Brenda Howerton

Biography

Occupation

Durham Congregations, Association & Neighborhoods (former organizer)

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - Durham Chapter (former political chair)

Parents of Murdered Children (co-founder)

Million Mom March (local chapter, chair of victim's assistance) 

Durham Human Relations Commission 

Contact Info

Email: brendahowerton10@yahoo.com

Education

Military

Issues

How will you measure success in your first year in office?

The first year would be a lot of learning about what's really going on and making sure I'm connected in the right areas and being able to bring people to the table.

I believe we have an awful lot of resources. The county has done a great job pulling people to the table.

What I see is that one of my strengths is that I bring people to the table and I'm a consensus builder. I'd like to get people to look at the resources we have and what's missing.

As we look at our young people, there are a lot of things being done. What's the piece that's not there?

Tell us about something you did for someone else.

In my career as a coach and facilitator, so much of my work has been around supporting people to be able to step into their own leadership.

I've been doing this for 10 years. I'm able to listen to people and see what it is that they're really committed to. Then I'm able to work with them to come up with a strategy to make it happen.

An example is a person who wants to move up in their organization. As a coach, I listen to what it is that they're committed to do. Then we look at what it is that's stopping them. We come up with a strategy to move forward.

I enjoy it because t's not about me, it's about other people taking on their own lives and being successful. I get a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to see someone really excited and fulfilled in their lives. I've done that as a parent, and it works.

What is the biggest challenge facing North Carolina? Your county? Your district?

I think the challenge that is on all of our minds is what's happening with youth and crime, and how we deal with that.

I know the commissioners and sheriff's office and city recently had a meeting to come up with ways to circumvent what's happening with that.

We need not to just incarcerate our youth, but to provide job training so that when they come out they can become viable members of our community, so they're not just coming out and going back in.

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