Ioanna Morfessis
| Ioanna Morfessis | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | Washington D.C., U.S. |
| Residence | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Occupation | Economic Developer |
| Website | www.ioannaworldwide.com |
Ioanna Morfessis (pronounced: \io(an)-na\) is an American business woman and an internationally recognized economic development strategist and practitioner. She has been an innovator in economic development programs and strategies since her first post in the profession, founding four economic development organizations and establishing programs and tools that became models for communities across the U.S. Morfessis is a trailblazer as a woman executive in economic development, having served as the first woman to lead economic development organizations in the markets that she served.
Morfessis helped to launch America's first “one-stop” business assistance center for minority enterprises, based in Washington DC; spearheaded the nation’s first R&D park dedicated to biotechnology firms and institutions, located in Montgomery County, MD; and catalyzed the City of Phoenix's first public-private economic development partnership, the Phoenix Economic Growth Corporation. As the founding President/CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, she helped establish a new model for regional collaboration that has been emulated in other major regions in the U.S.
In September 2011, Dr. Morfessis was named the recipient of the International Economic Development Council Lifetime Achievement for Excellence in Economic Development Award for an esteemed career of empowering communities and companies to prosper.
A sought-after economic and business development "guru" and authority on economic and community development trends, Morfessis' work has attracted billions of dollars in job creation and private capital investment in the markets she has served.
A first generation American of Greek heritage, Morfessis was born in Washington, D.C.
Morfessis earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from American University, a Master’s of Public Administration from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Arizona State University.
Morfessis was Director of Resource Development for the Greater Washington Business Center in Washington, D.C. from December 1974 to November 1977. At a time when the federal Office of Minority Business Enterprise and the Small Business Administration was just beginning to channel assistance and loans to minority businesses to assist in their growth development, Morfessis helped to launch the nation's first "one-stop" business assistance center for small minority business enterprises. In 1975, Morfessis co-led a newly established Business Resource Center, a program created to increase the profitability and growth of minority-owned retail businesses. She enlisted the direct participation of more than 30 major corporations, including IBM, Lockheed Martin (formerly Martin Marietta), Ernst & Young, and others to fund the Center and to institute minority procurement programs. These efforts resulted in the formation of the Metropolitan Washington Minority Purchasing Council, which established and achieved company goals for minority participation in government contracts. She also helped to stage Opportunity Fair 1976 – one of the first nationwide minority procurement trade fairs in the U.S.
...
Wikipedia