Progress North Carolina

Progress NC is a voice for North Carolinians seeking to protect the qualities that made our state great: a strong educational system, business competitiveness, forward-thinking government, thriving democracy, protection of natural resources and rich cultural traditions.
 

We are proud of our legacy as a southern state capable of adapting to change and embracing new opportunities. We are also determined to retain our national status as a great place to work, live and raise a family. To that end, Progress NC raises the visibility of issues that affect the quality of life in our state. We monitor the statewide political landscape on your behalf, identifying extreme legislative actions and other policy changes that could affect your life. We tell you about them quickly and let you know what you can do about them.

Mission Statement

Progress North Carolina promotes public policies which make NC a fairer, healthier, more equitable state by advocating solutions to critical community problems.

Progress NC Staff

Gerrick Brenner, Executive Director
 

Prior to joining Progress NC as its Executive Director, Gerrick spent 14-years as an on-air television news reporter at TV stations in Oregon, Montana, Texas, California and North Carolina. He worked eight years with ABC/Disney, including the last five with WTVD in Raleigh/Durham. While at WTVD, Gerrick covered State Board of Elections hearings of House Speaker Jim Black and Gov. Mike Easley as well as the federal trials of Lottery Commissioner Kevin Geddings and CIA contractor David Passaro. His investigative reporting has probed cities tossing recycled waste in with regular garbage as well as cities spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on bottled water while assuring utility rate-payers that their tap water was fine to drink. With KFSN-TV in Fresno, California, Gerrick broke stories on slum lords, illegally-written parking tickets and how the illegal fireworks endangering Fresno residents on the 4th of July were coming in from a nearby county whose sheriff made customers sign paperwork promising to explode their pyrotechnics in locations outside of his county once purchased.

Before working in broadcast journalism, Gerrick graduated with "distinction" from the prestigious (yet now defunct) Brinkman-Froemming Baseball Umpire School in Cocoa, Florida. Among the many pearls of wisdom learned at ump school: "When in doubt, call 'em out." Gerrick spent one season umpiring in Florida's Gulf Coast League.

He was born in Boston and raised in Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of California, at Berkeley with a BA in History. Gerrick and his wife Leonor live in Durham. They have a three-year-old son, Nicolas, and a one-year-old daughter, Natalia. Contact him at gerrickbrenner@progressnc.org.

Justin Guillory, Research & Communications Director
 

For years, Justin Guillory has been observing politics in the Tar Heel State from the inside. Most recently, Justin worked in the Public Affairs Office at the NC Department of Commerce.  Before that he was New Media Director for Gov. Bev Perdue in her press office and gubernatorial campaign.  Justin has also worked with Public Policy Polling and Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker.  

A UNC-Chapel Hill graduate and Raleigh native, Justin and his wife, Jackie, just had their first baby boy, Jackson.  Besides being a political junkie, Justin is a huge sports fan, enjoys cooking, history, movies and playing with his dog, Franklin. Contact him at justinguillory@progressnc.org.

Katy Munger, New Media Director
 

Katy was raised in Raleigh, attended Needham B. Broughton High School and is a graduate of the writing program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a lifelong communications specialist with extensive experience in financial services, environmental resources and nonprofit communications. She has been involved in statewide politics since 2004, as an issues advocate and as a campaign manager and volunteer coordinator.

Prior to joining Progress North Carolina, she served as Communications Director for Democracy North Carolina. She is the mother of a 14-year old daughter, Suzette. She is also a crime fiction author, with 14 novels published to date. Contact her at katymunger@progressnc.org.

You can contact all Progress North Carolina staff members at (919) 855-2401.