Fountain House’s Board of Directors has unanimously appointed Mary Crowley as Interim President and CEO, as it launches a national search for the organization’s next leader. Crowley will be supported by Fountain House’s core executive team of Chief Operating Officer Tracy Welsh and Chief of Staff Jason Bowman, along with its strong senior leadership team. The search will be led by Fountain House Directors Gregory Baecher, Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, and Reginald D. Williams II, Vice President, International Health Policy and Practice Innovations at The Commonwealth Fund.
Former president and CEO Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD, was recently appointed Senior Health Advisor for New York City Mayor Eric Adams before he transitions to his role as the city’s new Health Commissioner in March 2022.
Crowley, a key strategic partner in advancing Fountain House’s vision and plan, has served as the organization’s Senior Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer since 2020. During her tenure, she has built and led the organization’s national communications, policy, and government relations arm. Her work has importantly helped position serious mental illness as a social justice and race equity issue—advancing Fountain House’s model from a site-based direct services provider to a national convener with the proven influence and expertise to expand the rights, dignity, and resources devoted to people with mental illness. She has developed Fountain House’s national and local advocacy platform, including launching its Care Responders campaign—a multi-state effort demanding a public health response to mental health crises—which has not only led to multiple policy and advocacy gains in Washington, Michigan, California, Ohio, and Texas, but trained and centered people with lived experience as advocates for change. Crowley has also played a critical role in securing funding from the Ford Foundation and Trinity Church Wall Street, among others, to build leadership and advocacy capacity for people with lived experience of serious mental illness.
A member of the Fountain House leadership team, Crowley has worked across departments to build new community-based initiatives, including OnRamps, a collection of outreach programs aimed at supporting people who are justice-involved, experiencing homelessness, and/or have substance use disorders; and the Guesthouse program, a partnership with Fortune Society to house and support people impacted by mental illness after they’re released from Rikers Island jail. She is also a key member of the Fountain House team leading the development of a new Bronx clubhouse designed to be a community beacon in a mental health desert.
Prior to Fountain House, Crowley was the Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs at the Vera Institute of Justice, where she steered the organization’s strategic communications and policy around key justice reform efforts—driving narrative change and legislative reform to significant national acclaim. She also led and established a public affairs and communications department at The Hastings Center, one of the oldest independent and interdisciplinary research institutes addressing social and ethical issues in healthcare, science, and technology, and worked with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on its Cover the Uninsured campaign.
“We are proud to have Mary Crowley as our Interim President and CEO,” said William S. Hilburn, Chair of the Fountain House Board. “With more than 20 years of executive leadership experience and a clear commitment to people living with mental illness, Mary has the vision and proven track record to lead Fountain House as the Board conducts a national search for the organization’s next leader. She has been instrumental in our strategic planning, partner and resource acquisition, and development and capacity building as the organization navigates the challenges of the pandemic—while also raising our national profile and serving as a spokesperson in advancing Fountain House’s vision and plan. As we initiate our national search, we are confident that under Mary’s stewardship this will be a period of opportunity and progress for Fountain House and the communities we serve, as we work to achieve comprehensive mental health care reform.”
“It’s an absolute honor to serve Fountain House, our staff, and most importantly, our members, as we build an expansive vision and movement for mental health reform and execute on our strategic plan,” said Crowley. “We’ve seen Fountain House swiftly adapt to an all-virtual environment during the pandemic; establish a growing network of clubhouse partners from across the country; and strengthen our advocacy efforts at both the local and federal level, empowering people most impacted by mental illness to be a powerful voice for change. Through it all, our remarkable members have demonstrated their resilience and power. I look forward to collaborating with them, as well as our inspirational colleagues, Board, and partners, to ensure mental health reform is treated as the social justice issue it is, centers those with lived experience at the heart of a movement for change, and is resourced and supported at the levels that it demands.”
To learn more about Fountain House and how it’s transforming the way America sees and treats people impacted by mental illness, visit FountainHouse.org.
Fountain House
Fountain House is a national mental health nonprofit fighting to improve health, increase opportunity, and end social and economic isolation for people living with serious mental illness. Founded in 1948 in New York City, Fountain House originated the clubhouse model of community mental health that has been replicated more than 300 times in nearly 40 U.S. states and in 30 countries around the world.
