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• Trustees and Committee Members spend a "Day in the Field"

  It is common for foundation staff to conduct site visits to grantees, but for trustees and members of the foundation's grantmaking committees, getting to see programs up close can be difficult due to work and family commitments. To bridge that gap, the foundation annually conducts "day in the field" visits, inviting trustees and committee members to join the staff as they visit grantee programs.

  Last month, our day in the field included visits to Behavioral Health Partners of MetroWest, which provides a single point of entry to a broad range of behavioral health and social services in the region; Health Care Without Walls, which provides preventative nursing care to residents of area family shelters; and Jeff's Place, which provides comprehensive bereavement support services for children and their families.

  The visits not only helped us to see first hand the wonderful array of services and benefits being provided by these organizations, but it also helped to identify some of the difficulties that these agencies face as they seek to grow and sustain their work in the region.  Our thanks to the leadership of these agencies for making time available for our visit, and to our trustees and committee members who joined in us for the day!

• Be Part of the Foundation's Work

  The foundation is looking for a full-time Policy Analyst.

  This individual will support the work of the foundation by reviewing current policy and programmatic research and data in key areas important to the foundation's strategic goal of implementing cross-cutting and integrated approaches focused on building resilient, healthy and equitable communities.

  The Policy Analyst will work with staff and community partners to develop strategies for communicating and disseminating knowledge derived from their research and lessons learned from the foundation's initiatives so as to amplify and advance their impact across the region.

  Want to know more? Check out the employment opportunities  page of our website.

• Congratulations to our 2018 MetroWest Health Leadership Program Graduates

  Difficulty recruiting and retaining staff, budget cuts, federal policy changes that undermine client service, less charitable giving and increased competition for funds -these are just some of the issues that our Class of 2018 confronted in their final class presentations.  But armed with new knowledge and skills gleaned from the six-month MetroWest Health Leadership Program, they made convincing arguments to foundation staff on how they would deal with these and other issues as leaders of nonprofit agencies.

   

  Having aced the final, the class retreated to John Harvard's for a graduation party, complete with diplomas!  Senior Program Officer Rebecca Donham called the class, "an amazing group of professionals that jelled from the very beginning." One graduate said, "The program exceeded my expectations, especially in terms of the quality of the faculty, the depth of the presentations and the applicability to my work."

   

  We salute our new graduates:

   

  Amanda Coughlin, MSW Director, Program Operations Jewish Family Service of MetroWest	Kelly Joseph, MS Program Coordinator Framingham Health Department
  Melicia DaCosta, MS Community Health Worker Supervisor Kennedy Community Health Center	Margaretta Kroeger, Esq Staff Attorney MetroWest Legal Services
  Catherine Delano, MPH Senior Substance Use Prevention Coord. Needham Health Department	Adriane Queiroz, MPH Program Manager Latino Health Insurance Program
  Christine Guthery, JD Founder and Executive Director SPARK Kindness	Hope Rochefort, MPH Productivity Manager Double Gemini
  Jacob Hanson, MEd McKinney-Vento Clinical Care Coord. Framingham Public Schools	Catherine Sugarman, MA Prevention and Outreach Program Mgr. Town of Natick

   

  Interested in joining the class of 2019? Click here to read more about the MetroWest Health Leadership program.    

• MA DPH updates the number of opioid-related overdose deaths by town for 2015

  Earlier this month the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued an updated count of confirmed unintentional/undetermined opioid-related deaths by Massachusetts communities. 

  Click here to obtain the latest numbers for MetroWest communities.

• Gallo named a Keenan Fellow

  

  Program Officer Rebecca Gallo has been named a fellow for Grantmakers in Health's 2016 Terrance Keenan Institute.

  The Terrance Keenan Institute is designed to nurture the next generation of leaders in the field of health philanthropy; build relationships among the fellows; and connect them with established figures in the field. The leadership institute will emphasize leadership development, mentoring, and building collegial connections that can endure throughout the fellows' careers.

  The Institute is a living legacy to the work and writings of philanthropy leader Terrance Keenan.  Keenan (1924-2009) was a vice president at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and had a profound impact on the field of health philanthropy, as well as on generations of individuals who have been inspired by his wisdom and values. 

  Congratulations to Rebecca on this important honor!

• Congratulations to the Class of 2017!

  Our MetroWest Health Leadership Program graduated its 12th class this past June. The Class of 2017 wrapped up their six-month educational experience by making two presentations to the foundation's board of trustees on issues related to the social determinants of health. The first presentation highlighted transportation issues for older adults, and the second focused on food insecurity in the region. 

  
  

  The feedback received in the end of year evaluations underscored the value the leadership program has for participants. Here's a sampling of what we heard:

   

  "I'm so glad I was able to be a part of this."

  "Topics were quite appropriate and high quality instructors.  It was great."

  "The content was broad enough to be relevant to the wide variety of professional settings we work in."

  "Unbelievably helpful, motivating and informative."

  "Loved this program.  Great topics.  Very relevant to the work we do."

  "Awesome!  Loved the speakers."

   

  Our thanks to all of the Class of 2017 and we look forward to seeing you at some of our upcoming alumni events!

   

  Our next leadership class will begin in January of 2018. If you have an interest in participating, email Rebecca Donham at rdonham@mwhealth.org.