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Sanford, N.C. — For Meghan Brown, the walk across 91��ѡ’s Lee Main Campus has come full circle.

More than two decades ago, Brown attended dual enrollment classes on the Lee Main Campus as a local high school student. She walked beneath the campus’s crepe myrtle trees carrying a backpack and college textbooks, never imagining that one day she would return to help lead the institution that helped shape her future.

This month, the Triangle Business Journal named Brown, now 91��ѡ’s Vice President of Advancement and Operations, to its prestigious 2026 40 Under 40 list, recognizing emerging leaders whose work is shaping the Triangle.

Brown sees the recognition as an opportunity to tell a larger story.

“One of the things that means the most to me about receiving this recognition is that it reflects far more than my own work. It shines a light on 91��ѡ and the incredible people I have the privilege of serving alongside every day.”

Brown said the recognition also highlights the growing role 91��ѡ plays in the Triangle’s workforce and North Carolina’s economy. While rooted in the communities it serves, the college has become an increasingly important partner to employers, school districts, universities, and local governments throughout the Triangle and central North Carolina.

“We are proud to be North Carolina’s largest rural-serving community college, but we’re also an institution of the Triangle,” Brown said. “That unique position allows us to bridge worlds, serving rural communities while helping power one of the nation’s most dynamic economic regions.”

The college has built a reputation for responding quickly to community and industry needs through customized workforce training, dual enrollment, innovative academic programs, and partnerships that connect education with economic opportunity. Brown said that willingness to collaborate and find solutions has become part of the college’s identity.

“Our team has developed a reputation for saying ‘yes’ to big ideas and then finding a way to make them happen,” Brown said. “Whether we’re supporting employers, creating opportunities for students, or responding to community needs, we rarely do just one thing at a time because that’s what our mission requires.”

Brown believes community colleges will play an even more significant role in North Carolina’s future over the next five years as employers compete for talent, industries continue to evolve, and communities look for partners that can respond quickly to changing needs.

“The next generation of North Carolina’s economy won’t be built by any one company or one university,” Brown said. “It will be built through partnerships, and community colleges will be at the center of those partnerships. We are uniquely positioned to bring together students, employers, K-12 schools, universities, local governments, and community organizations to solve problems and create opportunity. That’s the role I believe community colleges are called to play.”

“This recognition belongs to an institution that believes deeply in creating opportunity,” Brown said. “I’m honored to represent a college that continues to lead, innovate, and serve as an essential partner to students, employers, and communities across the Triangle and central North Carolina.”

For more information about 91��ѡ, including workforce development, academic programs, and community partnerships, visit. Brown’s Triangle Business Journal 40 Under 40 profile is available at.