Danielle Unique McEwen is the Senior Program Manager of Startup Support at the Center on Rural Innovation, where she leads the design and delivery of CORI’s first dedicated founder-facing programs across the Rural Innovation Network. Her work focuses on developing investment readiness, strengthening the rural startup pipeline, and creating clearer pathways from idea to capital for early-stage rural tech founders and pre-seed startups.

Danielle brings more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of ecosystem development, founder advisory, program design, and marketing strategy. Throughout her career, she has partnered with institutions, local and regional governments, and universities to reduce barriers to innovation and expand access to entrepreneurship, including economic development work connected to job creation and opportunity-building efforts in the Dominican Republic. Prior to joining CORI, she served as Director of Programs at Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, where she led entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives across Virginia’s GO Virginia Region 8, including incubators, accelerators, and founder development programs supporting startups and small businesses in accessing capital and creating sustainable growth pathways. She is also the Founder and Chief Strategist of UniQue VZSN, an advisory practice supporting visionary founders and leaders through growth, strategy, and leadership evolution.

Danielle’s connection to rural entrepreneurship is both professional and personal. Raised in the Shenandoah Valley — one of CORI’s own Rural Innovation Network communities — she spent years developing entrepreneurship and business ecosystems in the region she grew up in, working directly with founders navigating the real challenges of growing a venture in places where access to capital, networks, and infrastructure is not always built in. She believes rural founders do not lack vision or ambition. They need the right infrastructure, relationships, and support to help the market recognize what they are already building — and she has spent her career forging the pathways to make that possible.