STAFF

Patricia Baker was named president & CEO of the Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health) in March 2002 after serving as executive director since CT Health was established in July 1999. Immediately prior, Baker served as the national program director for the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation and as director of Connecticut government programs at Oxford Health Plans.  The long-time women’s health advocate also served as executive director of Planned Parenthood of Connecticut, associate executive director of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, and executive director of The Women’s Center in southeastern Wisconsin.

Monette Goodrich develops and executes a communications and public affairs strategy designed to educate and inform CT Health partners, policy-makers, elected officials, community leaders, health care providers, the nonprofit arena and the general public throughout Connecticut about CT Health’s goals, program areas and grantees. Prior to joining CT Health, Goodrich worked on the 2002 Virginia gubernatorial campaign. She also served as communications director for the mayor of Houston and two members of the U.S. House of Representatives.  While in Washington, D.C., Goodrich worked for a public relations agency and a nonprofit higher education association.

Maryland Grier manages media and public relations programming, disseminates information through publications and the website, and researches emerging health policy trends.  She also provides communications-related technical assistance to the foundation's grantees.

Prior to joining CT Health, Grier held several positions at the Institute for Community Research (ICR) in Hartford, including associate director of the communications office, project director of a nationally funded community-outreach HIV/AIDS prevention research project, and evaluation coordinator for an AIDS prevention education project.  She also directed a statewide professional development program for underserved artists and arts organizations.  Prior to ICR, she was marketing specialist at the National Alliance of Business in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Myung Sook Krause
Senior Program Officer
elizabeth@cthealth.org

On staff since 2005, Krause manages the planning, implementation and evaluation of CT Health’s 10-year health disparities strategic objectives.  She has developed grant initiatives in community-driven health promotion, health advocacy, Type II diabetes, health literacy and primary care quality improvement.  Krause is a graduate of CT Health's first Health Leadership Fellows class and serves as a program presenter, project advisor and alumni liaison.  She provides internal leadership for continuous organizational learning about evaluation and cultural competence. 

Krause represents CT Health on numerous coalitions and advisory bodies, including the state Commission on Health Equity.  She also makes presentations and writes on public health, health care and grantmaking.  She previously served as a prevention specialist with the Public Health Prevention Service of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nancy Nolan is involved in all aspects of grants management. These responsibilities include: program staff administrator; managing CT Health's grant tracking database; serving as liaison with grantees; and developing grant protocols to increase the efficiency of the grants management system. In addition, she is coordinator for the Health Leadership Fellows program. Along with being grants manager, Nolan was office manager from 2000 to 2008. 

Before joining CT Health in 2000, Nolan served as office manager with the Arrhythmia Center in New Haven. She also served as office manager with Richard Kayne, M.D., and J.P. Diamond & Associates, and as executive secretary in public relations at the Emhart Corp. of Farmington.

Carol Pollack is the foundation's primary liaison on asset management.  She directs accounting, personnel and technology functions, and oversees office operations.  Before joining CT Health, she was founder and president of Diversified Financial Solutions, providing finance and operations support to several organizations, including the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut.  Previously, Pollack served as chief financial officer for Housing Authority Insurance in Cheshire; the Comprehensive Care Corporation in Tampa, Florida.; and held several positions at CIGNA Corporation in Bloomfield and Philadelphia.

Ben Rodriguez develops initiatives, reviews proposals, monitors grants and provides technical assistance to grantees. His primary focus is the children’s mental health initiative: reducing the number of at-risk children ages 6-14 entering intensive treatment and/or the juvenile justice system due to mental health issues.   

Rodriguez joined the Connecticut Health Foundation from Baystate Health Inc. in Springfield, Massachusetts., where he coordinated programs for its Community Benefits Division. He also was a manager in the Tobacco Control and Substance Abuse programs of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in Boston, helping area programs, community stakeholders and local businesses address health care systems change. 

Linda Stewart
Administrative Assistant/Receptionist
linda@cthealth.org
Linda Stewart is responsible for providing administrative support to CT Health’s president & CEO; the vice president of finance & operations; vice president of program & evaluation; and board committees.  She brings with her a wealth of corporate and nonprofit experience in administrative operations, planning, bookkeeping and customer service.

Before joining the foundation, Stewart was an administrative assistant for Abate and Associates, a bookkeeping outsource firm in New Britain.  She also was office manager for Lifeline in New Britain, overseeing a program that supports women with addictions; product manager at Source One, Inc. in Farmington; and data entry/rebate manager at Accradata, Inc. in Farmington.

Yolanda Wilson was named office manager/ administrative assistant in February 2008. Wilson's responsibilities include management and maintenance of the facility; liaison for technology issues; managing the non-grants database; bookkeeping; support for the board of directors and its committees.

Wilson joined CT Health in March 2007 as administrative assistant. Prior to that, she held several marketing and administrative positions, including customer service representative for Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies (Forestville); marketing coordinator for Maguire Group, Inc. (New Britain); executive administrative assistant for Accustaff (New Britain); and sales and marketing coordinator for Arthur Building Systems, Inc. (Bristol).

PART-TIME STAFF

Midge Mongillo was named part-time administrative assistant in January 2005. Her primary focus is the communications and public affairs staff. Prior to joining CT Health, Mongillo held several positions at the Torrington Company.  This included manager of sales administration in the North American sales and global business development divisions for Timken USA Corporation, where she managed a $30 million operating budget, supervised field customer service supervisors and served as project manager for a merger of the Torrington and Timken customer service teams in Ohio.  As assistant to the director of sales, Mongillo developed a pilot program that improved advanced training for senior field sales correspondents and account representatives.  
 

Photos (c) 2003-2008 Gale Zucker, Phillip Fortune