Our Story

Richard Safeer, MD

Richard Safeer earned his medical degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo.  He is currently Chief Medical Director, Employee Health and Well-being at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Dr. Safeer leads the Healthy at Hopkins employee health and well-being strategy and advises the institution on matters related to employee health and well-being, including health plan benefits, occupational health and employee assistance programs.

Dr. Safeer is also an assistant professor of General Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. He also teaches in the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Safeer currently sees patients in the Johns Hopkins Hospital Pediatric Cardiology department.

Dr. Safeer has authored many journal articles and spoken nationally on topics within the health and well-being sphere. He has earned fellowship status in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), American College of Preventive Medicine and the American Academy of Family Physicians.   He also previously served on the board of directors of the ACLM.

Dr. Safeer enjoys almost all outdoor activities including hiking, biking and tennis.  He lives in Columbia Maryland with his wife and three kids. You can follow Dr. Safeer on Twitter @RichardSafeer.

Judd Allen, PhD

Judd Allen earned his PhD in community psychology from New York University. In addition to serving as president of the Human Resources Institute, Judd serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Judd has authored more than 50 books, journal articles, training manuals and software titles. His most recent books are 103 Challenges for Manager-Led Wellness, Leading for Purpose, The Cultural Analysis Toolkit, The Social Climate Toolkit, Kitchen Table Talks for Wellness, Bringing Wellness Home, Wellness Leadership and Healthy Habits, Helpful Friends. He is also the author of the Lifegain Wellness Culture Survey, and the Work Climate Survey. His movie credits include With a Little Help from My Friends, Wellness Mentor Training, Wellness Leadership and Working Well. 

Judd is a regular speaker at national and regional conferences. Judd has assisted hundreds of government, business and community organizations in bringing about lasting and positive culture change. He has served as a senior research analyst at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, on the board of directors of the National Wellness Institute and on the Vermont Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sports. He has also served on the faculties of New York University, Cornell University Medical College, Johnson State College and Nebraska Methodist College.

Judd has completed more than 30 New York City Marathons, multiple Ironman distance triathlons and long distance cross-country ski races. He lives in Burlington, Vermont and Montreal, Quebec.

Albert Hejin Company, Brussels, Belgium
Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
American Can Company
Ballantine Books
Bally’s
Bell Associates
B.F. Goodrich Aerospace
Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Hampshire
Central States Health & Life Company
Charles Beseler Company
Ciba-Geigy Corporation
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company Foods Division
Courtesy Drugs
Crowell, Collier, & Macmillan, Inc.
D’Agostino Supermarkets
Esso Research and Engineering
Exxon
Federal Electric Corporation (Subsidiary of ITT)
Ford Microelectronics (Subsidiary of Ford Motor Company)
Global Copper and Brass
Giant Foods
Georgia-Pacific
Good Deal Supermarkets
Grande Bazaar, Munich, W. Germany
Graham-White Manufacturing Company
The Grand Union Company
Great Eastern Food Markets
Great River Energy
H. C. Bohack Company
Haskins & Sells
Herr’s
Hills Company
Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc.
Hy-Vee Food Stores
International Nickel Company of Canada, Ltd.
Interstate Computer Services, Inc.
Irwin Management Co., Inc.
John Alden Life Insurance Company
Johnson & Johnson
Kawasaki Motors

Alexian Brothers Health System, Inc.
Bon Secours Health System, Inc.
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont
Centretown Community Health Centre
Catholic Health Association
Catholic Health Corporation
Central Kansas Medical Center
Centura Health
Clarkson Hospital
Concordia Health Plans
Daniel Freeman Hospital
Exeter Hospital
Fletcher Allen Health Care
FloridaBlue
Florida Hospital
Healthtrax Fitness & Wellness

Kaiser Permenente
Kootenai Medical Center
Lovelace Health System
Mercy Healthcare, Inc.
Moorings Park, Inc.
Montefiore Health System
Presbyterian Healthcare Services
Sandy Hill Community Health Centre
Share Health Plan of Nebraska
Southwest Medical Center
St. Alexius Medical Center
St. John’s Regional Medical Center
St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center
St. Joseph Mental Health
St. Mary’s Hospital
Swedish Medical Center
Tanner Medical Center
University of Michigan Medical Center

AFL-CIO Joint Labor Council of NY and NJ
Chicago and Illinois Restaurant Association
Health Enhancement Research Organization
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans
National Education Association
National Retail Merchants Association
National Wellness Institute
New Jersey Education Association
New Jersey Welfare Council

New York State Food Merchants Association
New York City Central Labor Council
New York State Teachers Association
Philadelphia Teachers Association
Super Market Institute
United States Chamber of Commerce
United States Brewers Association
Wellness Councils of America
Wellness Councils of the Midlands

Arlington County, Virginia
Burlington, Vermont
Cincinnati, Ohio, Chamber of Commerce
Canadian Armed Forces
Charlotte, North Carolina
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Hennepin County, Minnesota
Kalamazoo, Michigan

Macon, Georgia
Newark, New Jersey
New Ulm, Minnesota
Plainfield, New Jersey
Social Service of Commerce Brazil (SESC)
Sitka, Alaska
Tampa, Florida
US Social Security Administration
Vallejo, California
Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust

The Healthy Culture Research and Education Foundation

The Healthy Culture Research and Education Foundation seeks to fund research that demonstrates the impact of interventions designed to create healthy cultures at work, among friends, at home and in the community. The foundation will support research that addresses any or all of the following dimensions of cultural support:

• Well-being Leadership: Enhancing the roles of executives, managers, and well-being champions in supporting healthy lifestyles.
• Shared Well-being Values: Establishing healthy behavior as a top priority within the setting.
• Well-being Norms: Making healthy behavior accepted and expected within the setting (“the way we do things around here”).
• Cultural Touch Points: Aligning informal and formal policies and practices with well-being. These policies and practices include (but are not limited to) training, rewards, modeling, traditions, and communication.
• Peer Support: Improving the quantity and quality of mutual assistance for achieving healthy behavior goals among coworkers, family, friends and other community members.
• Social Climate: Using wellness programming as a mechanism for increasing the sense of community, shared vision and positive outlook within a setting.

We seek research that tests the belief that cultural environments play an important role in achieving and maintaining healthy lifestyles. It is proposed that cultural influences can:

• Reach people who might not otherwise participate in well-being programs.
• Help people to maintain healthy behavior and to not adopt new unhealthy behavior.
• Increase success rates among people pursuing long-term lifestyle changes.

We will fund research that uses group settings (households, individual departments or workgroups, organizations, or communities) as the unit of analysis. Outcome research based on case studies is acceptable. The fund will make standardized measures available for inclusion in the research. However, researchers are welcome to use other culture measures that may be better suited to assess the impact of their intervention.

Research results must be made available for publication.

Award Size: $10,000 – $25,000. (Anticipated total annual awards: $50,000.)

To apply or to get further information, contact us at [email protected] or by calling us in Vermont at (802) 862-8855.