Public Executive Leadership Academy

PELA ALUMNI

Seventy-four public officials have graduated from the Public Executive Leadership Academy (PELA) since it was created in 2005. To learn more about the impressive outcomes for these participants in previous PELA sessions, click here (PDF). To see images from past sessions of PELA, click here.

Alumni of the program have shared these comments about their experience:

"The PELA Program addresses the 'whole person,' with the perfect balance of professional development and personal growth opportunities."

—Grant Goings, City Manager, City of Wilson

"Our PELA class bonded as a group. I felt like by the end of class we had forged lifelong friendships. We all know that if anyone needs help on any issue that comes up, that person has 24 other friends they can call for advice.”

—Jack Horton, County Manager, Caldwell County

“There are plenty of opportunities to learn best management practices and network with colleagues, but PELA provided a unique opportunity to concentrate on my desire to become a better leader. There’s not another program offered in North Carolina that provides this level of in-depth self examination and the tools to help managers become effective public leaders.”

—David Smitherman, County Manager, Lee County

Class of 2007

David Bone Town Manager Town of Wendell	Alan Carson Assistant City Manager City of Lexington	Bill Coleman Town Manager Town of Cary
Chris Coudriet Assistant County Manager New Hanover County	Rodney Dickerson Assistant City Manager City of Garner	Pam Dubois Deputy County Manager Cabarrus County
Jonathan Feldman Director, IT Services City of Asheville	Tara Fikes Housing & Community Development Director Orange County	Greg Grayson Fire & Rescue Chief City of Asheville
Jon Hannan Deputy Fire Chief City of Charlotte	Jeffrey Hatling Community Development Director Town of Kernersville	Rick Howell City Manager City of Shelby
Ann Jones Budget & Evaluation Director City of Winston-Salem	Dan Jones Fire Chief City of Chapel Hill	Richard King Director of Public Services City of Wilmington
Calvin McDougal CEO, Mecklenburg County ABC Board	Wilmer Melton Director of Public Works City of Kannapolis	Lance Metzler County Manager Montgomery County
Lloyd Payne Town Manager Town of Elkin	Danny Pleasant Deputy Transportation Director City of Charlotte	Ramon Rojano Director Wake County Human Services
Scott Sauer County Manager Sampson County	Andrea Surratt Assistant City Manager City of Hickory	Melanie Wilson Planning Director Wake County
Class of 2006
Rebecca Bentley Town Manager Town of Hudson	Dawn Blobaum Assistant Town Manager Town of Davidson	Sean Brandon Assistant City of Savannah, GA
Ben Brown Assistant City Manager City of Greensboro	Mark Combs Director of Public Works City of Asheville	David Cotton County Manager Haywood County
Darren Currie Town Manager Town of Lake Waccamaw	Eric Davis City Manager City of Mount Holly	Greg Ferguson Town Manager Town of Hundersville
Gwen Harvey Assistant County Manager Orange County	Susan Holder Assistant County Manager Sampson County	Robert Hyatt County Manager Davidson County
Matt Livingston Town Manager City of Rolesville	Kerry McDuffie Town Administrator Town of Fremont	Sam Misenheimer RTI International
Wanda Page Assistant City Manager City of Durham	Derwick Paige Assistant City Manager City of Winston-Salem	Kay Plyler Assistant Town Manager Town of Matthews
John Rukavina Director of Public Safety Wake County Government	Frank Rush Town Manager Town of Emerald Isle	Steve Smith Town Manager Town of Yanceyville
Michael Talbert	John Tanner
Harry Tyson Chief of Police City of Wilson	Bill Zell Town Manager Town of Aberdeen
Class of 2005
Patrick Baker City Manager City of Durham	Larry Bergman Director of IT City of Wilmington	Leamon Brice Town Manager Town of Davidson
Irby Brinson Parks & Recreation Director City of Asheville	Debra Campbell Planning Director Charlotte-Mecklenburg Planning Commission	Renee Dickson Assistant County Manager Chatham County
Lee Garrity City Manager City of Winston-Salem	Deron Geouque Assistant County Manager Watauga County	Grant Goings City Manager City of Wilson
Robert Hites City Manager City of Statesville	Jack Horton County Manager Caldwell County	Mitchell Johnson Deputy City Manager City of Greensboro
Katie Kalb Director of Public Works City of Durham	John Kuhls Human Resources Director Wake County	Al Leonard Town Manager Town of Tabor City
Paul Sabiston Town Administrator Town of Shallotte	Eddie Smith Town Manager City of Kannapolis	Lisa Smith Chief Financial Officer City of Fayetteville
David Smitherman County Manager Lee County	Doug Spell	Katrina Tatum Interim Town Manager Town of Maxton
David Treme City Manager City of Salisbury	Michael Uskiewicz City Manager City of Alpena, MI	Rod Visser Assistant County Manager Orange County
Curt Walton City Manager City of Charlotte