ABOUT

PDMA Carolinas brings together entrepreneurs, industrial designers, product developers, product marketers, researchers, and educators from across North and South Carolina. Professionals representing a breadth of industries and expertise enjoy the diverse perspectives represented in our Carolinas Chapter.

The goal of PDMA Carolinas is to help businesses increase and realize their innovation potential. The chapter brings its community value by providing opportunities to learn new ideas, approaches, best practices, latest research, and customer insights from world-class organizations as well as to network with peers through events and meetings throughout the year where the users (new product development practitioners), not just keynote speakers and gurus, take center stage. 

The capstone event of the year is the Innovate Carolina Annual Conference where we bring in expert speakers from across the country to build a stronger community of innovation professionals in the Carolinas.

MISSION STATEMENT

To create a persistent community of corporate and socially invested innovators striving to change the world through creative collaboration and purposeful action designed to unleash the potential of individuals and organizations to thrive.

VALUE PROPOSITION

PDMA Carolinas provides... knowledge and networking
    ...for professionals who either work on innovation, or are interested in moving to an innovation role
    ...who would like to enrich their understanding of innovation techniques while networking with peers
    ...in comparison to less targeted networking groups that don't advance this segment's career opportunities
    ...because it is the best community in the Carolinas for furthering a career in innovation

LEADERSHIP

The tireless efforts of our volunteers and board members come from a shared passion for building a community of innovation.

Susan Burek – President
Bruce Harned – Secretary
Laurie Harrison – Conference Chair
Davis Hunt  – Programs
Cheryl Jacobs  – Treasurer
Kierra Maggs – Marketing
Dinesh Perumal  – Academic Affairs
Christina Todd – Programs
Andrew Wells – Sponsorship

Jennifer Willson – Membership

At Large

Doug Powell – Past President, Member at Large | Terry Hagood – Part Treasurer, Member at Large | Jeffrey Phillips  – Member at Large

Open Positions

We have several opportunities on our Board for enthusiastic volunteers.  If you're interested in joining a great team of like-minded folks who are promoting innovation in the region, please send an email to carolinaschapter@pdma.org.

SPONSORS

We have sponsorship opportunities for businesses interested in supporting innovation in the Carolinas. It's a great way to make a statement that your company is serious about growth through innovation and new product development.