The Joyce Foundation has appointed Julie Morita, MD, as its new President and CEO. Morita was selected following an extensive national search to replace longtime President and CEO Ellen Alberding, who is stepping down after 22 years in the role. Morita will join the Foundation on October 1.
“I am thrilled and deeply honored to step into the role of President at the Joyce Foundation. It is a tremendous privilege to lead an organization with such a remarkable legacy of positive impact,” Morita said. “I take seriously the responsibility of upholding the Foundation's values and am committed to working closely with the Foundation’s staff, partners, and Board to further its mission and vision.”
As executive vice president at RWJF, Morita has been responsible for all programming, policy, research and communications activities, advancing that organization’s mission of health equity by eliminating barriers to health, including racial discrimination. Before joining RWJF, Morita helped lead the Chicago Department of Public Health for nearly two decades, first as a medical director, then as chief medical officer. In 2015, she was appointed Commissioner of Public Health, overseeing the public health needs of 2.7 million residents in Chicago.
“We could not be more excited about Julie's appointment. In addition to significant, multi-sector leadership experience, she is strategic, compassionate, and deeply committed to racial equity and economic mobility in the Great Lakes region. Under her leadership, the Joyce Foundation will be well-equipped to work with our grantees and partners to meet the challenges of the future,” said Margot Rogers, Chair of the Board of Directors.
Added José Alvarez, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors who led the search committee: "The committee conducted a comprehensive nationwide search. The search was based on criteria that the committee compiled after extensive consultation with stakeholders. Julie’s experience, demeanor, deep roots in the Great Lakes Region, and her passion for the mission of the Foundation helped her exceed our very high expectations for our next leader. She is the ideal candidate to lead the next chapter of the Joyce Foundation.”
Morita was born and raised in Chicago. She is a lifelong advocate of equity issues, deeply influenced by the experience of her parents, Mototsugu and Betty Morita, who were detained in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Having grown up hearing stories about the harsh and unjust treatment her parents, extended family members and thousands of others endured, Morita has used that knowledge and empathy to pursue racial equity and the creation of more just communities in every aspect of her work.
“Julie Morita is one of the nation’s most outstanding public health leaders with a strong commitment to social justice. Her contributions to RWJF’s work, including the development of our strategy to dismantle structural racism as a necessary path to health equity, have been profound and will endure as we work towards a future where health is not a privilege but a right,” said Richard Besser, CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Julie’s focus is always on how to have the greatest impact, create opportunity, and remove barriers to health. I can’t wait to see the impact she has at the Joyce Foundation given her deep roots in Chicago and the Midwest.”
Added outgoing President Alberding, “Julie’s extensive experience working on complex policy issues and her deep commitment to racial equity and other values central to the Foundation’s mission make her an outstanding choice to lead the Foundation forward.”
Morita earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her medical degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine at Chicago. She completed her residency at the University of Minnesota and began her medical career as a pediatrician in Tucson, Ariz., before moving into public health as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (CDC).
Morita has been an advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Academy of Medicine, and numerous state and local public health agencies. Morita is also a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Board of Directors, Advisory Committee to the Director of CDC, and Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin National Advisory Committee.
She is married to William Trick, MD, an internist and co-director & co-founder of the Center for Health Equity & Innovation at Cook County Health. They have two young adult children, Megan and Jake.
About The Joyce Foundation
Joyce is a nonpartisan, private foundation that invests in evidence-informed public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region.