Architect. Coach. Innovator.
In his first run for public office, he was elected lieutenant governor of North Carolina in 2012 and became only the second Republican elected to the office since 1897. As lieutenant governor, Forest presides over the North Carolina Senate as President of the Senate. He is a voting member of the North Carolina Council of State, the North Carolina State Board of Education and the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges. He is the chairman of the Governor’s eLearning Commission and a member of the State Board of Education’s Special Committee on Digital Learning. His passion is innovation through education, and he supports mastery based learning. Forest has helped create the North Carolina Education Endowment Fund to increase teacher compensation.
Forest lives in Raleigh with his wife, Alice, and his four children, who were or are currently being homeschooled. His interests include architecture, golf, innovations, politics, spending time with his family, and coaching youth football, baseball and basketball teams.
Editor’s Note: EdNC will be posting leadership profiles on the policymakers influencing education in North Carolina. Recently, I met with a member of our General Assembly. He noted that upon becoming a legislator people started treating him like an object. I come from a family that values public service, period. You know our policymakers as politicians. I hope our profiles help you know them better as people. EdNC wants you to be comfortable walking into the legislature, interacting with the legislators, and participating in state government – it is your government after all.