R. Ross Harris Joins Institute of Political Leadership as Executive Director

R. ROSS HARRIS

"Ms. R. Ross Harris has been named Executive Director of the Institute of Political Leadership (IOPL), effective July 1, 2014.

The Institute is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate future political and community leaders in modern campaign strategy, ethical decision making, and governance, such that its participants will have a sound grounding in ethical behavior, consensus building, and cooperative and collaborative leadership. No other program in North Carolina offers such a comprehensive curriculum in strategic non-partisan political leadership development. In 2013, IOPL merged with the NC Center for Women in Public Service.

Harris is a native of Greensboro, and graduated from Duke University with an AB in Public Policy and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business. She has extensive experience as both a campaign manager and political strategist in partisan, nonpartisan, and referendum campaigns in North Carolina.

Additionally, Harris has over 30 years of experience in marketing, public relations, and communications, both domestically and internationally, for several Fortune 500 companies as well as many companies and organizations in North Carolina. She was a VP at the Leo Burnett Company in Chicago for 14 years, returning to her native North Carolina to become a Divisional VP at Burlington Industries in 1994. After four years at Burlington, she spent seven years at Trone as SVP. In 2007, she began her own marketing and communications consulting company, The Harris Partners.

Harris is well-known in the Triad area for her recent work as Project Manager for the Steven Tanger Performing Arts Center, a two-year initiative that involved input from the entire Greensboro community. Her efforts included development, City Council approval, and community support for the project.

“I was pleased and delighted that we were able to attract such a wealth of candidates for this position, with diverse backgrounds and impressive experience,” said Justice Henry E. Frye, Chair of the Board of Directors.

“I have known, and worked with, Ross for several years, and am very happy that we were able to secure the services of someone as highly respected as she, and who shares the energy and passion we have for IOPL’s mission,” added Frye. “I am confident that she will be an asset to increasing the visibility of IOPL throughout the state.”

IOPL began in 1987, and it offers two annual Fellows classes and one Women in Office Program. Participants exchange ideas in a politically, culturally, and philosophically diverse climate, building relationships with current and future leaders with whom they will interact throughout their careers."

A Press Release