Mary Beth O’Neill: Striving for nonprofit collaboration

An East Coast native, Mary Beth O’Neill didn’t envision spending part of her career in Iowa, but is grateful she took the leap.

A search firm recruited Ms. O’Neill to interview for the position of CEO and president of Four Oaks Family and Children’s Services, and Ms. O’Neill accepted the post in October 2021, also leading the Affordable Housing Network, Inc., a Four Oaks affiliate.

Headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Four Oaks is one of Iowa’s largest nonprofit child welfare, juvenile justice and behavioral health agencies, with the nonprofit Affordable Housing Network dedicated to providing affordable housing.

“To say that Mary Beth hit the ground running would be an understatement,” Lydia Brown, Four Oaks board chairwoman wrote in nominating Ms. O’Neill for Women of Influence. “She has worked tirelessly to become fully immersed in Eastern Iowa and the Corridor, not only in her role as a leader, but also as a resident.”

Ms. Brown pointed to challenges Ms. O’Neill faced related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including supply shortages, staffing and rising costs, but upon arrival, she immediately started working to improve the lives of children and families served by Four Oaks, along with its nearly 800 employees.

“Mary Beth has quickly created strong relationships with other non-profit leaders, as well as city and state officials,” Ms. Brown added. “She has created collaborative programs with other mental health and children’s social service organizations throughout the state, and has become a leader in Iowa on issues of children’s mental health, children’s therapy for behavior, and a champion for foster care and adoption.”

Under her guidance, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services is examining changes to positively impact children who are the most vulnerable, she wrote, with an overall impact on almost 30,000 children and their families each year.

Originally from Connecticut, Ms. O’Neill received her bachelor’s degree in sociology and political science from Merrimack College in North Andover, Massachusetts, and her master’s degree in occupational therapy from Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. 

Her father and other relatives still live on the East Coast, and Ms. O’Neill uses FaceTime with her dad every night. 

She and her husband, Palmer Shelley, live with their two Labrador retrievers in Marion.

“I think it just happened to be the right time,” Ms. O’Neill said of their move from Nebraska, where she was vice president of operations for Mosaic, a health care organization in Omaha, after serving as president and CEO for a nonprofit dedicated to assisting intellectually disabled individuals in Connecticut.

She credited the Leadership for Five Seasons program for introducing her to resources, people and activities offered in the Cedar Rapids area. 

“To me, it seems like everyone in Cedar Rapids knows each other, and there’s so much to do,” Ms. O’Neill said, citing community theater and other activities. “I love that it’s a slower pace and people are genuinely interested in how you’re doing.”

She is a Marion Civil Rights Commission member; president of the Coalition for Family and Children’s Services; was one of the 2024 Corridor Business Journal’s Top 25 Most Influential in the Corridor; Iowa Children’s Justice Advisory Committee member and State of Iowa Selection Committee Member for HHS Divisional Leaders.

Ms. O’Neill calls her leadership style “collaborative and fair,” and Ms. Brown cited her support for other nonprofits, such as Foundation 2, Tanager Place, United Way of East Central Iowa and ASAC, as an example of “her commitment to all the organizations serving the most vulnerable in the region.”

“You’re stronger together as nonprofits than you are apart,” Ms. O’Neill said.

One of the biggest challenges she has faced was the Geneva Towers fire in February 2022, which displaced residents of the 12-story building, then owned by the Affordable Housing Network.

Ms. O’Neill cited several agencies that came together to help, which proved inspiring in the face of adversity.

One of the programs that also has inspired her is Operation Santa with Foster SQUAD and other nonprofits, which offered more than 20 Christmas parties for foster children and their families across Iowa last year.

“The intent is to provide a safe space for families where no one is going to judge them,” she said. “It’s amazing to see the kids’ faces.”