2008 Charles Hamner Leadership Award
Monica Doss
(previously awarded at Biotech 2008 on May 20, 2008)
The Charles Hamner Leadership Award recognizes exemplary vision and leadership in biotechnology. This year’s winners received their awards and were recognized at CED’s annual Biotech Conference on May 19 in Winston-Salem. Monica P. Doss, president and CEO of CED received the 6th annual Charles Hamner Leadership Award in recognition of extraordinary contributions and service in the region’s life science sector. She have played a central role in supporting and expanding North Carolina’s biotech cluster throughout her 20 plus years as director of CED.
Since 1986, Monica Doss has served as President of the Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED), a non-profit organization founded in 1984 to stimulate the creation and expansion of high-growth entrepreneurial businesses in North Carolina. Doss is responsible for spearheading the direction, operation and overall management of the organization. During her 20-year tenure, CED has grown to become the largest entrepreneurial support organization in the United States, with 4000+ members representing 1100 member companies, and an annual budget of $2 million.
Ms. Doss has received both local and national recognition as an industry leader. She was awarded the 1999 National Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Supporter of Entrepreneurship category and serves as a National and Regional Judge, received the 2003 Goodmon Leadership Award, the 2004 Triangle Women in Business Lifetime Achievement Award and Metro Magazine’s 2007 Who’s Who. Doss is actively involved in numerous and diverse professional and educational organizations. Doss is past chair of the North Carolina Public Radio WUNC Community Advisory Board, is on the Board of Directors of the Triangle United Way and a Director of Southeast BIO as well as a Director of the North Carolina Bioscience Fund. She serves on the Board and Executive Committee of NCIDEA. She is a chairman and CEO of the Entrepreneurial Education Foundation based in Kansas City. She co-chaired the Entrepreneurship and Technology Committee for the Research Triangle Region's Future Cluster Competitiveness Initiative and served on the North Carolina Nanotechnology Planning Committee. She is a frequent speaker and coach on entrepreneurial development and building innovation-based economies and an active member in national and regional coalitions on entrepreneurship and innovation.