At the time of her selection to succeed Thomas W. Ross at the foundation, Winner was general counsel and vice president for the University of North Carolina system.
Interested in securing voting rights for African Americans, Winner represented the respondent Gingles in Thornburg v. Gingles (1986), a Supreme Court case in which the court unanimously ruled that the state of North Carolina illegally weakened the voting power of African-Americans in Mecklenburg and five other legislative districts.
In February 2013, Winner said that she was "surprised and disappointed" by a politically charged memo distributed by Blueprint North Carolina, a Reynolds Foundation grantee and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.[3]"(Z.
Smith Reynolds) believes in robust debate on issues of public importance, (it) does not support attacking people," Winner said.
She served six years (three terms) in the North Carolina Senate, representing part of Mecklenburg County as a Democrat.