Civic and Public Health Leader Michael Curry to Deliver Curry College Commencement Address

Michael Curry, Esq., CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, and a prominent civic and public health leader, will be the 2022 Curry College Commencement speaker and receive an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from the College on Sunday, May 22, 2022.

“Michael Curry is a proven leader in both healthcare and matters of equity,” said Curry College President Kenneth K. Quigley, Jr. “He has led a life of achievement and service to communities throughout Massachusetts. Curry College is proud to welcome him to our family of Honorary Degree recipients, and grateful for the message he will deliver to our graduates and their families.”

The Mass League promotes population health equity for all through leadership and programs supporting community health centers and members in achieving their goals of accessible, quality, comprehensive, and community responsive health care. The nonprofit represents 52 health centers, serving over one million patients out of over 314 practice sites throughout the state. In 2021, Mr. Curry received the Massachusetts Public Health Association’s Paul Revere Award, which recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to achieving health equity in Massachusetts.

Mr. Curry serves on both the City of Boston’s COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force and the Massachusetts Public Health Association’s Task Force on Coronavirus & Equity, and coordinated the community health center response to the pandemic, in conjunction with the state Attorney General’s Office, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, and various municipalities and partners. He also serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, and the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network.

Mr. Curry also served on the health care transition teams for former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and was involved in the passage of Massachusetts Health Reform and the Affordable Care Act.

Mr. Curry is the past president of the Boston Branch of the NAACP (2011-2016) and has over 20 years of dedicated service to the NAACP at the city, state, and national levels. He was elected to the National NAACP Board of Directors in 2014 and reelected twice in 2017 and 2020. He now serves as Chair of the National Board’s Advocacy & Policy Committee and as Vice-Chair the Political Action and Legislation Committee.

Mr. Curry previously served as Deputy CEO & General Counsel for the Mass League. Prior to joining the League in 2008, Mr. Curry worked for 16 years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, most of that time as Senior Policy Advisor in the Corporate Affairs Division, which included government, public, internal, and community affairs.

Mr. Curry earned a Bachelor of Arts from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from New England Law Boston, and graduated from the inaugural class of the Executive Leadership Council’s Pipeline to Leadership Program.

Curry College’s 2022 Commencement ceremony will be held at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts with other weekend ceremonies and events taking place on Curry College’s Milton campus.