In Conversation with Marchell Adams-David, City of Raleigh Manager

Marchell Adams-David ’94 took the helm as City of Raleigh manager in November 2020, succeeding fellow UNC MPA alumnus Ruffin Hall ’95 in the role. A former manager of her hometown in Hamlet, North Carolina, she has devoted nearly three decades to local government service.

What drew you to pursue public service as a career?

I think it is a calling. For me, it’s about helping people. It is about being part of a solution. I tend to like complex problems. I like to see a problem from the beginning to the end. And ultimately after you come up with a solution, seeing the impact or what impact it has on people and people’s lives. It’s at the core of who I am, it is about making things better for people.

How has your experience in the UNC MPA program prepared you for this role?

While the diverse and rigorous classes prepared me for the work, probably the greatest preparation I received from this program was the connection with people, the connection with movers and shakers of local government, the connection with people who see government as a proponent versus an opponent. That’s what I think the program lent to me. It set me up for success. It’s not just about what it taught me in application in the classroom, but also the connections with the people who have made this community and this state great.

You made history in the role as the first African American and f irst woman to lead the City of Raleigh. What does that mean  to you?

People often say, you can’t be what you can’t see. You saw very few females in this profession. You definitely didn’t see many African American people in this leadership role. And so I think what this position, in this moment in time, represents is that we can actually be what we couldn’t see before. So, there is a young girl somewhere who now sees me and sees that there is hope. They can sit in this seat as well. So it’s much bigger than the “me”; it is about the “we.”

You have prioritized a lot of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as city manager. How will those efforts help translate to a stronger community?

I think an organization that is inclusive gets the best talent. When you get the best talent, you produce the best services. Once you produce the best services, you build the best communities. When you build the best communities, then you build the best state, and then it goes on and on from there.

The misfortune of DEI work is people think about race and race only. It is far bigger than black and white. It’s about differences of perspectives. The sooner that we have an appreciation and an acceptance of the fact that we’re all different in so many ways, yet so similar, the better off we’re going to be as a community.

In service to this goal, Adams-David established and elevated the first Department of Equity and Inclusion for the City of Raleigh. Read about its mission at raleighnc.gov/ equity‑and‑inclusion.

You have been serving as city manager for a year plus now. What are some of your long‑term goals in the role and for the City?

To continue to provide high quality local government service with integrity, with a degree of empathy, with passion, and with the community at heart. Ultimately, my goal is to create a “Raleigh for All” so that everyone can share in our successes. I am a fixer by nature.

We’re getting back into the mindset of what we need to be doing in 2022 to build out our community for 2030, 2040, 2050. Truly, the decisions that we’re making now are going to impact the generations that come behind us and the people that come into the organization after we leave.