Lifelong Advocate Jaylon Herbin Amplifies His Impact with a Master of Public Administration

Jaylon Herbin has always been an advocate – even before his professional career began.

While attending Winston-Salem University, Jaylon co-founded North Carolina Students Against Wrongful Convictions, a coalition of students from several nearby colleges, including Wake Forest University.

“We all came together to fight for Kalvin Michael Smith, who was wrongfully convicted in the 1990s,” said Jaylon. “My senior year, he was fortunately and finally released from prison. Then, a few years later, he was exonerated.”   

That experience pushed him even further into the public sector, where he’s worked for nearly a decade. After earning a B.S. in political science from Winston-Salem University, Jaylon went on to work as district liaison for Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, who represents the 12th Congressional District of North Carolina. In 2020, he began working for the Center for Responsible Lending, a non-partisan research and policy group working to ensure the nation’s consumer finance system promotes and protects homeownership and family wealth.

In his current role as director of federal campaigns, Jaylon and his team build out and implement advocacy campaigns that focus on ending predatory lending practices within student debt, mortgages, and payday lending.

“What we do is not only about putting a stop to predatory lending within the financial services industry; it’s also about giving communities of color the freedom to pursue the American dream,” said Jaylon.

This work brings him fulfillment, but he has never stopped looking to the future in search of other ways he might be able to serve. In the process, he realized that, to achieve the next step in his career, he needed to go back to school and obtain a graduate degree. 

In the fall of 2024, Jaylon began the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at Wake Forest University School of Professional Studies.   

“I have all this experience already, but when I looked at opportunities for the future, I realized I would need a master’s degree,” explained Jaylon. 

He began pursuing a degree with another university in 2018 but had to hit pause to help  several loved ones navigate health issues. Then, when it came time for him to return to his studies, he decided to finish his MPA at Wake Forest. 

Today, Jaylon is thriving.

“I can say that I’m happy, and I’m learning,” said Jaylon. “I love the flexibility of the program and really enjoy the opportunity to meet up virtually once a week.”  

In his previous graduate school experience, all coursework was conducted online with no virtual face-to-face opportunities. At Wake Forest, he loves being able to ask questions and get input directly from faculty or peers, which allows him to engage more deeply with the material. 

The other part of the Wake Forest SPS program that has worked well for him is the “mini-semester” schedule where students take one class for seven and a half weeks versus taking multiple classes over the course of 15 weeks. 

“That’s been a game changer for me,” said Jaylon. “It’s allowed me to focus on one subject and really learn the material without feeling overwhelmed. It’s also helped me keep a work-life balance intact.” 

These program structures, combined with Jaylon’s dedication and work ethic, allowed him to finish his first semester on a high note. But it wasn’t only Jaylon’s first semester; it was the inaugural semester for the Wake Forest SPS MPA program. 

Developed by practitioners, this new program was born to meet the needs of working professionals like Jaylon – the next generation of public leaders who are ready to make a positive impact on the communities they serve.

The future looks bright for Jaylon, who is on track to complete his degree in May 2026. Beyond that, he has not decided what path to take in his life. Running for office appealed to him at one point, but he’s realized the potential to make an impact outside of that. He would love to take his expertise and knowledge to a civil rights organization or to a historically black college and university (HBCU). 

No matter where Jaylon lands, it all comes down to what he can give back:

“If the work I’m doing can give the community any glimpse of hope and show them that things can be better, that makes it all worth it.”

Expand your understanding of public administration with an online Master of Public Administration degree from Wake Forest University’s School of Professional Studies (SPS). Learn more today.