Alexis Steel is the new president of St. Mary’s Center for Women and Children, the facility on Jones Hill in Dorchester that works to help women and their families move out of poverty and homelessness. Steel, who joined the organization in 2018, has been the acting president since last January. The center’s Board of Trustees made the posting permanent in a unanimous vote this week.

Kathy Maple, chair of the board, called Steel “the right leader at the right time for St. Mary’s Center. Throughout her tenure at St. Mary’s Center, and most recently in her role as the senior leader, Alexis has demonstrated leadership capabilities of a seasoned executive.”

She added, “Alexis communicates honestly and with integrity. She is passionate about social justice for women and children and is committed to creating pathways out of poverty. She sees the value of stabilizing lives and understands how to leverage this stability as a platform for education and employment and, ultimately, for self-sustainability.”

Before joining St. Mary’s Center, Steel was senior manager of Global Operations for the Consortium of Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech), Massachusetts General Hospital. Through her work over four years at CAMTech, she was able to build her expertise in working with women and children across the globe, mainly in Uganda and India.

Additionally, she worked in grants and contract administration for large research studies at Partners Healthcare. Elementary teaching experience in a rural village in Honduras, and her participation in the Children’s Enrichment Program at the Women’s Center of Rhode Island have enhanced and complemented her professional background and inherent passions.

“I am humbled and honored to lead this amazing organization,” said Steel. “With a global pandemic, and the push for social justice for families like ours across the US, this has been one of the toughest years St. Mary’s Center has had since opening its doors. It is our collective mission to ensure that moving forward we continue to be focused on enhancing the services we provide and continue evolving as an organization to provide the best level of service we can to the families we work with every day.”