SHEILA DAVIES

Director, Dare County Department of Health and Human Services

Story by Amelia Boldaji / Photo by Lori Douglas

IN THE 20-PLUS YEARS THAT SHEILA DAVIES HAS LIVED AND WORKED ON THE OUTER BANKS, she’s quickly established herself as a pillar of the local community. From her near decade and a half of service in public health roles with the Dare County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to her four consecutive terms as mayor of Kill Devil Hills, Sheila has tirelessly sought to both inform and engage Dare County residents in a variety of ways – all while never losing sight of the things that matter most.

During the last five years of your four-term tenure as mayor of Kill Devil Hills you also served as the director at DHHS – can you talk a little about what it was like to juggle the two? Many people think I just started the DHHS job when I left as mayor, but, yes, I actually did both for five years [from 2014 to 2019]. It was manageable, but it did pull me away from my family a bit. Thankfully, they were incredibly supportive! Elected officials are tasked with policy and budget decisions, so by staying in ‘my lane’ of responsibility, it was possible to juggle both roles – especially with Kill Devil Hills’ exceptional town manager, Debbie Diaz, overseeing the town’s day-to-day operations. And fortunately, there wasn’t a pandemic while I was serving as mayor [and director of DHHS] – it wouldn’t have been possible to do both over the past year and a half. And in addition to being the director of DHHS since 2014, you’re also a current adjunct professor with the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill? Yes, as part of UNC’s master’s program in public health, I most frequently teach a graduate-level introduction to public health virtually, one night a week. The students do a lot of online lectures and other readings, and I facilitate their live weekly sessions and grade their work – things like that. It might sound really geeky, but I mainly do it for fun. [Laughs] The university really wanted people with public health field experience, and it’s a neat perspective because I can learn as much from the students as they can learn from me. Plus, the course content is great because it’s what I do every day. That sounds like a lot! How to you get it all done? It is a lot! [Laughs] Again, it’s manageable because I work with really good people on a daily basis, like Chuck Lycett, who’s the director of social services. We’re always trying to help people grow from within [at DHHS], so it’s a structure that works even as the days have gotten longer with Covid. And my number one enjoyment in life is my husband, Daryl, and our two boys, Wyatt and Chase – there’s no way I could manage everything I do without their strong family support.

What do you like most about public service? The great thing about public health is that you get to help a lot of people, and it’s exciting because no day is ever the same. I truly enjoy that variety, and helping where I can – as do all the people I work with, because that spirit of wanting to help others is often what draws people to public service. When you look at things like our local Covid response, everyone has been so responsive and engaged with community partnerships, and we’re really blessed because Dare County is known for that – we all just care about our community, and want it to be the safest, healthiest place it can be.