Audrea Caesar is the inaugural chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer (CDEIO) for the UNC Healthcare system and the UNC School of Medicine. She is working to embed equity into the culture, policies, and practices to achieve a more inclusive organization while decreasing disparities in health. Audrea is a certified health education specialist (CHES) and a senior certified human resources professional (SHRM-SCP) who specializes in Leadership, Organizational Behavior, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Health Equity. With more than 20 years in the public sector, Audrea has served at the state, county, and city levels of government. Prior to UNC Health, she came to UNC Health from the City of Raleigh, where she created and led the city’s first Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In this role, she developed Raleigh’s first racial equity action plan emphasizing workforce equity, police-community relations, business inclusion and community engagement, and served as an advisor to the Mayor and City Council on issues related to community health, social justice, and equity. Prior to her role in Raleigh, Audrea held several positions helping organizations better understand the social determinants of inequity. As director of community outreach and support for Union County’s Department of Health and Human Services, she founded the Union Health Equity Collaborative, which trained more than 150 providers and staff from Union County Public Health, Atrium Health Union, Novant Health, and members of the community on topics related to social determinants using Union County-specific data. Audrea has also worked in the provider network management arena as a medicaid ombudsman, assisting all medical provider types with billing, coding, and reimbursement.
Leisha DeHart-Davis is a Distinguished Term Coates Professor of Public Administration and Government. She directs the Local Government Workplaces Initiative, which conducts organizational research for improving city and county workplaces. DeHart-Davis is a National Academy of Public Administration Fellow and recipient of the 2019 Gary Cornia Distinguished Lecturer given by the Romney Institute of Brigham Young University. Professor DeHart-Davis is also a UNC Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholar. She has published two books, the award-winning Creating Effective Rules in Public Sector Organizations and Understanding Gender Imbalance in Public Sector Leadership. Her research has also been published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, International Public Management Journal, Administration and Society, and Review of Public Personnel Administration. She is the current president of the Public Management Research Association. DeHart-Davis holds a Ph.D. in public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Selected Publications
Pandey, S., DeHart-Davis, L., Pandey, S., & Ahlawat, S. (2022). Fight or flight: How gender influences follower responses to unethical leader behaviour. Public Management Review, 1-21.
Jiang, Z., DeHart‐Davis, L., & Borry, E. L. (2022). Managerial Practice and Diversity Climate: The Roles of Workplace Voice, Centralization, and Teamwork. Public Administration Review.
Kaufmann, W., Borry, E. L., & DeHart-Davis, L. (2022). Can effective organizational rules keep employees from leaving? a study of green tape and turnover intention. Public Management Review, 1-22.
Whetsell, Travis. A., Kroll, A., & DeHart-Davis, L. (2021). “Formal Hierarchies and Informal Networks: How Organizational Structure Shapes Information Search in Local Government”. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory
DeHart-Davis, Leisha, D.M. Hatmaker, K. Nelson, S.K. Pandey, S. Pandey, A.E. Smith. (2020). Understanding Gender Imbalance in Public Sector Leadership. Elements Series, Cambridge University Press.
Smith, Amy E., Hassan, S., Hatmaker, D.M., DeHart-Davis, L. and Humphrey, N., (2020). “Gender, Race, and Experiences of Workplace Incivility in Public Organizations”. Review of Public Personnel Administration, p.0734371X20927760.
Kroll, A., DeHart-Davis, L., & Vogel, D. (2019). “Mechanisms of Social Capital in Organizations: How Team Cognition Influences Employee Commitment and Engagement”. The American Review of Public Administration, 49(7), 777–791. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074019851894
Hassan, Shahidul, Leisha DeHart‐Davis, and Zhongnan Jiang (2018) “How Empowering Leadership Reduces Employee Silence in Public Organizations.” Public Administration.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha. Creating Effective Rules in Public Sector Organizations (2017) Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Kaufmann, Wesley, Erin L. Borry, and Leisha DeHart‐Davis. “More than Pathological Formalization: Understanding Organizational Structure and Red Tape.” Public Administration Review (2018).
Borry, Erin L., Leisha DeHart‐Davis, Wesley Kaufmann, Cullen C. Merritt, Zachary Mohr, and Lars Tummers. “Formalization and consistency heighten organizational rule following: Experimental and survey evidence.” Public Administration 96, no. 2 (2018): 368-385.
“Green Tape and Job Satisfaction: Can Organizational Rules Make Employees Happy?,” Leisha DeHart-Davis, Randall S. Davis, and Zachary Mohr, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (2014): muu038.
“Written Versus Unwritten Rules: The Role of Rule Formalization in Green Tape,” Leisha DeHart-Davis, Jie Chen, and Todd D. Little. International Public Management Journal 16, no. 3 (2013): 331-356.
“Green Tape: A Theory of Effective Organizational Rules.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 19 2: 361-384. JPART 2010 Virtual Reader inclusion of Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.
“Bureaucracy and Public Employee Behavior: A Case of Local Government,” Review of Public Personnel Administration 29 4. 311-326. Mary K. Feeney and Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.
“Can Bureaucracy Benefit Organizational Women? An Exploratory Study,” Administration and Society 41 3.:340-363. Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.
“Gender and Organizational Rule Abidance,” Public Administration Review 692.:339-347. Shannon Portillo and Leisha DeHart-Davis, 2009.
Additional Publications
Nesbit, Rebecca, Stephanie Moulton, Scott Robinson, Craig Smith, Leisha DeHart-Davis, Mary K. Feeney, Beth Gazley, and Yilin Hou. “Wrestling with Intellectual Diversity in Public Administration: Avoiding Disconnectedness and Fragmentation While Seeking Rigor, Depth, and Relevance.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21, no. suppl 1 (2011): i13-i28.
Feeney, Mary K., and Leisha DeHart-Davis. 2009. Bureaucracy and Public Employee Behavior: A Case of Local Government.Review of Public Personnel Administration 29 4. 311-326.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha 2009 Green Tape and Public Employee Rule Abidance: Why Organizational Rule Attributes Matter Public Administration Review 69 5.: 901-910.
Shannon Portillo, Leisha DeHart-Davis. 2009. Gender and Organizational Rule Abidance. Public Administration Review 69 2.:339-347.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha. 2007. The Unbureaucratic Personality Public Administration Review Vol. 67, No. 5, pp. 892-903.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha, Marlowe, Justin & Pandey, Sanjay K. 2006. Gender Dimensions of Public Service Motivation Public Administration Review Vol. 66, No. 6, pp. 873-887. (Also in 2012 PAR Virtual Issue: Public Service Motivation).
Zia, A., B. G.Norton, D. S. Noonan, M. O. Rodgers, and L. DeHart-Davis. 2006. A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of High-Emitter Non-Compliance and Its Impact on Vehicular Tailpipe Emissions in Atlanta,1997-2001. Transportation Research Part D 11 1.: 77-96.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha; G. Kingsley 2005. Managerial Perceptions of Privatization: Evidence from a State Department of Transportation State and Local Government Review Vol. 37, No. 3, pp 228-241.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha and R. Guensler 2005. Employers as Mediating Institutions in Public Policy: The Case of Commute Option Programs Policy Studies Journal Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 675-697 .
DeHart-Davis, Leisha and S. Pandey. 2005. Red Tape and Public Employees: Does Perceived Rule Dysfunction Alienate Managers? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 133-148.
Corley, Elizabeth. L.DeHart-Davis, M. Rodgers 2003. Inspection/Maintenance Program Evaluation: Replication of the Denver Step Method for an Atlanta Fleet Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. 2801-2806.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha, E.Corley, M. Rodgers. 2002. Evaluating Vehicle Inspection/Maintenance Programs Using Onroad Emissions Data: The Atlanta Reference Method, Evaluation Review, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 111-146.
DeHart-Davis, Leisha and B. Bozeman 2001. Regulatory Compliance and Air Quality Permitting: Why Do Firms ‘Overcomply?’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 471-508.
Bozeman, Barry and L. DeHart-Davis 1999. Red Tape and Clean Air: Title V Air Pollution Permitting Implementation as a Test Bed for Theory Development Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 141-177.
Willow Jacobson joined the School of Government faculty in 2003. Prior to that, she taught in the Master of Public Administration program at the University of Connecticut and worked on the Government Performance Project and the New Jersey Initiative at the Alan K. Campbell Institute at The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. She has also assisted with strategic planning for community collaboratives in California and Oregon state government. Currently, Jacobson serves as the Director of the School’s Master of Public Administration program at UNC. She previously served as Director of the LGFCU Fellows program, which she helped create in 2011 to develop local government leaders in North Carolina. She was also involved in the 2005 inaugural session of the Public Executive Leadership Academy. Her research has appeared in Public Administration Review and Public Personnel Management. Jacobson earned a Ph.D. from Syracuse University.
Selected Publications
Jacobson, Willow, and Kristina Lambright. 2018. “The Development of County HR Policies: The Perspectives of Counties in Two States.” Public Personnel Management.
Jacobson, Willow S., and Jessica E. Sowa. 2016. “Municipal Human Resource Management: Challenges and Innovative Practices in Turbulent Times,” State and Local Government Review. Vol. 48, No. 2, 121-131.
Jacobson, Willow S., Jessica Sowa, Kristina Lambright. 2014. “Do Human Resource Departments Act as Strategic Partners? Strategic Human Capital Management Adoption by County Governments” Review of Public Personnel Administration. Vol. 34, No. 3, 289-301.
Jacobson WS, Paynter SR. Verdict Pending: Understanding Leadership Role Identity for North Carolina Judges and Lawyers. Public Personnel Management. 2019;48(2):252-279.
Jacobson, Willow S., and Shannon Howle Tufts. 2013. “To Post or Not to Post: Employee Rights and Social Media,” Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol.33, No. 1, 84-107.
Brenda Bushouse, Willow S. Jacobson, Kristina Lambright, Jared Llorens, Rick Morse, and Ora-Orn Poocharoen. 2011. “Crossing the Divide: Building Bridges between Public Administration Practitioners and Scholars”. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Vol. 21, Supplement 1. pp. 99-112.
Heather Getha-Taylor, Maja Holmes, Willow S. Jacobson, Rick Morse, and Jessica Sowa. 2011. “Focusing the Public Leadership Lens: Research Propositions and Questions in the Minnowbrook Tradition”. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Vol. 21. Supplement 1. pp. 183-197.
Willow S. Jacobson, Ellen Rubin, and Amy Donahue. 2008. “Integrating Labor Relations and Human Resource Management: Impacts on State Workforces,” International Review of Public Administration.2008. Vol. 13, No. 2
Willow S. Jacobson and Donna Warner. 2008. “Leading and Governing: A Model for local Government Education,” Journal of Public Affairs Education. Summer 2008, Vol. 14, No. 2, Summer 2008
Willow S. Jacobson, “Preparing for Tomorrow: A Case Study of Workforce Planning in North Carolina Municipalities,” Public Personnel Management. Forthcoming (Accepted November 2007).
Jacobson, Willow S., and Christine A Kelleher, Cynthia J. Bowling. 2010. “A Woman’s Touch? Gendered Networks in State Administration”. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Vol. 20 Issue 2.
Additional Publications
Book Chapters
Jacobson, Willow. 2009. “Chapter 12: Planning for Today and Tomorrow: Workforce Planning” in Public Personnel Administration: Prospects and Problems. Richard Kearny, Steven Hays, and Jerrell Coggburn, editors.
Selden, Sally, and Willow Jacobson. 2007. “Chapter Four: Government’s Largest Investment—Human Resource Management in States, Cities, and Counties” in In Pursuit of Performance: Management Systems in State and Local Government. Patricia Ingraham, editor. John Hopkins Press. Pages 82-116.
Donahue, Amy, Willow Jacobson, Mark Robbins, Ellen Rubin, and Sally Selden. 2004. “Management and Performance Outcomes in State Government” in The Art of Governance: Analyzing Management and Administration. Laurence E. Lynn, Jr. and Patricia W. Ingraham, editors Georgetown University Press. Pages 125-151.
Journal Articles
Tufts, Shannon, and Willow Jacobson. 2010. “Visions of Leadership: An Examination of How IT Professionals Prioritize Leadership Attributes” Journal of Information Technology Management. Volume XXI, Number 1.
Jacobson, Willow S., and Donna Warner. 2008. “Leading and Governing: A Model for Local Government Education,” Journal of Public Affairs Education. Summer 2008, Vol. 14, No. 2, Summer 2008.
Jacobson, Willow S. “Creating a Motivated Workforce: How Organizations Can Enhance and Develop PSM,” Public Personnel Management. Forthcoming (Accepted July 2007).
Jacobson, Willow S. “Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd, and Four’s a Lot to Manage: Supervising in Today’s Intergenerational Workplace,” Popular Government. Vol. 73, No. 1, Fall 2007.
Jacobson, Willow S. “Workforce Planning: Who Will Be There to Serve?,” Popular Government. Vol. 72, No. 2, Winter 2007.
Jacobson, Willow S. 2007. “Managing Multiple Generations” The Governing Management Letter (https://www.governing.com/manage/eletter/bg0207wj.htm) February 2007.
Jacobson, Willow S., Sally Selden, and Ellen Rubin. “Examining Training in Large Municipalities: Linking Individual and Organizational Training Needs,” Public Personnel Management. 2002. Vol. 31, No.4.
Ingraham, Patricia, Sally Selden, and Willow Jacobson. “Human Resource Practice in State Governments: Findings from a National Survey,” Public Administration Review. Sept 2001. Vol. 61, No. 5.
Selden, Sally, Salwa Ammar, Ron Wright, and Willow Jacobson. “A New Approach to Assessing Performance of State Human Resource Management Systems: A Multi-Level Fuzzy Rule-Based System,” Review of Public Personnel Administration. 2000. Vol. 20, No. 3.
Kissler, Gerald, Karmen Fore, Willow Jacobson, William Kittredge, Scott Stewart. “State Strategic Planning: Suggestions from the Oregon Experience.” Public Administration Review, July/August 1998, Vol. 58, No. 4.
Dissertation
“Receptivity to Change in the Public Sector: Two Federal Case Studies.”
White Papers
Sally Selden and Willow Jacobson. 2002 “Lessons Learned Human Resource Management” in Government Performance Project Final Report. Syracuse, New York: Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute.
New Jersey Initiative. 2002 The New Jersey Initiative: Building Management Capacity in New Jersey Municipalities. Syracuse, New York: Alan K. Campbell Public Affairs Institute. (Contributor).
Jacobson, Willow, and Jessica Crawford. “Innovations in State Human Resource Practices: Examples from the States.” (Alan K. Campbell Institute Working Paper Series). 2001.
Selden, Sally, Willow Jacobson, and Jessica Crawford. “State Report 2001: Human Resource Management.” (Alan K. Campbell Institute Working Paper Series). 2001.
Ingraham, Patricia, Sally Selden, and Willow Jacobson. “The State of Human Resource Management in State Government.” (Alan K. Campbell Institute Working Paper Series). 2001.
Jacobson, Willow. “Searching for Synergy: Collaborative Theory vs. Practice.” Master’s Exit Project, 1998.
Sarah Towne has been teaching at the School of Government since 2017. After earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology and applied business, she spent a year teaching English in Mexico before pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at Appalachian State University. She moved to Washington, DC to pursue a doctorate in public administration and policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs. Her research focuses on public human resources management, workplace policies and programs, family-friendly policies, nonstandard work arrangements, gender, and diversity in the Federal Government. For three years, she served on the board for the Section on Personnel Administration and Labor Relations (American Society for Public Administration).
Selected Publications
Pitts, David W., and Sarah E. Towne. “Realizing the promise of diversity.” Handbook of Public Administration (2015): 366-381.
Towne, Sarah. “Developing Family-Friendly Policies in the Public Sector in Wake of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” In APSA 2013 Annual Meeting Paper. 2013.