Heather Drennan brings nearly 20 years of experience in public budgeting, policy analysis, performance management, and strategic planning. Most recently, she served as Deputy Budget and Management Services Director for Wake County, where “budget” encompassed everything from management consulting and fiscal planning to program evaluation, grant administration, and the occasional “other duties as assigned.”
Heather has led the development and execution of budgets for a range of public programs, providing data-informed, stakeholder-driven recommendations to both executive and elected leadership. She has also held nonprofit board leadership roles, including serving as president of the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association and on the board of directors for Wake County Smart Start.
In this course, she draws on both technical expertise and real-world experience to examine the intersection of budgeting, policy analysis, and leadership in the public sector.
She earned her MPA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Government.
Alexandra Bartz is a 2016 graduate of the online UNC MPA program and returned to the program in 2022 as adjunct faculty. Since 2007, Bartz has devoted her career to work in nonprofits, focusing on program design, implementation, innovation, and evaluation. Currently, she serves national director of program implementation at Summer Search, a national youth development nonprofit based in Oakland, California. In her role, Bartz oversees program implementation across the five-region network, drives continuous improvement for program operations and curriculum, and ensures staff have the structures, resources and support to run the program.
Tracy Miles is an independent consultant in nonprofit management, operational excellence, strategy development, and human-centered continuous improvement. In a career that includes private, public, and nonprofit-sector experience, from Fortune 100 companies to grassroots nonprofits, the common thread has been connecting, developing, and managing relationships and strategies for organizational success. Tracy’s work focuses on leading teams and empowering individuals of diverse backgrounds toward common goal achievement. Her facilitation efforts help organizations to develop a strategy that connects mission and priorities to outcomes, develop cross-functional and cross-sectorial relationships, analyze, and improve organizational and service performance, and increase public awareness.
Tracy’s past experience includes working for General Electric, John Deere, The American Heart Association, Girls on the Run, and serving as deputy director of the School of Government’s Center for Public Leadership and Governance. Tracy earned a B.A. in psychology from North Carolina State University, an M.P.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and also a Lean Six Sigma Certification.
Tracy works across the state and enjoys serving on nonprofit boards for organizations she is passionate about, including the UNC MPA Alumni Association.
Tara L. Fikes joined the School of Government as an adjunct instructor in 2017. In 2014, she retired after 30 years serving as the housing, human rights, and community development director for Orange County, NC. In that role, she administered federal and state housing and community development programs and was instrumental in the county’s initial development of many affordable housing plans and initiatives. Fikes is an active member of various professional and community-based organizations, particularly in her local community of Durham, where she serves on the board of trustees for Durham Technical Community College. She earned a bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Central University, an MPA from North Carolina State University, and a doctorate in public administration from the University of Southern California.
Christopher A. Cody is a Principal Researcher at American Institutes for Research, where he serves as the project director for their postsecondary administrative data division and longitudinal studies work with the National Center for Education Statistics. Prior to joining American Institutes for Research, Cody was the director of research and public policy at The Public School Forum of North Carolina. While there, he was also a fellow with the education policy fellowship program sponsored by the Institute for Education Leadership. Cody earned his bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University, his master’s degree in public affairs from Western Carolina University, and his Ph.D. in public administration from North Carolina State University.
Selected Publications
Cody, C. A., Lawrence, K. L., Prentice, C. R., & Clerkin, R. M. (2022). Examining the relationship between board member selection criteria and board boundary spanning into internal, upward, and outward accountability environments. Nonprofit Management and Leadership,1-23. https://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21511CODYET AL.23