Brooke Hartley Moy ’07 and Teresa & Steve Engebretsen are Honored with Alumni Awards
At the 2025 Spring Alumni Reception, the Durham Academy Alumni Board honored a trio of individuals who have helped shape the future for multitudes. For Brooke Hartley Moy ’07 — recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award — that means blazing a path as a woman in AI leadership. For Steve and Teresa Engebretsen — recipients of the Faculty and Staff Legacy Award — that has meant igniting fires of curiosity and determination in thousands of young people over the course of more than four decades spent teaching, coaching and leading at DA.
Brooke Hartley Moy ’07
Distinguished Alumni Award
Hartley Moy is the CEO and co-founder of Infactory, an AI fact-checking platform for businesses and developers that depend on accuracy. She is a seasoned leader in business development and strategic partnerships with a career that spans pivotal roles at Google, Slack, Humane and other tech giants.
Hartley Moy holds an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, earned on a full-merit scholarship for women leaders. At Infactory, her leadership is instrumental in steering the company’s strategic direction. Hartley Moy’s groundbreaking foray into AI — particularly as a woman in leadership — has been featured in news platforms including Fortune, CNBC and Inc.
Hartley Moy’s perspective is much sought after. In less than a year’s time after founding Infactory in June 2024, she gave a keynote presentation at the prestigious Web Summit in Lisbon, presented at the UC Berkeley Hackathon and was one of just 10 AI founders — out of more than 700 applications — selected to give an on-stage pitch at the renowned TechCrunch Disrupt AI event.
“Unlike history, I was not winning any math awards. … Later on, fueled by DA’s ‘embrace the difficult’ ethos, I chose to focus on finance in business school — something that is highly quantitative, that is not in my normal skill set — because DA taught me that struggling with something doesn’t diminish its value. Sometimes, the struggle is the point. … The hard thing about hard things is that they’re worth doing. Durham Academy taught me not just how to do them, but why they matter.”
Steve & Teresa Engebretsen
Faculty & Staff Legacy Award
“The Engebretsens,” as they are so affectionately known by generations of students and colleagues, have devoted a combined 88 years of service to Durham Academy. This dedication stems from the many roles they have held over the last five decades at the school — among them, as athletic director and Middle School French teacher — but their commitment to the Durham Academy family extends far beyond these official roles. The parents of two alumni — Jake '06 and Grant '11 — the Engebretsens are part of the fabric of Durham Academy for countless students, families and alumni.
Steve Engebretsen, who joined the faculty in 1981, served as DA’s director of athletics from 1991–2019 and coached varsity boys basketball for 14 years and varsity softball for 11 years. He also taught physical education in the Lower, Middle and Upper School divisions and served as assistant athletic director and an Upper School advisor over the course of his 43-year career at DA. His accolades include NC Soccer Coaches Association Athletic Director of the Year in 2013; US Lacrosse North Carolina High School Man of the Year in 2014; DA Athletic Hall of Fame inductee in 2015; the NCISAA Chuck Carter Athletic Director Award in 2018; and being the namesake of DA’s Steve Engebretsen Athletic Leadership Award, which was created in 2019.
“I feel honored and proud that Teresa and I are being recognized together. We’ve invested a lot in Durham Academy, but we’ve received a lot in return. … My message to those who teach or coach here now is to invest in our school fully — like, really invest. It’ll get back to you. Invest in your colleagues, appreciate the connections with some amazing families, and learn about the people who began weaving this great school together many decades ago, making DA the place where you are now.”
Teresa Engebretsen taught French at DA Middle School beginning in 1980 until her retirement this year. During that time, she also served as academic leader for the Middle School world languages department; as a seventh and eighth grade advisor; as seventh grade team leader; as Middle School registrar; as a JV and varsity softball coach; and developer of the Phenomenon of Language class for new DA Middle School students. Teresa coordinated the seventh grade trip to Washington, D.C., for many years and — perhaps most famously — led annual student trips to France beginning in 1987. She was honored with DA’s Hershey Distinguished Faculty Award in 2013.
“I’m often asked why I stayed at DA for so long, and for me, it comes down to the people in this room and the relationships I have formed with you. … Durham Academy took me in as a 22-year-old and made me into a teacher, advisor and mentor. I love this place. It’s more than these beautiful buildings. It’s a thriving community. It’s a family.”