Governance and Operations

Metro Health Foundation is currently reevaluating its grantmaking direction in the wake of learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation has also permanently shifted to remote operations and had a leadership change in summer 2021. We are reviewing our bylaws and considering what we should be and how we should be structured, both now and in the future.

Our company and foundation have embraced the belief that all health care is local, and your zip code is the best determinant of your future health. Improving the social determinants of health is the most pressing health issue in our communities. Our three Drivers of Health – food security, mental well-being, and health equity – are the issues on which we believe that our work can make the greatest impact. By working in collaboration with philanthropy, community, business, and government, we can all aim toward the common goal of greater health for all.

We deeply believe in the practice of authentic listening and engagement, and we are establishing a more focused emphasis on the social determinants of health – namely, structural racism and community safety – that affect so many neighborhoods in Cleveland. In 2021, we named a new program officer to develop a health equity focus area, intended to connect and uplift resident voices to share community influence and power. Our goal is to help residents challenge the policies and practices that continue to devastate the health and well-being of too many individuals in our communities. It is time for us to invest in building trust.

In 2003, two mates from Melbourne, Australia (Travis Garone and Luke Slattery) were having a quiet beer at the Gypsy Bar in Fitzroy when their conversation turned to recurring fashion trends. The mustache, a fixture in past decades, was nowhere to be seen in recent trends. They joked about bringing it back.