Brian Etheridge, the president of Leadership North Carolina, each year finds a new crop of 50-some individuals from business, nonprofits, education and government and feeds them a firehouse of information on North Carolina history, government, education, economic development, health and human services and the environment. They learn together, work on projects together and then figure out what to do next with all that information. This week we talked with Brian about growing up in rural North Carolina, the importance of listening, the hardest job he ever had, how leaders translate information into action and how food might be the solution to some of the state’s trickiest political disagreements.

This installment of First in Future is part of a special TV series produced in collaboration with UNC-TV, and recorded in UNC-TV’s Legislative Studio in downtown Raleigh. Taped segments will air on the North Carolina Channel. Visit www.ncchannel.org/schedule/ for specific air dates.