Since the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Durham county back in March, the Durham city and county governments have had the tall task to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus while also responding to the struggles of local residents.

Sanford alumni Ryan Smith and Mariel Beasley and current MPP candidate Mary Grace Stoneking join Dean Judith Kelley to talk about the local response to the pandemic. All three of our guests worked on the Durham Recovery & Renewal Task Force in order to consult the mayor and the county commissioner on local policy decisions that affected the lives of all Durham residents.

Ryan Smith is an Innovation Project Manager for the City of Durham. Ryan was tapped to head the Recovery and Renewal Task Force. He graduated with his Master of Public Policy from the Sanford School of Public Policy in 2014.

Mariel Beasley is Principal at the Center for Advanced Hindsight and the Co-Director at the Duke CommonCents Lab. She joined Ryan to work on the "Back on the Bull" campaign which worked to normalize the act of wearing face masks in Durham. Mariel also graduated from Sanford with her Master of Public Policy in 2013.

Mary Grace Stoneking is a second year Master of Public Policy candidate at Sanford. She interned with the Durham City Manager's office and helped Ryan manage the student researchers working on the task force.

Read more about the Recovery and Renewal Task Force.