Newsletter: Spring 2026 Newsletter
Marked by COVID’s Spring 2026 newsletter covers a new permanent COVID memorial in Monterey County, five years of COVID Memorial Day, and HOPE Accounts going live in California. Plus a note from Executive Director Kristin Urquiza on what it means to keep showing up.
The Washington Post: "Four Truths About Covid That Have Become Clouded Over Time"
The Washington Post quotes Marked by COVID Co-Founder Kristin Urquiza in this nationally-read piece examining how the realities of the pandemic are being minimized or rewritten six years later. Urquiza speaks to the ongoing effort to build a permanent national Covid memorial in Washington, D.C. and why remembrance matters as official acknowledgment of the pandemic's toll continues to fade.
Boston University School of Public Health: "Remember Every One" — Memorializing the More Than 1 Million Lives Lost to COVID-19 in the US
Boston University School of Public Health featured an in-depth Q&A with Marked by COVID Co-Founder Christine Keeves (SPH'08) on the organization's Remember Every One campaign, the National COVID Memorial, and the push for a permanent COVID Memorial Day. The piece also highlights the organization's partnership with BU researcher Andrew Stokes and its work on California's HOPE trust accounts for children who lost parents to COVID.
California HOPE for Children Trust Account Program: 2024 Report to the Legislature
The California HOPE Program released its legislatively mandated implementation report, detailing plans to provide trust accounts worth $4,500 to approximately 58,500 foster youth and children who lost caregivers to COVID-19. Marked by COVID Co-Founder Kristin Urquiza served on the HOPE Advisory Workgroup and helped recruit youth for the program's Youth Panel of Experts.
Lessons from the COVID War: An Investigative Report
Marked by COVID co-founder Kristin Urquiza joined 9/11 Commissioner Philip Zelikow and 33 experts to publish the first comprehensive, nonpartisan examination of America's COVID response.
Hidden Pain: Children Who Lost a Parent or Caregiver to COVID-19
A landmark 2021 report co-authored by Marked by COVID documenting the scale of COVID-19 caregiver loss among children — and a comprehensive policy blueprint for mental health support, economic relief, and federal action.
Rep. Stanton Leads House Effort to Establish COVID-19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day
Representative Greg Stanton introduced a House Resolution to designate the first Monday in March as COVID-19 Victims and Survivors Memorial Day, partnering directly with Marked by COVID Co-Founder Kristin Urquiza and advocate Tara Krebbs to build congressional support. By the time of the announcement, more than 100 cities and dozens of states had already joined the effort.
Congressional Testimony: Kristin Urquiza Testifies Before House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Disinformation in the Media
Marked by COVID Co-Founder Kristin Urquiza testified before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on how media disinformation contributed to her father's death and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. The hearing, "Fanning the Flames: Disinformation and Extremism in the Media," examined the role of cable news in spreading COVID-19 misinformation.
Op-Ed: Governor, My Father's Death Is on Your Hands
Marked by COVID Co-Founder Kristin Urquiza published an op-ed in The Washington Post holding Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and President Trump accountable for the preventable COVID death of her father, Mark Anthony Urquiza. The piece helped catalyze a national conversation about leadership failures during the pandemic.