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Cohort 8

Jurisdiction: Town of Clayton

University: UNC - Chapel Hill

Hometown: Corolla, NC

Emily Yurasek serves as a Lead for North Carolina Fellow with the Town of Clayton’s Legislative and Clerk’s Office, where she supports ordinance modernization, public records management, and internal governance systems. During her fellowship, Emily will contribute to a comprehensive review of the Town Code by researching North Carolina statutes and municipal best practices, identifying outdated or redundant provisions, drafting ordinance revisions, coordinating departmental input, and preparing materials for legal review and Town Council consideration. She will also assist with processing and tracking public records requests, improving records organization and retention practices, developing workflow guides, and maintaining accessible electronic and physical records systems. In addition, Emily will help create a centralized inventory of Town policies and procedures, standardize policy-management practices, and develop templates and reference materials for staff. Through these projects, she is gaining hands-on experience in legal and policy research, ordinance drafting, records management, information governance, policy development, process improvement, Town Council procedures, and cross-departmental collaboration.

Emily Yurasek is a Public Policy major at UNC-Chapel Hill with a minor in Urban Studies and Planning. Emily previously interned with the Town of Kill Devil Hills, conducted research on equitable food access through UNC’s Public Policy Capstone Program, and supported local children and families through TABLE, Inc. Emily is also a former Marching Tar Heels trumpet player and an active member of Phi Alpha Delta.

October 6, 2026

COLUMBUS— The Town of Columbus is welcoming a new team member this summer through a statewide program designed to bring fresh talent into local government. Isa Gandy, a graduate of…

September 6, 2026

 This July, the eighth cohort of Lead for North Carolina Fellows arrived at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to begin their journey into public sector careers. After…

August 24, 2026

This July four Western Carolina University graduates were chosen to serve communities across the state as Lead for North Carolina fellows. Lead for NC is a government fellowship program started…

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