A nationally recognized, highly accomplished leader, business innovator, author, and strategic advocate for value creation in health and education, Dr. Ruth C. Browne is the President and CEO of Ronald McDonald House New York (RMH-NY). Her expertise and innovative approach, developed during her nearly 20 years as a CEO in the nonprofit healthcare sector, inform her perspective in shaping organizational vision, to create competitively superior programs and services across stakeholders. Dr. Browne brings progressively responsible C-Suite and board level experience in governance, digital transformation, DEI, talent acquisition, change management, and revenue generation.
An experienced Director of public sector and non-profit boards with more than 20 years of Board-level community involvement, she is skilled at negotiating complex partnerships and currently serves on several advisory Boards. Her expertise has been leveraged on Hospital Boards transitioning out of receivership and becoming independent, leading search committee, driving audit committees, evaluating executive leaders, addressing private and reimbursement compliance while providing fiduciary oversight for $100million budgets. She is a skilled architect in the development of academic, public/private, community and government partnerships as a leader and Board member.
In her current role at RMH-NY, Dr. Bowne is at the helm of driving the strategic direction of the organization while building and leading high performing executive teams. Prior to joining RMH-NY, Dr. Browne was the CEO of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH), a best practice catalyst for interventions that advance health and educational equity solutions for culturally diverse populations locally, nationally, and internationally.
Her approach to leadership and Board engagement has resulted in numerous wins, including sustainability models and plans, development, and funding in excess of $117.4 million in her role as CEO across two organizations. Her crisis management experience from the height of the AIDS crisis through the recent COVID-19 pandemic, has solidified her balanced approach to successfully navigate through change and drive from a sustainability point of view.
Throughout her career, Dr. Browne has counseled Policymakers, Legislators, CEOs, and C-Suite executives while devoting considerable time and energy to mentoring future leaders in strategy, business development, operations, and fiscal performance. She has been purposeful in creating cultures defined by diversity, equity, and inclusiveness in organizations. She also works with nonprofit groups and an extensive global professional network to address critical societal needs, both organizational and philanthropic, excelling at transforming health care to increase stakeholder value.
Dr. Browne earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton University, a Master of Public Health and Master of Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and a Doctor of Science from Harvard University School of Public Health. She studied, lectured, and worked at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and Trinidad, taught at the Braun School of Public Health at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and maintains faculty appointments at three professional schools at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Browne is the recipient of two Fulbright Scholar Awards and in 2023 she was appointed Visiting Research Professor at Cornell University's College of Human Ecology.