Anita Brown-Graham joined the Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) as director in January 2007. As director, Anita leads IEI’s programs of work around public policy initiatives, which include healthcare, economic development, tax and finance modernization, energy and the environment, and higher education. Before joining IEI, she served as a professor of law and government at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where, for 12 years, she provided significant training for state and local officials and wrote books and articles focused on developing the economic base of distressed communities. Prior to that, she served as a law clerk in the eastern district of California and as business litigation counsel in a Sacramento, California, law firm. In 2004, Gov. Mike Easley appointed Anita to the board of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center. She also serves as a trustee of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation and is active on boards and committees of several not-for-profit organizations.