Amida Care’s Former CEO, Chuck Lief, Gives a TEDx Talk

Chuck Lief shares Amida Care’s story as a community-based HMO that grew out of humble roots in NYC serving HIV/AIDS patients. Amida Care’s unique and holistic model treats the full spectrum of patient needs in addition to medical needs including housing security and poverty. It was the first insurance company to make available a range of alternative therapies from art and dance to yoga and meditation, resulting in dramatic health care outcomes and a strengthened sense of community.

Watch the TEDx Talk:

Chuck Lief is the President of Naropa University, where he previously served as chairman of the board and was a student of Naropa’s founder, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Prior to his current role at Naropa, Chuck led some of the country’s most innovative and successful organizations providing integrated social enterprises and social services, including the Greyston Foundation and Amida Care, which together provided essential housing, health care, and employment to thousands of low-income people in the Northeast. Chuck has served in leadership capacities on the boards of Shambhala International, the Social Enterprise Alliance, the Intervale Center, the Vermont Community Loan Fund, Vermont Works for Women, the Westchester County Housing Commission, the New York State Governor’s AIDS housing task force, and many others. He earned a BA from Brandeis University and a JD from the University of Colorado School of Law.