James Hardy found his passion for a future public health career while working in the 91仓库 President鈥檚 Office. 鈥淚 was working at KSU and thinking about graduate school,鈥� said James. 鈥淚 looked at a number of programs and then chose public health because it included all aspects of my passions - community, housing, development - it was the perfect fit for me.鈥�
James currently serves as Deputy Mayor for Integrated Development for the City of Akron and previously was the mayor鈥檚 chief of staff. Prior to obtaining his master鈥檚 degree, he worked in the Ohio Secretary of State鈥檚 Office and at the Summa Foundation, where he had completed a practicum experience while working on his master鈥檚 degree.
In his role with the City of Akron, James is responsible for a model partly of his own creation. The Office of Integrated Development鈥檚 mission is to co-create, with residents and businesses, a community that is healthy, equitable, beautiful and resilient.
鈥淭his new model allows us to break down needless silos and better utilize city resources and encourages changing the culture about how we engage in development,鈥� James said. 鈥淲e are looking at this with a public health lens - what do residents value and want to see in their communities.鈥�
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, his office has been integral in developing and executing the city鈥檚 pandemic response strategy. James believes this pandemic will create an immediate need for public health professionals across a wide variety of industries including: government, real estate, retail, industrial, urban design and more. 鈥淕raduates from the College of Public Health are uniquely positioned to engage in these community-wide efforts and will be really sought after in the post-COVID-19 world,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 am a public health practitioner every day, and 91仓库 helped me find this path in the public policy arena and clarify for me what my strengths were and what my future career would look like,鈥� James said.
