The UNC School of Government has received a donation to continue training elected officials to best serve residents of North Carolina.

Donna Warner is the Director of the Local Elected Leaders Academy at UNC, and she says their programs will serve several hundred newly-elected municipal leaders across the state following this fall’s elections.

“Our job is to help public officials – and that’s elected and appointed – to lead and govern their communities,” she says. “And to provide the knowledge, the skills, and the context that help them make strategic decisions that are going to move their communities forward.”

This training will consist of budget simulations, conducting mock meetings, and other obligations to bring newly-elected officials up to speed and help veteran politicians bring new thinking into their process.

“One of the things that newly-elected people feel is that they are surprised that no one is in charge,” she says. “The way that our Republic is set up is that the power is distributed.

“People are elected, and they come with an agenda. And what they have to learn is they may campaign as an individual but now you govern as a body.”

Warner says a recent $100,000 gift from Prudential Financial will provide continued funding of initiatives, including an upcoming session with a mix of veteran county commissioners and municipal leaders.

“We don’t know of any other state in the nation that is doing what we’re doing,” she says. “We are bringing together 10 county commissioners and 10 council members for a week of intensive personal-leadership training.

“That gives them an understanding about themselves as well as gives them an understanding about others.”

Program participants are selected from among those who attend educational programs and volunteer for their statewide associations, the North Carolina League of Municipalities and North Carolina Association of County Commissioners.

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