Public Executive Leadership Academy (PELA)

The Public Executive Leadership Academy (PELA) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill provides city and county managers, their assistants, and key department heads the opportunity to learn more about themselves as leaders and to gain skills to lead and manage change in their communities.

THIS PROGRAM WILL GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO

• Expand your ability to diagnose problems and create solutions within your community and your organization.
• Exchange ideas with faculty from the School of Government and national organizations, as well as a diverse group of your peers.
• Create a framework to think about your relationship with your board and staff.
• Develop a plan to carry out a “real world” community or regional change project.

BECOME AN ORGANIZATION OF LEADERS

Though the Public Executive Leadership Academy is attended each year by individuals from jurisdictions across the state, a number of cities and counties have sent multiple participants to PELA over the years.

Eight public officials from the Town of Cary have attended since 2008. Shown left to right in the photo above: Deputy Town Manager Michael Bajorek, Water Resources Director Steve Brown, Human Resources Director Renee Poole, Assistant Town Manager Tim Bailey, Finance Director Karen Mills, Town Manager Ben Shivar, Assistant Town Manager Russ Overton, and Public Works Director Scott Hecht.

 “Having our whole executive staff attend this high-level executive training has fostered greater discussion within our organization and given us—as a team—a better understanding of how to make council-staff relationships operate more effectively.”

—Ben Shivar, Manager (retired)
Town of Cary, North Carolina