Speaker's Profile

Kody Kinsley serves as North Carolina’s Secretary of Health & Human Services, overseeing a department with over 18,000 staff and a $38 billion budget. With experience centered on health policy and operations, Kinsley worked on digital healthcare transformation, national education and labor policies, and served as COO and CFO of the U.S. Treasury. Secretary Kinsley’s three priorities for the department are: Investing in behavioral health and resilience, improving child and family well-being, and building a strong and inclusive workforce.Guided by his leadership, North Carolina expanded Medicaid, reaching record enrollment rates: over 500,000 individuals in just 7 months. He also secured nearly $1 billion to bolster major policy changes and overhaul the state's behavioral health system. To further invest in the health and well-being of North Carolinians, he spearheaded a first-in-the-nation effort that will relieve $4 billion in medical debt for 2 million North Carolinians, without any financial burden on state taxpayers.Kinsley grew up in Wilmington, earning his bachelor’s degree from Brevard College and his master’s in public policy from the University of California at Berkeley.