Board of Trustees

Vital Strategies Board of Trustees provides invaluable leadership as advisors, stewards and champions. Their thoughtful oversight has help to steer Vital through its rapid expansion in recent years, as the organization launched a rapid, sustained response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and mostly recently, through a participatory process to develop Vital’s strategic plan for the next five years.

The 20-member board’s role is to:

• Identify and develop financial resources for the organization;
• Oversee Vital’s relationships with other institutions, the private sector, government bodies and the media;
• Determine the long-range allocation of resources, together with Vital’s president and CEO, in the context of the needs and expectations of the organization and obligations to donors, partners, key constituents and society.

The Board of Trustees’ main work is carried out by its committees. An executive committee is empowered to act on behalf of all of the trustees between quarterly meetings of the full board.

Bruce Mandell, who joined the board in 2008, began his term as board chair in 2023, stepping into the role following the tenure of Louis James “Jimmy” de Viel Castel, Vital Strategies’ Board Chair since 2007.

“Vital Strategies is building a future where the many facets of public health and the protections it affords are better understood and supported,” Mandell said. “As Board Chair, I look forward to working with my fellow trustees to advance our critical mission and champion the importance of health equity and strong public health systems around the world.”

Mandell is President of Data-Mail, Inc., a family-owned business founded in 1971 and one of the nation’s largest direct marketing, print and production facilities. He is also Chairman and Majority Owner of Hartford Athletic, a professional men’s soccer club that plays out of Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford, Connecticut. Prior to joining Data-Mail, Mr. Mandell practiced corporate law in Manhattan after receiving a J.D. from Georgetown University and his B.A. from Tufts University.

Executive Committee 

Board Members