Today LeadingAge members got a glimpse at what many of us at headquarters in Washington, DC, already know: Roberto Muñiz, President and CEO of Parker Health Group, is going to bring unique passion and experience to his term as the newest Chair of the LeadingAge Board of Directors.

After a moving installation ceremony that his family travelled from New Jersey to attend, Muñiz shared a few thoughts with members about his life’s journey and how it influences his leadership.

“When I was a young boy, I never thought I would amount to anything. My early life was spent feeling like I had no future,” he told the general session’s several thousand attendees.  From his earliest years in Puerto Rico to a rough New Jersey neighborhood as a teen, Muñiz said that his childhood was far from easy. “We were welfare kids…. To make things more complicated, my mom’s health was poor, and very often I needed to take her to the hospital clinic.”

But a number of kind people at the hospital took an interest in Muñiz and implored him to volunteer, and then helped him get a job, and finally to apply to college.

“We are all here because someone invested in us. They believed in us and taught us to believe in ourselves. Now, it’s our turn to pay it forward—to invest in others. It takes a very special and compassionate person to do our work. The question is, how do we invest in them? How do we develop leaders who share our passion for serving others?”

This dedication to our sector and its people will be a powerful force at the helm of our national leadership. All of us at LeadingAge are as inspired by Muñiz as the Annual Meeting attendees were today. We look forward to his leadership and vision for how LeadingAge can be a part of investing in the future of our field.

Join us in welcoming our new Board Chair!