Q&A with Foundation Board Member Geraud Staton

Geraud Staton is Executive Director of Helius, a Durham-based nonprofit organization that provides training and coaching for small businesses and necessity-driven entrepreneurs. He has served on the Durham Tech Foundation Board of Directors since 2019.

Q: Why did you decide to serve on the Durham Tech Foundation board?
A: Social mobility, particularly in Durham and the surrounding areas, is of the utmost importance to me. Improving social mobility and giving people the opportunity to help themselves is my primary mission and the mission of my organization, Helius. Durham Tech shares in this mission and has been pivotal in this fight. Naturally, I was eager to help be a part of this solution on a larger scale.

Q: Why do you think the Durham Tech Foundation is so important to the College's mission?
A: As the executive director of a growing non-profit, I understand the needs of fundraising and marketing. These are tasks that need specialized attention. The College has its mission, and the Foundation is able to bring in more funding while sharing the College's successes and bringing more community attention to the work we are all doing.

Q: Why is Durham Tech so important to our community?
A: The short answer is: social mobility. Durham is ranked among the lowest in the nation in social mobility. If you are born poor here, you are much more likely to die poor here. Durham Tech has been helping change those numbers for decades.

Q: What makes Durham Tech special?
A: The people make Durham Tech special. Since I've been on the Durham Tech Foundation board, I have seen so many people who care about the students and the community. Not only do they care but they do something about the problems and issues that they see. Durham Tech isn't alone in this, of course. But the sheer number of people within the College is a major concentration of people fighting to make the Triangle a better place!

Q: Why is it important for you to give to the Foundation?
A: It is important to put your money where your mouth is. Some people are able to directly affect social mobility, and they fight every day to do so. Others are in a place to support that fight through other means and financial means is one such way of affecting that needed change. If we want to see change in this world, we either have to do the work or we have to support the work.

Q: How does it feel to meet students impacted by the Durham Tech Foundation?
A: There is no greater feeling of pride to see the difference that the College has made in the lives of students. And these are students of any age! These are students who share their stories and often they come from humble beginnings. The changes in their lives since becoming a part of the College can be profound!

Q: Anything else you would like to add?
A: I am incredibly proud of the work that we do with the Durham Tech Foundation. That work will only grow in scope over the coming years, and the difference Durham Tech will make in this community will only grow with it!