Aug. 8. Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio will retire effective July 1, 2025. A groundbreaker when she was hired as Mecklenburg County’s first female County Manager in 2013, she started in 2007 as CFO, steering the county through the economic crisis of 2008.

She helped maintain the much-coveted AAA bond rating, which was transformational for the county’s financial landscape.

Career highlights

Diorio

—Creating the MECK PreK program that has given thousands of four-year-olds the opportunity for a high-quality preschool education. The opening of two Community Resource Centers to streamline and consolidate the delivery of critical human services, and to bring them closer to where residents live and work.

—She launched a County effort to understand the impact of corporate-owned housing and built a County initiative to find, create, and sustain affordable housing units. She was instrumental in creating a partnership with a Community Land Trust to rehabilitate and protect 32 houses and to keep them affordable in perpetuity.

—She spearheaded the County’s commitment to the environment by prioritizing sustainable initiatives in County-owned buildings, its vehicular fleet, and the protection and growth of green spaces.

—Diorio was a key member of North Carolina’s government leaders to ensure Mecklenburg County’s receipt of National Opioid Settlement funds for 18 years. She improved and expanded access to healthcare and increased pathways for workforce development across the County.

Quotable

“I have been steadfast in facing challenges while ensuring fiscal responsibility and security. My goal was to leave Mecklenburg County a better place than when I arrived, and I believe I have accomplished that. When I became County Manager, a national study showed that we were 50 out of 50 in economic mobility. We are now 38 out of 50, I know the County made great efforts to do our part in moving that needle in the right direction,” she said.

Diorio also made national headlines in 2017 by refusing to pay a ransom demand after a cybercriminal hacked the County’s network and shut down multiple County services for several weeks. The Board of Commissioners will appoint a search committee to find Diorio’s replacement.