Drew's career in the healthcare fundraising space began as a student at the University of Central Florida with Dance Marathon. In her senior year, Drew served as executive director of Knight-Thon and led her fellow college students to raise over $688,000 for Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children which put UCF as the 7th largest Dance Marathon program in the nation in 2015. Upon graduating from UCF, Drew continued her passion and joined the team at Orlando Health Foundation. Drew was hired to help grow Arnie's March which was a peer-to-peer program honoring Arnold Palmer's legacy and raising money for pediatric oncology at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Within seven months, Drew was promoted from her role and became part of a pilot leadership development program where she and two other young professionals rotated through the different foundation departments gaining experiences in planned giving, annual giving, corporate giving, major gifts, digital fundraising, and events. Graduating out of the program and with leadership seeing her talent, Drew was yet again promoted and due to organizational changes absorbed the responsibilities of the corporate giving team. Drew has further shown her commitment to the field in the past few years as she has served as a leader to two development team members, mentoring them in our corporate programs and our foundation operations. In her current role, Drew leads large corporate partnership relationships from Orlando Health Foundation Corporate side as well as Children's Miracle Network Hospitals' partnerships. Additionally, Drew has taken ownership of managing the foundation's relationship with key philanthropically supported programs. Drew manages not only the foundation's relationship with the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children's Children's Child Life program but also as liaison for Orlando Health's Pet Therapy program which has over 65 active therapy teams. In 2017, Drew was instrumental in helping secure a multiyear commitment from PetSmart Charities which helped provide unprecedented growth for the program and over $400,000 of funds over the lifetime of the partnership. Drew recently transitioned to oversee one of our organization's largest Children's Miracle Network Hospitals' relationships with Walmart-engaging thousands of associates in the impact of philanthropy, this partner raises nearly $500,000 for our children's hospital annually.
As a freshman at the University of Central Florida, I participated in Knight-Thon, the largest student-run philanthropy on campus supporting Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. While participating, I witnessed what the culture of philanthropy on our campus was capable of, met families who directly benefited from our fundraising efforts, and left this event knowing my healthcare philanthropy journey was just getting started. Over the next three years, I became more involved with Knight-Thon through leadership positions and remained absolutely captivated by the impact we were making on our community. At the end of my senior year, I decided to pivot from my major and take a leap of faith to explore this as a profession. After graduating, I was fortunate to start my career at the Orlando Health Foundation. Today, I am proud to still be supporting the organization that introduced me to this industry over 12 years ago.
I always knew I needed to have a career that was purposeful and made a difference. I feel incredibly fortunate to have started my career in healthcare philanthropy after graduating that fulfilled both desires. In this industry, we have the privilege to see the direct impact that our efforts make on the patients and families we care for. It’s a profound feeling knowing the work we do changes lives and the landscape of healthcare in our community.
I was recently assigned to lead one of our largest corporate partner campaigns, one in which I previously played a smaller role. While I was excited about this growth opportunity, I knew it would come with challenges and learning curves along the way. In the planning and execution of this campaign, I learned something new almost daily and had to be incredibly adaptable throughout the process. I was also doing my best to positively lead the team that supports with this partner to ensure it was a great experience for all. As I reflect, I am proud of how I have led our team, how this partner’s fundraising has grown, and seeing how my abilities to lead, adapt, create, and execute have strengthened throughout this process.
One of my greatest passions is to conquer challenges set before me. Whether it’s a challenge set personally or professionally, I have learned that you are the only one stopping yourself from reaching your goals and maximizing your full potential. There is no greater feeling than realizing that you are stronger than you thought you once were mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Knowledge is power! Ask questions, be curious, and take every opportunity to learn from leaders and peers about your organization and the healthcare philanthropy industry. Learning through the lens of these individuals early on in your career will help set you up for success in the future.
My sister and I are not only born on the same day exactly three years apart (December 1), but we are also both left-handed!