If the complex ecosystem that is the Innovation Quarter was a machine, you’d hear the hum of research labs and the whir of collaboration in classrooms. There would be a steady rhythm of small business owners building companies, restaurants serving delicious dishes, and a community where multiple facets of life can thrive.
There is another, quieter undertone that you might miss—the click of a calendar invite going out on time, the shuffle of paperwork filed correctly, or the warm greeting a visitor receives when walking in the door. That’s the soundtrack of administrative professionals.
You’ll find administrative specialists working in every aspect of business, from receiving phone calls to fulfilling purchase orders. They rarely take center stage, but they’re the ones pulling levers, solving puzzles, and keeping everything clicking so the machine continues to run. Without them, schedules would unravel, operations would collapse, and the gears of innovation might grind to a halt.
The stories in this article highlight the role of three administrative support heroes working behind-the-scenes. While their positions consist of different duties and their offices serve various entities related to the iQ, there is a similar theme: keeping operations running efficiently and smoothly to drive the iQ ecosystem forward.
Julie Cefaratti, Keeping the iQ Growing
Considering herself one of the Innovation Quarter’s biggest cheerleaders, Julie Cefaratti, administrative coordinator for the iQ’s operations team, supports the individuals charged with leading and managing the expanding innovation district.
Under the Advocate Health umbrella and in conjunction with Wake Forest University School of Medicine, the iQ team guides the ecosystem and real estate development for the iQ. They’re a small but mighty team, located in Wake Forest Biotech Place, that supports the academic mission and builds a community characterized by collaboration and innovation.
Cefaratti’s role directly assists leaders like Jason Kaplan, associate vice president for Innovation Quarter operations and Wake Forest School of Medicine academic resources, who spends his days balancing day-to-day functions and upcoming development projects.
Along with Kaplan, she works with the other members of the iQ team, who collectively cultivate partnerships to enhance the iQ’s mission as a premier hub for the life sciences and biotech industries, Wake Forest University School of Medicine’s academic pursuits, and Winston-Salem community and economic development.
When you ask Cefaratti what she does for the team, her answer is simple.
“I try to make their jobs as easy as possible administratively,” she says.
That’s a modest description hiding the broad scope of her work. On a daily basis, Cefaratti manages schedules, books conference rooms, handles invoices, fields community calls, and troubleshoots the inevitable tech issues that arise.
She provides what she calls executive-level administrative support—anticipating needs, solving problems, and making everyone feel appreciated.
“I love remembering the little things,” Cefaratti says. “I never want someone to feel like their hard work goes unseen.”
Cefaratti is a single mom who went to college and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2014, while raising two daughters. Then she jumped into administrative work through a temp agency, learning the ropes the hard way by simultaneously supporting 75 offices in a previous role.
“I was like an octopus, doing 20 different things at once,” she says.
But what might have overwhelmed Cefaratti actually honed her ability to multitask and to see challenges as opportunities.
Cefaratti is approaching a year in her current role, but she started working in the iQ in 2017, when she joined Cushman & Wakefield. She spent close to two years with a finance company between these two jobs, but she didn’t hesitate to jump at the chance to return when Kaplan reached out about an open position. Returning to a place she loved and advancing her career was a win-win.
Cefaratti’s values—resourcefulness, empathy, and a love for making others feel supported—define her work today. Whether it’s catching a scheduling snag, preparing a conference room, ordering office supplies, or wrestling with Excel, she finds joy supporting others.
“I just want my team to feel comfortable in their work and know I have their back,” Cefaratti says. “Helping this team feels like being part of something bigger.”
Sara Cocca, Keeping the iQ Powered Up
While Cefaratti focuses on people, Sara Cocca focuses on places. As assistant property manager with Cushman & Wakefield, located in 525@vine, she helps to keep the lights on and campus secure. The company serves as the property management partner in the iQ, delivering an integrated approach to managing real estate assets, keeping buildings operational, supporting tenants, and creating a better place to work.
“We’re here so tenants can just walk in and focus on their work,” Cocca says. “If they never think about the HVAC system or parking or key cards, then I’ve done my job.”
That seemingly invisible success is no small feat. Cocca juggles invoices, financial reporting, and utilities management. Her team contracts security and housekeeping, so that everyone enjoys a safe and clean working environment. She also coordinates with vendors, manages rent statements and property expense invoices, and helps troubleshoot tenant issues—from parking mix-ups to building access to maintenance requests. Working closely with the in-house engineering team, Cocca and the Cushman & Wakefield property managers proactively solve problems before tenants and visitors ever notice.
Cocca values teamwork and service and that guides her work. She describes Cushman & Wakefield’s culture as collaborative.
“When a problem comes up, it’s never about blame. It’s all of us against the problem. That makes the tough days easier,” Cocca says.
A collaborative culture is important in a complex ecosystem like the iQ because, while Cocca’s team is involved with every property, they don’t manage all aspects of each building. It presents a challenge to redirect issues to other departments when Cushman & Wakefield is most people’s first call.
“It’s frustrating not to be able to fix everything directly,” Cocca says. “But we do everything we can to connect people to the right resources.”
Cocca’s path to becoming an administrative support specialist in the iQ might surprise you. She was once a high school Spanish teacher. After graduating from Appalachian State University as a North Carolina Teaching Fellow, she taught in Alamance County for five years. She went back home to Wake County, the high school she graduated from, to teach two more.
While she was in Raleigh, Cocca felt that God called her to go back to the Triad in 2016 to help her church expand and start a new location in Winston-Salem called Two Cities Church.
“I had a friend that lived in Winston, and she was like, ‘We’ve got a spare room,’” Cocca says. “I was trusting God would work it out.”
And everything did work out. She got married and eventually joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2019 as an administrative assistant after a friend encouraged her to try property management.
“It wasn’t something I planned,” Cocca says, “but I realized I loved the variety. I like details, spreadsheets, and solving problems.”
Cocca’s adaptability—whether moving from teaching to administration or pivoting in the middle of a hectic day to handle an unexpected issue—makes her a linchpin in Cushman & Wakefield’s iQ operations.
Amie Sidberry, Keeping the iQ Compassionate
The iQ’s mission is deeply rooted in a collaboration with Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Amie Sidberry is officially an administrative coordinator in the Department of Implementation Science, a School of Medicine academic unit under the Division of Public Health Sciences located in 525@vine. But unofficially? She’s the one that makes the experience in the department—and other iQ administrative support professionals—feel human.
Sidberry’s daily work covers everything from booking meeting spaces to arranging catering to managing logistics for faculty candidates. Scheduling interviews, booking hotel rooms, reviewing payroll, assisting with staff onboarding, and even finding the perfect dinner spot are just a few tasks that she juggles. Whatever Department Chair Dr. Kristie Foley needs, she makes it happen.
“[I’m] a jack of all trades,” she says. “I’m not really in one lane. I’m bouncing around everywhere.”
Sidberry is not a scientist, but she supports Dr. Foley and nine other faculty members who are. They focus on adopting, integrating, and sustaining evidence-based interventions into real-world settings to improve individual or population health. Sidberry focuses on making their jobs easier and making them feel better—that’s her real magic.
“Sometimes I see our faculty or visiting candidates, and they seem on edge trying to perform all day—I just want them to breathe,” she says. “I give them space to relax and feel like a normal person, not just Dr. So-and-so.”
Her personality—warm, direct, and down-to-earth—is her superpower.
“I might say to a faculty candidate, ‘Hey, good morning. That color looks great on you,’ or ‘How did dinner go last night?’ It breaks the ice and helps them relax a bit,” Sidberry says.
Sidberry doesn’t keep her abilities exclusively in the department either. Her values of inclusion and connection shine in another group she created: the Administrative Professionals Support Group, an employee resource group to support those whose job is to support others in an administrative role.
When Sidberry started in her role five years ago, she was new to the medical world and overwhelmed by the demands of supporting a department chair with a packed calendar. With no mentors to lean on, she built her own network—starting with a handful of admins she regularly emailed. Today, that grassroots effort has grown into a resource hub of nearly 80 administrative professionals across Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Advocate Health.
“We share solutions and resources, vent when we need to, and remind each other that we’re not alone,” Sidberry says. “Sometimes someone will join their first meeting and say, ‘This is the first time I’ve laughed since starting this job.’ That’s when I know it matters.”
For Sidberry, the work is about more than logistics. It’s about care—creating an environment where both colleagues and visitors feel supported, understood, and valued.
“I just want people to feel at ease,” she says.
And in the high-pressure world of medical research and education, that ease is priceless.
The Quiet Engine Driving Innovation
The iQ is a place where people and ideas collide, but collisions only create progress if someone is there to manage the details, catch the loose ends, and make sure everyone has what they need to succeed. Administrative support professionals are those people.
What connects Cefaratti, Cocca, and Sidberry is not just their job titles, but their values: empathy, connection, teamwork, and a passion for making things easier for others. They remind us that innovation doesn’t just happen in labs or classrooms—it also happens in inboxes, calendars, and the quiet corners of offices where administrators keep the gears turning.
Explore more Unsung Hero stories highlighting the mission that many individuals bring to life in the iQ, including more behind-the-scenes employees and researchers.
