Emily B. McCartha serves as a Senior Program Evaluator for the North Carolina General Assembly in the program evaluation division, a non-partisan research group. She has led evaluations related to public education, public health, and organizational structure, and has been a team member on other evaluations. She earned her doctorate in public administration from North Carolina State University in 2019 and her master of public affairs from the LBJ School at the University of Texas in 2011. She also earned her BA in urban studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009.

Selected Publications

Fleming, C. J., McCartha, E. B., & Steelman, T. A. (2015). Conflict and collaboration in wildfire management: the role of mission alignment. Public Administration Review, 75(3), 445-454.

Velez, A. L. K., & McCartha, E. B. (2019). A framework for understanding how nonprofits shape our physical environment: Identifying allies in making spaces. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 29(3), 419-435.

Dr. Mary Hemphill is a leadership expert & coach, K-12 educator & administrator, author, & inspirational speaker with over 15 years of professional experience in these fields. As a state director, and university professor with a Ph.D. in leadership studies, Mary understands the importance of fusing education, empowerment, and leadership together as she works with learning and working communities and speaks to audiences across the country. Most recently, Dr. Hemphill has the opportunity to hone her expertise through her role as North Carolina’s first state director of computer science and technology education where she works to leverage support and leadership around computer science initiatives across the state.

Jenny Heckscher is the director of innovation programs for the Center for Innovation Strategies at The Ohio State University, where she manages programs, operations, and outreach to support education, research, and applied practice in innovation. She provides learning experiences and consultation to private and public organizations with the goal of aligning strategy, people, and process in support of initiatives that create social and economic value. In prior roles at Ohio State, she developed and implemented diversity and inclusion programs for faculty and staff, including co-leading a record launch of the region’s Higher Education Recruitment Consortium, a national non-profit focused on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in talent management. Jenny also developed an online career onboarding program for graduate business students that received a national innovation award. Prior to joining Ohio State, Jenny worked at Nationwide for over ten years, most recently as an associate vice president of Product Development for the retirement plan division where she helped launch a platform for new product innovation. She has been an adjunct faculty member with the MPA@UNC program at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill since 2016. She earned a B.S.B.A from Ohio State and an M.A. in public policy and management from the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.

Sharon Edmundson is the current secretary of the Local Government Commission and a deputy treasurer for the state and local government finance division of the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer. She has over 30 years of experience in governmental and public accounting. Sharon received her B.S. in business administration with a concentration in accounting from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a master’s degree in public administration from North Carolina State University. She is a member of the Governmental Accounting and Auditing Committee of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants and was twice awarded the Outstanding Member in Government award. Sharon is a graduate of Leadership North Carolina, Class XXII, and currently serves as the treasurer for the Raleigh/Wake Partnership to End Homelessness.

Ana-Laura Diaz works as an attorney. Recently, she has been serving as transactional counsel at a tier-one research institution and reviewing a variety of agreements. In addition, Ms. Diaz teaches legal and ethics courses. Her work focuses on the areas in which business, the law, and ethics intersect. Ms. Diaz’s past experience spans the public and private sectors, including positions at a renewable energy company, the North Carolina Department of State Treasurer, USAID, and private practice. She earned her bachelor’s degree and M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her J.D. from the University of Miami.

John Crumpton is the current county manager in Lee County, North Carolina, and has served in this capacity since July 2007. He is also an adjunct professor with the MPA program here at the School of Government where he teaches Introduction to City and County Government. Dr. Crumpton has over 18 years’ experience in Municipal and County Government and 13 years of experience in the private sector. He earned a doctorate in education/community college executive leadership from Wingate University and a master of business administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He has bachelor’s degrees in business administration from Georgia State University, and in public finance and administration from Indiana University. Dr. Crumpton has been an ICMA credentialed manager since 2008 and is a member of the North Carolina City/County Managers Association. He serves as a board of trustee member for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners Risk Management Pools, is involved in local civic organizations, and serves on several local boards.

Blossom Barrett joined the School of Government in January 2018 as an adjunct professor for the MPA program. For more than 10 years she has worked in the nonprofit arena, primarily in the areas of development, data analysis, and program evaluation. Currently, Blossom is the associate director of data and evaluation for I Know I Can, a nonprofit college access organization in Columbus, Ohio. In her role, she is responsible for data management for three school districts. Additionally, Blossom manages stakeholder reporting and program evaluation for funding valued at more than $6M. Blossom earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Kenyon College, a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership, and a doctorate in philosophy in educational studies from The Ohio State University.

Justin Barbaree began teaching in the online MPA program in 2015, where he has taught PUBA 721 Professional Communication. He is also full-time faculty at the University of North Georgia, where he teaches writing and literature courses in the English department. Justin also lived and taught in South Korea for a decade, where he taught academic writing, composition, and presentation courses to undergraduate students. He worked with the Gangwon Provincial Government Office, where he taught professional communication courses for public administrators in preparation for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Justin holds a BA in English from Fort Lewis College, an MAT in TESOL from the School for International Training, and an MA in English Literature from Morehead State University.

Evans Ballard joined the School of Government as Adjunct Instructor for the MPA Program in 2015. He has more than 30 years of combined experience in the private and public sectors, including over 20 years developing and using performance management systems. He is a certified budget and evaluation officer and is Past President of the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association. He has led large organizations, presented to ICMA and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, and served on the steering committee for the National Center for Civic Innovation. His published work focuses on using survey data to improve community outcomes. He holds BA and MPA degrees and has completed both the Municipal Administration course at UNC and the LEAD Program at UVA. Originally from Indianapolis, Ballard is an Army veteran who served on active duty in the US and Germany as a non-commissioned officer in a mechanized infantry company with the 4th and 8th Divisions.

Selected Publications

Rivenbark, William C., and Evans C. Ballard. “Using Citizen Surveys to Influence and Document Culture Change in Local Government.” 2012. Public Performance & Management Review, 35 (3): 475–484.

Pickering, John; Harnden, Philip; and Brokaw, Gerald. 2014. Building High-Performance Local Governments – Case Studies in Leadership in All Levels. River Grove Books.

Monica R. Allen joined the School of Government in 2014 as an adjunct instructor in the MPA program. She is also Director of Strategic Planning and Evaluation for Mecklenburg County, where she focuses on leading, developing, and executing the county’s corporate performance management, strategic planning, and program evaluation initiatives. Allen is also the proprietor of Insight Performance Management Group LLC, a consulting firm specializing in change management, strategy development and execution, performance management, and organizational development. She was the recipient of the 2016 Charlotte Chamber of Commerce Young Professional Public Servant Award as well as the Association for Strategic Planning’s 2017 Richard M. Goodman Award for Strategic Planning. She also led efforts in performance management that resulted in Mecklenburg County receiving the International City/County Management Association’s 2017 Certificate of Distinction for Performance Management. Allen holds a B.A. in psychology from Hampton University, an M.A. in psychology from the College of William and Mary, and a Ph.D. in organization and management from Capella University.

Selected Publications

Allen, Monica (July 2016). A planning evolution: How Mecklenburg County got on the road to strategic business planning. International City/County Management Association.

Nezlek, J. B., Sorrentino, R. M., Yasunaga, S., Otsubo, Y., Allen, M., Kouhara, S., & Shuper, P. (2008). Cross-cultural differences in reactions to daily events as indicators of cross-cultural differences in self-construction and affect. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 39, 685-702.

Nezlek, J. B., & Allen, M. R. (2006). Social support as a moderator of day-to-day relationships between daily negative events and daily psychological well-being. European Journal of Personality, 20, 53-68.