How one CEO built her career on serving others
A former ER nurse turned a passion for helping others into a career as a public figure and community champion
By Dan Harvey
Photography by Mitro Hood
On a frigid December day outside of her King of Prussia offices, entrepreneur Reneé Amoore isn’t put off by the cold weather.
“Cold is OK. Cold makes people bond,” observes Amoore, a healthcare advocate and founder, president and CEO of The Amoore Group Inc. (TAG).
Bonding through warmth is a metaphor for her life’s mission. She began as a registered nurse, and throughout the upward trajectory of her career, she has helped the behaviorally troubled, the substance addicted and the physically afflicted. Now, she is taking it one step further: The Amoore Group helps whoever needs consultation, be it a political organization or a prostitute, a physician or a patient, a large business or a small one.
Amoore is a long-time advocate of clinically-based, cost-effective alternatives to expensive healthcare – as well as innovative treatments for people suffering mental illness, disabilities or addictive disorders, among other conditions. Through TAG, Amoore aims to provide health and consultative management services that benefit corporations, faith-based organizations, nonprofits and behavioral health and human service agencies.
At 60 years young, she’s grown wise but not wizened. Her energy shined when she made a speech at the 2008 Republican National convention – resplendent in Republican red garb – where she proclaimed, “As a nurse, entrepreneur and small business owner, I know that challenges lay before us.” Her speech was the first delivered by a black woman at the GOP convention (and it’s available on YouTube, in case you missed it).
Whether she’s advocating for healthcare or small business, it’s that wisdom that she hopes to pass along, bringing the warmth of comfort to the community that surrounds her.
Maternal inspiration
Amoore was born to Juanita Ramsey, a domestic worker and LPN nurse, and John Ramsey, a school bus driver and owner of a private landscaping business. She grew up with seven sisters in a working-class neighborhood that proved fertile ground for high-achieving women. Amoore lived on the same street in Bryn Mawr as Donna Allie, founder and president of Team Clean, one of the Philadelphia area’s most successful janitorial services firms. “Our mothers were friends, and we went to the same high school,” recalls Allie. “She was always an inspiration for me, and she is an inspiration for others.”
According to Courtney Sheetz, TAG’s senior vice president, Amoore’s own inspiration was her mother. “Juanita Ramsey was an activist and a strong advocate for those in need. She was always able to get things for the African-American community,” Sheetz says.
“I hire people who are motivated. As I inspire them to succeed, their motivation further inspires me. People call me a role model, but I feel my employees are a role model for me.”
Reneé Amoore, founder, presidentand CEO, The Amoore Group Inc.
The Amoore Group consists of three diversified companies:
Amoore Health Systems Inc.Based in Norristown, the company develops and manages a variety of health systems, each responsive to individual needs and cost-effective for third-party payers. It contributes to improving delivery, service and quality of healthcare in the U.S. and abroad to clients in diverse settings. Specific services relate to managed care readiness, recovery audit contractors, provider billing and compliance audits, worker’s compensation, community healthcare support, program and policy development, and human resource management and job skill training.
Ramsey Educational Development Institute Inc.(REDI) has two divisions: training and employment services and children’s and family services. Each meets specific educational and skills training needs in two diverse populations. In the first division, REDI programs provide dislocated and displaced individuals with vital social survival and basic job readiness skills. In the second, REDI promotes early intervention via the highest quality programming and support for young children and their families.
521 Management Group Inc.This company supports corporate and nonprofit organizations in developing public and governmental relationships at federal, state and local levels, providing services in five areas: government affairs, media relations, community outreach, corporate training, and public relations and marketing.
Source:www.amooregroup.org
Amoore’s mother instilled in her the importance of giving back to others.
“Even though my mother had to hold a job to help support eight children, she was always willing to contribute to the community,” she says. “And even though she and my father only had an eighth grade education, they always provided us with encouragement and the means to obtain higher education.”
“Ms. Ramsey was always the go-to person,” adds Allie, “and Reneé is essentially her clone. She has guts, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She holds nothing back. Whenever I came away from one of her many speaking engagements, she made me [think], ‘Hey, I can do this.’ She’s a model for women in both business and politics.”
No glass in this elevator
“Guts” must have been another trait Juanita Ramsey passed down to her daughter. “I always followed my gut instincts,” Amoore reveals, admitting she never had a business plan for her career.
Amoore first entered the medical field as a registered nurse, training at the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing in New York City. Going from Bryn Mawr to Harlem was an eye-opening experience for a young person. “It was kind of scary,” she recalls. “I saw people shooting up, right out in the streets. I had never been exposed to that kind of thing.”
During her training, Amoore worked in the emergency room, a setting where she felt comfortable, even though situations could become intense. “I worked the busiest shift, from 4 p.m. to midnight. Once, a drug addict grabbed my throat and tried to choke me to death because I wouldn’t give him any heroin,” she says.
But rather than traumatizing her, the incident only increased her resolve; she became the head emergency nurse at the Harlem Hospital.
“She has guts, and she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She holds nothing back.”
Donna Allie, founder andpresident, Team Clean
In 1979, she earned her bachelor’s degree at Antioch College while working as the evening and night program coordinator at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic. “I worked in the psychiatric unit, which led me to become a psych nurse,” she says.
In 1982, she received her master’s degree in administration from Antioch University. During this period, she served as a supervisor at the Wordsworth Academy. This led to teaching positions (as an adjunct professor) at Antioch, Drexel, and Lincoln universities. In 1986, she became a member of the Philadelphia Center for Developmental Services.
Undeterred activist
Complementing her education and burgeoning career, Amoore became seriously involved in community activism. She became the first African-American elected to the board of the Upper Merion School District in King of Prussia. “I felt that I could make a difference in people’s lives, just as my mother made a difference in my life,” she says.
But the transition was far from easy. She describes the first interview as “the most racist interview” she ever endured. “I faced eight white men and one white woman, and essentially they said, ‘Who do you think you are, and what can you bring to the community?’” she remembers. “I told them that I wanted to help the black community. After all, I have been black for a very long time.”
“I told them that I wanted to help the black community. After all, I have been black for a very long time.”
Reneé Amoore, founder, presidentand CEO, The Amoore Group Inc.
That comment underscores her outspokenness.
“Essentially, they tossed me a bone, and they let me run for the position,” she continues. “When I went home, I was in tears. My husband asked me what I was going to do. ‘I am going to run,’ I told him. Well, I ran and won, with support from both Democrats and Republicans, and I vowed to make a difference.”
Her efforts provoked the worst kind of response. “I was called a n- – – – r and had a cross burnt on my front yard,” she says. “Those are the kinds of things that can happen when you break barriers. But I persevered.”
Eventually, she served as the board’s vice president for four years, and during her tenure, she appointed two more African-Americans to the board. Hers was a landmark appointment. She achieved another milestone when, in 1992, she was elected to Pennsylvania’s Republican State Committee. She became deputy chair in 1996. In another appointment of historic importance, in 2004, she became the first female and first African-American to chair a Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican National Convention. Her efforts led to still more appointments: She became a member of the board of directors for The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, and Pennsylvanians for Effective Government.
Follow your gut
But as far as business, her career took a quantum leap in 1988 when she was hired by Growth Horizons Inc., a nonprofit organization that runs group homes for people with mental illness and substance-abuse problems. In 1996, she became the company’s vice president and COO. There, she cut her teeth running a business. She worked with founder Paul Volosov, Ph.D., and his partner Joe McDonald, the CEO.
“They taught me so many things I didn’t know about running a business, because I came from a nursing background,” says Amoore. “After one year, I became a partner.”
By 1996, Amoore felt ready to strike out on her own and start Amoore Health Systems Inc. “It began as a consulting firm related to healthcare and behavioral health. At first, I ran it from a small office, and it was basically just me conducting the business.”
But business increased, and with growth comes need to hire – and, with her extensive experience, Amoore had a good sense of who she wanted to hire. “Again, it just came from my gut feeling,” she says.
That gut instinct also led to the creation of the other businesses that now fall under the TAG umbrella: Ramsey Educational Development Institute Inc., a job training and family services firm, and 521 Management Group Inc., which supports corporations and nonprofits in government, public relations, marketing campaigns, community relations, human resources and media issues.
Those firms’ success, Amoore says, is due to her symbiotic relationship with the people she hires. “I hire people who are motivated. As I inspire them to succeed, their motivation further inspires me. People call me a role model, but I feel my employees are a role model for me,” she says.
“You may need to beg and cry sometimes, but beneath that surface you need to develop inner strength.”
Reneé Amoore, founder, presidentand CEO, The Amoore Group Inc.
Reneé Amoore has always felt close ties to her community – so much so that she calls it her “outside family.” In an effort to spread her success to those around her, she donates her time and talents to a number of local organizations:
Drexel University Board of Trustees
Federal Reserve Bank Advisory Board
The Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation
The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee
Heritage Society Board
Main Line Chamber
The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce
Nova Bank
Schuylkill River Development Corporation
The Valley Forge Chamber of Commerce
Amoore’s outlook has served her business well. Today, TAG – which is certified by the state as a Minority- and Women-owned Business Enterprise – is the fastest-growing consulting firm of its kind in Pennsylvania. The organization now includes four locations in Pennsylvania, a location in Baltimore and one in Washington, DC. Outside of its Mid-Atlantic presence, Amoore Health Systems, Inc., has also helped implement progressive health programs in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa.
Success hasn’t come without challenges, “but I am not the kind of person to say ‘Woe, why me?’” says Amoore.
To get through the tough times, Amoore looks to both prayer and her family for support. “Those elements are necessary when you face the inevitable adversity,” she says. “You may need to beg and cry sometimes, but beneath that surface you need to develop inner strength.”
And that can mean tapping into the inner strength of others – individuals like Amoore’s husband, Joseph.
Joseph Amoore suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease), a devastating affliction that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. Reneé and Joseph wed in 1980; he was diagnosed six months after the wedding.
“He demonstrates great inner strength, and that bolsters my own,” says Amoore. “He’s a 24/7 gem. His example inspires me. He provides me my greatest support.”
She also is blessed with support from outside “family” – her church and community.
Amoore can certainly use such support. For her, a 48-hour day wouldn’t be enough. Besides running a successful business, Amoore does her own radio shows and frequently appears on television (CNN, Fox News, ABC and the BBC). She is also a published author. In 2007, she published The Elevator of Achievement: Determination Requires a Choice, a book that describes her experience, education and emphasis on personal and organizational growth.