UHF is proud to present the 2024 Health Care Leadership Award to Margaret Crotty and Rory Riggs, for their important work at the intersection of health care, public health, and biotechnology
“We are only as healthy as the least healthy among us."
This ethos is always top of mind for Margaret Crotty and has been a driving force during her 30-year career as an influential leader in education, humanitarian aid and development, technology, and public health.
In her most recent role as the CEO and president of JSI, one of the largest international non-governmental organizations, she oversees more than 4,700 staff in over 40 countries to advance health supply chain programs, data and digital transformation, global health security, maternal and child health, and infectious disease control.
“My role,” she says, “has hopefully always been to listen to the people on the front lines, and then make sure they have what they need to make this impact. Often this includes access to data and power to make decisions.”
Margaret has been doing just that at JSI, as she did in her previous roles as CEO of the New York City-based Partnership with Children, which provides community health and school-based behavioral health services across the city; as president and CEO of AFS-USA Intercultural Programs; and at Save the Children, where she launched and led the organization’s flagship $2 billion initiative to reduce global child and maternal mortality.
Now, she’s also supporting front-line workers as the chair of the Northwell Health Board of Trustees. “The patient experience depends not just on excellent science and clinical expertise, but also on the collaboration of every team member who works for the health system.”
At Northwell, New York state’s largest employer and its largest health care system, supporting the front lines is a key priority.
And Margaret thinks about redefining what the front lines are.
“Community organizations and community partners are the front lines as much in New York, as in every country where JSI works. And we need to ask ourselves: are we listening to their needs? And are we shifting power to them to drive the agenda?”
Margaret’s husband, Rory Riggs, shares her commitment to finding sustainable solutions to complex problems in health care. As an executive, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist in the worlds of biotechnology and health care, he has been the co-founder, chairman, and director of cutting-edge companies, including Royalty Pharma, Fibrogen, Sugen, GeneNews, and Cibus.
Rory sums up his consequential career as “finding really interesting technologies that are making changes in health care.” What makes him most proud is that each of these technologies “has made a material change.” For example, at Sugen, it was the first kinase-based cancer therapeutic solution. At Biomatrix Inc., it was pioneering Synvisc as a biological device to ease knee pain caused by osteoarthritis.
At Cibus, he is overseeing the development of proprietary gene-editing technologies to develop plant traits in seeds. “To move on from GMO technology,” he explains, “and make changes that are indistinguishable from what happens in nature.”
The upshot? These technologies can help mitigate climate change effects, making agriculture more sustainable and efficient, Rory says. “So, your crops are more efficient, and we have lowered the use of chemicals in the global food supply.”
Margaret’s diverse career also includes leading roles in the private sector, including seven years at EF Education and a stint at McKinsey & Co. in Indonesia. In addition to Northwell, her other volunteer leadership roles include board service at Open Medical Institute, City University School of Public Health, ACCESS Health International, and United Hospital Fund.
In all these positions, she’s clear-eyed about her role and her goals.
“It’s about how you want to show up in the world, which also means acknowledging our privilege,” she says. “What ties my work together is an effort to define, measure, and address disparities in health and education access and outcomes. And to make even a small dent, we must recognize the roles of oppressive policies, and we must shift power to advance equity.”
Margaret and Rory have made more than a dent over three decades supporting solutions for those who need them most.
For a sustained commitment to equity and to tackling complex challenges in health and health care, United Hospital Fund is proud to present Margaret Crotty and Rory Riggs with its 2024 Health Care Leadership Award.
