Edward Dugger III, President and CEO

For more than 30 years, Mr. Dugger has been a national leader in managing private equity capital on behalf of institutional investors that have a commitment to profitable and socially responsible investments. The venture funds managed by UNC Partners, Inc. (UNCP) had an investment focus on emerging and acquired companies operating in such growth-oriented industries as communications and environmental services. They were also managed to consciously expand business opportunities for entrepreneurs of color and to promote policies that support the development of inclusive work forces.

As a result, UNCP contributed to the creation of some of the nation's largest and most successful African American businesses. Furthermore, Mr. Dugger's perspective on business and its role in society have made him a prominent business and civic leader in the community of Boston and a recognized pioneer in his field across the nation. Complementing his business insights is a broad knowledge of U.S. economic policy stemming from his professional training in public and international affairs and his tenure as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

More recently, Mr. Dugger has utilized his extensive experience in developing growth companies and a wide-range of civic institutions to help launch several initiatives designed to anticipate the impact on business of our nation's rapid demographic changes and develop new strategies for transforming this change into competitive advantages for businesses and communities. Among the business initiatives that UNCP has helped to design, organize and launch are The Business Collaborative and its successor, the Initiative for a New Economy.

Harvard University, A.B., 1971
Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University, M.P.A. & U.P., 1973

Liz Harris, Executive Vice President

For almost 30 years, Ms. Harris has been a business professional applying her skills in several fields and, as a result, has demonstrated her versatility as a pioneering woman and African American. Early in her career, she developed innovative assessment programs in the field of philanthropy. She later assessed a new bovine vaccine and introduced a line of veterinarian surgical supplies in the field of agribusiness.

As an entrepreneur, heading her own management consulting firm, Ms. Harris helped develop the framework for the establishment of a new government agency dedicated to minority business development. She also established an award-winning art gallery that provided one of the nation's few visible showcases for African American artists.

A venture capitalist for the past 16 years, Ms. Harris remains one of the few African Americans or women in the profession. Complementing her business endeavors is an array of contributions to various civic initiatives in diverse fields such as art, tax reform and horticulture.

Harvard University, A.B., 1970
School of Business Management, Harvard University, M.B.A., 1977

UNCP makes good things happen!