Multiple CT Connections on New Panel Focused on Restarting Regional Economy

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Connecticut may have three representatives on the newly appointed 21-member multi-state panel charged by Governors in the region with plotting a course to re-start the economy, but the state may receive an extra boost from members representing other states who have more than a cursory awareness of Connecticut. 

One is a former state Education Commissioner, another leads a highly regarded national nonprofit organization that has provided funding and recognition to Connecticut communities, and a third heads one of the nation’s largest health care organizations which entered into an agreement with three Connecticut hospitals just two years ago.

The seven Governors - Ned Lamont of Connecticut, Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, Phil Murphy of New Jersey, Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania, and John Carney of Delaware - formed the regional council to “restore the economy and get people back to work,” the chief executives announced over the weekend.

Connecticut’s representatives are Indra Nooyi, Co-chair of the nonprofit economic development organization AdvanceCT and former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo; Dr. Albert Ko: Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine and department chair at the Yale School of Public Health; and Paul Mounds, Jr., Chief of Staff for Gov. Lamont and a former vice president of policy and communications for the Connecticut Health Foundation.

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Stefan Pryor, one of Rhode Island’s three members of the multi-state advisory group, serves as Rhode Island’s first Secretary of Commerce. He was appointed by Governor Raimondo in 2015, and oversees and coordinates the State agencies and offices responsible for economic development, business regulation, housing, and workforce development.  He was recruited from Connecticut, where he served as State Education Commissioner (2011-2015) in the administration of Gov. Dannel Malloy. 

Pryor also served for approximately five years as Deputy Mayor and Director of Economic and Housing Development in the City of Newark, NJ, prior to moving to Connecticut.  Pryor is also past President of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), created in the aftermath of September 11th by the State and City of New York to plan and help coordinate the physical rebuilding and economic revitalization of Lower Manhattan including the World Trade Center site. Pryor received his undergraduate and law degrees from Yale University.

The multi-state panel also includes Richard Besser, MD, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and former acting director of the CDC.  The Foundation has long had Connecticut on its radar screen, providing funding to support numerous initiatives in the state through the years, particularly in Bridgeport.

The Park City was selected as one of eight cities nationwide to receive the organization’s Culture of Health Award in 2015, when the Foundation observed that “Bridgeport may be an old city, but from the economy to schools to the environment, it’s finding new ways of doing business around every corner, with better health at the forefront.”  For more than 45 years, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has worked to improve health and health care across the country.

In addition, at least three staff members at RWJF have spent some time in the Nutmeg State.   Alexandra Yudkoff and Meshie Knight are graduates of Trinity College in Hartford, and Knight served as a program and development associate for the Universal Health Care Foundation (UHCF), based in Meriden.  Staffer Mia Sedwick is a University of Hartford graduate.   Lamont appointee Mounds is also a Trinity College graduate.

Michael Dowling, President and CEO of Northwell Health, is one of New York Governor Cuomo’s appointees to the new advisory panel.  Northwell, in 2018, signed an agreement with Danbury-based Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN) to jointly explore developing new clinical programs and services, collaborate in providing population health services, and leverage the expertise of each other's health systems. WCHN operates three hospitals - Danbury Hospital, New Milford Hospital and Norwalk Hospital. Northwell is described as one of the largest health organizations in the country, with 23 hospitals and more than 800 outpatient facilities.

Panel members also include Jeh Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barrack Obama, now a Senior Fellow at The Homeland Security Project at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. 

Each Governor designated their Chief of Staff or a top staff member to be one of their three representatives, in addition to a representative of health/science and business/economic development.  The full panel includes:

Connecticut

  • Dr. Albert Ko: Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine and department chair at the Yale School of Public Health

  • Indra Nooyi: Co-chair of the nonprofit organization AdvanceCT and former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo

  • Paul Mounds, Jr.: Chief of Staff for the Office of Governor Ned Lamont

New York

  • Michael Dowling: President and CEO of Northwell Health

  • Robert Mujica: Director of NYS Division of the Budget

  • Melissa DeRosa: Secretary to Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

Massachusetts

  • Lauren Peters: Undersecretary at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services

  • Michael Kennealy: Secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

  • Kristen Lepore: Chief of Staff for the Office of Governor Charlie Baker

Rhode Island

  • Nicole Alexander-Scott, MD, MPH: Director of the Rhode Island Department of Health

  • Stefan Pryor: Rhode Island Commerce Secretary

  • David Ortiz: Chief of Staff for the Office of Governor Gina Raimondo

New Jersey

  • Dr. Richard Besser: President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Jeh Johnson: Former Secretary of Homeland Security under President Barrack Obama

  • George Helmy: Chief of Staff for the Office of Governor Phil Murphy

Pennsylvania

  • Dr. Rachel Levine: Secretary of the Department of Health

  • Dennis Davin: Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development

  • Michael Brunelle: Chief of Staff for the Office of Governor Tom Wolf

Delaware

  • Dr. Kara Odom Walker: Secretary for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services

  • Kurt Foreman: President and CEO of the Delaware Prosperity Partnership

  • Sheila Grant: Chief of Staff for the Office of Governor John Carney