CED welcomes tech exec and startup founder to board, noting additions are ‘critical’

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Triangle-based entrepreneurial support organization CED has brought on two new board members.

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development announced today that the organization has appointed Bill Spruill, the co-founder and president of Global Data Consortium, which will soon be acquired by the U.K.-based London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), and Carlos Pignataro, the chief technology officer of customer and partner experience at Ciscco, to its Board of Directors.

A statement from CED called the two “critical resources for the organization.”

Spruill will join the executive committee of the organization in addition to the board of directors, according to the statement.

“Founders build and after building a successful business, I want to refocus my energies on building a stronger Triangle ecosystem. I see CED as an integral part of the community both past, present and future,” said Spruill in the statement.

Spruill told WRAL TechWire in April “a founder is a founder, regardless of race, age, sexual orientation or economic upbringing.” Spruill credited experiences with and through CED with providing the foundation for the success of Global Data Consortium.

“Without the experiences I had at CED, GDC would not have come into existence, for sure,” Spruill told WRAL TechWire in an exclusive interview. “I think many of the successful founders, both past and present, don’t realize or understand the impact that organization has had on the success of the region and on their personal outcomes. For me, I absolutely intend to give credit where credit is due.”

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Tech exec seeking to learn, contribute

CED also announced that a technology executive from Cisco, Carlos Pignataro, has been appointed to the Board of Directors.

“I am inspired to learn from and contribute to the Triangle entrepreneurial ecosystem, and enthusiastic to join CED,” says Pignataro. “This is a growing and thriving region, and CED’s work to support new and emerging businesses will continue to be a catalyst for local innovation.

Pignataro was named to Fast Company’s Innovative Leader and HITEC 100 lists in 2021. For Pignataro, innovation is a movement that can improve people, communities, and the world, the statement notes.

” All together, we can accelerate North Carolina’s position as a leader and hub for technology,” said Pignataro in the statement.