West Palm Beach, Fla.– Palm Health Foundation today announced the election of new officers to serve on its board of trustees. The new leadership brings decades of combined experience in health, community development, law, and philanthropy to guide the foundation’s mission to inspire and fund solutions for better health in Palm Beach County through community collaboration.
Dr. Christine Koehn will serve as board chair. Koehn brings over 20 years of leadership and expertise in facilitating partnerships and community collaboratives, identifying service system issues, and creating and executing funding strategies. She has served as executive director of Achieve Palm Beach County, vice president of community impact for the United Way of Palm Beach County and executive director of The Celia Lipton Farris & Victor W. Farris Foundation. Her extensive experience in driving community impact aligns with the foundation’s vision for all residents to have the opportunity to thrive and reach their full health potential. Koehn and her husband hold philanthropy at the center of their lives, having established the Koehn Family Fund at Palm Health Foundation to support behavioral health and nursing scholarships. Koehn is a North Palm Beach resident and has served on the foundation’s board since 2018.
Frances Fisher has been elected vice chair. She brings more than 30 years of civic leadership to the foundation, including current roles as vice chairman of Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens, Florida State Senate appointee to the Florida Council on Arts & Culture, and vice president of the Board of Directors of H.O.W. (Hearing the Ovarian Cancer Whisper). Fisher began her career as special assistant to the counsel for President George H. W. Bush and as a member of the advance team for First Lady Barbara Bush. She presently serves as trustee and Centennial Chair of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. Fisher has led Palm Health Foundation’s philanthropy committee and demonstrated her commitment to advancing brain health through the Frances Fisher Scholarship Fund for students pursuing careers in mental and behavioral health. Fisher is a Palm Beach, FL, resident and has served on the foundation’s board since 2019.
Nathan Nason, a Palm Beach County native, will serve as treasurer. A shareholder at Nason, Yeager, Gerson, White and Lioce, P.A., Nason has practiced complex commercial litigation and environmental law for over 30 years, procuring numerous multi-million-dollar judgments and settlements. Nason is deeply committed to giving back to the community having volunteered countless hours of community service as a former chairman of the Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the West Palm Beach Rotary Club. His financial acumen and legal expertise will advance Palm Health Foundation’s fiscal stewardship and investments in humanizing health. Nason is a Palm Beach Gardens resident and has served on the foundation’s board since 2017.
Andrea Stephenson Royster has been elected secretary. A native of Palm Beach County, Royster is the CEO of the Health Council of Southeast Florida (HCSEF), focusing on population health planning and community health improvement for this region. She also leads the Lake Okeechobee Rural Health Network (LORHN), which serves to support providers and promote access to quality health services for residents in our rural communities. Royster has dedicated her 30-year career to efforts that catalyze the fullest potential of communities through emphasizing grassroots engagement and cross-sector collaboration. She also embraces the opportunity to give back, with an especially deep commitment to advocating for and serving vulnerable populations. She will lean in on her experience as she also chairs the foundation’s Community Investment Committee. Ms. Royster is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives (FACHE) and a fellow with the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). Ms. Royster has proudly served on the foundation’s board since 2015.
“We are honored to have such distinguished leaders guiding Palm Health Foundation during this important time as we continue to build a culture of health for lifelong wellbeing, convene local and national partners to advance our vision for the Brain Coast , and strengthen health professionals and quality of care,” said Palm Health Foundation President and CEO Patrick McNamara. “Their collective expertise and deep commitment to our community are invaluable as we continue our work to co-create solutions with residents and invest in promising initiatives toward better health for Palm Beach County.”
