Public sector employees from state agencies and public institutions will be recognized today for completing the rigorous North Carolina Certified Public Manager® Program (CPM) during the program’s commencement ceremony.
The graduation will begin at 3 p.m. in Daniels Auditorium within the NC Museum of History with a reception immediately to follow to celebrate the 49-member cohort of 2023 graduates. Deputy Secretary William Lassiter will join the Office of State Human Resources in celebrating these graduates as the ceremony’s keynote speaker.
“With our agencies grappling with a 23 percent statewide vacancy rate, it is now more important than ever to build up talent from within our state government workforce and provide our state employees ample opportunities for professional growth and development,” said State Human Resources Director Barbara Gibson. “These 49 graduates will apply what they have learned to strategically improve vital programs and services that support the people of North Carolina. I am incredibly proud of each of our graduates for this monumental achievement.”
Managed by OSHR’s Learning and Development Program, the North Carolina Public Manager Program was established in 1982 to enhance the effectiveness of public sector organizations across our state by developing the leadership capabilities of mid-level managers. This intensive 14-month program includes in-person and virtual instructor-led training days, asynchronous assignments and a capstone project totaling over 300 hours of effort.
Since its inception, 2,538 mid-level managers across federal, tribal, state and local governments have completed the program. Including today’s recipients, 1,739 of those graduates have been awarded the Certified Public Manager® designation following the program’s initial accreditation by the National Certified Public Manager Consortium in 1988.
Framed certificates, signed by Governor Roy Cooper, State Human Resources Director Barbara Gibson, Learning, Performance and Organizational Effectiveness Manager Joel Jordan and CPM Program Director Dr. Reed Altman will be provided to each graduate.
All honorees are based in Wake County unless otherwise noted:
- Administrative Office of the Courts: Christopher R. Aman
- Department of Administration: Jody Lee Cleven
- Department of Adult Correction: Armen Armenakyan and Samuel R. Dotson (Burke)
- Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Sharon Denning Woodard
- Department of Environmental Quality: Alan Bianchi (Carteret), Jacob Benjamin Boyd (Carteret), William Van Brantley, Jr. (Carteret), and Davis McCrackin Murphy (Forsyth)
- Department of Health and Human Services: Alana Bagley Brewer (Wayne), Carol Renita Burt, Shnaka Clark, Marcus H. Guy (Burke), Edward Earl Hall Jr. (Pitt), Melissa Loehr (Chatham) and Subhapratha Sridharan
- Department of Information Technology - Transportation: Jeffrey M. Garland
- Department of Justice: Olga Vysotskaya de Brito
- Department of Natural and Cultural Resources: J. Christopher Southerly (New Hanover)
- Department of Public Instruction: Susan Walz
- Department of Public Safety: Casandra L. Alexander (Buncombe County), Emily Thomas Coltrane (Stanley), Jody D. Donaldson, Richard Griffin (Stanley), Sonynia Linae Leonard (Halifax), and Carolyn Dixon Locklear
- Department of Revenue: Cassandra Greenlee Caldwell, Felecia R. Perry, Jonathan William Puryear, Thomas Olyn Robbins and Jimmie Scott Stallings
- Department of State Treasurer: Leondra Evette Edwards
- Department of Transportation: Eric Daniell Arnold, Joseph D. Barbour, Trey H. Carroll III, Chad Coggins (Wilson), Michelene Evans, Craig A. Freeman Jr. (Cumberland), John Jamison, Joshua A. Law, Matti Lee McLamb, Judith Schmidinger (Nash), David Wasserman
- Durham Technical Community College: Justin Blake Long (Durham)
- Office of the State Controller: Kristen Kirk Cox
- Office of the State Human Resources: James A. Harris
- Secretary of State: Tina Dupree, Lora Sinigur
- Wildlife Resources Commission: Jason David Sellers (New Hanover)