July 1, 2023, will mark my 28th anniversary as President of Seven Hills Foundation and my 50th year as a healthcare leader. I’ve decided it’s time to begin to transition my role to the next generation of leadership. I have thought long and hard about this, and while it is still surreal to write, I have decided to retire on June 30, 2023. That is just about six months from today. 

Honestly, it’s very hard to retire from an organization where I’ve spent a good part of my life nourishing and growing for 28 years. As the first President / CEO of Seven Hills Foundation, I’ve often explained my relationship with our organization with a parent–child metaphor. As a ‘parent,’ I have always loved Seven Hills with all of my heart. I have done my best to instill strong values, a clear sense of higher purpose, and a loving culture that allows the company and all of our affiliates, staff members, clients, students, patients, and other stakeholders to flourish. All ‘parents’ reach a time when they must let go and trust that the values imparted will live on. That time has nearly come for Seven Hills Foundation and me. 

Next July 2023, I’ll be ready to pursue some of my life’s other passions. First, as “President Emeritus” of Seven Hills, I will remain deeply connected in directing our Seven Hills Global Outreach (SHGO) affiliate and the work we do in 8 poor nations around the globe. Since I founded our international affiliate in 2009, SHGO continues to support the poorest of the poor – over 20,000 women and children in countries across Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America building schools, medical clinics, clean water wells, and offering micro-loans to desperately poor women wishing to start small businesses and support their children. Secondly, as many of you are aware, we’ve just acquired our newest program, Crotched Mountain School, a program of our newest affiliate, Seven Hills New Hampshire. Our work to rebuild the 125-acre campus, school, and residences – and the clinical services for the children – has just begun as of November 19. From 1985-1995, before coming to Seven Hills Foundation (named the Worcester Area ARC at the time), I served as President of Crotched Mountain. Twenty-eight years later, I was asked if we could take this iconic New England organization back under our Seven Hills wing. This is a fascinating transition to the arc of my career in that the two organizations that have most shaped my professional life – Crotched Mountain and Seven Hills – are now united as one. I will commit the next five years of my life to rebuilding Crotched Mountain School. I will be “on the mountain” every week, extending my passion and energy toward returning Crotched Mountain to the organization it once was. I am not “leaving” Seven Hills but rather stepping aside so that our next President / CEO can continue to write our collective story while I continue our work at Seven Hills Global Outreach and Crotched Mountain School. 

Reflecting on our organization’s history and impact on the world, I am inspired, exceptionally proud, and somewhat overwhelmed. We’ve grown from a $7 million organization employing 200 people and serving 250 individuals in 1995 to a $400 million company comprised of 15 separate affiliates employing 4700 co-workers at 235 locations, serving over 60,000 individuals. The success of Seven Hills Foundation has created tremendous value for all of our stakeholders, including our patients, clients, students, staff members, families, and the communities in which we’re located – both in New England and abroad. Working together, we have helped tens of thousands of people live healthier lives and grow to achieve their potential. It is not an exaggeration to say that Seven Hills Foundation has impacted the entire human services system very positively and how colleagues and competing organizations operate. We have created a unique culture that has led us to become one of the largest, most comprehensive health and human services organizations in America. I am very proud of the role we have played in advancing how children and adults with significant life challenges are valued and dignified. I’m also proud of the many smaller organizations who have – over these past two decades – became part of the Seven Hills family as affiliates advancing our work in behavioral health, brain injury, pediatric medical care, juvenile justice and treatment, child care, the arts, developmental disabilities, and a host of other disciplines, which together impact so many lives each year. 

Many people go their entire lives without ever discovering their higher purpose, but I was lucky enough to discover mine back in 1970 when I was a freshman at the University of Rhode Island, volunteering to lead a boy scout troop of developmentally challenged boys at a state-run institution. There, I met a 9-year-old named Bruce, and over the next four years, this little boy changed my life entirely. He awakened in me a desire to take my business training and work with people in need. My consciousness was set ablaze, and I began discovering what I was called to do in this life. I have been fortunate to live in such a fulfilling way – all due to the lessons a small child with significant disabilities taught me. 

Words cannot express how deeply grateful I am for your partnership on this incredible journey and how much I love this organization – and all of you. I may be retiring six months from now, but so long as I am still alive, I will remain connected to Seven Hills and do all I can to help us all continue to flourish.

I love you all very much and wish you great health and happiness – now and in the years ahead.

Dr. David A. Jordan, President