The State Board of Education has hired Cecilia Holden as its new director of Legislative Affairs. She began work with the Board and Department of Public Instruction last week.
In this role, she serves as the primary contact and staff for the State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction with state and federal education policy makers and stakeholders, including the NC General Assembly, the Governor’s Office, state agencies and the U.S. Congress.
Holden’s career includes extensive public and private sector experience. Prior to joining the State Board of Education, she served as the chief of staff for the North Carolina Department of Commerce. In addition, her North Carolina public service includes serving as the special assistant to the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources and the director of Networking Technologies for the Department of Public Instruction. She has a proven track record of establishing and implementing creative strategies to optimize operations, return on investments and excellence in customer satisfaction.
Holden served as a middle manager with IBM and the Business Operations manager for a Registered Investment Advisory firm. During her years with IBM, Holden was a Team Excellence Award winner, IBM Achievement Club recipient and was selected for the IBM Executive Fast Track program. She built a reputation for implementing high standards for customer service while overseeing a worldwide network of technical support engineers.
Holden began her career working as a Community Detention counselor with Wake County Juvenile Court. She later served as the Information Technology Implementation manager with Wake County where she was responsible for the Public Safety and Criminal Justice information technology systems for which she received multiple National Association of Counties awards.
Holden holds a master’s in Business Administration from Duke University, a certificate in Public Administration from the University of North Carolina School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Business from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.
About the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction:
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction provides leadership to 115 local public school districts and 160 charter schools serving over 1.5 million students in kindergarten through high school graduation. The agency is responsible for all aspects of the state's public school system and works under the direction of the North Carolina State Board of Education.