Brooklyn's Progress
October 2002

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce is pleased to welcome two new staff members and: Michele Fredericks and Kes Robinson. Michele is the Program Director for Brooklyn HealthWorks and Kes is the Workforce Development Marketing Specialist. Michelle is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Brooklyn HealthWorks Community Office, community relations and marketing, and the maintenance and nurturing of the community health services provider network. Michele has over a decade of experience marketing a wide range of health-related services. Prior to joining the Brooklyn Chamber she ran her own consulting business, Fredericks & Associates. She held the position of marketing and member services director of Health Plus, Lutheran Medical Center and she was a media developer for the New York Department of Health. Michelle has a bachelor's degree in mass communications from Herbert H. Lehman College. "This is an extremely exciting time. Brooklyn HealthWorks is one of the first health insurance products in the country that is designed for price sensitive business owners," said Michelle. "I'm pleased to offer small businesses in northern Brooklyn an opportunity to purchase affordable health insurance for their entry-level employees." For the past two years, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has worked closely with GHI, many of the borough's health care providers, elected officials and community leaders to develop Brooklyn HealthWorks, a program that will make health care more accessible and affordable. The first product will be a pharmacy discount card that will be distributed under the name Brooklyn Health WorRx. The card is administered by Express Scripts, one of the nations largest independent pharmacy benefit management companies. For a nominal annual fee, $10 for individuals and $25 for families, card-holders will be entitled to an average of 40 percent discount on popular prescription medicines. Over 340 pharmacies throughout Brooklyn will participate in the program. Participants must live in specific zip codes in northern Brooklyn and meet certain income eligibility criteria to join. Brooklyn HealthWorks will offer other products in the near future. "We are excited to have Michelle join the Brooklyn HealthWorks team," said Mark M. Kessler, Vice President, Program Development for the Brooklyn Chamber. "As project director, she will be responsible for making the HealthWorks products easily accessible and ensuring a high level of customer service. Michelle's experience, expertise and enthusiasm are just what we need as we bring these products to market." Michelle spends most of her time at the Brooklyn HealthWorks community office located in The Brooklyn Hospital Center, 240 Willoughby Street. Kes Robinson is working on the Brooklyn Chamber's WageWorks program (formally the RESPOND or Wage Subsidy program). She will lead the Chamber's efforts to market wage subsidies to Brooklyn businesses affected since 9/11. Kes is originally from Evanston, Ill. She is a graduate of Drake University where she earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast communications. Kes began her career in advertising working as a media planner for DDB Needham and Burrell Communications. Her interest in sports marketing led her to work for two Chicago professional sports teams. Kes interned as an account executive in the Sales Department for the Chicago Bulls, and went on to work two seasons with the Chicago Bears as a promotions and customer service executive. As the if the Chicago sports scene wasn't exciting enough, Kes decided to head North to attend the University of Wisconsin where she earned a master's degree in marketing and entrepreneurship. After graduation, Kes headed to New York where she worked for two years as an account service executive in the Customer Marketing and Sales Department for ESPN.