Oregon is in the midst of a mental health crisis that leaves those with severe mental illness cycling through social services, emergency rooms, the justice system, and homelessness. The Oregon Health Authority estimates the state will need 3,700 more treatment beds to meet current and future demand. It’s a complex challenge, but Michael Gay MBA’23 is helping to lead the way to a solution using the skills he gained in Willamette University’s MBA for Professionals Program.
Gay applied the management skills he learned at Willamette to tackle the issue in a strategic and focused way. Gay is co-founder of Community First Solutions (CFS), an organization that partners with state and local governments to build treatment facilities for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness.
“The MBA has given me a vision for how to add value to my community,” Gay says. “It’s helped me take the skills, experience, and knowledge that I have to meet unmet needs and build things that need to be built.”
Gay was first inspired to action in his role at Salem Health, where he heard harrowing stories of patients who would return to the emergency room over and over again, unable to receive needed long-term treatment in post-acute care settings.
“It struck at my heartstrings,” Gay says. “It just kind of lit a fire, and I said: we can make a little bit of a difference on this front if we can be successful.”
The MBA program came at a perfect time for Gay. He applied his coursework to the real challenges of founding and developing his new organization. A class on entrepreneurship shaped CFS early in its development. He also made CFS his project for his capstone Integrative Management Project (IMAP) course. Gay received valuable feedback from his classmates — all working professionals from diverse industries — that helped him more effectively pitch his organization’s unique approach to potential partners and stakeholders.
“The IMAP class required you to describe the opportunity that you were addressing, and I think being forced to articulate that in an understandable and tangible way was really helpful,” Gay says.
With the entrepreneurial skills he gained at Willamette, Gay is already making a meaningful impact. Last summer, Gay’s organization began construction on its first treatment facility in Salem with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by a bipartisan group of local and state leaders. Gay hopes the facility will serve as a proof of concept that can be replicated across the state, providing desperately needed care to Oregonians.
“Willamette instilled a sense of confidence and a desire to continue to be part of new projects,” Gay says. “It’s exciting to be part of something that’s building value for the community.”
Hero Photo Information: Michael Gay MBA'23 (second from right) participates in a groundbreaking for CFS's new facility in Salem.
Photo Credit: Abbey McDonald/Salem Reporter. Read her 2024 article to learn more.
