College Leadership
Wake Tech Announces New Director of Entrepreneurship Initiatives
RALEIGH, N.C. (May 13, 2015) - Wake Technical Community College welcomes Katie Gailes as Director of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, with responsibilities that include the Wake Tech/Wells Fargo Center for Entrepreneurship. Gailes is tasked with identifying and launching innovative programs that contribute to the entrepreneurial fabric in Wake County and beyond. In addition, she will continue the work of the Wake Tech/Wells Fargo Center for Entrepreneurship to help new and existing entrepreneurs get the training and support they need to make their ideas take shape.
Gailes earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Bennett College for Women, in Greensboro, and later an MBA from the Duke University Fuqua School of Business. She had a long career with IBM, including serving as the first African-American female Marketing Manager in the IBM office in Roanoke, Virginia. In 2006, Gailes formed her own business and marketing strategy firm, and has also counseled displaced workers through a government program called Growing American Through Entrepreneurship (GATE) since 2010. In 2013 Gailes became an adjunct instructor of entrepreneurship at Wake Tech, and also began serving as a counselor at the Wake Tech Small Business Center, where she has worked with more than 200 entrepreneurs and small business owners.
