Kay Hagan knows that you do not make a difference standing on the sideline. Before her decade of service in the North Carolina Senate, Kay was an active member of the Junior League, first in Lakeland, Florida in 1979, then transferred to the Junior League of Greensboro (JLG), North Carolina where she is currently a Sustainer. As a Junior League member she served on the Executive Committee and held numerous positions such as Placement Advisor (1981), Community Research Chair (1982), Nominating Chair (1984), Advisory Planning Chair (1985), Daycare Endowment 1988), Follies Backers Chair (1989), Volunteer Tax Assistant (VITA) (1990), Finance Committee (1991) and Coliseum Grand Reopening Chair (1993).
And she thanks her experience with the Junior League for teaching her the skills necessary to hold such position. Kay goes to work every day focused solely on what is best for North Carolina – building on what works, eliminating what doesn’t. She has earned a reputation as a no-nonsense legislator who knows good ideas do not come with a party label.
While in the state Senate, she has proven to be an effective leader who is not afraid to do the hard work to bridge partisan divides and always put people before politics. Senator Hagan was named one of North Carolina’s “Ten Most Effective Senators” three terms in a row by the non-partisan North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, Governor Mike Easley calls Kay “one of the smartest, hardest working, most effective senators we have in Raleigh.”
Born in Shelby, Kay met her husband Chip in law school at Wake Forest, after receiving her Bachelors Degree from Florida State University. After her third child was born, Kay left her banking job at NCNB, where she had worked in the estate and trust division and helped people plan for their loved ones’ long term security and care, to focus on being a full-time mom. Like many mothers across North Carolina, she stayed active in the community, raising money for local causes, helping out at the Bell House and the Moses Cone Hospital, volunteering with the Junior League, teaching Sunday school classes and leading a Girl Scout troop