Stephanie D. Willding, MPA (Steph) became the Chief Executive Officer in November 2019 of CommunityHealth, the nation’s largest volunteer-based free health center. Steph is a skilled health care leader, adept at developing and implementing transformative initiatives across organizations. She is a seasoned thought leader with a documented record of increasing and diversifying revenue, using data to improve and adapt program performance and advancing organizational goals through strategic and annual planning. Steph has committed her career to building and leading organizations that invest in communities and empower those communities to break the cycle of broken systems and lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

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Prior to CommunityHeath, Steph served in leadership roles at Erie Family Health Centers and Chicago Family Health Center. She holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a B.A. in International Studies from DePaul University. Steph is proud and honored to be a Class of 2023 Carol Emmott Fellow and in 2022 she was named Crain’s Chicago Top 40 Under 40.

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Outside of her passion for health care justice, you will find Steph volunteering for animal rescue and youth running organizations, training for a marathon, container gardening with her husband at their home in Chicago, and caring for her two rescue dogs, Jezzy and Cooper.