Corporate Communication + PR then later moved to LA where she launched c.luxe creative. c.luxe creative focuses on business + creative strategy, branding, marketing and activations. Her agency has provided services to corporations such as the NFL, Adidas, Puma, Marvel as well as A-list talent such as Travis Scott, YG, Rajon Rondo, and MoneyBagg Yo. Most recently, Courtney served as the Director of Marketing at Atlantic Records where she managed 12 artists including multi-platinum artist Don Toliver. She has currently resumed her work at c.luxe creative full-time and founded Crown Luxe Ventures, an investment vehicle inclusive of athletes, entertainers and entrepreneurs investing in private companies— proudly bringing the culture to the cap table.

Hi, I’m Hannah!

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Hannah Elly is a first-generation entrepreneur whose expertise in social growth, customer communities, and product design propelled Nugget from a tiny, three-person operation into America’s fastest-growing manufacturing company(Inc. Magazine; 2020, 2021). Her work has sparked new, industry-wide trends in both children’s toys and furniture, grown Nugget’s social following to more than 500,000 people, and been covered in publications like Parents Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, and BuzzFeed News. In her current role as Chief Creative Officer, Hannah supports Nugget’s product and marketing teams, creating visuals that are the perfect balance of fun for kids and beautiful for adults. Hannah is passionate about diversity, inclusion and using social platforms for good.

Hi, I’m Desbee!

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Dezbee McDaniel is a career entrepreneur. He is an alum of Venture for America, a prestigious entrepreneurial fellowship, where he worked with technology startups across sales, marketing, and operations. Dezbee has since founded and accelerated startups from inception, currently building CliniSpan Health- a software platform that diversifies clinical trial recruitment.  Dezbee was a 2018 Forbes Fellow and was also recognized by Charlotte’s Inno 25 under 25 in 2020 as one of the best and brightest entrepreneurs contributing to the Charlotte region.

Hi, I’m Shruti!

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Shruti Shah is an advisor, investor, and coach to a handful of growing companies. She was previously the co-founder and COO of Y Combinator backed Move Loot, an online full-service marketplace for buying and selling used furniture, where she led national expansion and general business operations. Over the course of three years, she and her co-founding team raised $22 million dollars. Shruti was honored by Forbes as a 2016 30 Under 30 recipient in Retail and E-Commerce and the Aspen Institute as an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar in reimagining capitalism. Prior to co-founding Move Loot, Shruti worked for the New Schools Venture Seed Fund, a seed fund that invests in early-stage education technology companies, and she was also a public school teacher in Baltimore.

Hi, I’m Dedren!

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Dedren Snead is an emerging technologist, creative consultant, and social futurist from Snow Hill, North Carolina, currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. Dedren’s creative studio work utilizes graphic novels, video games and animation along with mobile applications and augmented reality to build inclusive storytelling and cultural equity in Popular Media. A serial entrepreneur, Dedren’s startup SUBSUME, a gamified learning platform connects K-20 students to Creative and Technical training for future-ready workforce development.