The Providers’ Council is turning 50 in 2025! In celebration of this milestone, the Council will be running a series of Throwback Thursday posts throughout the year commemorating some of the Council’s most important milestones in its first 50 years. This week, the Council wants to highlight the impact of its longest-standing CEO, Michael Weekes.
Weekes began his career in child welfare, joining the Center for Study of Institutional Alternatives, now the Center for Human Development, in Springfield, MA in 1974. He stayed with the organization for 10 years, rising through the ranks to assistant executive director. In 1983, Weekes transitioned into public service at the Department of Social Services (DDS), where he spent the next 14 years, eventually becoming the deputy commissioner for quality management and program development at the agency.
The Council’s board of directors announced Weekes’ appointment in the January 1998 edition of The Provider newspaper.
“The [human service] environment is rapidly changing,” said Weekes. “This is not necessarily negative, especially if we infuse our values in the development of this trend.”
Weekes’ outlook on change was at the core of his work at the Council. As president and CEO of the Council, Weekes led the building of respect and trust for the community-based human services sector and strengthened its financial health, by improving funding for services and salaries for workers in more than 160,000 jobs and securing more state dollars for essential services provided to hundreds of thousands of state residents.
Weekes was a driving force in several areas of the Council, like founding Providers’ eAcademy, an online learning management system used today by more than 100 Council members and 50,000 learners; launching tuition remission that has provided thousands with higher education opportunities; creating Care Vote promoting voting and civic engagement with Council members’ staff and the people they serve; and relaunching The Caring Force with 31,000 members in grassroots advocacy.
His most noteworthy role, however, was leading passage of nationally recognized Chapter 257, the landmark rate-setting legislation passed in 2008 that has transformed the human services sector and resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of new spending, including $470 million in the Chapter 257 Reserve over the last three fiscal years alone.
Weekes announced his plans to retire in February 2023, following 25 years of leadership and stewardship of the Council and its foundation. At the 48th Annual Convention & Expo that same year, the Council announced the then CFO, Bill Yelenak would be stepping into Weekes shoes as the new president & CEO of the Council.
As an integral part of the Council’s legacy, Weekes was present at the Council’s 50th anniversary celebration, continuing to share his wisdom and experience with the current human services workforce. Weekes’ more than 20 years of dedicated service continue to shape and inspire the Council and the human services sector today.
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