Â鶹ֱ²¥

Ben Wood, MPH

he/him/his

Senior Director, Policy & Practice

Ben Wood is a Senior Director, Policy and Practice at HRiA.

In his role, he supports communities, local and state governments, foundations and others in shifting the narrative of what public health and health care systems prioritize for action with an emphasis on solutions that impact the root causes of health and racial inequities. This work is inclusive of capacity building and direct technical assistance and includes activities such as assessing organizational practices, helping orient programmatic efforts towards policy, systems and environmental changes initiatives and supporting community engagement practices.

Prior to joining HRiA, Ben was the Director of the Division of Community Â鶹ֱ²¥Planning and Engagement for the Massachusetts Department of Public Â鶹ֱ²¥(MDPH). In that role, he worked with communities, state agencies and other stakeholders to increase knowledge of how policies, projects and plans of all kinds impact health and to develop capacity for collaborative community health improvement planning. This work included building capacity for the practice of Â鶹ֱ²¥Impact Assessment and Â鶹ֱ²¥in All Policies; oversight of the Mass in Motion Municipal Wellness and Leadership Program; the development and implementation of tools for the Community Â鶹ֱ²¥Initiative component of the Determination of Need program which influences how hospitals conduct community health planning activities and included oversight of the statewide Community Â鶹ֱ²¥and Healthy Aging Funds, and; oversight of the State Office Rural Â鶹ֱ²¥and Â鶹ֱ²¥Care Workforce Centers. He has significant experience in community health assessment, health improvement planning and policy development. Ben also brings experience in local health having served as the Director of Public Â鶹ֱ²¥for the City of Northampton. He received his MPH from the University of Michigan, School of Public Â鶹ֱ²¥and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College.