Mark Gabriel Little is the executive director of NCGrowth, a national center, based at UNC Chapel Hill, that is helping businesses, governments, and other organizations create good jobs, equitable economies, and new wealth in distressed communities. Driven by the vision of an economy that provides opportunities for all to prosper, his team provides transformational technical assistance; produces useful research; develops innovative policy; and hosts unique convenings. Mark is co-chair/founder of Black Communities: A Conference for Collaboration, an annual international convening of scholars and leaders across the African diaspora. He previously served as managing director of the UNC Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise supervising operations, research, external affairs and student-facing activities. Mark has served as an AAAS congressional science fellow to the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a Luce Scholar at Peking University. He is also a composer, writer, and baba.