Lead for North Carolina (LFNC) Executive Director Dylan Russell was honored with the 2020 Robert E. Bryan Public Service Award at a virtual ceremony on April 24, 2020. The Carolina Center for Public Service selected Russell as a recipient based on his work co-founding and directing the LFNC program through its inaugural year. This award is given annually to a member of the University community who demonstrates “extraordinary public service and engagement.”

Throughout LFNC’s first year, Russell led the effort to fundraise more than a million dollars for the initiative, recruit 16 service-minded Fellows to work in local government, and recruit 16 local governments with considerable financial need to host each of the Fellows. As a mentor to the Fellows, Russell guided the cohort to understand local challenges in communities across the state and implement positive changes in those governments.

Now in his second year in this role, his work to maximize the program’s impact continues. Russell is hoping to expand the number of Fellows matched to local governments and is currently working to place prospective Fellows to work in a diverse array of jurisdictions. In addition, he is leading an application-writing team for federal funding to secure the future of LFNC for the next year and beyond.

Russell was honored with the Bryan Award alongside undergraduate student Jonah Im, a sophomore biology major in the College of Arts and Sciences and founder of Cancer Med Society, and graduate student Colin LaPrade from the Adams School of Dentistry, for his work in the Vidas de Esperanza Clinic in Siler City, North Carolina.

The Lead for North Carolina program aims to recruit, train, and place the state’s most promising young leaders in paid local government fellowships as a means of strengthening our public institutions, supporting our local communities, and cultivating a new generation of public service leaders. The School of Government has partnered with key organizations, including the NC County Managers Association (NCCCMA), NC League of Municipalities (NCLM), and NC Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) to implement LFNC.

To learn more about the first class of LFNC Fellows and their accomplishments, please click here.