Grant-Blackford Mental Health, Inc. (GBMH) and Family Service Society, Inc.
(FSSI) announced Friday that the organizations are joining in a strategic partnership. Additionally, the GBMH board of directors is pleased to name Lisa Dominisse chief executive officer of the organization effective January 24. Lisa replaces Dr. Marianne DiMatteo who is pursuing a new opportunity outside of Indiana.
“This is an exciting announcement not only for Grant Blackford and Family Service Society, but also for the communities both organizations serve,” said Ruth Ann Masiongale, GBMH board president. “We are excited about the additional impact this partnership and Lisa’s leadership can have to provide the best possible services to the most vulnerable people in our counties.”
Lisa comes to GBMH after serving as FSSI president and CEO since 2015. During this time Lisa has led a number of remarkable initiatives to grow the organization and create a lasting impact on the community, including expanding FSSI’s reach from 14 to 32 counties, strengthening organizational support by increasing fundraising significantly and consistently maintaining a high level of client satisfaction above 90 percent.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for both organizations to do what we do best, and I am thrilled to be part of the team that will be leading this effort,” Dominisse said.
GBMH and FSSI have been closely working with an independent consultant over the past 12 months to assess each organization’s operations and to identify potential partnership opportunities. The process confirmed that a strategic partnership would strongly benefit employees and clients of both organizations as well as the communities they serve.
“This partnership is the result of a lot of hard work by very talented, passionate and committed leaders from both organizations,” DiMatteo said. “Those leaders have been able to take a longterm view of the current – and future – needs of our communities to position this new organization to best serve those behavioral health needs and be even more of a community leader and advocate for those who are most vulnerable and most desperately need support.”
With this partnership, FSSI will become a GBMH subsidiary. This will allow both organizations to join forces while maintaining distinct identities. The partnership will reduce the organizations’ overhead while maximizing their ability to serve the community.
“For more than 100 years Family Service Society, Inc. has been instrumental in supporting the mental and emotional health of families in north and central Indiana. During her tenure Lisa has been a transformational leader at FSSI. With our full support, she is now embarking on a new journey to not only take the helm of GBMH, but also spearhead this promising new partnership between our organizations that preserves the unique qualities and mission of each organization,” said Cindy Fortney, past chairperson of FSSI.
The FSSI board of directors, by unanimous vote, selected Susan Miller to be senior director of FSSI operations. Miller was previously FSSI’s Chief Programs Officer and has been with the organization for more than 12 years. In this new role, Miller will report directly to both the FSSI board and Lisa.
For more information about the partnership, please visit: www.famservices.com/FAQ or www.cornerstone.org/strategicpartnership
