Lisa Davis
Blue Shield of California Foundation
Lisa Davis, Senior Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Blue Shield of California, has been appointed to the Blue Shield of California Foundation board of trustees. As part of the nine-person board, she will help the foundation continue to fulfill its mission and vision. Ms. Davis replaced board member Michael Mathias, an Executive Vice President at Blue Shield of California, whose term ended.
Ms. Davis is a proven IT leader with 30 years of experience in technology. Her innovative and forward-thinking leadership contributes to Blue Shield of California’s bold mission to build a health care system worthy of friends and family. With her far-reaching experience and passion for building strong, collaborative partnerships, Ms. Davis has leveraged Blue Shield of California’s existing state-of-the-art technology foundation to improve the member, provider, and employee experience. Ms. Davis has served on several boards, including the Board of Directors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the IT Advisory Board for National Academy Foundation.
A creative strategist and connected leader who is an influencer in the media and on social media, Ms. Davis is a highly sought after thought leader and keynote speaker. Throughout her career, she has been a champion for women in technology and leadership and she has channeled that passion into leading professional development initiatives for women. She has received numerous awards in recognition of her contributions to the technology field, including the CIO 100 Award from CIO Magazine, Top 100 Social CIO Award, and the Digital Edge 25 Award for innovative use of technology to deliver business value.
Contact: Lauren Musiol at 336.692.4238 or LMusiol@TheReisGroup.com.
Sarah Grymes
Dogwood Health Trust
Dogwood Health Trust welcomed Sarah Grymes, an experienced housing development expert with a strong financial background, to its Impact Team. Ms. Grymes will join the foundation, serving as Vice President of Impact for Housing.
In this role, Ms. Grymes will oversee Dogwood’s work with area partners to help increase the number of affordable housing units, help residents stay in existing homes safely and help reduce homelessness. She will also work to address the numerous and complex contributing issues that cross all of Dogwood’s strategic priorities.
Ms. Grymes most recently served as the Executive Director of the Housing Assistance Corporation in Hendersonville, North Carolina where her work included overseeing more than $25 million in real estate assets, seeking out and securing land and financing for single and multi-family development, and expanding the agency to become a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development certified housing counseling agency.
Prior to her role with the Housing Assistance Corporation, Ms. Grymes was the Director of Resource Development for the United Way of Henderson County. She is also an experienced bank executive serving with Mountain Bank, Mountain 1st Bank and Trust, and Bank of North Carolina. Ms. Grymes is an active member in the community serving on numerous boards and committees including the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce, the AdventHealth Foundation Board and the Blue Ridge Humane Society.
Contact: Erica Allison at 828.329.5089 or erica@formationpr.com.
David Gilmore
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation announced the promotion of David Gilmore to the role of Deputy Chief Investment Officer. Since joining the foundation in 2014, Mr. Gilmore has served as Managing Director of Investments. He supports Chief Investment Officer Jonathan Hook, who will continue to serve in that role and who also joined the foundation in 2014.
In his new role, Mr. Gilmore will also assume additional team leadership responsibilities while maintaining focus on investment manager diversity and due diligence, asset allocation, and risk management. He continues to serve on the senior leadership team in support of the president and board.
Prior to joining the foundation, Mr. Gilmore helped start The Ohio State University investment office in 2009 and served in several senior roles. The investment office was responsible for the investment management of the University’s $3.4 billion long-term investment pool. He was previously a partner at Gerber Taylor Capital Advisors, an independent investment advisory firm. In 2017, Mr. Gilmore was a member of the Baltimore LEADERship class.
Contact: 410.654.8500.
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan (Wellesley and Watertown, MA)
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan announced their organizations have formally combined, effective January 1, 2021, having received all regulatory approvals. The newly combined nonprofit organization will become one of the region’s largest health services organizations, providing high-quality health coverage in every segment of the market. It will build simpler, smarter, and more seamless experiences, while investing in programs that continually enhance quality and guide members and communities with deep empathy.
Over time, more than $100 million in savings is anticipated through administrative synergies which will go directly to mitigating premium increases and member out-of-pocket burden.
The new organization’s commitments to its stakeholders are paramount:
- Access for all—Diverse communities have diverse needs. The organization will build quality solutions that work regardless of a person’s age, health, race, identity, or income.
- Pace setting innovation—Looking beyond the status quo to bring together wide-ranging partners and perspectives for ideas that solve health care’s challenges.
- Better experiences— Improving experiences by making them simpler, smarter, and more seamless than the day before.
- Health navigation—Guiding members and communities with deep empathy to find their best version of health and wellness. With behavioral health an integral part of overall health, prioritizing the integration of medical and behavioral health management is a top priority for the new organization.
Living up to these commitments, an immediate area of focus for the new organization is the COVID-19 pandemic. With the pandemic continuing to have a devastating impact on communities, an initial investment of $1 million will be made to support education, awareness and outreach related to the vaccine, especially in Black and Brown communities, where the virus has had a disproportionate and tragic impact. This investment is in addition to the over $10 million already committed by both organizations, as well as the Tufts Health Plan Foundation and The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, to advance pandemic recovery and racial justice. The combined organization, its foundations and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute will collaborate on this pandemic response to achieve the greatest community impact, building upon critical initiatives already in place. The new organization is developing its long-term strategy and investment plans related to health equity, behavioral health, complex care management, and telehealth.
Philanthropy and corporate citizenship will remain a cornerstone of the newly combined organization. In 2020 alone, the Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Foundations committed more than $17 million to support pandemic relief, advance racial justice and through regular giving programs. Over time, the two foundations will come together as one, continuing to make important investments in the five states where we have the privilege to serve members.
While Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care are officially one organization, both heritage brands and products will remain in the market for a period of time, and the benefits, programs and services its members rely on will not change in 2021 as a result of the combination. The new organization’s headquarters will be located in Canton, MA; move in is slated to begin in Q4 of this year. The new organization also anticipates announcing its new name in the second quarter of 2021.
Curtis Holloman, MA, MBA, Dr. Harry R. Culp, and Lydia Lyon
Foundation for a Healthy High Point
The Foundation for a Healthy High Point hired Curtis Holloman, MA, MBA, a North Carolina native with a long history of fighting health care inequities and investing in communities, to serve as Executive Director.
In this role, Mr. Holloman will build on the foundation’s solid infrastructure and early successes. In the seven years since its inception, the foundation has launched multiple key initiatives to improve the long-term health of those who call High Point, Jamestown, Trinity, and Archdale, North Carolina home, including Healthy Beginnings, a grantmaking program focused on teen pregnancy prevention and early childhood development. Mr. Holloman will expand and deepen the foundation’s impact by developing and investing in additional forward-thinking, community-based solutions that address sickness from the source.
Spearheading systemic change has been a hallmark of Mr. Holloman’s career. As Deputy Director at Penn State College of Medicine’s Office of Rural Health Policy, Mr. Holloman was part of the National Program Office team that administered the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Southern Rural Access Program, which improved healthcare access in eight underserved southern states. Following that, he served as Deputy Director of another RWJF program office based out of the Health Research and Educational Trust at the New Jersey Hospital Association where he worked alongside local nonprofits and funders. He was a part of the team that collaborated with 1,500 funding partners and awarded 369 grants to community-based initiatives.
Most recently, as Senior Advisor and Director of Grants and Programs of the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg, Mr. Holloman led projects that resulted in commitments of $17 million in grants to 108 community projects over three years. Forging new partnerships and strengthening community engagement across Greater High Point will be Mr. Holloman’s top priorities as he steers the foundation toward the future.
To engage the community, Mr. Holloman plans to hit the ground running, conducting data assessments, surveying stakeholders and nonprofits, and holding virtual meetings to gather feedback as the foundation formulates its future plans. Through this process, it will continue to invest in the health of the community with no interruptions to funding.
After working with numerous communities across the nation to strengthen their capacity to respond to health challenges, Mr. Holloman looks forward to bringing his years of experience and passion back to his home state—and proudly doing so as one of the few African-American Executive Directors in the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers.
The foundation also welcomed Dr. Harry R. (Frosty) Culp and Lydia Lyon to its board of directors. Dr. Culp is a retired dentist, lifelong resident of High Point, North Carolina and currently volunteers with various community organizations. Ms. Lyon is a retired public health nurse with expertise in maternal and child health, which aligns with the foundation’s Healthy Beginnings Initiative. The foundation elected its Board Officers for 2021, which include Leah Price, Chair; Matt Jobe, Vice-Chair; Stephanie Johnson, Secretary; and Charles Cain, Treasurer.
Contact: Allen Smart at 336.413.0420 or asmart@healthyhighpoint.org.
Shirley Kelly and Kelsey Shields
Mat-Su Health Foundation
The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) welcomed Shirley Kelly as Director of Operations and Kelsey Shields as Program Assistant.
As Director of Operations, Ms. Kelly oversees office management, human resources, and contract management for the foundation. She will ensure a high level of coordination between the foundation’s programmatic work and hospital ownership, and assist in the design of organizational structures, workflows, and processes.
As Program Assistant, Ms. Shields serves as the primary contact for MSHF scholarship inquiries from prospective and returning applicants, training providers, universities, colleges, and the general public. She also provides support to the other members of the foundation’s program team by assisting with planning, scheduling, and implementation of convenings and other program-related events. Prior to joining MSHF, Ms. Shields worked in a variety of industries providing administrative and customer relations management support.
Contact: Robin Minard at 907.250.6445 or rminard@healthymatsu.org.
Viviann Schorle
Phoenixville Community Health Foundation
The Phoenixville Community Health Foundation (PCHF) hired seasoned nonprofit professional Viviann Schorle as Program Officer. Chief Executive Officer Tamela Luce is confident that Ms. Schorle’s decades of experience, including extensive work with diverse communities, will be an asset to both the foundation and the greater Phoenixville, Pennsylvania region.
Ms. Schorle will play an integral role in the foundation’s grantmaking, direct its capacity-building programming for the nonprofits and staff that serve the greater Phoenixville area, and manage the foundation’s communications.
She comes to PCHF with more than 20 years of experience in management, project coordination, and health and human services in the nonprofit sector. Most recently, Ms. Schorle was the director of Project HOPE at Family Services of Montgomery County, where she implemented a national model of evidence-based strategies to assist and support those with HIV/AIDS. She was a coordinator with the Interagency Council of Norristown, where she planned and executed membership meetings, workshops, and other activities for the nonprofit community.
Contact: Tamela Luce at 610.917.9890 or tluce@pchf1.org.