Andrea L. DeMeo Named ‘Community Champion’
Andrea L. DeMeo Named ‘Community Champion’
Andrea L. DeMeo
The awards will be presented by the Rochester Business Journal and the United Way of Greater Rochester at their Oct. 18 luncheon at the Hyatt Regency.
“The Greater Rochester Award winners are a testament to the caring and compassion of local leaders, and we are thrilled that Andrea has been recognized with this special honor,” said URMC Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter Robinson, who nominated DeMeo. “Through her leadership and collaboration with our many community partners, she has helped find truly innovative and inspirational ways to better the lives of so many.”
Center for Community Health Director Nancy M. Bennett, M.D., added, “I am enormously impressed by Andrea’s work in the community and at the Center for Community Health. She is indeed a champion for Rochester and the community is the better for it.”
DeMeo has served as chairman and treasurer of the Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service Board of Directors, a member of the Junior Achievement Board of Directors, and member of the E. Philip Saunders College of Business Deans Advisory Council. She also has served as a volunteer for Creating Assets, Savings and Hope (C.A.S.H), which helps low-income workers make the most of their money and build stronger financial futures. Currently, she is active as a volunteer director for the YMCA of Greater Rochester, the American Red Cross-Greater Rochester Chapter, and the Greater Rochester United Way’s Community Campaign and Community Investment Cabinets.
Before joining the Center for Community Health (CCH), DeMeo served as director, vice president and chief operating officer for Visiting Nurse Service of Monroe County. Since 2006, under the direction and leadership of Bennett and DeMeo, the CCH has provided infrastructure for the community health mission of the University of Rochester Medical Center by supporting faculty and staff in developing effective community-based programs and building stronger ties between the Medical Center and the community. Initiatives to improve health and reduce health disparities in the Rochester community have brought extramural support in the amount of $5.6 million per year to the community and its faculty/staff base has grown from 16 to 66.
DeMeo has directed the University of Rochester’s annual United Way campaigns since 2006, annually raising more than $1 million for community programs. In 2008, the United Way recognized her leadership and significant contributions by awarding her the Richard P. Miller Sr. Award, named in honor of the second president of the local United Way.
In 2011, DeMeo and University of Rochester President Joel Seligman were honored with the United Way Chairperson’s Award in recognition of the University’s surpassing its fundraising goal of $1.3 million by more than $112,000.
DeMeo also was named a “Woman of Distinction” by the 2010 New York State Senate in recognition of “women who make our world and lives better.”
* The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Rochester Medical Center
