, longtime president of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development, is joining as director of its FastTrac Program.
FastTrac is designed to help entrepreneurs launch and grow new businesses.
“I am thrilled about accepting this new role,” Doss told WRAL Local Tech Wire. “I will continue to have the opportunity to work with entrepreneurs, this time on a national scale.”
Doss also will remain in Chapel Hill, where she and her family live.
“One of my prerequisites in accepting a new position was that I and my family not have to relocate,” she said. “The Triangle has been our home for more than 20 years, and we didn’t want to leave.”
The has long supported , offering its curriculum to people across North Carolina.
“With her extensive experience in entrepreneurship development and previous work with the Kauffman Foundation, Monica is well-suited to lead the FastTrac Program,” said Carl Schramm, president and chief executive officer of the Kauffman Foundation, which is based in Kansas City, Mo. “FastTrac is at the core of our entrepreneurship strategies, and so Monica’s leadership of the program will be key to its continued success and expansion.”
Doss left the CED, which she grew from a fledgling startup to one of the largest entrepreneurial organizations in the country, on May 31. She served as CED’s president for 22 of its 25 years existence.
Joan Siefert Rose, former general manager at WUNC-FM radio, succeeded Rose earlier this month.
FastTrac provides a series of classes and hands-on business experience in management and growth. It has been offered for nearly 15 years.
Doss has been charged with expanding both the program’s curriculum and its market reach into new areas.
“As FastTrac celebrates its 15-year anniversary, I look forward to expanding the program and maximizing its potential for a new generation of entrepreneurs,” Doss said. “FastTrac is exceptionally dynamic in that we can customize the program for so many different types of entrepreneurs.”
Doss not only worked through CED to offer FastTrac over the past decade but also was involved in creation of “FastTrac Tech Venture,” a program that focuses on science and technology startups and how to deal with intellectual property.
Over her career, Doss has received numerous awards and honors for her leadership in entrepreneurship, including the 2008 Charles Hamner Leadership Award.
The Kauffman Foundation , which has more than $2.4 billion in assets, works to support entrepreneurship through a variety of programs, research and education.
