Note: This recording includes reduced audio quality due to technical difficulties during the event. Although the audio was compromised, Ideastream Public Media felt it important to make the program available.
About Our Speaker:
Dr. Vivek Murthy served as the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States. As Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, he commanded a uniformed service of 6,000 public health officers.
Dr. Murthy’s work has widened the lens through which we understand forces that shape our health and well-being. During his two terms as Surgeon General, his initiatives shaped national and international conversations, garnered global media coverage, and compelled change across business and non-profit organizations. He has drawn attention to critical, underappreciated health issues including the epidemic of loneliness, the impact of social media on youth mental health, parental mental health and well-being, the youth mental health crisis, and health worker burnout.
In 2020, Dr. Murthy published the New York Times best-seller Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World. His 2025 “Parting Prescription to America” laid out a vision for rebuilding community as the key to health, happiness, and fulfillment.
Raised in Miami and an ardent lover of mangoes, Dr. Murthy graduated from Harvard College and received his MD from the Yale School of Medicine, and his MBA from the Yale School of Management. He trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. A renowned physician, public health expert, research scientist, entrepreneur, and author, Dr. Murthy lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Alice Chen, and their two children.
Moderator:
Jeremy Lile's passion is to help people discover and deploy their purpose. For over 20 years, he has coached thousands of individuals and teams to live out their core values and purpose. He believes that the foundational values and beliefs that come from the inner life have the most potential to inspire people in the work they do.
In addition to leading organizational growth through leadership development as the Chief of Leadership and Learning at United Way of Summit and Medina, Jeremy enjoys coaching individuals and facilitating The Enneagram, Purposeful Leadership, Leadership from Within, Appreciative Inquiry, and CliftonStrengths for the Center for Immersive Leadership.
Through his experience in leadership development and pastoral ministry, Jeremy has spoken at retreats and events, facilitated numerous groups, organized community engagement events, and lead small teams on missions around the country and world.
Jeremy is married to the love of his life Christy and they have four children. When he’s not working for United Way of Summit and Medina, Jeremy is also the pastor of Mercy Anglican Church and a Director of City Hope Akron.
Jeremy has a B.A. in Psychology from Taylor University and a Master’s of Divinity from Ashland Theological Seminary. He is also certified in Appreciative Inquiry, The Leadership Circle Profile, the MBTI and The Enneagram in the Heart to Heart Way.
He serves as Immediate Past Chair of the board of the International Institute of Akron and was formerly on the advisory board of the Institute for Leadership Advancement at the University of Akron’s College of Business Administration and on the committee for Leadership Akron’s “Leadership on Main”. He was also an iCare Mentor and helped start a food backpack distribution at Case CLC that has been running for over 10 years.
Jeremy is a graduate of Leadership Akron’s Signature Class 34, a recipient of the Greater Akron Chamber’s “30 for the Future” award, a recipient of the University of Akron’s EX[L] Center “Community Champion” award, and the 2019 and 2020 recipient of the NSME Akron/Canton’s “Outstanding Community Leader” award.
About the Program: The Together Project launched in 2025 to catalyze a movement to vitalize community in America. A community where Americans have relationships they can rely on; one where we see the value of service in our lives; and one that offers purpose and meaning to act as a compass in a world that can make us feel unmoored. Ultimately, The Together Project seeks to help Americans make a key choice for their health and fulfillment: to choose community.
The Together Project’s Chair, Dr. Vivek Murthy, focused on these issues throughout his term as 21st U.S. Surgeon General, which culminated with the release of his Parting Prescription for America. The Together Project represents an opportunity to build on that impact and help mobilize a coordinated movement to vitalize community in America.
In 2025, Dr. Murthy and The Together Project will embark on a national listening tour and series of community engagements, with the support of the Knight Foundation and working with their community partners. These engagements will aim to lift up solutions that foster connection, reduce isolation and build social cohesion, and spotlight replicable and scalable models that help communities thrive and promote their replication across the country.