Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer Thomas E. Smith Foundation | Remote within Eastern Massachusetts, Massachusetts We are pleased to announce the completion of our search for Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Thomas E. Smith Foundation. From a strong pool of candidates, Sarah E.M. Merrefield has been appointed to this important position. Merrefield assumed the role of Executive Director and COO on March 2024.Sarah brings over fifteen years of experience developing and managing impactful grant programs and community health initiatives. She has held leadership roles at two nationally recognized foundations, including RIZE Massachusetts Foundation, where she led grantmaking endeavors and programmatic strategy, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, known for its impactful initiatives and actionable policy research. There, Sarah directed a portfolio of grants to expand access to health and health care and advance racial justice in health. Sarah was also a member of the community health team at Mass General Brigham, where she managed the Partnership for Community Health, a multi-million-dollar investment in community health centers. She started her career at MDRC, a leading public policy research firm. As part of the program development team, Sarah collaborated with some of the nation’s top philanthropies to build evidence to alleviate poverty. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Chicago School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency training at the University of Pennsylvania.Sarah attended the Tilton School in New Hampshire before earning a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Vermont. She was a recipient of the Barbara Rhodes Memorial Scholarship and the University of Vermont Presidential Scholarship. She is a graduate of LeadBoston, a mid-career, year-long experiential leadership program that focuses on developing inclusive leaders and driving social innovation. Sarah is a Master of Public Health candidate at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.Read the full press release here.This search was led by Kennedy Kearney, with Karson Freeman, Amble Ryan and Nathaniel Rodriguez Sosa.