The Health Foundation for Western and Central New York is pleased to announce that Cheryl Smith Fisher has been named chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Ms. Fisher joined the board in 2014 and was elected vice chair in 2018.
“The Health Foundation continues to make high-impact investments in programs and organizations that are improving the health and wellness of our community,” said Ms. Fisher. “I look forward to sustaining—and expanding—our important work on behalf of older adults and children affected by poverty.”
Ms. Fisher is counsel to the Buffalo-based law firm Magavern Magavern Grimm LLP, where she practices in the areas of employment law and professional responsibility and is Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York. She formerly served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of New York.
“We are thrilled that Cheryl will continue her leadership with the Foundation, helping to ensure that people and communities have what they need to make good health decisions and are supported by high quality, appropriate health care,” said Nora OBrien-Suric, PhD, President of the Health Foundation. “She is a long-standing and effective advocate for the people of Western and Central New York.”
Ms. Fisher has chaired the boards of Lord of Life Child and Adult Day Care Center and CMH Counseling and serves on the Board of Resurrection Village. A past chair of the board of directors of Child and Family Services of Erie County, Inc., in 2000, she received that board’s John N. Walsh Jr. Board Appreciation Award for commitment to strengthening family life in western New York.
Ms. Fisher is a past chair of the Committee on Character and Fitness, Eighth Judicial District and was formerly co-chair of the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics. She has served as vice president of the New York State Bar Association and member of the Executive Committee and House of Delegates. She is also a member of the Women’s Bar Association. Ms. Fisher has been a presenter at many Continuing Legal Education programs in the areas of Ethics, Not-for-Profit Law, Commercial and Employment Law.
A resident of Buffalo, NY, Ms. Fisher graduated cum laude from State University of New York at Oswego and cum laude from University at Buffalo Law School, where she taught research and writing.
