Andrea Cook, Senior Director of the NC Idea Foundation – Grepbeat

Andrea Cook is a senior director at the NC Idea Foundation and manages the organization's marketing activities and businesses. She has been together at the NC idea since 2010 and has been actively involved in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in North Carolina for over 25 years. They work in various marketing roles in well-known and respected companies for entrepreneurial support organizations (Center for Entrepreneur Development), investment partnerships (interdousth partners) and professional service companies (Hutchison-Pllc).

Andrea received a BA in journalism and a minor in business administration from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She served in the Boards of Visual Art Exchange, Entredot and Carolina Dance Foundation. She is currently President for Dance Booster of the Broughton High School.

1. What about your pockets?

During the working week I keep my office access badge at hand. You will most likely also find that I have a lipstick and my cell phone sluggish when I wear something with pockets. Otherwise my husband sometimes gets the happy task of wearing these things for me.

2. What an exciting thing has happened for you or your organization lately?

For me I was celebrating my 15th anniversary with NC idea at the beginning of this month. Time flies when you have fun! At NC Idea we celebrate our 20^TH Year in 2025!

NC IDEA is an independent private foundation that has committed to maintaining their entrepreneurial potential for the low authorization of North Caroline. We do this through a combination of grants and programs and a network of strategic partners in the whole state. To start this milestone year, we just started one Where are you now? Video series in which our president and CEO Thom Ruha with early subsidy recipients visited the ups and downs of some of the most successful startups in North Carolina. A new video will be started on the last Thursday from [each] Months all year round.

It was fun for our first conversations to meet these early founders. We have planned more solemn activities over the course of the year. So follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook and switch on in our podcast to get the foundation's latest updates.

3. What is your favorite coffee spot?

The NC IDEA is located in the NC Mutual Building in the downtown Durham in the Provident1898 area. Fare & Fellow recently opened in the lobby of the building. It is so nice and comfortable to go up to get sunlight and a good cup of coffee or latte in the office.

When I work from home, I love to take my laptop and enjoy a latte in Jubala Coffee, usually the location in North Hills (I live in Raleigh). And it is difficult to resist to order a sweet biscuit with apple butter on the side when I'm there.

4. What keeps you awake at night?

This is such a question. So much is so much going on in our country. But what my spirit and heart, especially today, is in this continuum between focus on me and my immediate family and the care of aging parents.

There are blessings that are associated with spending more time with our parents-my parents have recently moved from Florida to Cary and my mother-in-law moved to Raleigh-but it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the death of my father-in-law. My daughter is an up -and -coming junior in the high school, and I think that my husband and I will be empty nests in a little more than two years, and I would like to pour as much time as possible in the enjoyment of your/us before going to college.

5. What is your favorite restaurant or your happy hour?

My favorite hangout ever is Mojoes Burger-Joint on the corner of Peace and Glenwood in downtown Raleigh. The food is delicious and consistent and the staff is super friendly. My husband and I have been here for more than 20 years since our late days before the Kid when they had $ 1 burgers at midnight. Now it is our choice for a meal before the game before we immediately appear our daughter in the Dance Team of the Broughton High School. It is also the perfect place to take the dog and eat outside on the terrace when the weather is nice.

6. What's next for you or your organization?

In the coming months there will be some exciting announcements for grants. In March we will announce our latest cohort by ecosystem partners that are granted organizations in the entire state to strengthen the infrastructure for our entrepreneurs. Applications for our micro ($ 10,000) and Seed ($ 50,000) scholarship programs that support growth-oriented companies throughout North Carolina. Our team will be checked in the coming months, whereby the announcements for April and May are planned. And we look forward to our reunification of our family in November, while we are preparing for our annual ecosystem summit here in the triangle.

While we are celebrating this year, we continue to focus on our mission to enable all Nordkaroliners to exploit their entrepreneurial potential. In these uncertain times we are grateful for the opportunity to do this work and support our founders. We feel privileged to be part of the ecosystem and we look forward to continuing to contribute for years.

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