Michael Keane of North Bennington was named the new Chair of the American Lung Association of the Northeast’s Vermont Leadership Board. The Vermont Leadership Board is charged with executing the organization’s mission to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease throughout the Green Mountain State.
Michael sees the Lung Association’s mission as personal and something he believes in very deeply. Michael watched his father suffer for years with emphysema, a condition in which the walls of the air sacs in the lung are broken down and the air spaces get larger and air gets trapped, before being diagnosed with lung cancer. Keane himself smoked as a young man and didn’t quit until he moved to Scandinavia and found the price of tobacco to be roughly ten times the price it was here in the U.S. at the time. It is that increased cost of tobacco that Michael Keane credits with motivating him to quit. He is dedicated to doing what he can to help Vermonters who want to quit be successful.
“Tobacco use is not only a health issue but an economic issue,” says Keane. “There are far too many Vermonters who cannot quit smoking even though they struggle to afford the high cost of cigarettes. Fortunately, the state’s 802Quits line provides free counseling and nicotine replacement therapy to Vermonters ready to quit smoking. Stopping or even reducing tobacco use, will not only improve health by reducing damage to the body, it will increase Vermonters’ economic and physical wellbeing, especially those who are struggling financially.”
Keane has been a member of the Vermont Leadership Board for the last four years and looks forward to his expanded role as chair. He is focused on raising awareness about lung disease throughout the state of Vermont with a particular emphasis on Southern Vermont, which he calls home.
Michael and his wife Edie are transplants to the Green Mountain State, and they have put into practice their strong beliefs about serving the community. Michael serves as a member of the Vermont Economic Progress Council, appointed by Governor Peter Shumlin. Michael was recently appointed to the Southern Vermont Economic Development Zone Committee. Michael is past President of the Board of Directors of the Better Bennington Corporation, a downtown improvement association and a founding member of the Bennington Economic Development Partners group. He serves as an elected member of the Bennington Select Board.
Michael and Edie have one child, Karin Maria, an artist, who resides in Oslo, Norway, with her husband and two children. Their older grandchild, Anna Elisabeth, recently arrived in Bennington to spend an academic year studying here and will live with them.
“The Lung Association is honored to have Michael Keane serve as the new Chair of our Leadership Board in Vermont,” said Jeff Seyler, President & CEO of the American Lung Association of the Northeast. “Michael’s vast business experience, his dedication to his community and his background in media, will undoubtedly help us further raise awareness about lung disease throughout Vermont. We are fortunate to have someone as talented and dedicated as Michael Keane on our board.”
Michael has significant international work experience, especially in Scandinavia, the U.K. France, Belgium, and Canada. As a dual citizen of the Republic of Ireland and of the United States, Michael is proud of his Irish roots and of the growth opportunities that the U.S. has provided.
The American Lung Association of the Northeast serves CT,MA,ME, NH, RI and VT. We are part of the American Lung Association, the oldest voluntary health organization in the U.S. established in 1904 to combat tuberculosis; our mission today is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease. The focus is on air quality, asthma, tobacco control, and all lung disease.