Spencer Disher Succeeds Jerry Edmonds III, Ed.D. as Chairperson; Three New Directors Join Board
DURHAM, NC – May 21, 2025 – NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina, announced today that the organization has elected Spencer Disher of Charlotte as Board Chair and elected three new directors; Heather McWhorter of Wilmington, David Morris of Durham, and Tom Snyder of Raleigh.
“We are privileged to be guided by a visionary board of accomplished business leaders who share in our bold ambition to help North Carolinians achieve their entrepreneurial potential,” said Thom Ruhe, President and CEO of NC IDEA. “We are especially honored to welcome our newest directors—all distinguished leaders deeply rooted in the State’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Each brings firsthand experience with our portfolio of grants and programs,” Ruhe concluded.
We are excited to have the talent and expertise of each of these individuals in furthering the mission of the Foundation:
Spencer Disher most recently served as Senior Vice President at Natixis SA, an international French banking institution. He is an experienced senior executive with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Disher was one of the founders and co-managers of Natixis ABM Corp, a subsidiary of Natixis SA, which grew into a highly profitable entity with approximately $6 billion of fixed income assets under management. He is currently an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship in the business college at Johnson & Wales University. Disher also serves on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte and as a director for the Charlotte Angel Fund. In addition, he serves as an advisor and investor to several startups and has worked as a mentor with the following startup organizations: RevTech, City Startup Labs, and Innovate Charlotte.
Heather McWhorter is the Director of the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s (UNCW) Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), where she leads initiatives that empower individuals and communities through entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainability. With several decades of experience, she connects higher education, research, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the broader community to grow inclusive, impact-driven innovation networks. Under her leadership, CIE has become a hub for high-impact and blue economy innovation, offering programs like the Idea Test Lab and the annual Ocean Innovation Conference to spark coastal solutions. McWhorter also fostered the development of the UNCW Blue Economy Index, the first global tool to track the sector’s growth and impact. With engineering degrees from Penn State in chemical, energy, and environmental engineering, she brings a systems-thinking approach to ecosystem building and startup support.
David Morris is a partner with the Venture Best® group at Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, where his practice focuses on private equity and venture capital fund formations, mergers and acquisitions, and private company debt and equity financings. He previously served for over a decade as a managing director and general counsel for a Midwest-based private equity firm. Prior to that, he worked for UBS Investment Bank in their M&A Group and served as Assistant Director of the Duke Global Capital Markets Center, a joint venture between Duke Law School and the Fuqua School of Business. Morris received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Duke University and earned his M.B.A. from Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business. He also serves on the board of the Emily K Center and the advisory board of the NCCU Center of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.
Tom Snyder is Executive Director of RIoT, supporting technology-based economic development in the areas of AI, IoT, and the Data Economy. Under Snyder’s leadership, RIoT has launched the RIoT Accelerator Program, RIoT Studios, which includes the RIoT Underground Podcast, and RIoT’s Education series. He has grown RIoT from a Research Triangle-focused organization to one with international reach. In his spare time, Snyder co-instructs Product Innovation Lab, a Forbes award-winning multidisciplinary course in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NC State. Prior to joining RIoT, Snyder held an executive leadership role at the ASSIST Center, a National Science Foundation-sponsored effort to create wearable electronics for healthcare monitoring. Previously, he spent two decades in product development, innovation, and technology incubation for multinational technology companies and is an inventor on more than 25 US patents.
The newest board members join current directors: José Alvarez of Prospera, Krista Covey of First Flight Venture Center, Sonja Ebron of Courtroom5, Jerry Edmonds, III, Ed. D. of Vance-Granville Community College, and Keith Luedeman of Innovate Charlotte.
About NC IDEA FOUNDATION
Celebrating its 20th year, NC IDEA is an independent private foundation committed to equitably empowering North Carolinians to achieve their entrepreneurial potential. Through our powerful combination of competitive grants and programs, and a network of strategic partners, we help entrepreneurs when they need it most. NC IDEA’s resources are highly competitive, enabling the foundation to support North Carolina’s most ambitious entrepreneurs. We believe entrepreneurs transform communities and view our work as a catalyst for positive change. Learn more at www.ncidea.org.
