Welcome to New Ain Center Executive Director
By Ain Center Staff
We are thrilled to welcome Annette Durnack, the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship’s new Executive Director. As Executive Director, Annette will lead Ain Center programs and initiatives, as well as oversee the MS in TEAM Program.
Annette Durnack has joined the University of Rochester in the newly-created position of Executive Director of the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship. Annette will oversee all programs and initiatives at the Ain Center, as well as the master of science in Technical Entrepreneurship and Management (TEAM) program. She assumed the position on April 30, 2021.
Annette has over 25 years of experience building and leading successful sales and marketing businesses across various segments of the energy industry. She has worked for several Fortune 500 energy companies during the early stages of energy deregulation where she was responsible for developing and launching the business plan and strategy for bringing energy supply products and services to businesses and consumers across the northeast. She has also worked in the software industry where she led a team focused on providing energy management solutions to large commercial real estate owners to assist them in achieving their operational and sustainability objectives.
After an extensive career in the energy industry, she decided to transition to a role where she could assist others in building their plans to launch successful and scalable businesses. Most recently, she was the director of the Penn State Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, a business accelerator and economic development initiative, where she was responsible for developing programs to support the needs of early-stage entrepreneurs and strengthening the capabilities of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the region.
Over the course of Annette’s career, she has been involved in and served on the board of directors for various philanthropic organizations such as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Girls on the Run, and the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. Annette has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
