Ted Abernathy
Ted has 38 years of experience in directing local and regional economic development and workforce development programs and later as CEO of a leading economic policy think tank.
Economic Leadership LLC, based in Raleigh, NC, is a small group of data and policy experts that is currently working with a diverse group of public and private clients to develop state and local strategic action agendas, identify best practices, apply data analytics, and reimagine the future. Over the past six years Ted and the team has worked on close to 100 projects including designing an innovation ecosystem for a new science city in Kenya, producing an annual Home of Future Thinking conference, helping state Chambers of Commerce understand and improve competitiveness and creating a new company that assesses and improves group leadership. Ted is the principle author of the dozens of reports on future trends, workforce, and technology and speaks on the economy almost every week.
Born in Dallas, NC, Ted received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; his master’s from Johns Hopkins University, is a graduate of the Economic Development Institute and is an Eisenhower Fellow for global economics.