NC Office of Strategic Partnerships team

Leah Carpenter, Program Support Specialist

As Program Support Specialist, Leah supports the team on an array of existing and emerging projects focused on institutionalizing partnerships between state government and the state’s research and philanthropic sectors. This includes meeting logistics, scheduling, drafting OSP Highlights (e-news and resources), documenting outreach and impact, and keeping OSP’s website, e-files, Project Portal, etc. organized and updated. Leah received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education (K-6) at Campbell University. For the past 3 years, Leah was a public elementary school teacher working primarily with a Title 1 population. She worked to build community involvement and strengthen relationships both within the school and externally.

Click here to contact Leah Carpenter.

Eliza Edwards, Deputy Director

As Deputy Director, Eliza oversees OSP operations to ensure the team is successful in identifying, developing, launching, and enhancing partnerships between state agencies and non-governmental partners. She also plays a critical role in doing this work. Other aspects of her role include providing leadership to and support for OSP’s portfolio of cross-sector research partnerships; coordinating and managing a range of OSP meetings/convenings and communications deliverables; managing OSP’s intern program; providing supervisory support to the Director of OSP; representing OSP at speaking engagements/presentations; and contributing to OSP’s overall strategic planning and implementation efforts. Prior to joining OSP, Eliza was a member of North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper’s policy team. 

Click here to contact Eliza Edwards.

Tim Griffith, Evidence Advisor

As an Evidence Advisor, Tim helps lead efforts to maximize discretionary spending on evidence-based policies and programs in North Carolina. His role includes working with North Carolina state agencies to conduct evidence reviews of discretionary spending and identify areas and opportunities for evaluating policy and program effectiveness through rigorous evaluation methods such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Prior to joining OSP, Tim worked in several evaluation roles at non-profit and private sector research organizations. His work included conducting evaluations and providing evaluation technical assistance for clients at the federal, state and local level focused on workforce development and unemployment insurance policies and programs. Tim holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and a Graduate Certificate in Program Evaluation from Michigan State University.

Click here to contact Tim Griffith.

Juli Kim, Philanthropy Liaison

As Philanthropy Liaison, Juli helps philanthropy and state government agencies connect with and learn from each other and identify opportunities to collaborate for greater impact. Juli brings to this role over 20 years’ experience working with policymakers, funders, practitioners, and researchers to identify, develop, implement, evaluate, and communicate problem-solving strategies related to a range of policy issues. Her career includes roles in state government and the nonprofit and private sectors. Juli has worked closely with philanthropic organizations, as program director at the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers and as a K-12 education consultant. Juli is a graduate of the University of North Carolina where she earned both her bachelor and law degrees. 

Click here to contact Juli Kim.

Jenni Owen, Director 

Jenni Owen is the Director of the North Carolina Office of Strategic Partnerships. In this role, she identifies and launches strategic partnerships between and among state government, universities/colleges, philanthropy, and other entities. This includes increasing and expanding state government connections with external research experts and increasing agency capacity to conduct and use evidence to improve policy and practice. Jenni was previously Policy Director for Governor Roy Cooper and Director of Policy Engagement and on the faculty of the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. A 2007 Eisenhower Fellow to South Africa, her civic roles have included: NC Indigent Defense Services (commissioner); El Futuro and Durham Children’s Initiative (board member); Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management (policy council member); and National Conference of State Legislatures Evidence Informed Policymaking work group (member). She is currently a member of the Duke-NCCU (North Carolina Central University) Clinical Translational Science Institute Regional Community and Stakeholder Advisory Committee, associate editor of the Society for Research in Child Development Social Policy Report, and on the advisory group of the Transforming Evidence Network. 

Click here to contact Jenni Owen.

Olu Rouse, Undergraduate Intern

Olu Rouse is an undergraduate intern with OSP. In this role, he is interested in being involved with OSP’s partnership with the NC Department of Adult Correction (NCDAC) as well as observing the policy and budget creation processes first-hand. Olu is an honors student and February One Scholar at the North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University. He is majoring in Political Science and Economics. 

Click here to contact Olu Rouse.

Ruth Wygle, Doctoral Associate

As Doctoral Associate, Ruth offers research and programmatic support to the OSP team. This includes helping develop new research projects for state government agencies, identify potential research partners, and create OSP communications about research partnership opportunities and other efforts to enhance the use of evidence-based decision making in state government. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Duke University, with qualifications in demography and criminology.

Click here to contact Ruth Wygle.

Click here to view OSP Advisory Group Bios.