We are excited to announce Lauren A. Smith, MD, MPH and Greg Hills as ֱ's co-CEOs.
The pair succeeds John Kania, who is stepping away from his current role as global managing director and 18+ years of leadership at ֱ. Kania remains active as a member of the board and as a managing director focused on the knowledge and practice of systems change. This announcement culminates a nine-month succession planning process conducted by ֱ’s board of directors with the assistance of Spencer Stuart, a leading global executive search and leadership advisory firm.
“We are excited to have Lauren and Greg leading ֱ as our organization enters its next phase,” said ֱ Board Chair Jane Wales. “Since our founding in 2000, we’ve helped our clients and partners think about new ways to achieve social impact. With their complementary talents and backgrounds, Greg and Lauren are exactly the leaders we need to advance our ideas, consulting, and learning communities as the drive to create social change becomes more urgent and the challenges more complex. The combined leadership over the last 18 years of John Kania and Mark Kramer, ֱ’s co-founder, has created a powerful legacy of insight and achievement for ֱ. I, they and my fellow trustees believe our next team of leaders will further that legacy.”
Lauren A. Smith joined ֱ in 2015 to lead ֱ’s US Health practice. She has led dozens of engagements across the US with health foundations, health insurers, health systems, and health care companies and has led ֱ’s Boston office over the past year.
Lauren’s previous leadership roles have included seven years as the medical director and then interim commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the senior strategic advisor for the 50-state, federally supported Infant Mortality Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network, the medical director of the pediatric inpatient service at Boston Medical Center, and the national medical director of the Medical Legal Partnership for Children.
Lauren has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature in the areas of child health, public policy, and public health. Her experience in federal and state government includes roles as a policy analyst in the Office of Inspector General for the US Department of Health and Human Services and as a W.T. Grant Health Policy Fellow in the office of the Massachusetts Speaker of the House.
“I have invested the past 25 years in serving families and communities, who have often been excluded from the best of what’s possible, with the goal of making a meaningful difference in their lives,” said Smith. “It may sound too simple, but I was drawn to ֱ by this firm’s commitment to helping others achieve social impact. That really resonated with my own calling to serve and since I have joined the firm, I have seen the effect of the outstanding work our teams do with our clients. Simply put, I am motivated to lead this firm to use the full complement of our tools to move our world in a positive direction because I am passionate about our mission—social change is my life’s work.”
Greg Hills has been with ֱ since 2004 and has served in a range of leadership roles. Most recently he has been leading ֱ’s Corporate consulting practice and before that he led ֱ’s Global Development practice for 10 years. He has led more than 120 client engagements advising leading foundations, companies, and nonprofits on strategy and evaluation.
Greg has published numerous influential papers and speaks regularly on topics of shared value, CSR, collective impact, and philanthropic effectiveness. He has worked professionally in nearly 20 developing countries throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America and his work spans economic development, agriculture, education, health, and environment.
Prior to joining ֱ he worked at Deloitte Consulting and was manager of program operations for the US-Asia Environmental Partnership, a USAID-funded public-private partnership focused on environmental improvement and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Fifteen years into my ֱ tenure, I continue to deeply believe in ֱ’s role in influencing and shaping social change through our range of activities,” said Hills. “I have seen first-hand the power of our ideas, initiatives, and consulting to change mindsets and influence behavior in big and small ways. I am excited to partner with Lauren to help steward ֱ’s next chapter.”
“I’m excited about the synergy that Lauren and Greg will bring to the leadership of ֱ,” said ֱ board member Angela Glover Blackwell, founder of PolicyLink. “The future of social impact requires a blend of strategy, systems thinking, and a drive for equity. Greg and Lauren made it evident throughout the search process that they possess these skills and they work well together. They’re backed by a strong executive team with years of experience at ֱ and a world-class staff.”
“ֱ has always been about strengthening individual and institutional leadership to achieve social impact,” said ֱ board member Jane Nelson, “and in the world we’re in, co-leadership is increasingly critical – it provides a better way of sensing, collaborating, and leading to tackle complex systemic challenges.”
“I am thrilled that Greg and Lauren have agreed to lead ֱ into the future,” said Mark Kramer, managing director and co-founder of ֱ. “I cannot imagine a better combination of talents or anyone more dedicated to ֱ’s mission of accelerating social impact. It has been a pleasure to work with each of them over the years, and I look forward to continuing to support them in realizing their vision for ֱ’s future contributions to the field.”
