Leveling the playing field

Nehemiah Stewart never planned on starting a company.

He actively tried to avoid it.

“I always promised myself that I wouldn’t start a business,” said Stewart, a senior majoring in chemistry and mathematics. “I said, ‘Businesspeople, all they do is lie, cheat and steal.’ I wanted to work in research because, in research, I can be part of innovative findings.”

But the skills that helped him in Jillian Dempsey’s and Mohanish Deshmukh’s labs at Carolina were also just the right tools to succeed as an entrepreneur. Whether you’re trying to find a new way to treat an illness or sell a new product to consumers, it’s all about understanding a problem and finding the solution.

Stewart’s natural knack for finding smart solutions led him to create his first company in 2019, and the Tar Heel is now bringing a new social venture to life.

Stewart, along with mentors and colleagues from UNC-Chapel Hill, recently launched Level the Playing Field, an organization intended to create generational change for minority students by providing professional development and access to door-opening internships.