News

Dogwood Health Trust names new vice president for community investment

By Lightning Reports, Published: February 15, 2023

Mark D. Constantine, a well-respected leader and influencer within health philanthropy, will join Dogwood Health Trust as Senior Vice President of Community Investment in mid April 2023, the organization announced.

Constantine joins Dogwood after having served as president and CEO of Richmond Memorial Health Foundation (RMHF) for seven years. RMHF works explicitly to foster an equitable and healthy Richmond region through grantmaking, research, convenings and impact investing.

Constantine holds a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business of Duke University and a Master of Theological Studies degree from Duke Divinity School. He was a 2006/2007 Fellow of the Emerging Leaders Program directed by the Centres for Leadership at Public Values at the University of Cape Town and Duke University.

As Senior Vice President of Community Investment, Constantine will lead Dogwood’s Community Investment Team in the visioning, development and implementation of ambitious program strategies designed to advance strategic initiatives toward Dogwood’s purpose of dramatically improving the health and wellbeing of all people and communities in Western North Carolina. Constantine will help identify and build strategic relationships based on shared objectives with key leaders, community-based organizations, nonprofits and other funders in order to fund bold and innovative upstream strategies that address health disparities and inequity in WNC.

“Mark is a veteran leader within the world of health philanthropy and has a keen understanding of what it means to uphold equity as the standard by which impact is measured,” said Dr. Susan Mims, CEO of Dogwood Health Trust. “A self-professed ‘student of philanthropy’ throughout a long career, Mark combines his deep knowledge and experience with humility, creativity and authenticity that will resonate well in our region. We look forward to his thoughtful and intentional leadership and welcome him to our team.”

“I’m excited, honored and energized at the prospect of joining Dogwood Health Trust and leading the Community Investment Team’s focused work with community and partners,” Constantine said. “I am humbled and eager to work with this incredible team and the people of Western North Carolina.”

While at RMHF, Constantine adopted a five-year Strategic Framework centering the Foundation’s work in health and racial equity. He also worked to align mission and money through impact investing strategies including debt and equity investments in CDFIs, foundation-directed Program Related Investments, and grants to position partners for impact capital.

In addition to his work at RMHF, Constantine has contributed more broadly to health philanthropy through his service as Board Chair of Virginia Funders Network, Co-Chair with Dr. Lauren Powell of the Jeffress Trust Awards Program in Research Advancing Health Equity, and as a faculty member for Grantmakers in Health Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy.

Prior to joining RMHF, Constantine served as Senior Vice President at the Jessie Ball duPont Fund in Jacksonville, Florida, where he directed the Program-Related Investment and affordable housing activities of the Fund. He also served as a Senior Fellow at Foundation for the Mid South.

Constantine has authored two books, Wit and Wisdom: Unleashing the Philanthropic Imagination (2009) and Travelers on the Journey: Pastors Talk about Their Lives and Commitments (2005), as well as the award-winning monograph, “Where Hope and History Rhyme: Reflections and Findings from the MidSouth Commission to Build Philanthropy (2005), and an article, “Making Health Equity Real: Implementing a Commitment to Engage the Community Through Fellowships” (Foundation Review, December 2019).