The gift provides immediate support for three key programs, including the nationally recognized Master of Public Administration (MPA) program. (School of Government)
The Bill and Peggy Britt Foundation made a $5 million gift to the UNC School of Government to help students, recent graduates and emerging professionals discover, prepare for and pursue meaningful careers in public service.
The Britt Foundation gift advances the first of three School of Government priorities: growing the public service workforce. Communities across North Carolina face a growing need for talented, well-prepared professionals ready to serve in state and local government, nonprofit organizations and other public institutions.
The gift established the Bill and Peggy Britt Legacy Endowment for Service and Public Leadership. It also provides immediate support for three key programs: the new law, government and public service undergraduate minor; Lead for North Carolina, which places recent graduates in fellowships with local governments; and the nationally recognized Master of Public Administration (MPA) program.
“This extraordinary gift will help Carolina students become leaders serving communities across North Carolina,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “Bill and Peggy Britt understood how much strong leadership matters to our state. We’re grateful that their legacy will help prepare generations of Carolina students to carry that work forward.”
In keeping with Bill Britt’s life and service, the endowment will also create opportunities for veterans and military-affiliated individuals, people with demonstrated financial need and others for whom additional support could open a door to public service.
“The Britt Foundation has given the School the ability to do something truly transformative: build an enduring pipeline of talented people who are prepared, supported and inspired to choose public service,” said School of Government Dean Aimee N. Wall. “This generous gift honors Bill and Peggy’s remarkable lives while helping North Carolina communities secure the leadership they will need far into the future.”
Lead for North Carolina – one of the programs supported by this gift – places talented recent graduates in fellowships with local governments, where they gain hands-on experience while helping communities address pressing needs. The program's team, including Dylan Russell, faculty co-lead, trains and supports fellows as they tackle community problems and cultivate their leadership skills. (School of Government)
A story and legacy that will launch generations of public servants
The story behind the gift begins with Billy “Bill” Bernard Britt and his wife Peggy Garner Britt, both North Carolina natives. Bill was a veteran, public servant and entrepreneur whose life reflected a deep commitment to leadership, service and the development of others; Peggy, the first in her family to go to college, was widely recognized throughout her life for her ability to inspire and motivate others and her commitment to philanthropy.
Bill, who died in 2013, often reflected on the importance of his experiences in public service and at Carolina. Before her death in 2024, Peggy made certain that the trustees of the Bill and Peggy Britt Foundation understood what those experiences had meant to him, and how deeply he valued the Institute.
That expression of gratitude ultimately led the Foundation back to UNC-Chapel Hill and to an opportunity to extend the Britts' shared legacy to future generations.
A gift at a defining moment
This year, the MPA program celebrates its 60th anniversary, and the fall of 2027 will mark the 30th year the program has been with School of Government.
Nearly a century after the Institute of Government began serving North Carolina, the Bill and Peggy Britt Legacy Endowment will help ensure that future generations have opportunities to discover public service, prepare for it, and build lives and careers around it.