Elected December 2023
Term expires November 2025
 

(919) 968-2714

janderson@
townofchapelhill.org

Instagram: @mayorjessanderson

Term of Service

Town Council Member: 2015–2019; 2019-2023
Mayor Pro Tem: 2017–2019

Jessica Anderson was elected to serve as Chapel Hill’s mayor in November 2023 after serving two terms on the Chapel Hill Town Council. During that time, she served as Mayor Pro Tempore from 2017–2019, chaired the Council Committee on Economic Sustainability from 2021–2023, and represented the Town on the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness board.

Ms. Anderson is a Professor of the Practice at UNC in the Public Policy Department. Previously, she worked as a Senior Policy Analyst at the SERVE Center at UNC Greensboro where she conducted needs assessments for school districts in North Carolina and provided technical assistance to communities around the country working to end youth homelessness.

She holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy (concentration in social policy) from Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and has spent her professional career immersed in education policy at the national and state levels.

Ms. Anderson has volunteered for the Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate Program and the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Mothers Club. Her prior civic engagement experience also includes work in a residential facility for pregnant and parenting teens experiencing homelessness and volunteer work in skilled nursing facilities.

Ms. Anderson lives in the Coker Hills neighborhood in Chapel Hill with her husband, Karthik, daughter, Elena, and son, Nico, as well as their dogs, Dexter and Ollie. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, exercising, and attending local music and cultural events.

Membership

• North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition
• US Conference of Mayors
• Mayors Innovation Project
• Climate Mayors
• Mayors Against Illegal Guns
• UNC/Town Safety Committee
• Orange County Mayors, Managers, & Chair
• NCDOT – Orange County Working Group
• Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro (Advisory Capacity)

Duties

The Town of Chapel Hill has a council-manager form of government. The primary mission of the Mayor and Council, as the governing body of the Town, is to adopt and provide for the execution of ordinances, rules and regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to protect health, life or property, or to promote the comfort, convenience, security, good order, better government, or the general welfare of the Town and its citizens.

The Mayor and eight Council Members constitute the governing body of the Town. In accordance with the Town’s Charter, the voters elect a Mayor every two years. Council Members are elected to four-year, staggered terms on an at-large basis. Town Council duties include:

• Adoption or amendment of policies through changes in the Town Code of Ordinances and the Development Ordinance, and by revision of policies and documents.
• Appointment of the Town Manager and Town Attorney.
• Adoption of the Town’s annual budget
• Appointment of advisory boards, commissions, task forces and committees.
• Establishment of agreements with other governments.

The Town Manager is responsible for carrying out policy decisions of the Mayor and Council and for overseeing the delivery of all Town services.