Circles of Influence – Government Hub

Mention the word “influencer,” and many people will think of someone who promotes a product, a style, or even their personal brand on social media. But that’s not what, PENNY SPICER-SIDBURY, ROZ WILLIAMS, and SHANNON WINSLOW are all about. Within their separate arenas, these three women strive to educate, inform, and connect area residents.

• Community Connector: To read more about Roz Williams and What’s Up Wilmington, click here.
• Change Agent: Click here to learn about Shannon Winslow, the vice-chair of the New Hanover Community Endowment.
• Government Hub: Read more about Penny Spicer-Sidbury below.

Ask PENNY SPICER-SIDBURY a question about Wilmington city government; in the unlikely event that she doesn’t know the answer, she’ll find out for you.

Spicer-Sidbury has worked in city hall for forty-one years – five as the executive assistant for the mayor and city council, five in the planning department, and the past thirty-one years as the city clerk.

“I’m a public servant, and I love giving back to the community,” she says, adding that people sometimes refer to her as the hub of city government. “I don’t perceive myself as an influencer, but I know a lot of folks and I’m very resourceful, so I can point people in the right direction.”

Spicer-Sidbury says she’s at an advantage: Born and raised in Wilmington (and a proud graduate of Hoggard High School), she knows the community and understands the workings of city government. As a city employee, she became involved with the North Carolina Azalea Festival, for which she has volunteered for more than twenty years. In 2006, she became the festival’s first Black president.

“I was still a worker bee,” she said with a laugh. “But I had great volunteers and had some major sponsors that stepped up. I was totally excited to do it.”

But Spicer-Sidbury’s community involvement doesn’t stop with azaleas.

“I’ve been involved as a volunteer with the Martin Luther King Jr. parade since the beginning of time when it was on Castle Street,” she says. “When I became city clerk, they started putting me in the parade, but I still had to work on it.”

Spicer-Sidbury serves in other ways as well. She coaches cheerleading at Williston Middle School. She’s active in her church and volunteers at several schools. A past president of the YWCA Lower Cape Fear board, she continues to work with the organization’s grandparents program. She’s part of the Wilmington chapter of Jack and Jill of America, a leadership and service organization. The group has helped build a Habitat for Humanity home.

With support from her “wonderful husband and two beautiful daughters,” Spicer-Sidbury strives to impart her belief in community service to young people.

“The Week of Reading, I read to smaller kids. I maybe talk to them about leadership. I show youth what it’s like to work at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard or the soup kitchen. It’s giving back.

“I’m steadily learning. I can always do more,” she says. “As long as I can help somebody and make a difference, that’s what I will continue to do.”

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

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