Every day County Executive Ryan McMahon gives updates on COVID-19 at the OnCenter. In the seats looking on is Ann Rooney, who is the subject of our final Women’s History Month feature.

At the end of his presser on Tuesday, McMahon gave Rooney a well-deserved shout out.

“She happens to be my Deputy County Executive Ann Rooney, who’s one of the frontline generals for our fight against COVID-19,” McMahon said. “So the good news is that the county has Ann Rooney on that line fighting COVID-19."

As the Deputy County Executive for human services in the county, she’s in charge of a handful of departments, including health, emergency management, and children and family services, just to name a few. Rooney has been heavily involved in Onondaga's fight against COVID-19.

“With this effort with COVID-19, we really are working as a team,” said Rooney. “I think we’re just trying to be the best we can be for the public and serve them the way they deserve to be served.”

The team theme is a focus for the Syracuse native, and has been since she was a young girl. At 12-years-old, she was one of the first females to join a little league baseball team, and she was so good, she was named an All-Star.

“It gave me a lot of confidence not only in my ability but in the belief that things can be different,” Rooney said. “For me there wasn’t a team I didn’t want to be on and that went through high school through college, and really like this career that I’ve embarked on.”

After graduating from SU with a master’s degree in public administration, Rooney made her way to D.C.

“I worked for the defense department and I worked on Capitol Hill,” Rooney said. “I thought maybe I would stay but Syracuse tugged me back home and I really have found my place in local government because you really can see the impact of your work.”

I asked Rooney why she chose the field of working with the community, and it’s no surprise the sports lover responded with a sports reference.

“My dad always told us, ‘You were born on third base, let’s think about those who have a lot less than what you started with,’ and I try to a spouse that,” said Rooney.

That’s a message we can all get behind especially right now.