On Friday, February 27th, Lauren Romer will transition out of her role as Executive Director of Founded Communities. Cary Founded Director, Rebekah Gregg will assume the new role of Community Director. She will receive support from Isabella Dearr and Saraiya Mills, comprising the Founded Communities leadership team.

Lauren, who has been with Founded Communities for eight years and took on the role of Executive Director in June 2022, has been a significant driver of the organization’s growth since joining its ranks. During her time with the organization, Lauren has had a hand in developing Founded Communities’ presence in Downtown Raleigh and Downtown Cary, overseeing the openings of the North Street and Cary Founded locations, and was involved in establishing Founded’s Gateway and Centennial locations earlier in her career.

Her passion for supporting entrepreneurs and the growth of the city stretched beyond her work at Founded Communities, leading to her involvement in efforts such as the DRA’s activation of Downtown Raleigh, her participation in planning the Triangle’s Raleigh-Durham Startup Week for several years, and her service on the B Local Triangle Board. Lauren received the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Award for her work with entrepreneurs at Founded and beyond.

A vocal supporter of encouraging underrepresented populations to pursue entrepreneurship and a firm believer in its power to change lives, Lauren is stepping away to focus on her own entrepreneurial journey as Founder of Romer & Company, specializing in interior design and commercial real estate.

“For the past eight years, Founded has been my home and my greatest teacher,” Romer says, reflecting on her time at Founded Communities.

“I’ve had the privilege of watching both the organization and the Triangle’s entrepreneurial ecosystem grow with intention, resilience, and heart. I leave Founded with immense pride and deep gratitude, and with complete confidence in Rebekah and the leadership team I’ve helped build. They are thoughtful, capable, and deeply committed stewards of this community, and I know Founded’s best chapters are still ahead as I step forward to pursue what so many of our members have inspired me to do.”

Rebekah Gregg, who first joined the Founded Communities team in July 2021, has established herself as a natural leader with a commitment to and talent for cultivating community. Her knack for operating and filling a space, understanding the needs of both her team and members, and her passion for highlighting and uplifting entrepreneurs make her the perfect leader for Founded’s next chapter. These qualities, as the Director of Cary Founded and Founder of Cary Finds, a newsletter created to highlight Cary’s small businesses, also contributed to Gregg’s naming as an inaugural honoree of Grepbeat’s Rising Stars in 2025.

Jason Widen, along with the full ownership group, will continue to champion and support the work of the Founded team.

“Throughout her time with us over the past eight years, Lauren has been an incredible asset to the team,” Widen says of Lauren’s contributions to the organization.

“She helped guide Founded Communities through some of our most challenging moments—including navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic—and played a pivotal role in shaping the organization into what it is today. I have no doubt that Lauren will continue to achieve great things in the next chapter of her career. We’re incredibly grateful for everything she’s contributed and excited to see what she does next.

On Rebekah Gregg, Widen shares: “Rebekah has proven herself to be an integral part of our team, and a dedicated advocate of our core values and mission. Her work as the Director of Cary Founded is impressive, and proof of the skill set she will bring to leading our organization. I have the utmost confidence in Rebekah and the leadership team as they continue to fulfill the Founded Communities mission of supporting entrepreneurs and founders in the region.”

--

Learn more about Romer & Company here.