Dear CHCN Community,
For those I haven’t yet had the chance to meet, my name is Chiara (pronounced Key-are-ah) and I joined CHCN last December, as the new Executive Director. I wanted to take a moment to introduce a little bit about myself, and share a few updates on how things have been going during these early months.
I am a Social Worker with more than 20 years of experience across the healthcare system, including community health, Senior’s health and wellbeing, palliative care, rehabilitation, and hospital-based services. I bring over 10 years of leadership and management experience with strengths in relationship building, action-oriented approaches, creating efficiencies and building high performing, cohesive teams and programs. I am drawn to opportunities to help build systems and solutions that support people, families, and communities to live healthy and meaningful lives.
I grew up in the Durham Region and still live nearby with my husband and our four children. Our family embodies many cultural mixtures, and those perspectives shape how I approach values in both life and my leadership style – prioritizing collaboration, inclusivity and diversity . Outside of work, I enjoy travelling, dancing, gardening, and bringing people together around good food and company.
Over the past few months here at CHCN, my focus has been on listening, learning, and getting to know the incredible people and programs that make CHCN such an important part of Northumberland County. I’ve had the opportunity to meet with staff, connect with community partners, and visit municipalities across the region to better understand both the strengths and needs of the communities we serve.
During these early months – one thing has become very clear: CHCN has extraordinary staff, who are dedicated to their work, and who have a powerful impact in our community. From primary care, senior’s health and wellbeing to Diabetes education, mental health counselling, to health promotion, food security programs and outreach initiatives – the work happening here makes a real difference in people’s lives every day.
We have also been working on several important priorities behind the scenes. These include strengthening partnerships across the region, supporting recruitment needs, revisiting our strategic goals and priorities, and beginning the development of a long-term fundraising strategy that will help ensure CHCN can continue to grow and respond to community needs in the years ahead.
Recently, I also had the opportunity to speak about CHCN and community health on Northumberland 89.7’s Weekly Health Beat radio program. If you’d like to listen to the conversation, you can find the recording here:
https://northumberland897.ca/the-weekly-health-beat/
Looking ahead, we’re excited to welcome community members to CHCN’s Community Open House on June 23, which will take place alongside our Annual General Meeting. This event will be a chance to visit CHCN, meet our team, and learn more about the programs and services available in our community.
It has been a busy and inspiring start, and I feel incredibly grateful to be joining an organization with such a strong foundation and such a deep commitment to community wellbeing.
Thank you for the warm welcome and I look forward to meeting many more of you in the months ahead.
With appreciation,
~Chiara
