From Student to Public Servant

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As the largest
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government training,
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organization in the United
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Knapp Library

The Joseph Palmer Knapp Library houses a large collection of material on state and local government, public administration, and management to support the School's instructional and research programs and the educational mission of the Master of Public Administration program. Reference and research services are available to all residents of North Carolina, and additional assistance is available to state and local government personnel, both elected and appointed.

by Katie Geith

In August 2024, Paloma Garcia-Serrano stepped into the Foothills Regional Commission for her first day of work as a Lead for North Carolina Fellow. Lead for NC is a leadership development program that places aspiring public service leaders in fellowships at local government offices across the state.

Garcia-Serrano joined Lead for NC after a presentation about the program was made to her undergraduate class. “I want a career that will make a difference,” she said. “After graduating college, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn’t want to leave North Carolina.”

Garcia-Serrano was placed with the Foothills Regional Commission, a council of governments providing programs and services for Cleveland, McDowell, Polk, and Rutherford Counties in western North Carolina.

One of her biggest projects was creating the first-ever land use plan for a small town in Cleveland County. “It was a great experience because they were learning, and I was learning,” she said. The plan she created was eventually adopted in May 2025.

Garcia-Serrano also helped with a land use plan for Rutherford County, housing studies for each county Foothills Regional Commission serves, and a parks and recreation master plan for the Town of Rutherfordton.

Much of what Garcia-Serrano does in her role is assist with marketing, such as designing and distributing flyers to entice the public to attend public engagement sessions. Within the sessions, she puts together information stations and vision boards to show residents the details of each project. “I like hearing the different perspectives at the sessions on how people want to preserve their town's identity,” Serrano said.

When Hurricane Helene struck, Garcia-Serrano helped residents by translating FEMA application instructions into Spanish. “When the info sheet was given to me, it was only in English. We were in a library in McDowell County, which has a sizeable Hispanic population, so I thought it would be useful to print it and translate it to Spanish to make it easier in case anyone came in needing help.” Many of the projects she was working on shifted after the hurricane as the focus changed to emergency relief. Housing issues, as in many areas in western North Carolina, were exacerbated after the storm. “A lot of people want to see more housing in this region because it is expensive, and there’s not enough,” said Garcia-Serrano. “People displaced by the hurricane couldn’t afford the high prices and are kind of being driven out.”

“This fellowship definitely solidified my desire to stay in local government because of the difference you can make,” said Garcia-Serrano. “Now, having been in this role, I’ve had the chance to see how these projects are making a direct impact on communities. It’s not something taking years – it’s immediate change. I’ve really enjoyed that, and it’s one of the reasons I want to stay in local government.” Now, at the end of her fellowship, Garcia-Serrano is on track to start her master’s in public administration at UNC Greensboro and has accepted a job at Western Piedmont Council of Governments working on community development block grants for disaster recovery.