Manju Puri is the J.B. Fuqua Professor of Finance at the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. She was earlier associate professor of finance at Stanford Business School, which she joined after earning her Ph.D in finance at New York University and MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Professor Puri has expertise in the field of empirical corporate finance and, in particular, financial intermediation. Her published work spans the areas of commercial banks, investment banks, venture capital, entrepreneurship, behavioral finance, and fintech.
She was a speaker at the Kenan Institute’s 2024 Conference on Market-Based Solutions for Reducing Wealth Inequality.
Jonathan Lee graduated from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School as a business administration major and Luther Hodges Scholar in 2024. He was a research assistant at the UNC Center for the Business of Health from October 2023 to May 2024.
His professional interests include healthcare, medicine and hospital administration, with the long-term goal of attaining his M.D. and becoming CEO of a major U.S. healthcare system.
Longxiu Tian specializes in customer relationship management, lifecycle marketing, customer success and marketing experimentation.
Dr. Tian’s research seeks to understand how consumers respond to marketing activities across the customer journey, and how firms in turn should enact effective growth marketing strategies rooted in incrementality. To address these questions in modern marketing contexts, he develops statistical and data-science techniques in the domains of Bayesian econometrics, machine learning and causal inference.
Dr. Tian teaches the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Customer Journeys courses in the Undergraduate Business and MBA programs.
His industry collaborations span companies in consumer technology to household finance and digital subscriptions.
Before joining UNC, Dr. Tian held roles as a quantitative researcher in asset management and as a research analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
He received his PhD in marketing and scientific computing from the University of Michigan, his MFin from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and his BA in economics and MS in information systems from Northwestern University.
Eric Maribojoc teaches undergraduate and graduate-level courses in real estate that explore the intricacies of financing affordable housing and real estate development.
He is an associate director of the Wood Center for Real Estate Studies, leading its housing affordability initiative.
Professor Maribojoc formerly served as executive director of the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship at the George Mason University School of Business. He also taught at the graduate real estate program at the Kogod School of Business at American University.
He served on several government boards in Fairfax County, Virginia, including on the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals and as a commissioner of the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority. He also served on several county housing committees, including on the preservation of market affordable housing units, regulations on manufactured home communities, and incentives for for-sale workforce housing. He was a board member of the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance, a trade association of affordable housing developers and service providers.
Professor Maribojoc is a real estate professional with over 25 years of experience in all facets of commercial and residential properties, working with private-sector real estate investment funds prior to his work in higher education.
He received his MBA in finance and real estate from the Kogod School of Business at American University and his BA in economics from Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.
Sarah provides guidance on regional economic and policy research at the Institute and presents insights to external audiences.
She has worked in academia and the private sector, focusing on econometric modeling and housing economics. Most recently, she analyzed data from the short-term rental and housing markets and prepared reports that highlight global supply and demand trends. Her academic research explores the consequences of housing instability and migration, with recent work that evaluates global migration models.
Sarah holds a master’s from the London School of Economics and a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Maryland.
Kellye helps lead all work in the lowcountry of South Carolina where she will the leverage human and data resources of NCGrowth, the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, Kenan-Flagler Business School, UNC system, and regional partners to supporting business growth and community development in the region. Kellye is a successful entrepreneur and business development consultant with 20 years of extensive experience helping small and disadvantaged businesses grow through technical assistance and business development. She has an MBA from Clark Atlanta University, MS in Instructional Design and Technology from Georgia State University, and a BS in Industrial Management from Clemson University where she currently serves on the Alumni National Board of Directors and was Vice Chair of Diversity and Inclusion.
Christina Strickland Theodorou has worked in tribal leadership development and an advocate of generating equity, parity and balance for indigenous communities. A graduate of UNC-Pembroke, Christina has 15 years’ experience working in small business development statewide supporting small business owners growing their capacities to bid work. Christina also worked in tribal affairs on state, university and federal levels assisting tribal leaders in building tribal assets and economies. She believes healthy, well and working small business owners and tribal members are the greatest assets North Carolina possesses. Christina joined the NCGrowth team as the program manager with ACIER connecting MWBE businesses with anchor institutions.
As the Assistant Director of Engagement for NCGrowth, Nicole Outlaw plays a pivotal role in fostering meaningful connections between businesses, communities, and academic partners. With a passion for economic development and community empowerment, Nicole leads initiatives to enhance engagement and collaboration, driving sustainable growth across North Carolina and beyond. Leveraging a robust background in strategic planning and stakeholder relations, Nicole is dedicated to creating impactful opportunities and ensuring that NCGrowth’s mission resonates with diverse audiences.
Outlaw is an entrepreneur and nonprofit leader. In 2023, Nicole graduated from the Obama Foundation Leaders USA program. Nicole studied Business Administration at Averett University and Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She is based in Bertie County, North Carolina.
Stacy is a Macon County, North Carolina native who has grown into leadership in business and public life in the region his family has called home for generations. A graduate of Franklin High and Western Carolina University, Stacy served as Macon County’s planner from 2004 to 2009. He helped establish and run the Arts and Heritage Center at the old Cowee School and founded a consultancy practice to help with economic development and planning projects throughout Western North Carolina.
To further his expertise in government policymaking, in 2018, he earned a Master’s in Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina while taking on a new role in Downtown Franklin’s preservation efforts with the purchase and rehabilitation of the 1897 building that contains the Scottish Tartans Museum. Stacy serves on the Franklin Town Council.