An optimist and advocate, J.J. Tighe offers compelling reasons why we should care passionately about community health.
“Improving our health is paramount for us as individuals and as a State,” says Tighe, president and CEO of the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF).
“Personal choice and responsibility when it comes to healthy choices is critical, so education is very important. We’ve made a lot of progress around nutrition education, but knowing what we should do versus what we actually do doesn’t always align. We need to extend our focus to the built environment so it’s easier to make healthy choices and stay active. Many of our communities are built on convenience, not health. So, thinking about how we design and improve our communities as Michigan continues to rebound is important. We should think about how to develop economically vibrant communities that are safe and make it easier to be physically active at all ages. We all need to work together to make the healthy choice the default choice,” he says.
Tighe, a former Army captain and UH-60 Blackhawk pilot, served in the Balkans, Iraq and the Middle East. After returning home, he entered General Electric’s (GE) Junior Officer Leadership Program and spent eight years in the company’s energy and healthcare divisions, while raising four active boys with his wife, before being tapped to head the Michigan Fitness Foundation.
“My experience in the Army helped me realize what is truly important and what should be a priority when you come home,” says Tighe. “I care deeply about our country, community and maintaining commitments. For me, that begins with my commitment to my own family.”
You can’t care about any of these things without being concerned about health, he says.
Charged with improving Michiganders lives and strengthening communities by promoting healthy eating and active living, Tighe and the Michigan Fitness Foundation play a critical role in:
• Partnering with the State and communities to provide nutrition education and quality physical education programs
• Working to reduce the anticipated $12.5 billion in obesity-related medical costs projected by 2018 in Michigan
• Helping Michigan’s children and adults stay on a path toward better health
“We’re facing serious and complex health challenges here in Michigan,” he says. “So it’s important that we take time to truly understand community need ahead of program implementation. We must build sustainable, local capacity and make smart upstream investments to ensure that the dollars we spend on obesity and chronic illness prevention are effective. The programs must be effective and the return on the investment must make sense.”
“You have to remain open and listen” says Tighe. He maintains MFF’s partnerships with seven state agencies and more than 8,000 partners. His tactical, collaborative approach is deceptively simple … listen and learn.
What he knows is sustainability and program metrics are essential and he remains excited, humbled and seemingly undaunted by the significant challenges before him.
So what is ahead? What will help improve Michigan’s community health?
The answer, he says, is “…first and foremost education on nutrition, second is physical activity every day for all of us, but, most importantly, for our children at school so they develop those healthy habits at a young age. And, finally, we must be deliberate in promoting policies that remove roadblocks and create incentives for schools, communities and organizations to provide active, healthy choices and find new ways to support infrastructure enhancements that support healthy, active lifestyles in our communities.”
That’s why he will work to expand the Fitness Foundation’s school-based efforts aimed at promoting healthier choices, which children often carry home to parents.
Tighe also wants to focus more energy on what’s “working” in Michigan’s workplaces.
Many Michigan-based companies are taking a leadership role in developing innovative workplace wellness programs and he wants to share those as a way of inspiring others to follow suit. “We must share what these companies are doing, but also, how to measure the success of the programs.”
An avid runner, who clocks four to five miles daily, Tighe finds time to play hockey in the Michigan Warriors Hockey league, a local veteran’s hockey program, bringing disabled and Purple Heart recipients together to stay active and come together as a team to support each other. “It’s a great group and I am proud to be out there.” He participates in community events across the State and attends the majority of his son’s sporting events.
“When you take care of your health, it makes it possible for you to take care of everything else in life,” he says.
About the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF)
The Michigan Fitness Foundation’s mission to inspire active lifestyles and healthy food choices through education, environmental change, community events and policy leadership is supported by:
• Educational Initiatives, which include wide-ranging programs that promote regular physical activity and healthier food choices.
• Built Environment Initiatives, which support active communities.
• Activities and Events, which promote and inspire communities, organizations and individuals to make healthy choices.
• Legislative Activities, which include policy work at the state and federal levels in support of health, fitness, nutrition, active transportation and other related initiatives.
• Promoting positive policy and environmental change. The Michigan Fitness Foundation drives nutrition and active living policy, programming, planning and design to inspire environmental and behavior change for improved health.
To learn more visit michiganfitness.org.
An Ardent Advocate: Getting to know Michigan Fitness Foundation President & CEO J.J. Tighe added by TheHUB on
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