Public sector employees from state agencies and local governments will be recognized today for completing the rigorous North Carolina Certified Public Manager® Program (CPM) during the program’s first in-person commencement ceremony since the pandemic. The 40th anniversary event, which gets underway at 3 p.m. in the State Archives Auditorium, 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh, will celebrate the current 28-member cohort as well as graduates from the past two years.
“The challenging circumstances of the pandemic again required this year’s class to complete this highly collaborative program through fully online instruction,” said State Human Resources Director Barbara Gibson. “Graduates learned to be nimble in an evolving workplace, gaining extraordinary insight into the processes that ensure vital programs and services continue for the people of North Carolina.”
Administration Secretary Pamela Brewington Cashwell will deliver keynote remarks to CPM graduates.
Dr. Reed Altman, director of the state Certified Manager Program®, converted the blended in-person program to completely online instruction when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. The transition enabled participants to engage fully and safely in course work while developing networks to facilitate ongoing achievement. Best practices from the period are being applied to this year’s in-person instruction.
Managed by OSHR’s Talent Management Division, the program was established in 1982 as the North Carolina Public Manager Program to enhance the effectiveness of public sector organizations across our state by developing the leadership capabilities of mid-level managers. Since then, 2,505 mid-level managers across federal, tribal, state and local governments have completed the program.
Including today’s recipients, 1,707 of those graduates have been awarded the Certified Public Manager® designation following the program’s accreditation by the National Certified Public Manager Consortium.
Framed certificates, signed by Governor Roy Cooper, State Human Resources Director Barbara Gibson, Joel Jordan, State Training and Development Manager and CPM Program Director Altman will be provided to each graduate.
All honorees are based in Wake County unless otherwise noted:
- Department of Administration: Michael Burgher and Keith Burris
- Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: John E. Hammond
- Department of Commerce: Gretchen Schultz
- Department of Environmental Quality: Robin Peele
- Department of Health and Human Services: Chanda Renea Armstrong, Sonya Butler Clark, Leighann Pressley Corbin (Asheville), Maher M. Gendy (Winston-Salem), Ella Lenora Jordan (Whiteville), Juanita Oats (Salisbury), Vandana Patel, Bonnie Katherine Rogers, Jennifer Anne Savage (Butner)
- Department of Information Technology: Carolyn L. Broadney
- Department of Justice: Jonie Renee Trevino
- Department of Labor: Jeremy Swain Smith
- Department of Revenue: April B. Day, Felecia Coley-Roberson, Nathan Chadwick McGhee and Elizabeth D. Ventura (Hickory)
- Department of Transportation: Mark Hill (Whittier), Marcus K. Kiser (Winston-Salem), Catherine Peele (Manns Harbor), Cameron D. Richards, Joni. S. Robbins and Stephen J. Robinson (Greensboro)
- Granville-Vance Public Health: Laura Aurora Tocci (Oxford)
Click here to learn more about 2021 and 2020 CPM honorees, who also will be recognized during today’s event.