Lisha McCormick, Last Mile Health COO
Last Mile Health is thrilled to announce that Lisha McCormick has stepped into the role of Chief Operations Officer.
Lisha McCormick joined Last Mile Health in 2013 as Chief Development Officer, leading our team through a period of tremendous growth. When Lisha first joined the team, Last Mile Health was deploying 14 community health workers to serve 14 communities. As she transitions into the role of Chief Operating Officer in 2017, Last Mile Health is celebrating its 100,000th patient visit, supporting the Government of Liberia to extend lifesaving healthcare to 1.2 million Liberians, and advocating globally for more inclusive health systems and health systems financing.
Reflecting on the last four years with Last Mile Health, Lisha McCormick said, “Any success I have been able to achieve has been because of the virtue of the team and partners that surround me.”
In addition to mobilizing significant support and resources for our mission, she has provided critical strategic leadership during moments of opportunity and moments of crisis, including the Ebola outbreak. Through her work in supporting our country team, she’s helped develop new partnerships with Government of Liberia, USAID, UNICEF, and others through the pioneering National Community Health Assistant Program. She’s also overseen a transformation of our internal operations over the past year, and contributed to our three-year strategic plan to guide our vision of a health worker for everyone, everywhere, every day.
Chief Executive Officer Raj Panjabi said, “I think what I would say about Lisha is two-fold. First, she has a deep passion for this work. At our leadership retreat, we asked staff to share why they do the work that they do. Lisha’s answer to the question was to ‘leave no one behind’. This is someone who is motivated by this belief each and every day, as she has served marginalized populations directly. Second, she puts her heart and spirit into this work. For many in this organization, at our times of greatest vulnerability, we’ve turned to others who we feel are confidantes, but who also can actually lead us. I’ve looked to Lisha as my confidante over the past few years, and I know many others have seen Lisha in the same way.”
Lisha brings to Last Mile Health nearly 20 years of non-profit management experience and expertise in strategic partnerships and planning. Before joining our team, Lisha’s career was principally focused on reducing health care access gaps in the United States. In previous roles, she worked to tailor programs and services to meet the needs of runaway and homeless youth, those living with mental illness, and those combating substance abuse. Lisha ventured into global health in 2010, serving in a management and business development function with community-based healthcare organizations in East Africa. Lisha holds a Master of Public Health from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, a Certificate in Executive Management from Columbia University Business School, and a dual bachelor’s degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Lisha McCormick said, “Having worked in the social impact and development sphere both domestically and internationally for nearly two decades, I’ve never seen an organization that has such extra-ordinary opportunity and potential in front of it. An enormous amount of that is a tribute to the work of our team across different counties and countries, and the focus and aptitude they bring to this work.”
Last Mile Health would not be the organization we are today without Lisha’s leadership. The team congratulates her on an incredible four years with the organization as Chief Development Officer, and looks forward to her tenure as COO.
