The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise welcomed nearly 200 undergraduate business students, MBA candidates and members of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School community to the Kenan Center Dining Room for the institute’s annual open house event on Tuesday, Aug. 28.
Director Greg Brown opened the evening with an overview of the institute’s mission and showcased the institute’s work in the UNC-Chapel Hill community and beyond. The nonprofit, nonpartisan business think tank celebrates its 33rd anniversary this fall.
“Our goal as an institute is to develop solutions to today’s most complex economic challenges,” Brown shared. “Directly and through our centers, we work with school faculty to research the most pressing current challenges in business.”
He explained that through conferences, lectures and events, the Kenan Institute brings together top academics, business leaders and policymakers to collaborate and share their learnings from the field.
“In turn, we listen to our private and public sector partners about the obstacles they are facing, and we tailor our research to meet those existing and emerging needs,” he said. “By convening leaders from across sectors, the institute is able to facilitate relationships that build a greater understanding of how the private sector can work for the public good.”
Executive Director Mark Little then gave a summary of each of the institute’s nine affiliated centers. The centers included the Center for Sustainable Enterprise, the Energy Center, the Entrepreneurship Center, the Family Enterprise Center, the Institute for Private Capital, the Leonard W. Wood Center for Real Estate Studies, NCGrowth, the UNC Tax Center and the Urban Investment Strategies Center. Little also highlighted the Kenan Institute’s signature Kenan Scholars and MBA Kenan Scholars programs.
Attendees were then invited to network with each of the centers and programs hosting tables around the room.
To learn more and register for upcoming events, please click here.