Your browser does not support the video tag. The Ventures project engaged deeply with six pioneering partnerships from 2016-2018 to show changemakers the possibility and potential of breaking from business as usual. Doing Business Differently, Together: The Story of ReThink Health Ventures The Rippel Foundation launched our ReThink Health initiative’s Ventures project over three years ago to better understand: What does it take to do business differently, together? Read More Insights from Ventures Evaluation of the ReThink Health Ventures Project Click 'Download' for the final Evaluation Report Download This report provides a summary of the key findings of the evaluation of the Ventures project. As work in the field evolves, there is a need for greater understanding of how stakeholders in regions are working together to improve the health and well-being of their residents. The experience of the Ventures project provides some new learning about what it takes to achieve long-term, sustainable transformation towards this goal. Ventures Case Studies Click to explore case studies from the 6 Ventures sites Download These case studies were authored as a part of the evaluation of the ReThink Health Ventures project. We have authored case studies about each of the six partnerships to highlight their unique journeys toward health transformation, with a particular focus on their work in Ventures, as well as insights that can be applicable to a wide range of stewards working to transform regional health ecosystems across the United States. Case Studies Bernalillo County Central Oregon Health Council Common Ground Health: Finger Lakes King County Health Action: Sonoma County Trenton Health Team We learned alongside six pioneering partnerships. Learn more about the Ventures communities Choose a location to see the details Bernalillo County, NM Central Oregon, OR Finger Lakes, NY King County, WA Sonoma County, CA Trenton, NJ Bernalillo County Bernalillo County, NM The Ventures project is strengthening collaboration in Bernalillo County with major players that together will be able to advance a common vision, shared understanding, and clear plan for moving forward health transformation. Learn more about Bernalillo County Loading... Loading... Dig deeper into the Ventures project. Revisit our learnings: what does it take to go further, faster? Blog Nina Burke and Ruth Wageman Jan 29, 2019 Preparing for Leadership Transitions to Sustain Regional Health Transformation Efforts Today on the ReThinkers’ Blog, Nina Burke and Ruth Wageman ask and answer the question: how can regional stewards anticipate and better manage leadership transitions? StewardshipVentures Blog Katherine Wright and Lindsey Alexander Jan 22, 2019 Financing the Governance and Management Activities Necessary to Coordinate Regional Transformation Efforts All too often, even those who are carrying out integrative activities for a regional transformation effort dismiss the work as not fundable and, as a result, don’t pursue compensation. It’s time leaders like you start to confront some of the myths around financing your own work. In our latest blog post, ReThink Health’s Katherine Wright and Lindsey Alexander discuss and debunk five financing myths to help leaders like you pursue new funding strategies for your integrative activities. StewardshipSustainable FinancingVentures Blog Anna Creegan and Brittney Burford May 20, 2019 Doing Business Differently, Together: The Story of ReThink Health Ventures The Rippel Foundation launched our ReThink Health initiative’s Ventures project over three years ago to better understand: What does it take to do business differently, together? Ventures Blog Jane Erickson Jan 14, 2019 Regional Transformation Efforts Conduct Governance and Management Activities Differently Than We Thought For some time, ReThink Health (like many other initiatives) has been advancing the idea that a single backbone organization, or integrator, oversees the collaborative work needed to advance transformative change across a region. The effort to manage region-wide collaboration can include activities such as establishing a shared vision, coordinating and facilitating meetings, and communicating across partners. It turns out, however, that in most regions, many organizations and their leaders—not just one--conduct the activities required for successful region-wide collaboration. StewardshipVentures Blog Nina Burke and Ruth Wageman Jan 8, 2019 Distributing Leadership to Transform Health Ecosystems In regions where people and organizations from many different sectors have come together to transform their health ecosystems, those that have made the most progress are finding that distributed leadership is essential to their success. Today, on the ReThinker’s Blog, Ruth Wageman and Nina Burke walk us through the benefits and drawbacks of different types of leadership models and explain why distributed leadership is the best option for transforming regional health ecosystems. StewardshipVentures Blog Stacy Becker Dec 10, 2018 Regional Stewards: Nudging Systems Toward Health and Well-Being This is the first in a five part series expressing some of what we’ve learned through our ReThink Health Ventures… StewardshipVentures Blog Rebecca Niles Nov 27, 2018 Identify Strengths and Areas for Improvement: A Tool to Assess Regional Health Transformation Strategy As this series comes to a close, Rebecca Niles offers a recap of each post and introduces ReThink Health's Regional Transformation Strategy Assessment Tool, a new tool that helps leaders assess the quality of a current transformation strategy, or one in development. StrategyVentures Blog Ruth Wageman Nov 20, 2018 Avoiding Stewardship Pitfalls to Design a Strategy that Can Transform Health In this sixth post in our seven-part blog series, we consider some of the common pitfalls leaders such as yourself… StrategyVentures Blog Beto Lopez and Stacey Chang Nov 13, 2018 Prototyping to Solve Complex System Challenges in Health and Health Care So far in our blog series on transformation strategy we’ve been discussing why it’s important to develop a theory of system change and portfolio of interventions if you want to succeed in transforming regional health and well-being. In this latest post, we welcome guest bloggers Stacey Chang and Beto Lopez, who apply design thinking to health care challenges at the Design Institute for Health in Austin, Texas. StrategyVentures Blog Bobby Milstein and Kalila Jackson-Spieker Nov 6, 2018 Negotiating Clear Boundaries Strengthens Agreement on a Shared Theory of System Change Over the past few weeks, the ReThink Health team has been blogging about the critical role sound strategy plays in… StrategyVentures EXPLORE OUR INSIGHTS Our veteran advisors helped set new standards for the field. Kevin Barnett Senior Investigator Public Health Institute Natalie S. Burke President and CEO CommonHealthACTION Renée Branch Canady CEO Michigan Public Health Institute Debbie Chang Vice President Policy and Prevention Nemours Kevin Barnett is a Senior Investigator at the Public Health Institute. For the past two decades, he has conducted applied research and fieldwork on two distinct but related issues: the charitable obligations of nonprofit hospitals and the diversity of the health professions workforce. His current work includes a partnership with The Governance Institute and Stakeholder Health, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to build knowledge among hospital board members and senior leadership for health care transformation; a national study of hospital interventions to address food insecurity; and co-leadership of the Health Care Transformation Hub in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 100 Million Healthier Lives. In addition, he leads PHI’s project Alignment for Health Equity and Development (AHEAD), which aims to make community investments smarter, more strategic, more aligned, and more effective. Barnett currently serves as the Co-Director of the California Health Workforce Alliance, a member of the Board of Directors of Communities Joined in Action, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Trinity Health System. As an advisor to corporate leaders, communities aspiring to change, and everyone in between— Natalie S. Burke guides people and organizations to solutions and common language necessary to succeed and make the world a healthy place. As a strategist she focuses on strengthening the connective tissue that forms organizations and communities through building relationships, collective will, and greater equity–with a particular focus on the intersections of equity, diversity, and inclusion. That expertise guides her work to develop leaders across sectors who seek to innovate and create perspective transformation and systemic change. Her public health and health care experience includes technical assistance and capacity-building for national and global entities such as Kaiser Permanente and Cummins, Inc.; federal, state, and local governments, and numerous philanthropic entities. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Natalie is currently President and CEO of CommonHealth ACTION, a national public health organization whose focus is the 5Ms—guiding people and organizations to map, make, manage, measure, and master the change they seek and that society needs. Prior to co-founding CommonHealth ACTION, Natalie was in executive leadership at the National Association of County and City Health Officials where she directed numerous divisions and managed national public health and place-based initiatives. Renée Branch Canady serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI); an academic, government, and research institute that strives to maximize positive health conditions in populations and communities through collaboration, scientific inquiry, and applied expertise. Prior to joining MPHI in 2014, Canady served as Health Officer for the Ingham County Health Department, Canady has held faculty and in leadership positions within the College of Nursing and the College of Medicine, Program for Public Health at Michigan State University. Canady earned a PhD in Medical Sociology from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in Public Health Nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Debbie I. Chang is Senior Vice President of Policy and Prevention and a Corporate Officer for Nemours Children’s Health System. In this role, she works to leverage Nemours’ expertise and experience to spread what works through national policy and practice changes to improve the health and well-being of children nationwide. Chang co-directs Moving Health Care Upstream, a national collaborative network to test, develop, and spread innovative population health strategies and was the founding Executive Director of Nemours Health & Prevention Services, an operating division devoted to using a comprehensive multi-sector, place-based model to improve children’s health in Delaware. Nemours is a founding member of the Partnership for a Healthier America and the National Convergence Partnership, a unique collaboration of leading foundations focused on healthy people and healthy places. Chang has more than 29 years of federal and state government and private sector experience in the health field. She has held key government positions including Deputy Secretary of Health Care Financing at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and National Director of State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) at the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. Chang holds an MPH in Public Health Policy and Administration from the University of Michigan and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stacey Chang Executive Director Design Institute for Health, The University of Texas at Austin Elliott Fisher Director Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice Kristin Giantris Managing Director Nonprofit Finance Fund Charles Kennedy Managing Partner Blue Ox Healthcare Partners Stacey Chang serves as the Executive Director of the Design Institute for Health, a collaboration between the Dell Medical School and the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. The Design Institute for Health is a first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to applying design approaches to solving systemic health care challenges as an integrated part of a medical education and training program. Until 2014, Chang served as the Managing Director of the Healthcare Practice at IDEO, a global design and innovation firm. He holds a BS from MIT and an MS from Stanford University, both in engineering. Elliott Fisher is Director of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the John E. Wennberg Distinguished Professor of Health Policy, Medicine, and Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. His research has focused on exploring the causes and consequences of regional and provider-specific differences in spending and quality and on developing policy approaches to slowing the growth of spending in healthcare while improving quality. He was one of the originators of the concept of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and worked with colleagues to carry out the research that led to their inclusion in the Affordable Care Act. In 2013 he was named as one of the 50 Most Influential Physician Executives by Modern Healthcare magazine. Kristin Giantris is a Managing Director at Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), where she directs their national Advisory Services practice. She leads the design of innovative funding and financing initiatives, oversees the development and delivery of consulting products and services for NFF’s nonprofit clients and manages business development and relationships with a number of strategic, national partners. Giantris’s professional experience combines over 20 years of economic development and debt financing in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Prior to joining NFF, Giantris was a Vice President at Citigroup Global Markets in debt origination. She holds an MA in Public Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BA in Political Science from Kenyon College. Charles Kennedy is a managing partner of Blue Ox, serving on the Investment Committee. Kennedy is a recognized expert in health care delivery, finance, and information technology, with over 25 years of experience as a C-level executive and board advisor at several leading companies. Prior to Blue Ox, Kennedy was chief population health officer for Healthagen, Aetna’s healthcare IT subsidiary. He also launched and served as CEO of Aetna’s Accountable Care Solutions division, growing it to a multi-billion subsidiary of Aetna. Kennedy was a founding commissioner of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and served a five-year appointment as the health insurance industry representative on the HIT Policy Committee. Kennedy holds an MD in internal medicine from the University of California at Los Angeles, an MBA in corporate strategy and healthcare economics from Stanford University, and a Bachelor’s degree in genetics from the University of California at Berkeley. Matt Leighninger Vice President for Public Engagement Yankelovich Center, Public Agenda Barbara Masters Independent Consultant California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative Adolfo (Fito) Valadez Chief Medical Officer FirstCare Health Plans Matt Leighninger leads Public Agenda’s work in public engagement and democratic governance and directs the Yankelovich Center for Public Judgement. Previously he was the Executive Director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC), an alliance of major organization and leading scholars working in the field of deliberation and public participation. Over the past 20 years, Leighninger has worked with public participation efforts in over 100 communities across 40 states and four Canadian provinces. Leighninger serves on the boards of e-democracy.org, the International Association for Public Participation, the Democracy Imperative, and the Participatory Budgeting Project, and is a Senior Associate for Everyday Democracy. His first book, The Next Form of Democracy, is a firsthand account of the wave of democratic innovation that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s; his most recent book, co-authored with Tina Nabatchi, is a comprehensive look at participation theory, history, and practice and explains how we can transition from temporary engagement projects to stronger democratic infrastructure. Barbara Masters is an independent strategy, policy, and evaluation consultant with over 30 years of experience in philanthropy, local government, Capitol Hill, and advocacy. As a consultant, Masters helps foundations and non profits research, analyze, and develop health policy-related issues, focusing in particular on systems transformation and prevention. She led efforts to design and is now managing the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative. Prior to starting her consulting practice, Masters was the Director of Public Policy at The California Endowment, where she led efforts to institutionalize public policy strategies throughout the foundation’s activities and helped develop methods to evaluate advocacy and policy change activities. Masters holds a BA in Molecular Biology from the University of California-Berkeley and an MA in Biology from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Adolfo (Fito) Valadez has over 15 years of executive and senior leadership and management experience. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer for FirstCare Health Plans, where he provides leadership and strategy as part of the executive management team for a regional provider sponsored health plan with over 1950,000 members and $600 million revenue company. Previously, he served as the Assistant Commissioner for Prevention and Preparedness Services at the Texas Department of State Health Services, as well as Medical Director and Health Authority for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department. Dr. Valadez was a pioneer in bringing system science to support local leaders in the area of comprehensive chronic disease prevention. He holds an MPH in Minority Health Policy from the Harvard School of Public Health and an MD with honors from The University of Texas at Galveston. Dr. Valadez completed his residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and is board certified in internal medicine. Our veteran advisors helped set new standards for the field. Kevin Barnett Senior Investigator Public Health Institute Kevin Barnett is a Senior Investigator at the Public Health Institute. For the past two decades, he has conducted applied research and fieldwork on two distinct but related issues: the charitable obligations of nonprofit hospitals and the diversity of the health professions workforce. His current work includes a partnership with The Governance Institute and Stakeholder Health, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to build knowledge among hospital board members and senior leadership for health care transformation; a national study of hospital interventions to address food insecurity; and co-leadership of the Health Care Transformation Hub in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 100 Million Healthier Lives. In addition, he leads PHI’s project Alignment for Health Equity and Development (AHEAD), which aims to make community investments smarter, more strategic, more aligned, and more effective. Barnett currently serves as the Co-Director of the California Health Workforce Alliance, a member of the Board of Directors of Communities Joined in Action, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Trinity Health System. Natalie S. Burke President and CEO CommonHealthACTION As an advisor to corporate leaders, communities aspiring to change, and everyone in between— Natalie S. Burke guides people and organizations to solutions and common language necessary to succeed and make the world a healthy place. As a strategist she focuses on strengthening the connective tissue that forms organizations and communities through building relationships, collective will, and greater equity–with a particular focus on the intersections of equity, diversity, and inclusion. That expertise guides her work to develop leaders across sectors who seek to innovate and create perspective transformation and systemic change. Her public health and health care experience includes technical assistance and capacity-building for national and global entities such as Kaiser Permanente and Cummins, Inc.; federal, state, and local governments, and numerous philanthropic entities. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Natalie is currently President and CEO of CommonHealth ACTION, a national public health organization whose focus is the 5Ms—guiding people and organizations to map, make, manage, measure, and master the change they seek and that society needs. Prior to co-founding CommonHealth ACTION, Natalie was in executive leadership at the National Association of County and City Health Officials where she directed numerous divisions and managed national public health and place-based initiatives. Renée Branch Canady CEO Michigan Public Health Institute Renée Branch Canady serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Michigan Public Health Institute (MPHI); an academic, government, and research institute that strives to maximize positive health conditions in populations and communities through collaboration, scientific inquiry, and applied expertise. Prior to joining MPHI in 2014, Canady served as Health Officer for the Ingham County Health Department, Canady has held faculty and in leadership positions within the College of Nursing and the College of Medicine, Program for Public Health at Michigan State University. Canady earned a PhD in Medical Sociology from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in Public Administration from Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in Public Health Nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Debbie Chang Vice President Policy and Prevention Nemours Debbie I. Chang is Senior Vice President of Policy and Prevention and a Corporate Officer for Nemours Children’s Health System. In this role, she works to leverage Nemours’ expertise and experience to spread what works through national policy and practice changes to improve the health and well-being of children nationwide. Chang co-directs Moving Health Care Upstream, a national collaborative network to test, develop, and spread innovative population health strategies and was the founding Executive Director of Nemours Health & Prevention Services, an operating division devoted to using a comprehensive multi-sector, place-based model to improve children’s health in Delaware. Nemours is a founding member of the Partnership for a Healthier America and the National Convergence Partnership, a unique collaboration of leading foundations focused on healthy people and healthy places. Chang has more than 29 years of federal and state government and private sector experience in the health field. She has held key government positions including Deputy Secretary of Health Care Financing at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and National Director of State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) at the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. Chang holds an MPH in Public Health Policy and Administration from the University of Michigan and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stacey Chang Executive Director Design Institute for Health, The University of Texas at Austin Stacey Chang serves as the Executive Director of the Design Institute for Health, a collaboration between the Dell Medical School and the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin. The Design Institute for Health is a first-of-its-kind institution dedicated to applying design approaches to solving systemic health care challenges as an integrated part of a medical education and training program. Until 2014, Chang served as the Managing Director of the Healthcare Practice at IDEO, a global design and innovation firm. He holds a BS from MIT and an MS from Stanford University, both in engineering. Elliott Fisher Director Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice Elliott Fisher is Director of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the John E. Wennberg Distinguished Professor of Health Policy, Medicine, and Community and Family Medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. His research has focused on exploring the causes and consequences of regional and provider-specific differences in spending and quality and on developing policy approaches to slowing the growth of spending in healthcare while improving quality. He was one of the originators of the concept of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and worked with colleagues to carry out the research that led to their inclusion in the Affordable Care Act. In 2013 he was named as one of the 50 Most Influential Physician Executives by Modern Healthcare magazine. Kristin Giantris Managing Director Nonprofit Finance Fund Kristin Giantris is a Managing Director at Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), where she directs their national Advisory Services practice. She leads the design of innovative funding and financing initiatives, oversees the development and delivery of consulting products and services for NFF’s nonprofit clients and manages business development and relationships with a number of strategic, national partners. Giantris’s professional experience combines over 20 years of economic development and debt financing in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Prior to joining NFF, Giantris was a Vice President at Citigroup Global Markets in debt origination. She holds an MA in Public Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and a BA in Political Science from Kenyon College. Charles Kennedy Managing Partner Blue Ox Healthcare Partners Charles Kennedy is a managing partner of Blue Ox, serving on the Investment Committee. Kennedy is a recognized expert in health care delivery, finance, and information technology, with over 25 years of experience as a C-level executive and board advisor at several leading companies. Prior to Blue Ox, Kennedy was chief population health officer for Healthagen, Aetna’s healthcare IT subsidiary. He also launched and served as CEO of Aetna’s Accountable Care Solutions division, growing it to a multi-billion subsidiary of Aetna. Kennedy was a founding commissioner of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and served a five-year appointment as the health insurance industry representative on the HIT Policy Committee. Kennedy holds an MD in internal medicine from the University of California at Los Angeles, an MBA in corporate strategy and healthcare economics from Stanford University, and a Bachelor’s degree in genetics from the University of California at Berkeley. Matt Leighninger Vice President for Public Engagement Yankelovich Center, Public Agenda Matt Leighninger leads Public Agenda’s work in public engagement and democratic governance and directs the Yankelovich Center for Public Judgement. Previously he was the Executive Director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC), an alliance of major organization and leading scholars working in the field of deliberation and public participation. Over the past 20 years, Leighninger has worked with public participation efforts in over 100 communities across 40 states and four Canadian provinces. Leighninger serves on the boards of e-democracy.org, the International Association for Public Participation, the Democracy Imperative, and the Participatory Budgeting Project, and is a Senior Associate for Everyday Democracy. His first book, The Next Form of Democracy, is a firsthand account of the wave of democratic innovation that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s; his most recent book, co-authored with Tina Nabatchi, is a comprehensive look at participation theory, history, and practice and explains how we can transition from temporary engagement projects to stronger democratic infrastructure. Barbara Masters Independent Consultant California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative Barbara Masters is an independent strategy, policy, and evaluation consultant with over 30 years of experience in philanthropy, local government, Capitol Hill, and advocacy. As a consultant, Masters helps foundations and non profits research, analyze, and develop health policy-related issues, focusing in particular on systems transformation and prevention. She led efforts to design and is now managing the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative. Prior to starting her consulting practice, Masters was the Director of Public Policy at The California Endowment, where she led efforts to institutionalize public policy strategies throughout the foundation’s activities and helped develop methods to evaluate advocacy and policy change activities. Masters holds a BA in Molecular Biology from the University of California-Berkeley and an MA in Biology from the University of Colorado-Boulder. Adolfo (Fito) Valadez Chief Medical Officer FirstCare Health Plans Adolfo (Fito) Valadez has over 15 years of executive and senior leadership and management experience. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer for FirstCare Health Plans, where he provides leadership and strategy as part of the executive management team for a regional provider sponsored health plan with over 1950,000 members and $600 million revenue company. Previously, he served as the Assistant Commissioner for Prevention and Preparedness Services at the Texas Department of State Health Services, as well as Medical Director and Health Authority for the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department. Dr. Valadez was a pioneer in bringing system science to support local leaders in the area of comprehensive chronic disease prevention. He holds an MPH in Minority Health Policy from the Harvard School of Public Health and an MD with honors from The University of Texas at Galveston. Dr. Valadez completed his residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts and is board certified in internal medicine. Meet the Advisors ReThink Health Ventures is a project of The Rippel Foundation, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.