Nudging, educating elected officials go hand-in-hand

North Carolina Black Alliance program director Jovita Lee, Ed. D., makes a point during a breakout session at the NC BREATHE Conference Oct. 8-9, 2025.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Elected officials don’t know it all. They can’t.

“There’s this kind of assumption in the community that because they’re elected, they’re experts. Those things are not synonymous,” said Jovita Lee, Ed.D., program director for North Carolina Black Alliance (NCBA). “They may be elected, but then what is the investment in them?”

Lee pressed that point during a breakout session at CleanAIRE NC’s 10th anniversary of the NC BREATHE Conference at Harris Conference Center Oct. 8-9. The conference annually assembles the leading voices in North Carolina’s environmental health community.

‘Get him off my back’

The breakout session, moderated by Will Hendrick from the North Carolina Conservation Network, comprised a panel that included Catawba Riverkeeper policy director Ryan Carter. He lifted the name of a man named Alvin, who was always complaining about his backyard flooding every time it rained. Carter explained his ear wasn’t the one that needed bending.

“I said, ‘I can’t do a damned thing for you. Why don’t you contact your state legislator?’” Carter recalled.

It would rain, and Alvin started dialing politicians. Turns out a mall was recently built upstream of where he lived, and stormwater runoff would flow into his backyard, impacting his property value and quality of life, Carter said. So when it rained, Alvin hit up his legislators.

Squeaky wheel gets bill

“Then his state legislators called me and said, ‘Who’s this Alvin guy, and how do I get him off my back?’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve got this really cool bill here. Why don’t you file it?’”

House Bill 369 — the so-called parking lot bill — was filed earlier this year in March. It’s in the Senate’s rules committee, still waiting to become a law.

“That all started because of Alvin,” Carter said. “It started because a community member — one person — said, ‘I have this problem, you dirty, rotten legislator. Fix it.”

It’s an example of educating community members to become advocates, empowering them to get what they need from elected officials.

Educating electeds

And then there’s the schooling elected officials need in order to get what they want from community members — votes. Smart politicians understand that more than eight-in-10 U.S. adults believe most elected officials don’t care what people like them think, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey. It means the sort of grounding NCBA provides is essential in order to keep them from appearing out of touch to Black people.

“It’s, ‘Congratulations on being elected. Now, here are your training dates, because you have a lot of gaps. There are things that you don’t know. Your expertise might be in environmental justice. Great, that helps us. But then you have a complete blind spot in education. We need to work on that,'” Lee explained.

North Carolina Black Alliance program director Jovita Lee, Ed.D. (left), and Kay Brown, organizing director for our c4 sister organization, Advance Carolina, shared resources with educators during the North Carolina Association of Educators’ “We Are Public Schools” at Central Piedmont Community College on Oct. 11.

NCBA does that training alongside groups such as LEAD NC and the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE). Lee and Advance Carolina’s organizing director, Kay Brown, were shoulder to shoulder with schoolteachers and school administrators during NCAE’s We Are Public Schools Summit at Central Piedmont Community College on Oct. 11. A recurring conversation piece was teachers not getting salary increases due to the inability of North Carolina lawmakers to agree on a state budget. 

Rep. Brandon Lofton, who represents Mecklenburg County, was at the summit as a panelist and emphasized the importance of state educators letting his colleagues in the North Carolina General Assembly understand the sticker shock they’re experiencing from getting no relief to offset the cost of living. 

NCBA routinely meets with elected officials to help them understand the issues that are top of mind for Black people. Rep. Zack Hawkins, who represents Durham County, said the nuggets he’s gotten from NCBA have made him a better elected official. 

“North Carolina Black Alliance has been an invaluable partner in helping legislators like me stay grounded in the issues that matter most to our communities,” Hawkins said. “Their policy briefings, advocacy and collaboration ensure that we’re informed and equipped to fight for equity — in housing, education, health care and economic opportunity. Their work keeps us connected to the people we serve and focused on solutions that deliver real change.”