Medical College of Wisconsin and Greater Milwaukee Foundation pursue new community-based partnership | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Medical College of Wisconsin
November 30, 2018
Recognizing an opportunity for enhanced impact around aligned goals, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) are evaluating a significant partnership to advance joint efforts designed to improve health and strengthen the community.
The collaboration will enable MCW and the Foundation to join forces, share expertise, and accelerate investment to better serve the people of Milwaukee. The Flourishing Lives Initiative intends to better understand and address health disparities through civic and community engagement, research and policy change. With more than a century of philanthropic impact and deep roots in the community, the Foundation is committed to focusing on the most critical issues of today while continuing to invest wisely and equitably for future generations.
Together, the Foundation and MCW are evaluating co-location that will house GMF staff and operations as well as select MCW departments and programs. The common location will serve as a catalyst and a community hub benefitting the immediate area and beyond. Alignment of MCW and GMF missions is strong around such priorities as advancing community health, neighborhood and workforce development, affordable housing, economic security, safety and education. Future opportunities for convening space, programming and additional local partners would amplify collective impact.
“Collaborating with like-minded partners helps create solutions for our community’s biggest challenges, and we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Greater Milwaukee Foundation,” said John R. Raymond, Sr., MD, president and chief executive officer of MCW. “This collaboration aligns our missions and will spark catalytic changes in the community through addressing social, economic and environmental factors that are key to improving health.”
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“Through each era of our history, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation has invested in strengthening our region and addressing the greatest needs of the times,” said Ellen M. Gilligan, president and CEO of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation. “We are committed to ensuring access to opportunity and a high quality of life for all people, in neighborhoods throughout our community, a goal we can best achieve by working together. This partnership is a perfect example of our enduring investment in place. The missions of the Foundation and the Medical College of Wisconsin complement one another well, and we look forward to applying our respective expertise and knowledge for greater collective impact.”
Through qualitative and quantitative examination of a variety of potential locations, both independently and collaboratively, the partners have narrowed the options to several finalist sites based on a range of thoughtful criteria. The finalist sites are in the greater community of Halyard Park / Haymarket / Hillside, the traditional neighborhoods as defined by the city of Milwaukee.
Essential next steps will include ongoing invitations to community residents and stakeholders to participate in the discovery process through discussions and workshops. This inclusive approach draws on the Foundation’s relationships and deep investments in Milwaukee neighborhoods fostered over decades. This approach includes a keen commitment to ensuring community members are at the center of decisions that affect them, and that opportunity is ample for participation in designing, building and implementing specific strategies to address barriers to prosperity and vitality.
MCW and GMF plan to bring the recommendations to their respective boards for consideration in early 2019. As a reminder, no final location has been selected.