I am very pleased to announce Suzanne Smith as Tapestry
Health’s new Chief Program Officer. Suzanne holds expertise in both
reproductive health and HIV/AIDS and has played a leading role in community
health organizations locally and around the world, including most recently at
the Holyoke Health Center. Suzanne is an expert in Tapestry Health’s
programs—she was previously with Tapestry for 12 years, working in our clinics
and eventually becoming Director of Health Services. We are thrilled to have
her back!
Filling the role of Chief Program Officer
is a crucial step that will help position Tapestry to thrive in the long term. As a member
of the senior executive team, Suzanne will be responsible for overseeing all
programs. By directly supervising senior program managers and clinical site
managers, she will help build communication, cohesion and efficiency across all
our services. Her expert leadership of programs will allow my efforts to be
even more focused on the financial management and fundraising that is needed to
keep the agency strong.
Suzanne Smith
“I first connected
with Tapestry when my family moved to this area from England. I was ready to go
back to work after having my baby, and I learned about something called The
Family Planning Council of Western Massachusetts. I was instantly interested,
because their mission was exactly my field of work. One of my earliest jobs had
been with a reproductive health clinic in San Francisco. Later when living in
London, I oversaw HIV/AIDS services and also led an HIV/AIDS research project
that was published in the British Medical Journal. So when I returned to the
States, I was eager to apply to this organization doing cutting-edge work in my
fields. Right around that time they changed their name to Tapestry Health.
This is my second time around at Tapestry, and it’s an exciting
time to be back. There is a lot of opportunity to improve the quality of our
services and to think creatively about the organization’s future. I’m looking
forward to reconnecting with some of our wonderful community partners, and to
learning more about community needs. Tapestry really is an organization that
listens. We are always talking to people in the community to find out about
emerging health needs. Then we try to figure out how we can best address them –
whether that means shifting how we deliver a service, or launching a new
program.
Most of all, I’m happy to be here because our staff. It really all
comes down to them. I have so much respect for their dedication to this work.
They do an amazing job of delivering high quality services in many different
settings and of making clients their priority. Their work is not always easy; I
consider it my job to invest in them and to support them. We would not be able
to provide such caring, quality services without their commitment.”