Maine Health Access Foundation Announces New President and CEO Jake Grindle
Following a nationwide search, the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) is pleased to announce its selection of Jake Grindle as the foundation’s new President and CEO.
“Jake has a deep understanding of MeHAF's operations and infrastructure, having spent nearly a decade with the organization,” says Board Chair Toho Soma, adding “his demonstrated leadership in building collaborations, fostering democratized decision-making, and leveraging MeHAF's convening power to drive policy and systems change, and his commitment to increasing access to healthcare and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion has been foundational to his work and the work of MeHAF overall.”
In 2015, Jake joined MeHAF as a Program Associate where he ran both the Discretionary and Meeting Support Grant programs and provided technical assistance for community-based grantees. In 2016, he was promoted to Program Officer and launched MeHAF’s Health Equity Capacity Building (HECB) program, and took over running the longstanding Health Advocacy grantee cohort. The HECB program was one of a number of changes Jake would lead in developing more equity-focused work at MeHAF, both internally and externally. In 2020, Jake became a Senior Program Officer.
“We are an organization that is making positive material change in the lives of Mainers, consistently striving to align our practices with our values, and maintaining a deep commitment to self-reflection and learning along the way and I am humbled and overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust that MeHAF has placed in me,” said Jake. “We could not do any of this without the leadership and wisdom of our people. Over the last nine years, I have had the great fortune to work alongside an incredible community, our Board of Trustees, Community Advisory Committee, my colleagues at MeHAF, and leaders and staff of partner organizations across Maine who have helped to guide and shape MeHAF into the vital force for health access and health equity that it is today. Our work is made real through the hard work of our grantee partners bringing our mission to life in the community.”
Before MeHAF, Jake worked at Western Maine Community Action (WMCA), where he served as the Project Coordinator for the Maine Community Action Health Navigator Project. In this role, Jake spearheaded the program design for the Health Navigator Project, including assisting over 300 individuals in enrollment for coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
“Jake has been leading from within since he arrived at MeHAF,” said departing President and CEO Barbara Leonard, adding “he challenges us all to see the foundation’s necessary work as systems change to create just and equitable access to health care and health. Jake is also seen as a leader within Maine’s philanthropic community, serving on the boards of both Maine Initiatives and the Maine Philanthropy Center. I am eager to see where he will lead MeHAF in the future.”
“I am a very lucky person to have the opportunity to learn from such an incredible community as we advance this collective effort together, and I am so excited at the prospect of doing it in this new role,” says Jake, who will start as President and CEO on January 1, 2025.