GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT) — Mitchell Whitley is the Founder of Mitchell’s Mayors, a project in which he is seeking to meet every mayor in the state of North Carolina.

Whitley now calls Raleigh home but was born and raised in Greensboro. With North Carolina being his home state, he wanted to make a difference decided what better way to learn about the state than through its mayors.

“Especially in the realm of workforce development and educational policy. So really honing in on those said problems, as well as just other problems in general, are important to me to want to help make North Carolina a better place,” said Whitley.

He said he is especially interested in learning about the smaller and more rural communities.

Mitchell Whitley with Kill Devil Hills Mayor Ben Sproul (Contributed photo)

“I’ve had many towns that say, you know, ‘Why would you want to come here? I mean, we have like, you know, 200 people that live here in this town, you know, what is this? Is this a scam or something?’ I said, ‘No, no,’ it’s because I just love each community, and there’s so much to offer in our state and there are so many things to learn.”

Whitley added that he just wants those people to know that there is someone on their side that wants to make a difference for them.

“I’ve been trying to put together different sort of reports in a sense for each county and the communities I’ve gone to, then send them to different officials, like the state senators of the state House members, or the federal House members, or federal senators,” said Whitley.

Mitchell Whitley with Belhaven Mayor Ricky Credle (Contributed photo)

Whitley recently visited New Bern to meet their Mayor, Dana Outlaw, who said he was honored to meet Whitley and believes this is an important project.

“Mayors really have a pulse because they typically have different governing boards that come from, from allowed backgrounds and everybody on that board. Their concerns are just deeply important to the city,” said Outlaw.

Outlaw added that in eight years of being a mayor, he has never seen anyone do something like this.

Whitley has met 61 mayors so far on the weekends when he is not working. You can donate to his efforts on his GoFundMe page here. You can also follow him on Instagram and Twitter.