Ashleen Buchanan is the Manager of Community Relations and Grants at Little Rivers Health Care, Inc. (Newbury, Vermont). Following her passion for community and wellness, she has spent the past ten years at Little Rivers supporting strategic initiatives that improve access, quality, and whole-person care. In her current role, she works to strengthen service delivery, and advance innovative models across the health center’s range of programs in primary care, behavioral health, care coordination, dental, and lifestyle medicine. Known for dynamic systems-oriented problem solving, Ashleen’s work focuses on aligning and translating mission-driven strategy into practical solutions for the Little Rivers Health Care community.
Buchanan explained that she was inspired to join the health center movement to have meaningful impact on the health of her community.
“I was drawn to community health centers because of their commitment to local impact. So meeting people where they are and addressing the full picture of health. That ability to create meaningful change at the community level really resonated with me. And what keeps me here is seeing that impact first hand. So over the past decade, I've watched our organization become a leader in lifestyle medicine in rural healthcare, helping patients manage and prevent chronic conditions through sustainable whole-person care. And being part of that work is incredibly motivating for me.”
The Little Rivers community, in a rural area on the Vermont / New Hampshire border, faces interconnected challenges related to poverty, transportation barriers, housing instability, and food insecurity. Helping to address these challenges to support individual and community wellness is at the of her work. Buchanan led development of a Food Farmacy to support access to high-quality fresh food, which now distributes about 1,200 pounds of fresh food and medically tailored meals within the health center’s service each week.
“By combining access to nutritious food with education, coaching, and ongoing support, we are helping patients make sustainable changes. And it's a model that recognizes health starts well beyond the exam room, and it also integrates into the community, so this work involves beyond our patients and includes farm workers and local agriculture.”
Leadership is both a responsibility and a privilege to Buchanan. She shared her view that leadership is about lifting up her coworkers, amplifying their work, and connecting their efforts to the larger purpose of the health center. Sharing her experience and insights on nurturing the next generation of health center leaders, Buchanan said,
“This work has made me more grounded and resourceful and aware of the realities people face. It's reinforced the importance of humility, listening, and meeting people where they are. So to build long-term commitment, we need clear pathways for growth, investment in emerging leaders, and strong connections to mission and impact. People stay when they feel valued and supported, and they're able to grow. So if we foster that environment, we won't just recruit talent, we'll retain passionate leaders committed to this work.”
This story was published in 2026.
