NC IDEA hires Allan Younger to lead partnerships, programs

DURHAM – Allan Younger is joining NC IDEA as the organization’s new senior director of programs, the private foundation announced today.

Allan Younger. Image: Forsyth Tech website.

Younger, who joins NC IDEA from a post as the director of the Small Business Center at Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, will lead NC IDEA’s programmatic priorities and partnerships.

“We are thrilled to add someone with Allan’s background and expertise to our team,” said Thom Ruhe, President and CEO of NC IDEA in a statement. “We have the great fortune of hiring a friend who has been intimately involved with the Foundation through activities in the Triad and his service on the North Carolina Black Entrepreneurship Council.”

Younger will join the organization in April, and be a member of the senior leadership team in charge of overseeing all programs, including NC IDEA LABS, NC IDEA MICRO, and NC IDEA MINDSET, the organization said. Younger was appointed to the NC IDEA North Carolina Black Entrepreneurship Council in 2020.

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“He is a true champion of entrepreneurs and values the power of community in leading equitable economic development,” Ruhe added.

Younger owns GRACE Consulting, a provider of consulting and leadership services, and is a facilitator of an entreprenuership program at Shaw University, and also is an adjunct professor at Winston-Salem State University.

The organization also recently hired Barry Ryan as the senior director of strategic partnerships.