George L. Askew, M.D.

I believe my personal mission is to enhance, preserve, and promote the well-being of those facing the most significant challenges. Throughout my diverse career, I have aimed to do this through a lens of social justice and racial equity, seeking to eliminate unfair disparities in economic, health, and social outcomes based on ableness, gender identity, geography, race, or sexual orientation.

As president & CEO of the Meyer Foundation, I believe that by leveraging the intersection of policy, philanthropy, innovative programming, and community engagement, we will continue to move the Foundation’s vision and mission forward and bring lasting change to core institutional and social structures in our region.

Previously while serving as Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Health, Human Services, and Education in Prince George’s County, Maryland, I became frustrated with the widespread denial of issues of racial inequity and social injustice that were playing out nationally during the earliest stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the County was able to elevate the injustices and make progress toward equity, I also knew from experience that when it comes to issues of racial equity and social justice, our country tends to have a very short memory and not much of a plan for much-needed long-term solutions. The short-term fixes that litter the landscape of social change and transformative policy far outnumber the successful long-lasting shifts in socio-political and power dynamics requisite of long-lasting change. The direction the Meyer Foundation has taken to seek racial equity and justice through building movements within and amplifying the power of communities gives me hope in our ability to bring about lasting change that will be resilient to historical and structural impediments and intersects perfectly with where my career experience and mission have led me. It also speaks to my soul.

I view leading the Foundation at this pivotal moment as a privilege not to be taken for granted. We are in a unique, disruptive, and potentially transformative era. I am confident the Meyer Foundation is on the right path to take advantage of this period and create lasting change.

I joined the Foundation in 2022