Putting others first

A conversation with Trustee Julie Marriott

“We’re all put on this earth to help others,” Julie Marriott believes. “It’s ultimately through service that you feel the fullest measure of joy.”

Returning to Newton-Wellesley’s Board of Trustees this fall, Julie has begun a new chapter in her extensive service to the hospital and the wider community. As a trustee from 2016 to 2019, she chaired its Community Benefits Committee during a formative time. She became one of the earliest and most energetic supporters of what has grown to become the Community Collaborative.

Looking to the future, she’s excited by Newton-Wellesley’s potential not only to deliver exceptional medical care but also to serve the most pressing needs of our neighbors.

Rooted in hospitality

To Julie, serving others comes naturally. “I come from a family that has always looked for opportunities to serve,” she notes. Growing up with a name synonymous with the hotel industry worldwide, “we’ve had our roots in a business that is steeped in hospitality.”

She’s seen that modeled from an early age. Whether she’s engaged in service to our hospital or through her church, community, or foundation commitments, “it’s all about putting people first.”

Julie has sought to model that for her own four daughters. During their childhood years in Wellesley, she focused much of her energy on their schools. After they’d graduated, she found in her service to NWH and the Collaborative a way to both support her local hospital and deepen her community engagement.

As she reflects on that opportunity, she thinks back to enduring family values. They applied equally to business and life: put others first, embrace change, act with integrity, and seek to excel at whatever you do. As a Newton-Wellesley trustee, “it’s exciting for me to be aligned with an organization that shares those same values.”

Elevating communities

Like her parents and grandparents, she has a powerful vision of giving back. Along with her three sisters, Julie continues to build on the family’s philanthropic legacy, together guiding the Marriott Daughters Foundation. They are dedicated to a clear mission: “elevate communities by making services accessible to all.” She also serves as a trustee of the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, established by her grandparents more than a half century ago.

Following her lead, both foundations have supported Newton-Wellesley’s mission and fueled the Collaborative’s growth.

Through her steadfast advocacy, she has helped to make possible some of its most transformative programs, including the postpartum depression initiative of the Maternity Services Council and the summer student internships through the Workforce Development Council.

She sees the critical difference that such programs are making as emblematic of what a nimble, community-centered hospital can accomplish. Moreover, she sees the potential for innovations to become models not only systemwide across Mass General Brigham but also nationally.

Caring deeply

Julie feels fortunate to be able to put her time and energy into work that she’s passionate about, and she makes it a point to invite others to join her. She sees the Collaborative’s eight councils as a way for capable, caring people to get involved in strengthening the social fabric of their communities.

By nature, “I’m very hands-on,” she says. “I want to put my best effort into whatever I do.” Any task is far more meaningful when she can be all in.

As Julie reflects, “Life is better when you care deeply about things.”