Bernard Bell is the executive director of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. He has worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence in the Minor in Entrepreneurship. In this role, Bell has been responsible for teaching, mentoring and coaching students with a special emphasis on social entrepreneurship ventures. He is also a member of the Dean’s Working Group for the Minor in Entrepreneurship, where he has served for several years, including prior to joining the entrepreneurial faculty for the program. The Dean’s Working Group helps the dean set the strategic direction for the minor and works with alumni and friends of the University to generate and manage resources.

Bell is also the chairman and CEO of Urban Media Solutions (UMS), a media consulting firm that coaches high-growth startups, corporations and government agencies on traditional media and digital strategy around the urban market. He was most recently the senior vice president in the Office of the President for TV One, a lifestyle and entertainment cable network. He joined the network in 2003 as the second employee and led the successful growth of the network from a $130 million investment to a $600  million valuation within 54 months. He started his career at TV One as senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Prior to joining TV One, Bell held senior sales and marketing positions at Tribune Media Services in Chicago, ICTV an internet startup based in Silicon Valley, Home and Garden Television Network (HGTV) based in Knoxville and NYC and Discovery Channel based in Bethesda, MD. He started his sales career at IBM as an account executive in Winston-Salem, NC.

Originally from Greensboro, NC, Bell holds both a BA and an MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill.  He most recently served as a corporate director for ICLUB, an investment software company and has served on the advisory board for the American Film Institute.  He is active in Next Generation Men, a non-profit focused on empowering teenage African-American young men. Bell’s passions include real estate investing, architecture, international travel, Habitat for Humanity, and great wine and vineyards.