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Dr. John Ball: Dogwood Health Trust hires remarkable fit for Western North Carolina in new CEO Antony Chiang

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August 30th, 2019 – After a national search spanning several months, the Dogwood Health Trust board of directors has selected its initial president and chief executive officer: Antony Chiang.

Chiang, currently president of the Empire Health Foundation in Spokane, Wash., will move here with his family to lead Dogwood and work in partnership with community organizations in the region. These partnerships will begin to address the mission of Dogwood: to dramatically improve the health and well-being of all people and communities of Western North Carolina.

Why did we select Antony Chiang, and how did we go about it? First, we wanted someone who shared our vision, and that of Western North Carolina, for the transformative potential of Dogwood. Antony shares our vision. As the founder and initial leader of four startup organizations focused on improving lives, including Empire, he is an entrepreneur who believes in the power of mission-driven organizations.

We wanted someone who shared our values: commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion; compassion with courage; sustainability with integrity; and partnering with purpose. Antony is an Asian-American and leads a diverse staff and partners with a diverse board. He is bold and has powerful ideas.

As the initial president of Empire, which is a conversion foundation similar to Dogwood, he built an annual budget of $4 million into one of $70 million by partnering with multiple regional, state and federal institutions. Empire was awarded the federal HUD Secretary’s Award for Exemplary Public Philanthropic Partnership.

We wanted someone who could relate to all the people and communities of our region. Northeastern Washington, Empire’s service area, is much like Western North Carolina: It is rural, poverty is well above the national rate, and 14 Native American tribes are among its people.

Antony spent substantial “windshield time” in his early years there, getting to know the people and communities throughout the region. He was impressed by their collective strengths, and gained experiences that enabled Empire to build a strategy to address health disparities. He has a proven track record of working with communities to improve the health of their residents.

We wanted someone who could drive results. Under Antony’s leadership, Empire, in partnership with other community-based organizations, has delivered measurable positive impacts on health equity: reducing childhood obesity by 12%, reducing Native American foster care by 50%, and improving the uninsured rate to 4%.

And we wanted someone who could build the staff of Dogwood to meet the needs of our region. He has proven he can be an outstanding leader. Under Antony’s leadership, in 2017, Empire was awarded first place among “Best Places to Work” in Northeastern Washington.

The selection of Antony Chiang was the outcome of an intensive deliberative process. Assisted by Witt/Kieffer, the pre-eminent national search firm focused solely on not-for-profit health care and philanthropy, the search committee of the board initially began with a list of over 350 individuals, over 125 of whom had applied for the position. Our search firm screened all these individuals, ultimately interviewing by phone over 60, then holding in-person interviews with 23.

We made it a special focus to assess those candidates from the Carolinas. The search committee held in-person interviews with seven candidates, three of whom returned for a second round of interviews, including with the entire board of Dogwood. All three finalists also underwent an in-depth personality assessment in order to assess their “fit” with Dogwood. Detailed reference checks were also obtained on each finalist.

It was from this process that Antony Chiang emerged as the unanimous choice of the Dogwood Health Trust board to partner with the board in transforming the health and well-being of the people and communities of Western North Carolina.

We look forward to welcoming Antony and his family, and introducing him to this region. Our first opportunity will be in a series of three community meetings that Dogwood will be hosting across the region Oct. 9-10. Please check out our website for details about these sessions at www.dogwoodevents.org.

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Erica Allison
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[email protected]

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Hendersonville, NC 28792

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Health & Wellness | Goal 4

Increase Access to Behavioral Health and Substance Use Prevention and Treatment

Support programs and networks that reduce deaths, treat addiction, and prevent first use

Objective 4.1: Reduce opioid overdose mortality throughout the region

Objective 4.2: Reduce untreated behavioral health and substance use disorder in disproportionately affected communities

Objective 4.3: Prevent and reduce behavioral health issues and substance use (tobacco, alcohol, illicit and prescription drugs) in youth

Health & Wellness | Goal 3

Address Health Disparities

Help reduce disparities based on race, location, education and income factors

Objective 3.1: Improve health outcomes for women and infants in rural and low-income communities and communities of color

Objective 3.2: Reduce the prevalence of common chronic health diseases in disproportionately affected communities

Objective 3.3: Increase effectiveness of health care through delivery of culturally aligned services

Health & Wellness | Goal 2

Increase Access to Whole-Person Health Care

Invest in integrated heath care with seamless connections to supportive services

Objective 2.1: Increase the number of people with affordable health insurance coverage

Objective 2.2: Increase the available workforce for primary and allied health care services

Objective 2.3: Increase access to comprehensive and integrated care

Objective 2.4: Increase access to community-based services in low-income, elderly and rural communities

Health & Wellness | Goal 1

Support and Build Healthy Communities

Support communities that promote healthy living and resiliency and help mitigate the impact of trauma, isolation and stress on individuals and families, especially those experiencing poverty

Objective 1.1: Decrease adverse experiences (ACEs and traumatic violence) and improve individual and family resiliency

Objective 1.2: Increase access to community environments that promote healthy living and social connectedness across the age continuum

Economic Opportunity | Goal 4

Foster Entrepreneurship

Support a well-funded, sustainable, competitive entrepreneur and small business ecosystem throughout the region

Objective 4.1: Increase the number of Person of Color (POC)-led small businesses throughout the region

Objective 4.2: Increase the number of rural small businesses throughout the region

Economic Opportunity | Goal 3

Build Economic Ecosystems

Help build a regional economic ecosystem that supports increased creation/retention of jobs and business ownership

Objective 3.1: Improve access to higher-paying jobs throughout the region, targeting the lowest income populations

Objective 3.2: Increase and retain quality jobs

Objective 3.3: Stimulate economic growth, catalyzing businesses and revenue

Economic Opportunity | Goal 2

Promote Work Readiness

Help build a skilled workforce with the knowledge and technical abilities to excel in a wide range of industry employment opportunities that provide a competitive, sustainable wage

Objective 2.1: Close the educational attainment gap in WNC, staying on pace with regional and county-specific projections (myFutureNC 2030).

Economic Opportunity | Goal 1

Develop a Comprehensive Data Resource

Source, analyze and share a comprehensive, county-by-county data set that paints a full picture of work readiness, economic development and entrepreneurial needs and opportunities specific to Western North Carolina

Education | Goal 3

Support Higher Education Career Readiness

Work in tandem with Economic Opportunity Strategic Priority to invest in career readiness at the community college and university levels

Objective 4.1: Close the educational attainment gap in WNC, staying on pace with regional and county-specific projections (myFutureNC 2030).

Education | Goal 2

Improve K-12 Education

Support K-12 learning experiences with the resources and sustainability to provide an excellent academic and social-emotional education, so that all students graduate ready for college or career

Objective 2.1: Address teacher workforce challenges

Objective 2.2: Equip families of students to support academic growth and social-emotional health

Objective 2.3: Increase capacity of partners to provide supports and services, particularly for children facing challenges related to poverty, systemic racism, being differently abled or English language learners

Education | Goal 1

Improve Early Childhood Education Ecosystem

Invest in an improved early childhood education ecosystem with the resources and sustainability to provide developmentally appropriate, affordable and accessible education and care to support ages birth to five, so that all children in WNC enter kindergarten ready to learn

Objective: Address early childhood educator workforce challenges

Education | Goal 4

Develop a Comprehensive Landscape Study

Source, analyze and share a comprehensive set of publicly available data that provides a regularly updated, county-by-county picture of access, workforce and student outcomes in early childhood education and K-12 education specific to Western North Carolina

Housing | Goal 5

Use Impact Investments to Create Affordable and Workforce Housing

Loans, guarantees, and other financial tools to leverage funding opportunities

Housing | Goal 4

Create and Preserve Housing Units for Persons Below 50% of the Median Income

Increase affordable housing for lowest-income individuals and families

Objective 4.1: Create rental units for households below 50% of the median income

Objective 4.2: Help families pay no more than 30% of their income on housing

Objective 4.3: Create and preserve communities in a way that is representative of the WNC natural landscape

Housing | Goal 3

Create and Preserve Senior Housing

Support age-appropriate resources in affordable and workforce units, rental and owned

Objective 3.1: Create needed rental and homeownership opportunities for seniors

Objective 3.2: Incorporate supportive services in rental housing developments

Objective 3.3: Increase use of universal design in development

Housing | Goal 2

Create and Preserve Supportive Housing Rental Units

Invest in housing with sustainable supports for physical and mental health and wellbeing

Objective 2.1: Create new supportive housing

Objective 2.2: Preserve existing supportive housing

Objective 2.3: Leverage state and federal funds

Single story home in the midst of being build with 3 volunteers helping.

Housing | Goal 1

Support Healthy and Safe Revitalization Opportunities

Support healthy and safe revitalizations that work against displacement and gentrification, preserve home ownership and create generational wealth.

Objective 1.1: Revitalize Neighborhoods

Objective 1.2: Repurpose existing structures to minimize environmental impact

Objective 1.3: Support home ownership