In August 2005, Gov. Mike Easley signed into law the North Carolina State Lottery Act (H. 1023) and the 2005 Appropriations Act (S. 622) which enacted the North Carolina Education Lottery.

The act created the 9-member North Carolina Education Lottery (NCEL) Commission to initiate, supervise, and administer the education lottery. The Commission was appointed in September 2005, with Dr. Charles Sanders of Durham as its first chair and its initial meeting was held on October 6, 2005. On November 17, 2005, the Commission appointed Thomas N. Shaheen as Executive Director. Shaheen started work on December 5, 2005. Shaheen will hire other staff and will be responsible for the administrative management and daily operations of the Commission.

On March 30, 2006, the NCEL sold its first instant scratch-off tickets.  On May 30, 2006, the NCEL began selling Powerball tickets and in October, 2006 the NCEL added its in-state online games introducing Carolina Pick 3 and Carolina Cash 5.

100 percent of the net proceeds of the NCEL will go to education expenses, including reduced class size, reduction in early grades, academic pre-kindergarten programs, school construction and college scholarships.


Games Offered: Instant, 3-Digit, 4 Digit, 5-Digit, Powerball, Mega Millions

Year Established: 2006

Beneficiaries: Education

Key Personnel:

Deb Doty, Deputy Executive Director MIS & Gaming

Alice Garland, Deputy Executive Director Legislative & Corporate Communications

Sam Hammett, Deputy Executive Director Sales

Bill Jourdain, Deputy Executive Director Finance & Administration

Lou Ann Russell, Deputy Executive Director Marketing & Advertising

Margaret Bode, Senior Director Human Resources

Quan Kirk, Senior Director Legal

Von Denton, Director Communications

Nikki Howard, Director Internal Audit