Allison Adams, right, will succeed Ben Chandler as CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. (Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky)
After nearly a decade at the helm of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, Ben Chandler is set to retire at the end of 2024.
The foundation announced his plan Thursday and said its current chief operating officer, Allison Adams, will take his place. She will serve as president and CEO starting Jan. 1.
Chandler became CEO of the foundation in 2016 after serving as state attorney general and representing Kentucky’s 6th U.S. Congressional District from 2004 to 2013.
As attorney general from 1995 to 2003, he won a $45 million settlement to compensate the public for charitable assets that were lost in the Anthem and Blue Cross Blue Shield merger. The money from the settlement was used to start the foundation.
Chandler is from Versailles, in Woodford County, where his family publishes The Woodford Sun.
“It has been an incredible experience to lead the Foundation that I helped make possible during my time as an elected official,” Chandler said in a statement. “We have achieved things that many deemed impossible. While I am so proud of what we have accomplished these last eight years, I know there is still much to be done. I have the utmost confidence and trust in the organization’s future with Allison at helm.”
Reducing tobacco use has been a priority for Chandler. He and the foundation advocated for increasing the state tax on cigarettes, which the legislature did in 2018, and for a tobacco-free school campus bill in 2019 that resulted in more school districts adopting tobacco-free campus policies.
Chandler led the foundation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting vaccine confidence through statewide campaigns, event, and research, according to a release from the foundation.
Marianne Smith Edge, chair of the board of directors, said, “The board is grateful to Ben and all that he has done for the foundation over the last eight years. His vision to lead the organization into policy advocacy has resulted in many wins for the health of Kentuckians.”
The new CEO
Adams joined the foundation in September 2020 and served as its vice president for public policy before being named COO in January 2023, according to the foundation.
Before her time at the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, Adams, who is from Maysville, directed the Buffalo Trace District Health Department. She’s also worked as a registered nurse and for the Kentucky Health Department Association.
“I am so honored and thrilled to have been chosen to take the reins of such a dedicated and respected organization,” Adams said in a statement. “It has been a privilege to work with Ben these past four years to address the unmet health needs of Kentuckians. Our state still faces many health challenges, and I will not waiver in my commitment to creating a Commonwealth where every single person has what they need to live a healthy life.”
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