Kate O’Neil, an advocate for women’s mental health, has joined McLean’s Board of Trustees.
A long-time McLean volunteer, she has served on the McLean National Council, the Board of Visitors, and the Women’s Mental Health Leadership Council.
O’Neil came to know McLean when a loved one was treated at the hospital for anxiety.
“I feel indebted to McLean for helping our family through a difficult period,” she said.
“I have come to know members of the staff through this experience as well as through serving the hospital in a volunteer capacity. I have never encountered a more dedicated group of professionals. They are called upon to wear many different hats, yet are still able to make an enormous difference in people’s lives.”
In addition to women’s mental health, O’Neil is also interested in adolescent mental health and digital technologies, which she believes have the potential to address shortages of clinicians.
She’s concerned about the dramatic increase in adolescent mental health needs and would like to see McLean reach more young people.
Finally, she sees potential in commercializing some of the hospital’s intellectual property—something she worked on with the hospital’s women’s mental health executive team—to impact standards of care and generate new sources of revenue.
“Kate brings an impressive breadth and depth of professional and board experience to McLean,” said Board Chair Carol Vallone.
“Early in her career, she worked exclusively with endowed institutions, focusing on investment and financial planning. That background will be invaluable to the board and to the hospital.”
O’Neil has spent most of her career in the private capital investment arena. She was a partner at FLAG Capital Management, a venture capital and private equity fund-of-funds manager, and a director at Bain Capital, where she focused on private equity and had oversight of the investment advisory industry on a global basis.
Her experience also includes investment consulting at Cambridge Associates as well as investment banking and economic consulting.
She currently serves as a director of Franklin Street Properties, a publicly traded real estate investment trust.
O’Neil has extensive experience serving on non-profit boards, playing an integral role in the oversight of investment portfolios, financial planning, and risk management.
She is a member of the board of directors of the Peabody Essex Museum and Horizons for Homeless Children, and a trustee emeritus of Colby College.
She received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA with distinction in economics from Colby College, where she graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa.
She resides on the north shore of Massachusetts with her husband where they raised their two adult children.
Media Requests
Journalist or member of the media? We are available 24/7 for media requests.
