UNC Pembroke’s Dr. Leslie Locklear has been appointed to the newly-created Hunt-Lee Commission.

Locklear serves as program coordinator for the First Americans Teacher Education program at UNCP. Additionally, she serves as an adjunct professor in the Professional School Counseling Department and co-chair of the N.C. Native American Youth Organization Adult Advisory Committee.

She previously served on the state’s DRIVE (Develop a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education) Task Force.

The Hunt-Lee Commission is tasked with identifying and applying high-impact strategies for strengthening systems across the education continuum in North Carolina.

“The Hunt-Lee Commission provides an exciting opportunity to take a close look at long-standing challenges in the education space and identify innovative solutions,” said Dr. Javaid Siddiqi, president and CEO of The Hunt Institute.

Named for former Gov. James Hunt Jr. and Institute Board Members Senator Howard Lee and Senator Michael Lee, the commission will convene leaders from across North Carolina over the next year. The commission aims to reach a consensus on topics and actionable policy levers that could move the needle on education in North Carolina.

The commission will study and make recommendations on four key education topics: access, alignment, funding, and transitions, and completion and release a final report and recommendations in Spring 2022, with the hope of informing policy and practice across early childhood, K-12, and higher education.