Joan Siefert Rose joined CREO, Inc. as a senior partner in January 2017. She leads the innovation and entrepreneurship practice area for the fast-growing management consulting and advisory firm based in Research Triangle Park, N.C. which focuses on perfecting business operations in the health, life sciences and technology sectors. In February 2017, Rose also joined the nonprofit LaunchBio as CEO. The organization is dedicated to identifying, counseling and supporting high-growth, high-impact life science and biotechnology companies.

Previously, Rose served as the president and CEO for the Council for Economic Development (CED). From 2008 to 2016, her responsibilities included creating programming and services, fundraising, strategic planning and community outreach for the nation’s oldest and largest entrepreneurial support organization. Joan led a strategic initiative to reorganize and rebrand CED, which coincided with the organization’s 25th birthday in 2009. She formed alliances with other entrepreneurial and economic development groups, including partnerships with the region’s entrepreneurship programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, North Carolina State University and North Carolina Central University, in support of CED’s 5,500 active members.

She spent more than 30 years in broadcasting as a radio manager, journalist and talk show host, winning both the DuPontColumbia award and the George Foster Peabody award, broadcast journalism’s top honors. She served as general manager of North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC 91.5 FM in Chapel Hill from 2001 prior to joining CED, and held positions at commercial and public radio stations in Raleigh, North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina, Detroit, Michigan and Ann Arbor, Michigan. She also worked for several years in healthcare planning and marketing.

Rose has a bachelor’s from Middlebury College and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Michigan. She serves on the board of directors of several nonprofit organizations.