Alumni Profile
john gowan
Golden LEAF management advisor
north carolina local government service corps
As an admissions counselor at the University of South Carolina, John Gowan visited high schools throughout the southeast. He chose to drive on back roads, weaving his way through diverse communities in search of talented new undergraduate students.
“That’s when I began to cultivate an interest in public administration,” he says. “I noticed how different each community was and started asking myself, ‘What influences that?’ and ‘How could I affect the direction of a community?’ ” That interest brought him to the MPA program at UNC-Chapel Hill, and is now sending him out into a cluster of small communities where, as a Golden LEAF management advisor and part of the first team to represent the North Carolina Local Government Service Corps, he will once again be traveling back roads. This time, he will be providing hands-on economic development and capacity-building assistance to public officials in the towns of Star, Candor, and Ellerbe, North Carolina.
communities aided by strong partnerships
The Local Government Service Corps, a partnership between the UNC School of Government and Appalachian State University, is designed to assist some of the most economically distressed communities in the state. The project is primarily funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation, with supplemental financial support from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center. The North Carolina League of Municipalities will provide technical assistance for the project. The initial four management advisors are 2009 graduates of the master of public administration programs at UNC-Chapel Hill, Appalachian State University, and UNC-Wilmington. They have received advanced training in economic development, local government management, and proposal writing and grand administration.
Gowan talks about his interest in the role of government within communities. “Government can be a role model,” he says, “truly representing the community itself, being a mirror of its constituents.” He says that his training in the MPA program at UNC-Chapel Hill has prepared him to turn that interest into practical action in the service corps.
real issues, real towns
“Many of the case studies we worked with in the MPA program presented real issues that real towns in North Carolina are dealing with right now,” Gowan says. In addition, being at the School of Government gives MPA students frequent exposure to government professionals throughout their two-year education. Gowan interned with the Orange County Budget Office in 2008, and he will complete two additional internships this summer before starting work with this Service Corps communities in early fall.
When asked what he hopes to gain by participating in the Service Corps, Gowan replied, “This isn’t about me. I hope to see the towns that I’m working with show a measure of success based on their goals and needs. To commit to this work, it’s important to think critically about the skills I have that can further the vision of the communities I will be serving.”
experience and commitment are key
Will Lambe, associate director of the Community and Economic Development Program at the School of Government, led the selection committee for the UNC-Chapel Hill MPA program. “We had very clear expectations about what we were looking for,” he says. “Given John’s experience growing up outside of Columbia, South Carolina, and his having worked in rural areas, he was pretty much an ideal candidate. With his understanding of critical issues facing rural communities, his MPA degree, and professional training, we feel he has a good mix of experience and commitment to do this hard work.”
To see the full list of North Carolina communities that will be served by Golden LEAF Management Advisors, visit www.sog.unc.edu/news/localgovernmentservicecorps.php. For more information about the Local Government Service Corps, contact Will Lambe at 919.966.4247 or whlambe@sog.unc.edu.
Photo of farm on home page courtesy of Central Park NC.