Past Presidents

Joshua Harris

Joshua has been a member of the North Carolina City and County Communicators since the first official organization meeting held in Greensboro in 2007. That was his first year in local government. Fortunately, he was able to connect with the amazing people across the state who had been working to create NC3C. During his membership with the group, Joshua has attended every annual conference and has served many terms on the NC3C. He served three years as Treasurer, two years as President-Elect, one term as President, and two years as Past President.



“NC3C is a wonderful group of people. I’ve made many friends during my time with the organization, and I’ve learned a lot. NC3C has really grown and matured since 2007, and I’m proud of the small part I played to help us succeed.” – Joshua

Rebecca Carter

Rebecca served an extended (two year) term due to the COVID pandemic in 2020. At the time, NC3C bylaws stated that voting for Board positions had to take place in-person. Since the membership couldn’t gather in person to vote, the Board served two consecutive years in their roles. One of the biggest challenges was continuing to provide value for members while unable to gather in person. After canceling the 2020 annual conference due to COVID restrictions, with Rebecca’s leadership, NC3C was able to regroup and host virtual regional meetings, monthly “Connecting with Colleagues” virtual meetings and the organization’s first (and hopefully only) virtual annual conference in 2021.



In addition, with the support of the Board, the NC3C bylaws were updated (there is now a provision for virtual voting, better defined Board and committee roles and terms, and rules of ascension). The Board also worked help NC3C gain its official 501(c)(6) designation which allows the organization to take advantage of certain tax exempt benefits for the first time in the history of the organization. Prior to serving as President, Rebecca also served as President-Elect, Vice President and Executive Committee Member for Program Development, Conference and Regionals and was an active member for 13 years before moving to a career in the private secto

Dana Kaminske

Catherine Lazorko

Catherine has pursued interests in content creation, engagement activities and community partnerships for the Town of Carrboro, where she has worked as communication and engagement director since June 2020. Previously, she was communications manager for the Town of Chapel Hill, N.C., and public information officer for the City of Las Cruces, N.M. Her work in higher education includes communications director positions at NC State University College of Design and UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information and Library Science, and alumni magazine editor for New Mexico State University. She began her career covering news and border issues as a reporter for the El Paso Times.

Glenn Hargett

Kiara Jones

Kiara's service with NC3C began in 2011 as Secretary. She held that role for two years, then President for two years and Past President for two years. During her term, she started the NC3C magazine to keep members informed and to highlight member accomplishments. She led presentations, helped plan conferences, and played a role in the organization's formal establishment of its online presence.

Mandy Pitts

Steve Hawley

Steve is a founding member of NC3C and has held several offices, including two terms as President from 2009-2011. He also hosted the first official NC3C Conference in Greenville (the year after the organizational meeting in Greensboro). His focus was on providing opportunities for fellow PIOs to get together, share tips and techniques, and support each other with a network of people we could turn to throughout the year who were going through the same or similar challenges.

It was critically important to him in his time on the Board to continue the initial growth with both City and County communicators, ensure steps were taken to help build the credibility of the group and the profession, and that members found great value in a fun, welcoming atmosphere. Steve has won several NC3C and 3CMA awards and was recognized for his work with a Chris Coulson Award in 2019. He also designed NC3C’s logo.

Annette Privette-Keller

When I entered local government service in 2000, I wanted to establish a peer group of government communicator professionals. I had been involved in a similar group of public school communicators and had experienced the mentorship and collaboration that these professional groups offer. I soon discovered there was no such group. Joined by Mandy Pitts and Chris Coulson we were able to establish NC3C. 

Those first years of establishing a mission, by-laws, the awards criteria, and hosting a conference were hard work but tremendously rewarding. As we met with certain professional groups and schools of government it was evident that communications was not given its due which made me more determined to secure NC3C as a premier organization. It was an honor to serve as two terms as the founding president and since then in a variety of roles in order to ensure that the group achieves its mission. I believe we have succeeded in establishing the importance of what we do as local government communicators, collaborate on best practices, as well as for me – creating a network of wonderful peer friends.