Jessica N. Holmes was born and raised in Pender County. She received her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, where she has earned distinction as a Distinguished Young Alumni and Outstanding Recent Graduate respectively. She is licensed to practice law in North Carolina and New York.
In November 2014, Jessica became the youngest Commissioner ever elected in Wake County’s history and helped to oversee a $1.1 billion dollar budget. Subsequently, she became the youngest person to ever wield the gavel as Chair after being unanimously elected by her colleagues to lead the board for two terms.
She has spent the majority of her legal career focusing on labor and employment law and workers’ rights and has served as an adjunct professor at the NC State University Department of Social Work in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
In August 2021, she was appointed to serve as a Deputy Commissioner in the North Carolina Industrial Commission where she fairly administered the Workers’ Compensation Act and Tort Claims Act for the State of North Carolina.
She has served on the Board of Directors of the NC Foundation for Public School Children, Lillian’s List Foundation, Wake County Smart Start, Helping Hand, Inc., and the NC Association of County Commissioners. She has earned distinctions including being among the Triangle Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and an Outstanding Leadership Award from the Raleigh-Apex Branch of the NAACP.
Most recently, Jessica was sworn in as North Carolina’s State Auditor on December 16, 2023, becoming the first woman of color to ever serve on North Carolina’s Council of State.
