Seven years ago in February 2016, Mark Constantine joined RMHF as President & CEO. Today, we write to share the news that in April 2023 he will be joining the team at Dogwood Health Trust in Asheville, North Carolina, as Senior Vice President of Community Investments.
We want to thank Mark for his commitment to RMHF and to philanthropy in the Commonwealth.
Under Mark’s leadership, the Trustees and staff team have:
- Advanced health equity and racial justice in the Richmond region
- Worked with intentionality to get proximate to leaders in community closest to solutions through the Equity + Health Fellowships (2017, 2019), HEArts program, HEAL Cohort, and Grassroots Capacity-Building Cohort
- Collaborated with local, regional and statewide partners to address issues related to older adults and aging, behavioral health, oral health, guaranteed income, Medicaid expansion, and affordable housing
- Leveraged over $12 million from financial institutions, national and regional foundations and funder collaboratives to advance work in the Richmond region
- Worked closely with RMHF’s Outsourced Chief Investment Officer Northern Trust to align mission and money through impact investing strategies including debt and equity investments in CDFIs, foundation-directed Program Related Investments, and grants to position partners for impact capital
- Secured three grants from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to support Richmond’s participation in Invest Health and Connect Capital and to advance health and racial equity in the greater Richmond area.
- Partnered with Reinvestment Fund’s Policy Solutions Group and Dr. Ira Goldstein to complete two Market Value Analyses to inform conversations and community engagement efforts focused on housing justice in the Richmond region
- Established a first-phase grantmaking response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, investing over $500,000 to support community partners
- Secured a $500,000 investment from the CDC Foundation to respond to the COVID-19 disparities within the Latino and Hispanic communities in the Richmond region and partnered with Community Foundation for a greater Richmond to raise over $2 million dollars to support this critical work
- Committed an additional $1 million to address the mental health and wellness needs emerging from and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic
- Supported research to inform policy conversations and grantmaking investments on issues including LGBTQIA+ opportunities and needs, direct care workers and opportunities and needs facing the region’s Latino and Hispanic communities
- Adopted a five-year Strategic Framework that centers the Foundation’s work in health and racial equity and general operating support
- Conducted three Open Calls for new Trustees that has led to the appointment of eight new Trustees (2018, 2021, 2023) who have joined the RMHF Board of Trustees
- RMHF’s work has been featured by Inside Philanthropy, Shelterforce, and the EITC Funders Network.
In addition to his work at RMHF, Mark has contributed more broadly to health philanthropy through his service as Board Chair of Virginia Funders Network, Co-Chair with Dr. Lauren Powell of the Jeffress Trust Awards Program in Research Advancing Health Equity, and as a faculty member for Grantmakers in Health Terrance Keen Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy.
The RMHF Trustees and staff team are committed to maintaining and advancing this critical work in the years to come.
We ask that you join us in thanking Mark for his service over the past seven years.
We will announce details about next steps in the coming weeks.
With Gratitude,
