School of Government

Skip to content
Cohort 8

Jurisdiction: Town of Morrisville

University: NC State

Hometown: Apex, NC

Mary Kjenstad serves as a Lead for North Carolina Fellow with the Town of Morrisville’s Information Technology Department, where she supports the modernization of data management, governance, and use across Town departments. During her fellowship, Mary will lead a comprehensive inventory of the Town’s data sources, working with department heads, managers, organizational leadership, and vendors to document what data exists, how it is used, who relies on it, and how it can be accessed. She will then use this inventory to help develop data governance policies addressing records retention, privacy, security, compliance, and potentially open data while gaining experience with Microsoft Fabric, Power Automate, SharePoint, and Power BI. In addition, Mary will help transition the Town’s siloed datasets into a centralized Microsoft Fabric-based repository designed to improve data accessibility, automation, collaboration, transparency, and organizational decision-making. Through these projects, she is gaining hands-on experience in data governance, enterprise data systems, automation, cross-departmental coordination, stakeholder engagement, and local government technology and operations.

Mary Kjenstad graduated from North Carolina State University with degrees in Political Science and Criminology. Through internships in congressional offices, juvenile justice, and community supervision, Mary developed a passion for public service, community engagement, and understanding how policy affects everyday lives.

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…

August 24, 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…

AmeriCorps