Joanne Craig, MS, Chief Impact Officer for The Foundation for Delaware County, has nearly 30 years’ experience administering family health programs and has received a range of distinctions for her work, recognition as an Advocate of the Year by Public Citizens for Children and Youth, receiving the Athena Leadership Award from the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce, and the Delaware County Agency Director Award from the United Way of Philadelphia, among others.
Joanne founded the women and children’s services for the Crozer-Keystone Health System nearly 30 years ago. Through this initiative she was able to acquire a highly competitive and prestigious federal Healthy Start grant and renew this grant consecutively every 4-5 years since 1997.
Since the Healthy Start program in Delaware County began being funded twenty-four years ago, the infant mortality and morbidity (IMMR) rate in Chester and the eight municipalities that surround the city, which is where Healthy Start serves, has declined from 23 infant deaths per 1000 live births, to the current rate of 14/1000.
As a result of Joanne’s success in delivering supportive services toward reducing the disparity in Black infant mortality and morbidity rates and improving maternal and birth outcomes in the Chester community, she was invited to establish and run what is now considered one of the most effective Nurse-Family Partnership programs in the state. Joanne has built on this mission by adding numerous programs, such as, Cribs for Kids, the Storks Nest, and El Centro to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking residents in the Chester area.
Joanne’s leadership has led work that has impacted tens of thousands of families in Delaware County. She is considered a thought leader and actively participates in advocating for maternal and child health services, racial equity, policy changes and funding across Pennsylvania including an appointment to serve on the Pennsylvania state Maternal Mortality Review Committee; and on a variety of coalitions like the Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership, and nationally through the National Healthy Start Association and Nurse-Family Partnership Administrators Innovation Committee. Despite her busy career and raising her daughter, Joanne has been active in her service sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and has been an active member of Delaware County advisory committees and boards including the Voices for Children Steering Committee for Delaware County and the Health Care Improvement Foundation board.
