Since the pandemic first hit North Carolina more than 20 months ago, Dr. Mandy Cohen became a household name across the state. Cohen will be stepping down at the end of the year and passing the baton to Kody Kinsley, one of her chief deputies who has helped lead the coronavirus response.

Kinsley, 36, a Wilmington native and Brevard College alum, will take the helm at DHHS on Jan. 1, the governor announced last week. He will also be the first openly gay cabinet secretary in North Carolina history.

“I am appointing Kody Kinsley because he is the most qualified and experienced person for the job,” Gov. Roy Cooper said at a news conference. “He’s been a part of this team for the past number of years and we’ve seen him in action.”

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Mandy Cohen has led North Carolina DHHS since 2017 and became a household name during the pandemic

  • Cohen's chief deputy Kody Kinsley will take over when she steps down at the end of the year

  • Kinsley has helped lead coronavirus response operations for the department since the start of the pandemic

  • Gov. Roy Cooper said he will appoint Kinsley to the role Jan. 1. He will still need N.C. Senate confirmation

Kinsley is not a doctor. Cohen described him as a key player in the day-to-day operations of the state’s COVID response. His official title now is chief deputy secretary for health and lead for COVID-19 operations. 

“I am so proud of what we’ve been able to do when we rolled out the initial vaccine effort, and we were able to really charge that into high gear, that was his work,” she said. “He really has his hand in the operations, which is what really matters to people. Are we going to get tests? Are we going to get our vaccines? Are the boosters out there?”

Cohen and Cooper said a team of doctors and public health experts have been advising them all along through the pandemic, and that will continue when Kinsley takes over in the new year.

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“This response, yes, is about making sure we can understand the science and data, and we have plenty of public health experts and doctors at the team who continue to support that,” Cohen said.

“But so much of it is about the execution and the operations, and this is where Kody Kinsley really shines,” the outgoing secretary said. “I have leaned on him so much to lead our operations, so I think him stepping into that role is really quite a natural fit. He has been leading so much of our work.”

Kinsley is no stranger to working in government. He received a master’s degree in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley and spent years working in Washington D.C. under the Obama and Trump administrations before coming back to North Carolina for a job with DHHS, according to DHHS and his resume on LinkedIn.

Most of Kinsley’s work in Washington was in the Department of the Treasury. His most recent post was as assistant secretary for management of the U.S. Treasury, a job that required presidential appointment. He left that role in March 2018 to join North Carolina’s DHHS.

Spectrum News 1 reached out for an interview with Kinsley about his new role, but DHHS said he is not available for interviews yet.

While much of Kinsley’s role has been out of public view, he has stepped in to help with the governor’s regular COVID updates when Cohen has been on vacation.

Kinsley takes over as North Carolina and the rest of the country brace for another possible wave of coronavirus cases over the winter. Some public health leaders say this winter could look like the last one, with holiday gatherings fueling a new spike in cases.

There is also a lot of uncertainty as the delta variant continues to sicken people in North Carolina and a new variant, omicron, is on the horizon.

But DHHS is not just about the coronavirus response. The department has an annual budget of $20 billion and has 17,000 employees.

The department has divisions covering almost every aspect of health and social services, including NC Medicaid, Public Health, Mental Health, State Operated Hospitals and Facilities, Economic Services, Adult and Child Services, Early Childhood Education, Employment Services and Health Services Regulation.

With the coronavirus response, a department that has mostly worked in the background on health and social issues has taken center stage for the last 20 months.

The governor wants a seamless transition as the coronavirus fight continues in North Carolina. He said Kinsley will take over as secretary running DHHS on Jan. 1. He will still need to be confirmed by the North Carolina Senate.