2026

Senator Jim Burgin is a longtime resident of Harnett County and the current President and Owner of C & D Insurance. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of New Horizon Insurance Group, President of B.C. Property, Inc., a real estate development company, and he is a partner in John Heister Automotive, which owns Chevrolet and Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dealerships. Senator Burgin and his wife, Ann, have been married for 44 years and have three children and four grandchildren. He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, and graduated from the University of Knoxville. Senator Burgin is currently serving his fourth term in the North Carolina Senate, where he serves as Chairman of Healthcare, Appropriations on Health and Human Services and the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services. He is also a member of 6 other committees. Before his time as a North Carolina State Senator, he served two terms as a County Commissioner. He is passionate about helping North Carolina make positive changes for those affected by mental health challenges. He has traveled across the state to hold 14 Mental Health Town Halls with former DHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley.

Sydney Batch is a mom, attorney, social worker, and leader who never backs down from fighting for North Carolina families. She's spent her career standing up for people, first in the courtroom and now in the Senate. As Leader of the North Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus, Sydney is the first woman and the first Black woman to hold the role. She leads with purpose and doesn't shy away from hard truths or tough fights. Sydney believes government should make life better for people, not harder. She's focused on protecting public schools, keeping costs low, defending reproductive freedom, and keeping North Carolinians safe. Under her leadership, Senate Democrats are working to break the Republican supermajority, restore balance in Raleigh, and hold extremists accountable. Because when power goes unchecked, families pay the price—and Sydney refuses to let that happen. A proud "Triple Tar Heel," Sydney earned her undergraduate, law, and social work degrees from UNC–Chapel Hill. She and her husband, Patrick, run a small family law firm in Wake County, where they live with their two sons.

Renée earned her Bachelor of Arts, from Tufts University, and Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University concentrating in city development planning, and environmental planning. She also studied at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School in the Master of Arts program. Throughout her career Renée has focused on urban and rural community development, along with natural and cultural resource preservation and conservation. Her positions have included: inner-city neighborhood housing director, environmental impact assistant project manager, grant writer for a Black land loss pro-bono law firm, conservation council coordinator, forestry program director for underserved landowners, and government relations manager for a mentoring program. In 2011 Renée co-founded Spirit Freedom, a non-profit that seeks to tell the story of Orange County through the lens of people of color. In 2012, Renée was elected to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners, re-elected in 2016, and in 2020. She served as Vice-Chair of the BOCC from 2018 to 2020, and Chair from 2020 to 2022. Renée is now a Member of the House of Representatives in the North Carolina General Assembly, elected in 2022 to represent District 50, which includes Orange and Caswell Counties. She serves on five committees: Appropriations; Appropriations-Information Technology; Education-Community Colleges; Local Government-Land Use, Planning and Development; and Regulatory Reform.

Robert Murphy, PhD, has served as the Executive Director of the Center for Child & Family Health since 2004, a three-university and community collaboration focused on best practices in prevention and treatment of maltreatment and child traumatic stress. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Public Health, and a faculty fellow at the Center for Child & Family Policy at the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy. A clinical psychologist with a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts, he completed training and joined the faculty of the Yale Child Study Center, directing evaluation for the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence. Dr. Murphy is one of the developers of Family Connects, a brief, universal, postnatal home-visiting program designed to promote child wellbeing and prevent maltreatment. Family Connects is disseminated in more than 20 states or communities nationally. Dr. Murphy has been an investigator for two longitudinal randomized controlled trials of Family Connects that have demonstrated sustained improvement in infant, family, maltreatment, and health service utilization outcomes.

Dr. Kane serves as the Chief Medical Officer and Primary Care physician for the THRIVE Program and continues to work and support the Matthew Gfeller Center and the Center for Study of Retired Athletes. After graduating from Gettysburg College in 1991 with a B.S. in Biology he attended the Uniformed Services University of the Health Services (USUHS) and graduated in 1995 with his doctorate in medicine. He completed his Family Medicine residency at Womack Army Medical Center and his Primary Care Sports Medicine fellowship at USUHS/Ft Belvoir. Aside from his time in medical school and graduate medical education he served most of his career as a physician with multiple units in the US Army Special Operations Command (Airborne). In 2018, he retired from the Army and joined the faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine.

Kelly brings over 30 years of experience in providing and managing public services and supports for people with mental health and substance use issues, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and brain injury. In her current role as the Director of the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services (DMH/DD/SUS), Kelly oversees the public community-based system for mental health, intellectual and other developmental disabilities, substance use, and traumatic brain injury in North Carolina. For the past 13 years, Kelly has served in multiple leadership roles within NC DHHS, including Assistant Director of Behavioral Health at NC Medicaid, Chief Operating Officer of NC Medicaid, and the Chief Quality and Population Health Officer at NC Medicaid. Kelly is proud to be a licensed clinical social worker and person with lived experience.

Mike Schietzelt is a husband, father, U.S. Marine Corps veteran, attorney, and a strong, effective advocate for northern Wake County. The son of a disabled Vietnam Veteran, Mike grew up in a single-parent family in Burlington, N.C., where he learned the importance of service and hard work at an early age. As a young adult, Mike toured the world as a professional musician, performing in amusement parks and on cruise ships. In 2011, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as a member of "The Commandant's Own" United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. While stationed in Washington, D.C, Mike represented the Marine Corps before many of the highest ranking civilian and military officials in America, and he sounded Taps for military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery. Mike currently works as a litigation attorney with Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, where he represents small businesses, health care professionals, and faith-based organizations in civil disputes. He previously clerked for then-N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Martin during the 2018-19 term. A product of North Carolina's public schools, Mike earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG), and his Juris Doctorate from the Duke University School of Law. He lives in Wake Forest with his wife, Carmon, and their four young sons.

Senator Graig Meyer has served in the General Assembly for over a decade. He first represented Caswell and parts of Orange counties in House District 50 beginning in 2013. In 2022, he was elected to represent Senate District 23, serving residents in all of Orange, Caswell and Person counties. Sen. Meyer's current legislative committee assignments include Appropriations on General Government and Information Technology, Commerce and Insurance, Pensions and Retirement and Aging, Regulatory Reform, and State and Local Government. As a trained social worker, Sen. Meyer approaches his public service with a desire to help people connect to the resources they need and focuses his legislative priorities on protecting those who are marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed. He has been a leading voice for public education and ensuring the state works to combat the climate crisis. Prior to becoming a legislator, Sen. Meyer spent sixteen years working in North Carolina's public schools and he continues to work with schools and youth-serving non-profits as a Partner and Chief Operating Officer of the APC Leadership Collaborative.

Representative Allen Buansi grew up in Orange County. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and their three children. He is a proud graduate of Dartmouth College (B.A.) and the University of North Carolina School of Law (J.D.). From 2017 to 2021, he worked at the UNC Center for Civil Rights and was the deputy director there, working in the areas of public education, environmental justice and land use law. He is currently a land use attorney. After being elected to the Chapel Hill Town Council in 2017, Governor Roy Cooper appointed him to the statewide Local Government Employees Retirement Board of Trustees, and there, he served from 2018 until 2021. He was elected to the North Carolina State House in 2022, and he represents District 56 (Orange County) in the North Carolina General Assembly.

Dr. Carrie Brown, MD, MPH, DFAPA, provides psychiatric leadership across NCDHHS and serves as the Chief Medical Officer for North Carolina's 13 state-operated healthcare facilities. As a graduate of Princeton University, she completed her medical training at Duke University and MPH at UNC Gillings School of Public Health. She has extensive clinical experience across community, inpatient, integrated care, and correctional settings. She also serves as an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine and an Assistant Consulting Professor in the Duke University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Secretary Sangvai is a family medicine physician and a professor at Duke University. He is also a member of the North Carolina Medical Board. Prior to his role with NCDHHS, he served as President of Duke Regional Hospital and President of the North Carolina Medical Society. His work has focused improving access, developing the healthcare workforce, and making care more efficient. Dr. Sangvai is the first Indian American cabinet member to serve under a North Carolina governor.

First elected in 2022, Allen Chesser serves as State Representative for North Carolina House District 25, which covers most of Nash County. Before his service in the North Carolina General Assembly, Allen was a police officer for the City of Raleigh and the Town of Nags Head. Allen is also a US Army National Guard combat veteran—having served in over 100 combat missions. During his first term, Allen Chesser has successfully championed several key pieces of legislation into law, including the Pistol Purchase Permit Repeal, the Right To Try Individualized Treatments, Ignition Interlock reform, the NC REINS Act, and the Fostering Care in NC Act – the most significant piece of foster care reform legislation to be signed into law in the past decade. With the motto "Good policy never punishes innocent people," Allen has sponsored and co-sponsored dozens of bills this session, focusing on bringing all stakeholders together to find sensible solutions. He serves as Chairman of the House Appropriations, Transportation, and the House Regulatory Reform Committee, House Select Committee on Blockchain and Digital Assets, and the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee. He serves as Vice Chairman of the House Homeland Security and Military and Veterans Affairs Committee and the House Appropriations Committee.

Lisa Grafstein has been a civil rights lawyer since 1995. After running her own firm for 16 years, she joined Disability Rights North Carolina, a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of people with disabilities. At Disability Rights, she litigates cases to enforce the rights of people with disabilities to live and work free from discrimination. She has represented people facing employment discrimination, voting rights violations, disability discrimination by public agencies, denial of access to public accommodations, and constitutional rights violations. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and received her law degree from UNC - Chapel Hill School of Law. In 2022, Lisa was elected to the NC Senate to serve District 13 in Wake County and re-elected in 2024. She serves on the following committees: Judiciary; Agriculture, Energy, and Environment; State and Local Government; Appropriations on Justice and Public Safety; Appropriations/Base Budget; Regulatory Reform; and Legislative Ethics, among others.

Timothy Reeder, MD, MPH earned a Medical Degree and residency in Emergency Medicine from Ohio State University. He obtained an MPH the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1998, he joined the Brody School of Medicine at ECU where he is an Associate Professor and Executive Vice Chair in the Department of Emergency Medicine. He is past President of the North Carolina Medical Society. He provides clinical care at ECU Health Medical Center. He was elected to the NC House of Representatives in 2023, representing District 9 in Pitt County. He serves on the Committees for Appropriations, Commerce, Education-Universities, Families, Children and Aging Policy, and Health.

Marcia Morey (NC House District 30-Durham) was appointed to the House in April 2017, and has since served three terms. Rep. Morey was a district court judge in Durham County from 1999 to 2010, and served as Chief District Court Judge from 2011 until 2017, before being appointed to the legislature. Rep. Morey is also a chair of the Juvenile Sentence Review Board and a member of Governor Cooper's Task Force on Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC). Representative Morey has been an outspoken advocate for Juvenile Justice. As the leading force behind Durham's Misdemeanor Diversion Program, she implemented rehabilitation and community resources for juveniles to address substance abuse and mental health disorders.

Jocelyn Mitnaul Mallette is the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. As a third-generation service member, Jocelyn was honored to accept Governor Josh Stein's nomination to serve in this role. As Secretary, Jocelyn leads the Department in its mission to support the military community in North Carolina, including active-duty personnel and their families, installations, and adjacent communities, and to support the State's Veterans and their families. As the daughter of Goldsboro natives, Jocelyn received her congressional nomination to the United States Air Force Academy from North Carolina Congresswoman Eva Clayton. After graduating from the Air Force Academy, Jocelyn served for ten years in the United States Air Force, including as an Admissions Officer at the Air Force Academy and as an intelligence officer. Jocelyn cross-trained into the Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps after graduating from the University of North Carolina School of Law, and served as a prosecutor and general practice attorney at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. After her active-duty service, she clerked for the Honorable Barbara A. Jackson of the North Carolina Supreme Court, then spent six years at the international law firm of McGuireWoods, where she became partner. She is married to Harold A. Mallette, a licensed architect, and is the proud mother of two toddlers.

Ben Ingraham is a United States Navy veteran who served as a Hospital Corpsman attached to the United States Marine Corps with 1st Battalion, 8th Marines out of Camp Lejeune. His service involved sustained exposure to high-stress and traumatic environments common to operational military medicine, experiences that continue to inform his understanding of trauma and its long-term impact on service members. In his remarks, Ben speaks to his lived experience with post-traumatic stress, a service-connected traumatic brain injury, and periods of addiction rooted in survival-based coping following military service. He reflects on the realities many veterans face after returning home, including invisible injuries, stigma around seeking help, delayed access to care, and the need for long-term, relationship-based mental health and recovery support. Ben is a licensed clinical social worker and currently practices as a therapist working primarily with veterans, first responders, and individuals affected by trauma and addiction. His clinical approach emphasizes trauma-informed care, continuity of treatment, and recovery as an ongoing, day-by-day process rather than a single outcome. He is also a husband and father, and brings a dual perspective—as both a veteran and a clinician—on the importance of accessible, sustained mental health and substance use services that support veterans before they reach crisis.

Dakota West received a Bachelors of Social Work from Saginaw Valley State University. During her studies, she focused on child welfare. After graduation, she relocated to North Carolina and began a fulfilling career in child protective services. She has worked in both rural and urban settings in various investigative units including: investigations, on call/after hours investigations, and serious injury & sexual abuse investigations. She also serves as a respite foster care placement to support at risk youth who are placed out of the home. She is passionate about child safety, strengthening families, and advocacy. Outside of her professional role she enjoys volunteering in the community and spending time with her family, including her Safe Families for Children placements, and her two dogs.