Announcing Leadership North Carolina Class 34

Raleigh, NC – Fifty-six civic and community leaders from across the state have been accepted to form the 2026-2027 class for Leadership North Carolina, the state’s premier leadership deployment program.

Each year, through a rigorous selection process, LNC chooses a class of established and emerging leaders from across the state to participate in its acclaimed Core Program. Leadership North Carolina’s Class 34 is made up of top leaders from the government, business, nonprofit, and education sectors.

Over the course of seven two-and-a-half day sessions, Class 34 participants will learn about issues critical to the state through discussions with top officials and professionals, field trips, and experiential learning activities. LNC’s sessions focus on six key areas: economic development, education, environment, government, health and human services, and inclusive leadership. Through LNC’s program, participants gain new insight into North Carolina’s strengths and challenges and explore opportunities for how they will improve and empower their communities and the state as a whole.

LNC sessions are held around the state, highlighting the social, geographic, and economic diversity of North Carolina. The members of Class 34 gathered in New Bern last week for their Orientation session. The group will meet in Raleigh in November for the Government session and in Greensboro in December for the Education session. The remaining sessions for LNC Class 34 will be held in Durham, Greenville, Charlotte, and Asheville.

LNC Class 34

• Analisa Sorrells Archer, Senior Director of Policy, EducationNC (EdNC), Durham
• Anne Scharff Bacon, Director of Workforce Continuing Education, North Carolina Community College System, Wake
• Ivy Marie Bagley, Owner, Provider, Blessed and Healthy Families, PLLC, Pitt
• J.P. Barfield, Associate Dean, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Mecklenburg
• Daniel Bates, Statewide Systems Connector, Southwestern Child Development Commission, Inc., Durham
• Jennifer Caldwell Billstrom, Director Client Accounting & Advisory Services, DMJPS PLLC, Buncombe
• Danielle Buckins, Director, NC Economic Development, Duke Energy, Mecklenburg
• Brian K. Cockman, President and Founder, The Readiness Collaborative, Guilford
• Theresa Cruz Paul, Director, Center for Career & Professional Development, Western Carolina University, Jackson
• Ronnie J. Devine Jr., Deputy Director, Community Support Services, Mecklenburg County, Mecklenburg
• Cristalle Dickerson, Deputy Chief of Staff, North Carolina Department of Information Technology, Wake
• Orlando Dobbin Jr., Eastern Regional Director, North Carolina Center for Resilience & Learning, Public School Forum of North Carolina, Pitt
• Ryan Estes, Chief Operating Officer, Coastal Horizons, New Hanover
• Colin Felmet, Senior Vice President of Finance and Human Resources, Community Care of North Carolina, Inc., Buncombe
• Yahel Flores, Founder & Principal, Flores Strategic Partners, Forsyth
• Monica Gemperlein, AVP Workforce Development/Chief Continuing Education Officer, Wake Technical Community College, Wake
• Veronica Acut Getz, Area Vice President, Atrium Health, Mecklenburg
• Todd Godbey, CEO, Beacon Education, New Hanover
• Molly M. Goldwasser, Associate Vice Provost, Academic Affairs, Duke University, Durham
• AJ Grube, Dean, College of Business, Western Carolina University, Jackson
• Douglas Brian Harrison, VP, Human Resources/Support Services (CHRO), UNC Health Wayne, Wayne
• Beth Heile, Executive Director, Burke River Trail Association, Burke
• Sarah M. Hoffman, VP, Operations and Support Services, WakeMed, Wake
• DeeDe P. Holly, Executive Director of Internal Communications, Wake Forest University, Forsyth
• Melissa Pennington Huffman, Government & Community Relations Liaison, Piedmont Natural Gas, Guilford
• Lisa Johnson, Economic Development Manager, Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership, Cleveland
• Maria Pineda Jones, Head of Client Care and Engagement, El Futuro, Durham
• Erica Kelly, Chief Operating Officer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, Wake
• Jennifer G. King, Consolidated Human Services Director/Deputy Administrator, Jones County, Jones
• Rachael Klayman, Director of Organizational Strategy & Impact, Scale Link, Wake
• Shelita Mechelle Lee, Director of Community Engagement & Strategic Initiatives, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of North Carolina, Chatham
• Lisa J. Lowe-Hall, President & CEO, Lowe-Hall Crisis Consulting & Coaching, LLC, Wake
• Bridgett Luckey, Director, Community Hospital Grants & Outreach, ECU Health, Pitt
• Kristina Lynn Manley, Director, CFO Operations & Programs, SAS Institute Inc., Wake
• Rodney L. McCrowre, Assistant Professor of Management, Fayetteville State University, Cumberland
• Devyn McDonald, Senior Director, Public Affairs, APCO, Wake
• Tracy Miles, Director, NCACC Member Services Foundation, North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, Guilford
• Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Wake
• Dana Mize, Career and Technical Education Director, Bladen County Schools, Bladen
• Zaire Nicole Mckayla Montieth, Director of Strategic Initiatives & Downtown Development, Town of Maysville, Onslow
• Michael A. Newsome, Community Development Regional Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Mecklenburg
• Adam Olls, EVP – Deputy Chief Legal Officer, State Employees’ Credit Union, Wake
• Lillian Pinto, Reproductive Health Consultant, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Orange
• Michelle M. Reed, Chief Nursing Officer, Atrium Health, Burke
• Maria Giannini Reese, Chief Strategy & Impact Officer, McLeod Centers for Wellbeing, Mecklenburg
• Derrick Remer, District Manager | Government and Community Relations, Duke Energy, Wake
• Meg Robertson, Executive Coach/Non Profit Consultant, Meg Robertson Coaching & Consulting, Lincoln
• Andrew Webber Rowell, Senior Vice President, First Citizens Bank, Mecklenburg
• Aisha Sarfo, Chief Operating Officer, The Daniele Company, LLC, Orange
• Pamela Shortt, Dean, Business and Information Technologies, Forsyth Technical Community College, Davidson
• Donia Simmons, Ready Communities Coordinator, Down East Partnership for Children, Edgecombe
• Ayana Simon, Associate Director, North Carolina Institute of Medicine, Chatham
• Vanessa Watson, Director of Public Engagement, Nexus Strategies, Wake
• Meredith Dixon Weatherman, Chief Financial Officer, Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Wake
• Janssen White, Assistant Secretary for Government Affairs, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Durham
• Latasha Jean Williams, Assistant Vice President, Strategy & Planning Consultant, Wells Fargo; Lived Experience Expert and Researcher, Mecklenburg

Leadership North Carolina’s mission is to inform, develop, and engage committed leaders by broadening their understanding of and involvement in issues and opportunities facing North Carolina. Leadership North Carolina’s Core Program cultivates a network of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences who share a deep commitment to their state. There are more than 1,600 graduates of the program whose continued ties to LNC and to one another provide them with rich opportunities for serving North Carolina.

The Class 34 roster is available here. To find out more about Leadership North Carolina, please visit: www.leadershipnc.org.