Jordan graduate Lilyn Hester stands outside the Durham Google headquarters under the mural created by Durham artist David Wilson for the company’s downtown building.

Jordan High School graduate Lilyn Hester is a Durham legacy whose work at Google as Head of External Affairs and Government Relations and a lobbyist for the company’s Southeast cohort covers a wide range of responsibilities. During her 12-year tenure with Google, her work has involved highlighting Google’s presence in the state; working with several non-profits in the state to showcase Google’s products, services, and grants; and educating legislators about bills that may impact Google’s business. She is also the driving force behind Google’s presence in downtown Durham.

Making a footprint in Durham

Lilyn graduated from Jordan High School in 1989 after her father moved the family from Fort Knox, KY, back to his hometown of Durham in the summer of 1988. Her father is a Hillside High School graduate who played in the famous Marching Hornets band, which was featured in a movie and often invited to perform and compete nationwide. Her brother Jarwin – also a Jordan graduate – had teachers in high school who were graduates of N.C. Central University, so he decided to matriculate to NCCU, as well. He’s a three-time Eagle, having earned a Bachelor of Science In Chemistry, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, and a Master’s degree in Public Administration. 

Lilyn and her brother attended a Department of Defense school at Fort Knox, KY. She said changing schools that far along in her high school career was tough but that she and her brother were embraced as newcomers.

“I think the school made it easier,” she said. “What I liked about Jordan High School was that you had teachers who were available and they listened, and you had a sense of camaraderie between the teachers.” 

At Jordan, teachers had career-inspiring conversations with her and gave insights on ways to reach her goals. Lilyn served on the Belk Teen Fashion Board, feeding her interest in aesthetics.

She remembers being asked to work at the front desk of the school, which allowed her to meet more people during her first – and last – year at the school.

Her father’s friends and acquaintances made the transition easier, she acknowledged. Though she encountered some rough patches–like being bullied– she stood up for herself, and in her words, “it ended.”

Lilyn’s positive perspective helped her overcome the challenges, she said.

Dreamers Who Do

Durham Public Schools is very resource-rich, she added. But how students, staff, and families take advantage of the resources makes the difference, she noted. “If you don't use them, it doesn’t matter. I think the school system did a good job of explaining its resources and how they could help students experience success. But you have to make the first step. You just can't have someone feed it to you. If you’re interested in something, you have to speak up, open your mouth, and ask. And I think that’s something that the Durham school system had.”

Lilyn also acknowledged points of pride as a person of color living here during her formative years. She proudly acknowledges that Durham is home to Black Wall Street and business icons and that its tech incubator resource is part of Black and American history. Google was also an initial supporter of American Underground, a relationship that the two entities continue to share.

No Place Like Home

Lilyn said her family always came back to Durham from wherever they were while her father served the country. She attended vacation bible school at White Rock Baptist Church while staying with her grandmother near the church during the summer. At the church, she said they were greeted by caring Black professionals who motivated their minds.

Lilyn left Durham after graduating from Jordan to attend UNC-Charlotte. She is a political science graduate with a concentration in international relations. She says she loved participating in the Model United Nations while in college.

She started her career as a journalist, worked for global PR firm CapStrat, and landed her executive assignment with Google in 2012.

Bringing Google to Durham has taken more than a decade. For 10 years, she pitched Durham as a perfect site for a greater engineering presence. Durham, she told leadership, boasted diversity, fun, innovation, and a strong history. Thanks to a partnership with Duke University, Google settled in downtown Durham on Morris Street, where Lilyn is based. The mural on the Google building was designed by David Wilson, a Durham artist, because it made sense to feature local art. She worked with representatives from the Durham Arts Council and the Nasher Museum of Art to help with the artist selection process.

Now, thanks to Lilyn’s persistence, several hundred Googlers walk downtown for food and coffee and enjoy the urban environment. “We do make friends along the way,” she said, including a recent “Build with Google” event for middle school students who attend Durham Public Schools. “It's been a good relationship.…This is an awesome city and an awesome school district.”

She notes that many of her fellow Googlers are alumni from many North Carolina schools such as NCCU, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and N.C. State University.

Giving Back

It’s not surprising that since coming to Google, the DPS graduate has created multiple campaigns based on need and fulfilling the objective of working collaboratively with community partners.

Rolling Study Halls was a program she piloted to address the “homework gap” that Lilyn saw as a significant challenge hindering the academic progress of millions of students, especially those from low-income, minority, and rural backgrounds who lack reliable internet access at home to complete their schoolwork. The award-winning program was piloted in Lenoir, NC, home to a Google data center. The program was launched nationally in 2018, expanding its reach to South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee, and Google featured it on the Google Official Blog.

Rolling HotSpots were created to address the widening gap caused by COVID-19 when students worked remotely from home but were without Internet access. The Wi-Fi that was used for Rolling Study Hall buses is now parked in school bus yards. The Wi-Fi now comes to the students via Rolling Hot Spots. The school buses are upgraded to now include mesh network pacts so that buses can be strategically parked in areas to light up a community. In North Carolina, Google upgraded 30 Rolling Study Halls buses. In South Carolina, buses were upgraded and 300 homes with school-aged children were outfitted with broadband. Google also outfitted 30 Douglas County Schools buses in Georgia with wifi. In Tennessee, Austin Peay State University received Wi-Fi packs.

Lilyn’s footprint continues to grow.

She serves as appointed chairwoman of the N.C. Business Committee for Education’s Remote Learning Working Group.Since March 2024, she has worked to move the committee’s mission of providing "innovative broadband connectivity solutions for the more than 190,000 K-12 students who are without Internet access and/or devices” closer to fulfillment. Working with business leaders and educators, the group’s function is to coordinate with local, state and national leaders to address these challenges through pilot programs that will begin launching statewide by May 15, 2025. Special focus will be in five rural school districts and the work includes the following:

• A program where companies provide resources for Rolling Hotspots.

• A strategy to identify five pilot counties, creating three subcommittees to provide a path forward for installations in communities. 

• The state’s first Remote Learning and Education Conference, where more than 1,350 teachers participated. 

Lilyn is proud that Google is referenced in three news releases from the Governor’s office:

School Buses to Serve as Wi-Fi Hot Spots for Remote Learning; NC Rural Educators Get Support for Remote Learning; and Remote Learning Working Group received $40M to scale our work for all 100 NC counties.

Lilyn also represents Google on a variety of additional boards, which strengthens the company’s relationships throughout the state. She was recently appointed to the Durham Technical Community College Board of Trustees and serves on the Board of Visitors for NCCU and UNC-Charlotte. She also holds memberships on the Durham Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee and other boards, including the Triangle Community Foundation, Regional Transportation Alliance and Renaissance Downtown Durham, the 501 (c)(3) organization affiliated with Downtown Durham, Inc. 

Getting What You Give

For Lilyn, life since Jordan has been good, and she credits her parents, teachers, and others who saw her potential. She enjoys her work, and she is able to pursue her interests in a myriad of disciplines like environmental stewardship, innovation, tech, artificial intelligence, and quantum. She also serves as a mentor when the opportunity arises. 

Her ethos is a driving force in her life as she lives and works, as she’s adamant about treating people nicely.

“There’s nothing wrong with being good to one another. It takes more energy to do otherwise,” she asserts.That, she says, is foundational to success.

From there, she offers the following advice:

• Start with what you like. What do you want to do? What do you enjoy? For her, it was writing, people, public relations and public affairs, and art.

• Speak to people who do what you want to do. Pick up the phone. Be outgoing. Networking is key. When you network, also keep in contact. Do not burn bridges. Start with your parents. They know people.

• Pray. Sometimes you have to pray about it. What is your mark that He wants you to have?

• Dream. It never hurts to dream. If you can see yourself in a certain role, then go for it.

Great advice from someone who’s walked her talk.