perspectives
Summer 2023
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The collective knowledge and experience across our organization is a tremendous asset.
We created the Perspectives column as an exchange of information, ideas and insights among South Division boards.
While you all face challenges unique to your ministries and communities, you also share common goals and opportunities. This column is a resource for knowledge sharing and connection across ministries. To get us started, we asked seven board chairs from ministries across the state a series of questions.
Their answers give us an insider’s view of how they’re approaching their priorities and opportunities. During the interviews, a few things were immediately apparent—they were all open and candid with their answers, and all were interested in hearing what their colleagues had to share.
When asked about the characteristics of a strong board member, the answers were as unique as the board chairs themselves. However, there were striking similarities, including advocacy for the ministry, passion for giving back and active engagement.
Sharing about their board’s biggest successes and what they hope to accomplish during their terms as chair elicited a wide range of answers. Notably, intentional board development emerged as a theme, with boards actively working to increase diversity and close the gaps in representation. And the buzz was enthusiastic and optimistic from boards adopting and implementing a comprehensive fundraising model.
Identifying their biggest opportunities is one area where boards were more unified in their answers. Educating the community about their ministries, connecting with more potential donors, and community engagement are clear priorities for boards across the organization.
To learn more and glean a deeper understanding, read on for their thoughtful and frank answers to our questions. And look for our next edition coming this fall when we’ll hear insights from the rest of our board chairs.
Right: Michelle Koenig Barritt, chief philanthropy officer
Marwa Kilani, M.D., Board Chair
Providence Holy Cross Foundation
What are the characteristics of a strong board member?
The most important element of being a board member is advocating for the ministry you represent. You are the face of your ministry. You want to make sure you’re correctly portraying the values and mission. When I’m out in the community, I talk about our accolades, the type of care we provide, and the breadth of care. Every board member should deeply understand their ministry and be a good advocate.
What’s your board’s greatest success?
We’ve significantly diversified our board culturally and with members outside of health care to accurately represent the community we serve. We have much more community involvement, which is fantastic. We’ve come a long way in a short period. On a foundation level, we’ve got a great trajectory in seeing much more philanthropy coming through to our ministry.
What do you hope to accomplish in your term as board chair?
I feel confident I can leave the board any time, knowing it has amazing members and outstanding leadership from our philanthropy partners. And that we’ve made an impact at the hospital and in the community. The next person to assume the chair will be perfectly situated to move forward and build on what we’ve done so far.
What’s your board’s biggest opportunity?
We continue to establish relationships with donors seeking meaningful giving opportunities and wanting to put their philanthropy to good use. Our hospital is so deeply set in the Providence core values that you genuinely feel the donated money makes a real impact. Even nominal amounts are integral to the care we provide—simple things like ultrasound machines or programmatic goals like palliative care. Our donors can impact the care provided here with smaller gifts compared to the multiple millions our sister ministries see.
Right: Tanja Cebula, board chair
Tanja Cebula, Board Chair
Providence St. Joseph Hospital Foundation
What are the characteristics of a strong board member?
Someone who’s a thoughtful contributor during discussions and passionate about our mission. Someone willing to use their strengths, talents and resources to advance the foundation’s vision. Someone who leads by example and personally makes donations based on their capabilities.
What’s your board’s greatest success?
Our greatest success is having the best leadership and team on the foundation and the board. It starts with our CPO Amy Daugherty as our leader and the team she’s put in place. We’re fortunate to have a mix of long-term board members, physicians, grateful patients and new board members. In recent years, we’ve focused on engaging members from the business community to help diversify our board. We’ve had three of the largest donations in the foundation’s history in the last three years. That is exciting momentum for us, and we’re building on those results.
What do you hope to accomplish in your term as board chair?
I hope I will have encouraged the board and the foundation team to think differently. It’s been a big priority for Amy and me to engage the board in the meetings. We now use the board meetings to get to know each other and build that connection with each other. For example, we utilize panel discussions and have implemented a board member moment in our board agenda. I’ve learned so much about board members that I’ve known for years, and that’s been a blessing.
What’s your board’s biggest opportunity?
We are blessed to have a hospital with a vision of excellence and a mission of compassionate care. We need to continue to diversify our donor base and connect with more people who have the capacity to advance this mission and vision. So many are out there with the ability and desire, but they don’t really know us. There are a lot of potential new donors out there that we haven’t touched yet.
Right: Dub Drees, chief philanthropy officer
Mike Verity, Board Chair
Providence St. Jude Memorial Foundation
What are the characteristics of a strong board member?
Beyond being active and engaged, it’s good to have people with stories that tie them to the organization. For example, we typically have one of the Sisters on the board, and they have a different perspective that brings us back to the organization’s core values. People who are clinicians or those who’ve worked in the system keep us grounded in what we’re trying to accomplish. We do a good job placing people with different but complementary skill sets on the board. Last but not least, we benefit from board members willing to engage in healthy debate.
What’s your board’s greatest success?
We’re investing in projects that help the medical center move to a higher level—whether it’s nurse navigators, 3-D mammography, or putting money into the institutes—we’re proud of putting money into these projects. We are a force multiplier that helps the hospital jump to the next level. We’re not clinicians, but we can seriously impact the hospital’s ability to expand its service lines and quality of care, which is a big deal.
What do you hope to accomplish in your term as board chair?
After my term, I hope that the foundation and the medical center leadership can say that the board supported them and made their jobs easier. I hope they feel they can lean on the board because its members are well-informed, value critical thinking, and have a reputation for healthy debate.
What’s your board’s biggest opportunity?
Getting the word out. Telling the compelling story of our hospital—we have a world-class health care organization in our community that punches way above its weight class. We will do ourselves a service by getting that out more frequently and to a broader audience.
Right: Erin Simms, immediate past chair
Erin Simms, Immediate Past Chair
Queen of the Valley Foundation with Providence
What are the characteristics of a strong board member?
Someone committed to helping others and passionate about ensuring access to outstanding health care. We know that if we want a good local health care system, we need to do a lot of hard work and involve and educate the community. Strong members are go-getters who understand that without community involvement, the hospital would not be where it is today or meet its goals for the future.
What’s your board’s greatest success?
Each year, we have our gala called Generous Heart. It started out as a small party ten years ago and has climbed into a seven-figure revenue source for the hospital and selected beneficiary each year. We utilize this event as the crown-jewel experience to introduce new community members to learn more about the hospital. The event takes over six months of detailed planning, and we’re delighted with the results – with room still to grow.
Our relationship with Rachael Poer, our wonderful foundation leader, is a huge support. She works hard to make us successful.
What did you hope to accomplish in your term as board chair?
During my time as board chair I learned that if we raise money for something specific, it creates limits. If it takes a while to raise the total needed, the funds raised along the way are tied up. But, if we raise money broadly, say for cancer care, we can put it where it needs to go as we continue to fundraise. We evolved our annual Generous Heart event to focus more comprehensively on big-picture fundraising priorities.
What’s your board’s biggest opportunity?
We have a tremendous opportunity to go out there and educate the community. Our new CE, Terry Wooten, keeps us current on projects. Having the board well-versed means we can engage community members and start relationships. There are many potential relationships in Napa Valley that we haven’t touched yet. By knowing as much as we can, we can be effective ambassadors.
Right: Heather Seaton, chief philanthropy officer
Steve Kimberling, Board Chair
Providence St. Joseph Hospital Foundation, Eureka
What are the characteristics of a strong board member?
Connection to the community is key. I’m from a sales background and want people with a good network and willingness to make introductions. Someone who can present themselves well, communicate effectively and represent the board in the community. We are part of a team, and we need to make the introductions so our CPO, Heather Setton, can make the ask.
What’s your board’s greatest success?
The cohesiveness of our board, especially coming out of a challenging time. Heather has faced the gauntlet with the community being disappointed about some changes in hospital priorities after funds had been raised. I’ve been watching the makeup of the board change and shift throughout this process, and it emerged as very united with a unified direction.
What do you hope to accomplish in your term as board chair?
Hitting concrete financial goals. I want to create an ongoing process for setting attainable goals for board members. Another is streamlining our recruitment and onboarding processes to attract engaged members and give them the tools to be effective.
What’s your board’s biggest opportunity?
Connecting with potential donors we haven’t touched in a while. We’re training individuals in the community on how to be givers. Our most significant opportunity is working with our existing board members and providing them with tools to get deeper into the ask. I’m meeting one-on-one with our board members to create individualized plans. I’d like to see at least half of our board members hosting small events in their homes.
Right: Tina Johann, chief philanthropy officer
Stephen Dutka, Board Chair
Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Foundation, Burbank and Chair of the Valley Service Area Foundation Board
What are the characteristics of a strong board member?
It must be someone who is predisposed to giving back, and they must be passionate about the organization. They need to understand that the future depends on what we do today. Being well-connected and willing to get us in front of those with the capacity to give is important, as is being a strong brand ambassador for the organization.
What’s your board’s greatest success?
Helping to raise $78 million for the Minutes Matter Emergency Services Campaign was a monumental success for the board, which unfolded over many years. That was a game changer for our community and set this ministry apart. We’ve also had success in making an immediate impact. Often, we can connect our decisions as a board to meeting a tangible need in the hospital. For example, our CE, Karl Keeler, explained the hospital’s need for a new robot. We voted, approved it, and it was on the way within 30 days. That’s very rewarding.
What do you hope to accomplish in your term as board chair?
I want to be on the leading edge within Providence in adopting and implementing comprehensive fundraising. This approach creates continuous engagement by the board, donors and hospital leadership. It’s very new for us, and I’m excited to be the one who’s launching it and getting it rolling. I believe it’s the future of fundraising.
What’s your board’s biggest opportunity?
Our most significant opportunities are tied to the shift to the comprehensive fundraising model. It will allow those who want to volunteer to better align themselves with what they are highly passionate about. We’re already a very high-functioning board well-positioned to transition effectively and quickly begin reaping the benefits.
Right: Mark T. Hebner, board chair
Mark Hebner, Board Chair
Providence Mission Hospital Foundation
What are the characteristics of a strong board member?
The first word that comes to mind is engagement. That means being in attendance and on time for all meetings. Engaged members have read the materials ahead of time and take part in discussions. They pay attention, ask questions and provide feedback. They volunteer when needed and participate in our activities and committees. They’re enthusiastic about the ministry, donate to the foundation and help bring in other donors.
What’s your board’s greatest success?
Overall, I would say helping to raise $35 million for the Leonard Cancer Center. It was headed up by the past board chair, Jim Quandt, and was the biggest project and fundraiser we’ve done as a board to date. Another recent achievement was recruiting new CPO, Nicole Balsamo. Bringing in new leadership is an arduous process and a major accomplishment. She’s doing a wonderful job and is the right person to lead the charge for our upcoming comprehensive campaign.
What do you hope to accomplish in your term as board chair?
My most important objective is to lay the groundwork for our upcoming $350 million comprehensive campaign that will raise hundreds of millions for the hospital. We are in the planning phase, which requires educating board members, bringing in new members and working with Nicole to establish numerous campaign committees. I’m also doing succession planning for myself and other officers, including making preparations for the new generation of future board members who will see the campaign through.
What’s your board’s biggest opportunity?
Our biggest opportunity is to educate the Orange County community on the world-class health care we have right here, where they live and work, and the community’s need to support it. The comprehensive campaign will require a massive effort that includes hundreds of volunteers serving on multiple committees. It’s an opportunity to deepen and strengthen the community’s knowledge about and relationship with the hospital. It’s also a chance to elevate the culture of philanthropy inside the organization and better facilitate connecting with grateful patients who want to give back.
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