Dr. Keith B. Churchwell has made an extraordinary impact on your Symphony and the New Haven community through his leadership and board service. Dr. Churchwell served as President of Yale New Haven Hospital/Executive Vice President of Yale New Haven Health for three years from 2020 – 2023. He has held the previous positions of Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President and Executive Director for Heart & Vascular Services, Transplantation Services, and Clinical Service Coordinator for the Department of Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital here in New Haven.

He sits on several local boards in the New Haven area including the New Haven Symphony Board (President), Columbus House, and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. He previously served on the board of New England Donor Services from 2019-2021.

Dr. Churchwell was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, and obtained his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine. He spent his formative training years at Emory University Medical School and Affiliated Hospitals, with a chief residency year at Grady Memorial Hospital, and completing a cardiology residency in 1994. He spent 12 years in private cardiology practice before joining Vanderbilt Medical School as a member of their full-time academic faculty in 2006 (he became a became a member of the clinical faculty at Vanderbilt in 1999).

At Vanderbilt, Dr. Churchwell was an Associate Professor of Medicine and Radiology and the Executive Director/Chief Medical officer of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute from 2009-2014. He currently serves on the National Board of the American Heart Association and is the former Chair of their National Advocacy Committee. He is the President-Elect for American Heart Association with his tenure beginning in July 2024.

New Haven Promise is a scholarship and support program designed to promote college access, college success and career and civic launch of New Haven’s youth in the city and Greater New Haven. New Haven Promise’s mission is to build a culture in the public schools in which students aspire to attend and graduate from college; to provide financial support for those students; and to facilitate their return to live, work, and serve in the greater New Haven community. New Haven Promise envisions a community where all young people gain the education and experience required to function productively in a knowledge-based economy.

In 11 years, New Haven Promise has provided $29 million in scholarships to 2,300 New Haven students attending colleges and funded over 1,000 Bachelors degrees. In addition, Promise Scholars have been in more than 1,200 paid summer internships and entry-level positions.

Honda Smith is a lifelong resident of the City of New Haven. At the early age of 16, Honda was first introduced to the world of politics by her brother who worked for U.S. Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro’s campaign office as a field representative. From that moment she realized that she had an affinity for civil and political change.

In 1997 Honda moved into the West Rock community by purchasing her first home and was quickly enlisted into community service. She was named to the Board of Directors for the West Hills Neighborhood Corporation which was housed in the Valley Street property affectionately known as “The Shack”. Shortly thereafter, she became the President of the board. When the corporation closed Honda was asked to run for Ward Co-Chair and held the position for almost ten years. In 2014 Honda was asked to take on a much more challenging task and accepted the position of running the 10th District election as the Field Operations Director for the first Harp Mayoral campaign; her efforts were reflected in the win for Mayor Harp becoming the first woman Mayor of the City of New Haven. Honda’s political expertise has also been demonstrated in delivering the vote for the Obama campaign and a variety of local state campaigns including several state senators, representatives, and the campaign of Governor Ned Lamont.

Honda loves her community and has dedicated herself to the residents by working to make it a better neighborhood in which to live, work and play. She has served on the board of directors for the Crossroads, Inc., formerly located on East Ramsdell Street. She also worked to provide the residents with resources and advocacy through the creation and founding of a variety of organizations and youth programs such as The Concerned Citizens of West Hills/West Rock; H.O.L.L.A. (Helping Our Ladies Learn and Achieve) mentoring program for girls; W.R.A.P. (West Rock Arts Program).

Honda has worked with the Mayor’s Beautification Project by collaborating with other residents in the West Hills/West Rock neighborhood to produce a clean, green, and beautiful city. This program gave formerly incarcerated residents the opportunity to perform community service work through the City’s Department of Public Works in order to qualify for re-entry and open the doors for a second chance at a productive life. For many years Honda worked to diffuse the criminal activity in the ward which resulted in her serving as the President and Youth Representative of the West Rock Implementation Committee (W.R.I.C.). She led a group of residents from the ward in the venture to rebuild the Brookside, Rockview areas of the ward and present residents with a place to call home which they could be proud of; this project included the development of additional senior housing known as Wilmot Crossing which is the flagship building that houses a neighborhood store that sells fresh produce and hot foods as well as a branch of the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center This project also led to historical events, namely the program that produced first time home owners on the New Haven/Hamden line and the demolition of the fence that separated the two communities for more than 40 years.

Her strong belief in family values led to her signature program known as the Winter Wonderland. This program was started to give the children of the 30th Ward a special Christmas by providing gifts for the holiday. The program received city wide notice and Honda was asked to take the program city wide. Annually over 2000 children from the West Hills/West Rock community and beyond were served before the program went city-wide. The program has been extremely successful is the largest holiday celebration ever serving children and families from all over the city and beyond the city limits; Honda gets such joy to see the faces of the youth served when they realize that this program brings “Hollywood to the Hood” and children can experience their own personal Toy Story when they came to this event. As the Winter Wonderland took on an identity of its own an additional component of the program was added to enable families to receive a hot meal served by volunteers from many organizations, churches, and agencies in the state. In 2023 Honda served families in the local homeless and domestic violence shelters.

Honda Smith wanted to inspire her neighbors to develop love for their community by presenting a platform of hope by demonstrating that the neighborhood’s leadership is responsible for caring for the individual resident as well as fighting for the community. She began her service as a member of the board of aldermen in the City of New Haven in 2019 in Ward 30. She wanted to work for the community and hold the city accountable and make sure that the voices of the residents are heard in City Hall. Bringing respect and dignity back to her ward was her mission; she wished to provide opportunities for residents to become mentors, organizers of charitable event, and better neighbors for the good of all. Her platform for alder was the youth and seniors in her neighborhood and she has delivered that promise.

On a personal note, Honda is the mother to Shenelle and the grandmother to Jamire and Maeson but is really the mother to all children in the area. Honda worked for the Parks Department and retired from the Department of Public Works after 30 years of impeccable service. Honda Smith was the New Haven Independent New Havener of the year in December 2022 and as Maya McFadden wrote, “Honda Smith made a promise to herself and to her West Hills neighbors that, after retiring from three decades of working for the city, she would find a way to keep serving her neighborhood.” She certainly has delivered this promise and more. Honda could be home resting after her lifetime of service but can be found each day at The Shack taking care of her community.