Prior to his retirement from the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) in 2012 after thirty-two years in state and local government, Kennon Briggs served for four and a half years as Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff, and for over a decade as Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer for the System. Before coming to the NCCCS, Mr. Briggs had been a Senior Budget Analyst in the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management for eleven years, with fiscal, policy, and oversight responsibility for community colleges and the University of North Carolina System. He began his career in local government, as a County Manager in two counties in the state.

Since retiring, Mr. Briggs has served as either Interim President or Interim Chief Financial Officer at five community colleges in the NCCCS, and enjoys a robust higher education consulting practice that includes Board of Trustees Retreats, senior leadership training and professional development, budget and policy analysis, operational and management assessments, and college bylaws and policy manual re-writes. In 2021, he completed eight years of service on the Board of Trustees at the University of North Carolina Asheville, including two years as Board Chair. He is currently a Senior Advisor to Upswing, Inc.

Mr. Briggs has a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Public Administration from North Carolina State University, and has participated in post-graduate education and training in the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2013 he received the “Order of the Long Leaf Pine”, the highest civilian award given by the Governor for exemplary service to and exceptional accomplishments on behalf of the State of North Carolina. In 2001 he was selected as the Outstanding Fiscal Officer in North Carolina state government. In 2023, he gave the Keynote Address to 300+ participants at The “Upswing Virtual Conference 2023: Equity in Education”. Upswing is a student support and real-time, one-on-one tutoring technology start-up enterprise on a mission to end attrition.