Senior Consultant

Dr. Teresa Merriweather Orok is an expert on economic and business innovation. While her career spans more than 30 years of experience across grants, government contract management, economic development, government, and higher education, she currently serves as the inaugural Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Development at Alabama A&M University. She assisted more than 200 businesses in start-up and business scaling, including her work with over 75 businesses across the state of Alabama to aid in COVID-19 pandemic revitalization and stabilization.

In addition to her work with state-wide and regional incubating start-ups, growing small businesses, and managing large-scale business and government partnerships, she also facilitates student education around entrepreneurship and innovation skills to best prepare students at HBCUs for the future of work.

Senior Consultant

Michael E. Orok, serves as a Professor of Political Science and Public Administration & the Interim Chair of the Department of Social Sciences at Alabama A & M University. Orok previously served as a tenured professor of Political Science and Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. He also previously served as the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research at Tennessee State University. Additionally, he served for six years as the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Graduate Studies at Alabama A &M University (AAMU). He is a seasoned public administration practitioner, academician and higher education administrator with more than 30 years of experience in the field. Dr. Orok served for several years as a tenured professor and Chairperson of the Department of History and Political Science at Albany State University in Albany, GA., and Special Assistant to the Vice President for Academic Affairs on Accreditation matters. Moreover, he served as an accreditation liaison for over ten years and periodically served as an accreditation off-site visit reviewer for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACS/ COC). He is a former Vice President of the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools (CHBGS), and a 2005 graduate of the Millennium Leadership Initiative (MLI) of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and a 2016 graduate of the American Academic Leadership Institute (AALI). He is also a graduate of the Center for Strategic Leadership and a Six Sigma Green Belt.

Dr. Orok is a seasoned scholar, researcher, author, thought leader and academician who has been involved in numerous public service and professional activities and developed academic curriculum in Public Administration and served as MPA program accreditation site visitor. He served for three years on the Commission for Peer Review and Accreditation (COPRA), which is the accrediting agency for all MPA programs in the United States. He has published and presented academic papers in Political Science, Public administration and community and Economic Development. He is the founding President of the Southwest Georgia Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration, admitted into the Hall of Champions of the American Society for Public Administration in 2000 and is listed as a life member of the Cambridge “Who is Who” registry of Executives, Professionals and Entrepreneurs. He is a past President of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators (COMPA). He served briefly as the treasurer of the Tennessee Council of Graduate Schools and on the executive committee of the conference of Southern graduate Schools. He also holds membership in the American Society for Public Administration and the American Political Science Association and the section on Public Administration Education. He has been the co-founder and co-principal investigator for the Flint River Water Resources Management and Policy Center in Southwest Georgia. Michael Orok, holds a, Baccalaureate degree in Political Science from central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio, a Master’s degree in Management and Supervision with Public Administration concentration from Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, a Ph.D. degree in Political Science with Public Administration as a cognate area from Atlanta University (Now Clark Atlanta) and a Doctorate in Biblical Studies, from Bethany College and seminary, Dothan, AL. He holds the key to the City of Columbus, Georgia. He Is a Life member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc.