Leading Locally

For Shayla Douglas ’17, 22 (MPA), success after college meant finding a way to give back to the state she calls home and working toward a better future for North Carolinians.

The double Tar Heel is doing just that as the downtown and small business development manager in Garner, North Carolina. Douglas is working to revitalize the downtown area and strengthen the economy of the Wake County town of 31,000 by supporting small businesses and attracting new ones to establish roots in the community.

Through her political science courses at Carolina, Douglas saw there was a chance to help thousands as a public servant in local government. Lead for North Carolina, a program coordinated by the UNC School of Government, gave her the opportunity to try.

“We always focus on federal and state, but we don’t talk about local government as the one that touches us the most every day,” said Douglas. “I just wanted to focus more on that. Being able to see the impact your local government makes was really important to me.”

Lead for North Carolina places some of the state’s top recent graduates in paid local government fellowships across our state to help strengthen communities through public service and create the next generation of leaders for our state’s future.

Read the complete Carolina Story…

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