Page 50 - BusinessWest November 9, 2020
P. 50

Women
IMPACT
Women of IMPACTA PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
 A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST Women of Women of IMPACT
 IMPACT
WOMEN WOMENof Impact
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of ImpactWomen of A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of IMPACT
IMPACT
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Women of Sue Stubbs
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
Women of IMPACT
IMPACT
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
President and
CEO, ServiceNet
A PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST
  She’s Grown
Her Agency by Recognizing Needs and Welcoming New Ideas
SBy Joseph Bednar
ue Stubbs has always thought like an
entrepreneur.
“Even as a kid, I was thinking about
business opportunities,” she said,
recalling that, during her studies at Northeastern University, she’d walk through Boston’s Back Bay — which was littered with
“We’ve been open to
new opportunities, always looking at the next thing coming down the pike and asking, ‘how can we meet a need or take advantage of an opportunity?’”
dilapidated buildings back then — between her train stop and the campus.
“I tried to convince may parents to buy a brownstone in the Back Bay, and they thought
I was nuts. Now, look what’s happened in that neighborhood. It would have been a good idea.”
Fortunately, Stubbs has been able to shepherd myriad good ideas into practice as president
and CEO of ServiceNet, which she has led since 1980. Actually, she worked for Valley Programs
back then, and later oversaw its merger with Northampton Area Mental Health Services and Franklin Hampshire Community Mental Health Center; the new organization became ServiceNet in 1995.
Through those years and well beyond, she
has grown the agency from 25 employees to 1,750 and its annual budget from $500,000
to $70 million. From its origins running a few group homes, ServiceNet’s range of services has expanded to include residential and day programs for people with mental illness, developmental disability, autism, and brain injury; outpatient behavioral health clinics in five communities; addiction services; vocational services; shelter and housing programs for people working their way out of homelessness; children’s services; and more.
“It’s very gratifying,” she said of that growth and her 40 years of, well, impact. “Not just in terms of staff and money, but in terms of the people we’re serving. And it’s not just due to me — it’s due to
a lot of people, and a lot of collaboration with the state. We pride ourselves on being a good partner with the state.”
Photo by Leah Martin Photography
























































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