Advancing a healthier Wisconsin endowment celebrates 10th anniversary

The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin (AHW) endowment stewarded by the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), which is committed to improving the health of Wisconsin residents, celebrates its tenth anniversary this month with a new strategic plan titled “Moving from Grantmaker to Changemaker.” A one-day conference to highlight the new plan and promote the success of the AHW endowment’s first decade is scheduled May 8 from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Sheraton Milwaukee Hotel in Brookfield, Wis.

Roberta B. Ness, M.D., M.P.H., Dean and Vice President for Innovation at the University of Texas School of Public Health, is the keynote presenter at the conference. Dr. Ness is an internationally recognized expert in medicine and public health, and the author of Innovation Generation, an instructional program for innovative thinking, and Genius Unmasked, the story of genius scientists of the 20th century and how they thought.

The AHW endowment was created in 2004 and was funded by the converted shares of Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin. In its first decade, the AHW endowment has funded 150 health improvement projects engaging more than 300 community agencies across Wisconsin. It has supported an equal number of research and education projects, engaging nearly 200 investigators in scientific discovery and developing the skills of health and public health workers.

Through the new strategic plan, the AHW endowment will invest in new strategies for making positive changes in public health.

“We believe that every individual is capable of being a changemaker in their family, neighborhood, and community, and we invite community-based organizations throughout our state to consider how they can change with the AHW endowment and propose innovative solutions to health challenges,” said Paula Lucey, R.N., M.S.N., chair of the MCW Consortium on Public and Community Health.

“We also believe in systemic change. Our programmatic successes should be leveraged across multiple communities, with the help of our public health leaders to improve the health of every citizen of Wisconsin,” said Cheryl Maurana, PhD., director of the AHW endowment and vice president for strategic outreach at MCW.

Registration for the conference is now closed, but proceedings from the conference will be made available online at http://www.mcw.edu/Advancing-Healthier-WI-Endowment/News-and-Events/Event-Proceedings.htm.