Lauren Wechsler
First Hospital Foundation welcomed Lauren Wechsler as its new Program Director. In this role, she will be responsible for the planning, design, and implementation of the foundation’s strategic grant initiatives. She will also build and maintain productive relationships with partner nonprofits and communities to further develop understanding of health disparities and the foundation’s role in addressing them.
Ms. Wechsler has ten years of experience in program and policy development and implementation, with a particular emphasis on capacity building, community engagement, and applied research. Most recently, she managed the federal Building Neighborhood Capacity Program at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, DC. Her prior experience includes serving as Senior Associate for the Economic Mobility Project at the Pew Charitable Trusts and as Coordinator for the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University.
Contact: Kyra Sanborn
Phone: 215.4290, x100
Email: ksanborn@firsthospitalfdn.org
Robert Macauley, MD, FAAP, FAAHPM
Cambia Health Foundation announced the appointment by OHSU of Robert Macauley, MD, FAAP, FAAHPM as the Medical Director and the Cambia Health Foundation Endowed Chair in Pediatric Palliative Care of OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital’s Bridges pediatric palliative care program. In this role, effective September 2017, Dr. Macauley will lead an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, a nurse, and a chaplain to expand services for patients and families living with serious illness.
In 2015, the Cambia Health Foundation granted $4 million to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation as part of the Knight Cancer Challenge and directed the funds to establish the hospital’s first pediatric palliative care endowed chair. Cambia Health Foundation has supported the advancement of palliative care since 2003, when it awarded its first grant to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation to support the hospital’s ground-breaking Bridges pediatric palliative care program. Cambia and its employees also donated an additional $1 million to the Knight Cancer Challenge in May of 2015.
Throughout Dr. Macauley’s distinguished career, he has led many efforts to expand the field of palliative care. He spent fifteen years on the faculty at the University of Vermont, where he directed both the Pediatric Advanced Care Team, as well as the Department of Clinical Ethics. Prior to that, he worked as a Pediatric Hospitalist at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut, a Primary Care Pediatrician at Middlebury Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in Middlebury, Vermont, and was Director of Pediatrics at Kuluva Hospital in Uganda.
He was named as a distinguished educator of the University of Vermont Teaching Academy in 2015, and currently serves on the board of directors of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, on the hospice and palliative medicine test-writing committee of the American Board of Internal Medicine, and as Chair of the Committee on Bioethics of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Contact: Rob Goodman
Phone: 503.553.1467
Email: rob.goodman@cambiahealth.com
More information: https://www.pdnhf.org/
Annie Bill and Lisa Wade
The Mat-Su Health Foundation (MSHF) recently welcomed Annie Bill and Lisa Wade to its board of directors.
Ms. Bill has had successful careers in education and natural resources. She owns Excel Alaska, an education consulting company. Previously, Ms. Bill held positions of increasing responsibility with the Mat-Su Borough School District. She was Principal at Ron Larson Elementary School, Acting Assistant Principal at Colony Middle School, a teacher, and she served as the district’s coordinator for the Talented and Gifted and International Baccalaureate Programs. Before moving into the education field, Annie was a park ranger and interpretive specialist for the Alaska State Parks and the USDA Forrest Servicer.
Ms. Wade became the Health, Education, and Social Services Division Director for Chickaloon Village Traditional Council in 2013. She previously served as the Director of Health and Social Services for seven years. Ms. Wade is a steering committee member of the Alaska Resilience Coalition and of R.O.C.K. Mat-Su (Raising Our Children With Kindness). She is a member of Benteh/Nuutah Valley Native Primary Care Center’s Joint Operating Board, and an advisory committee member of the Ahtnahwt’aene’ Nay’dini’aa den (Life House Clinic Community Health Center).
Contact: Robin Minard
Phone: 907.352.2892
Email: rminard@healthymatsu.org
Tom Brown and Alison Elster
The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust announced Tom Brown joined the Trust this month as the new Vice President of Programs and Alison Elster joined in June as Program Coordinator.
As Vice President of Programs, Mr. Brown will oversee the work of the Trust’s two program areas—Health Improvement in North Carolina and Local Impact in Forsyth County, North Carolina. Mr. Brown brings a diverse background in philanthropy, nonprofit management, and health care development to support the Trust team as it works to make long-term, sustainable change in the communities the Trust serves. The Trust released its updated Strategic Vision at the end of June, and Mr. Brown will be instrumental in managing the program team as it works to implement that vision locally and statewide to create thriving communities.
Prior to joining the Trust, Mr. Brown was the Senior Corporate Grant Writer at Novant Health Foundation. Before working at Novant, he served in several leadership roles with nonprofits and foundations including Executive Director of REAL Entrepreneurship, Senior Program Officer at North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund, and Executive Director of Faith in Action, a national program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Mr. Brown also served as Special Assistant to Chancellor Alex Ewing for his entire tenure at the UNC School of the Arts where he was instrumental in the creation of the School of Filmmaking and the establishment of the School’s Summer Institute on Roanoke Island.
Alison Elster joined the Trust in June as Program Coordinator. In her role, she acts as the first point of contact for organizations seeking to apply for grants while also providing administrative and communications support for the program team and for the Trust’s two major long-term special initiatives: Healthy Places NC and Great Expectations.
Before joining the Trust, Ms. Elster served as the Development Assistant at Guilford Child Development, where she managed food pantry operations, established and maintained a new volunteer and intern program, and assisted with fundraising and events.
Contact: Nora Ferrell
Phone: 336.397.5515
Email: nora@kbr.org