When Katherine Avery recently established the Avery Family Entrepreneurship Award Endowment with a gift to the School of Business Administration, she continued a longstanding family tradition of investing in the next generation of entrepreneurial talent.
After spending her formative years in the Arkansas Delta, Avery graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2005 with a degree in managerial finance. She credits her Ole Miss education as a formative foundation for her career in entrepreneurship and business strategy.
The newly created $50,000 endowment will provide financial awards to students who place in the Gillespie Business Model Competition, the School of Business Administration’s spring competition. These funds are designed to help student entrepreneurs transform promising ideas into viable ventures.
“Establishing the endowment is our family’s way of giving the next generation of students the foundation we were fortunate to have,” Avery said. “Entrepreneurship runs deep in our family, as it is how we were raised to see the world, and we hope these awards help students who have that same spirit but need someone to believe in them first.”
Following graduation, Avery built a more than 20-year career in risk and operations within the financial services industry. In January 2026, she launched Chimayo Consulting, a firm focused on supporting risk and business transformation. She is currently based in Houston, Texas.
Her professional trajectory reflects both her education and a deeply rooted family legacy of enterprise. Avery’s grandparents built independent businesses in accounting and industrial services, instilling a respect for precision, fiscal discipline and the trust inherent in professional expertise. Her parents also forged entrepreneurial paths in law and accounting, further shaping the family’s business ethos.
That tradition extended into agriculture as well, with Avery’s father leading operations on the family farm where she was raised. Today, her siblings continue that agricultural legacy through their own ventures, while Avery carries it forward through her professional services career.
“This endowment honors that legacy,” Avery said, “and bets on the next generation of students who have the drive to build something meaningful of their own.”
UM development officer Molly Armitage emphasized the tangible impact such support will have on students competing in the business model program.
“The mentorship and financial resources these students receive can be transformative whether they are developing an app or acquiring essential equipment,” she said. “The Avery family is deeply committed to students who are working to create something better than what exists today. This kind of funding can make the difference between an idea and a launched business.”
Clay Dibrell, co-director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, echoed that sentiment, noting the broader significance of the gift.
“The Avery Family Entrepreneurship Award Endowment provides our students with both validation and opportunity,” Dibrell said. “It encourages collaboration and helps turn innovative ideas into sustainable businesses. We are profoundly grateful to Katherine Avery and her family for their confidence in our students and their future.”
He added that contributions like Avery’s enable the center to continually elevate its programming and expand possibilities for student entrepreneurs.
“Support of this kind allows us to redefine the standard for student entrepreneurship both at Ole Miss and nationally,” he said.
To make a gift to the Avery Family Entrepreneurship Award Endowment, send a check with the fund’s name written in the memo line to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Ave., Oxford, MS 38655 or click here.
For more information on supporting the School of Business Administration, contact Molly Armitage Francis, development associate, at mollyc@olemiss.edu or 678-920-4202.
By Andy Belt / UM Foundation