Anita R. Brown-Graham

Anita Brown-Graham is the founder and director of the ncIMPACT Initiative and the Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government at the UNC School of Government. This initiative seeks to expand the School’s capacity to work with public officials on complex policy issues including economic mobility, the expansion of prekindergarten, and extending the labor pool. In 2020, she was named the Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government at the School.

Brown-Graham previously taught at the School from 1994 to 2006, specializing in governmental liability and economic development aimed at revitalizing communities. She served as director of the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) at North Carolina State University from 2007 to 2016, where she led efforts to build North Carolina’s capacity for economic development and prosperity, working with business, government, and higher education leaders from across the state.

Brown-Graham began her career as a law clerk in the Eastern District of California. She is a William C. Friday Fellow, an American Marshall Fellow, and was named Distinguished Global Fellow by the Eisenhower Fellowships in 2021. The White House named her a 2013 Champion of Change for her work at IEI, and the Triangle Business Journal awarded her the inaugural 2021 Andrea Harris Trailblazer Award and named her a 2017 CEO of the year. Brown-Graham serves on the boards of several organizations, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. She earned an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and a law degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.