Amy Strecker serves as Duke Energy’s stakeholder engagement manager overseeing the company’s charitable giving and Duke Energy Foundation’s grantmaking in North Carolina. Amy is also responsible for Duke Energy’s sports marketing and business hospitality in the Triangle and Triad regions. Previously, she worked on the company’s corporate communications and local government and community relations teams. Amy joined the School of Government in 2013 as an adjunct instructor and course coordinator with the MPA program. She teaches professional communications for the program and leads the course’s adjunct teaching team. She has also worked in the public policy arena, focusing on affordable higher education. Amy started her career with Teach for America as an English teacher in Warren County, North Carolina. Strecker earned a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a master of public administration from UNC–Chapel Hill. Amy serves on the executive committee of the Marbles Kids Museum’s Board of Directors and chairs the United Way of the Greater Triangle’s board of directors.
Kelley O’Brien has more than 15 years of experience as a communicator, grant writer, project manager, and administrator in higher education and nonprofits. As owner and principal of KT Strategy & Communications, Kelley works with public and private organizations to articulate strategic priorities, develop program plans, create content, manage complex projects, and secure funding. Kelley is also a strategic search partner at Elinvar, a Raleigh-based executive search firm that matches mission-driven leaders with mission-driven organizations. She holds adjunct appointments at the UNC–Chapel Hill Graduate School and Kenan-Flagler Business School. Prior to launching her own firm in 2016, Kelley was director for strategy and innovation at the School of Government and led a statewide K-12 education program. She holds a master of public administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor of arts in honors interdisciplinary studies, urban studies from the University of Georgia. More recently, she has completed the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Executive Program in Innovation and Harvard Division of Continuing Education’s Design Thinking Program.
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.