FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PBS NORTH CAROLINA’S NCIMPACT RETURNS FOR SEASON 4 IN FEBRUARY

Examine Statewide Issues & Impact Every Friday Night on PBS NC

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, 1/25/2022 — PBS North Carolina and the UNC School of Government announce the premiere of the fourth season of ncIMPACT, hosted by professor Anita Brown-Graham. New episodes of the public affairs program air Fridays, at 7:30 PM, on PBS NC starting February 4. Support for the upcoming season is provided by UNC Health.

In the fourth season, ncIMPACT will explore relevant issues affecting North Carolinians and the innovative ways community leaders address these challenges. Over the course of 13 episodes, ncIMPACT takes viewers to 32 North Carolina counties—from mountains to coast—to feature the shared solutions that communities are working toward together.

In its season four debut on Friday, February 4, at 7:30 PM, ncIMPACT travels to Beaufort, Pitt and Sampson counties to meet with farmers facing a crisis of compounding issues threatening their mental health and that of their families, including the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign trade, operations costs and a changing climate. 

New episodes continue Friday nights through April, covering a wide range of topics such as aging in place in Buncombe and Forsyth counties (March 11), childhood trauma and COVID-19 in Columbus and Lee counties (March 18), the housing boom in Wake County (April 1), the rural response to the opioid crisis in coastal counties (April 8) and resilient agriculture in Chatham and Stanly Counties (April 29). A full list of episode topics and air dates is included below.

Farmer Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (Beaufort, Pitt and Sampson Counties)

Air Date: Friday, February 4, at 7:30 PM

COVID-19 Learning Loss (Alamance and Craven Counties)

Air Date: Friday, February 11, at 7:30 PM

Law Enforcement Shortage (Duplin and Watauga Counties)

Air Date: Friday, February 18, at 7:30 PM

School Safety (Gates and Henderson Counties)

Air Date: Friday, February 25, at 7:30 PM

Maternal Health Disparities (Cumberland, Hoke, Scotland, Richmond, Montgomery and Durham Counties)

Air Date: Friday, March 4, at 7:30 PM

Aging in Place (Buncombe and Forsyth Counties)

Air Date: Friday, March 11, at 7:30 PM

Childhood Trauma and COVID-19 (Columbus and Lee Counties)

Air Date: Friday, March 18, at 7:30 PM

Attracting Big Business (Triangle and Triad regions)

Air Date: Friday, March 25, at 7:30 PM

Housing Boom (Wake County)

Air Date: Friday, April 1, at 7:30 PM

Rural Response to the Opioid Crisis (Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell, Washington, and Wilkes)

Air Date: Friday, April 8, at 7:30 PM

Veterans Closing the Skill Gap (Cumberland and Mecklenburg Counties)

Air Date: Friday, April 15, at 7:30 PM

Working for a Living Wage (Forsyth and Wayne Counties)

Air Date: Friday, April 22, at 7:30 PM

Resilient Agriculture (Chatham and Stanly Counties)

Air Date: Friday, April 29, at 7:30 PM

Full episodes of ncIMPACT will be broadcast Friday nights, at 7:30, on PBS NC, and available each week on demand at video.pbsnc.org and via the PBS Video App across iOS and Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and Samsung Smart TVs. For more information about ncIMPACT, visit pbsnc.org/ncimpact.

About the host

Anita Brown-Graham launched the UNC School of Government’s ncIMPACT initiative in 2017, which was designed to expand the School of Government’s capacity to work with public officials on complex policy issues. Brown-Graham and her colleagues devised programs to support communities working on economic mobility, poverty, the expansion of prekindergarten, extending the labor pool and mitigating opioid misuse. Brown-Graham is a William C. Friday Fellow, American Marshall Fellow and Eisenhower Fellow. In 2021, she was named the Distinguished Eisenhower Fellow of the Year. In 2013, the White House named her a Champion of Change for her work. The Triangle Business Journal has named her a 2014 Woman in Business for her policy leadership in the state, a 2017 CEO of the year for work at the Institute of Emerging Issues at NC State University (2007-2016), and, in 2021, the first-ever Andrea Harris Legacy award for her commitment to small businesses. Brown-Graham serves on the boards of several organizations. She earned an undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Learn more at ncIMPACT.org. 

About the UNC School of Government 

The mission of the UNC School of Government is to improve the lives of North Carolinians by engaging in practical scholarship that helps public officials and citizens understand and improve state and local government. As the largest university-based local government training, advisory and research organization in the United States, the School of Government serves more than 12,000 public officials each year. Established in 1931 as the Institute of Government, the School of Government provides educational, advisory and research services for state and local governments. The School of Government is also home to specialized centers focused on information technology and environmental finance. Learn more at sog.unc.edu. 

About UNC Health

UNC Health is a not-for-profit integrated health care system owned by the state of North Carolina and based in Chapel Hill. Originally established Nov. 1, 1998, by N.C.G.S. 116-37, UNC Health currently comprises UNC Hospitals and its provider network, the clinical programs of the UNC School of Medicine, and fourteen hospitals and eighteen hospital campuses statewide. For more information, visit unchealthcare.org.

About PBS North Carolina  

As North Carolina’s statewide PBS network serving the country’s third-largest public media market, PBS NC educates, informs, entertains and inspires its statewide audience on-air, online and in-person. Through its unique partnership of public investment and private support, the statewide network includes in-person engagement, digital-first social and online content delivery, and four over-the-air channels—PBS NC, the North Carolina Channel, Rootle 24/7 PBS Kids and the Explorer Channel. Its transformational events and content spark curiosity and wonder for all North Carolinians. Additionally, PBS NC serves as the backbone for North Carolina’s state’s emergency services. Visit pbsnc.org and join the conversation at facebook.com/MyPBSNC and @MyPBSNC on Instagram and Twitter.  

-PBS NC- 

Media Contacts: 
Kathleen Kramer, PBS North Carolina Marketing & Communications 
kkramer@pbsnc.org 
919-549-7059