2024 40 Under 40 Winners

Jeanine, a dedicated leader holding CFRE and PMP designations, has made significant contributions to healthcare philanthropy through her expertise in communications, stakeholder relations, and project management. At Alberta Health Services, she ensured the involvement of 69 hospital foundations in provincial healthcare planning, shaping 12 priority initiatives. Her leadership in community engagement and event sponsorship has led to remarkable fundraising achievements, including a groundbreaking $4 million for a new initiative.

My mother has been my greatest inspiration. She graduated nursing at the age of 21 and spent her career in Edmonton–first working as an RN in the NICU at the Royal Alex Hospital and later as part of the incredible team that manages Health Link–a telephone line that people can use to connect with nurses for health advice or health information. Her passion and dedication to helping others is inspiring. I knew I wanted to help others too. After university, I was grateful to accept a position in healthcare philanthropy where I spent the next decade immersing myself in fundraising and being inspired by the generosity of volunteers, donors, and our community. 

 I’ve witnessed friends, family, and loved ones who have experienced health challenges and having faced my own health crisis–all you want is to have access to great care and for recovery, as fast as possible. Health is something that matters to everyone. Our hospitals rely on the generous support of donors to provide the resources to our foundations to help to advance patient care. I am motivated to play a role in supporting our communities to get the greatest healthcare possible, and to champion the message on why we need to support the advancement of healthcare in Edmonton–and across Alberta. I believe that collaboratively we can achieve incredible things–like improving patient healthcare outcomes–and I work tirelessly to bring community together to achieve this.

A pivotal point in my life–and ultimately, in my career began just before the COVID pandemic. Of course, like everyone around the world, I felt the impact of the pandemic and experienced its challenges. However, in my personal life my family had reason to celebrate as we welcomed our first son, born on my birthday. He is our miracle, as I had faced unexplained infertility and seven prior miscarriages. Welcoming a child is life-changing, but welcoming a child after loss brings a sense of both grief and gratitude. Over the next year and a half, I was able to reflect on my life’s trajectory and began to understand that my passion is in health and specifically for healthcare philanthropy. Being in this space, I have the opportunity to work alongside the best; from community volunteers, to donors, physicians, and healthcare staff and to be a positive driver of change in health for patients and their families.  

I am passionate about inspiring others; whether that’s through my work in fundraising and advocating for important initiatives such as women’s health or through my love of running–encouraging my friends and family to be active and to use physical activity to bolster their own mental health. If there is something I can do that will inspire someone else to do something positive, then I feel like I have made a difference in this world.  

This is advice I would give to anyone, young or old, new in their career, or well-established. It’s also my personal mantra: always say yes to the scary things and remember, failing is just your first attempt In learning. It is through failure, that we learn the most, and it often leads us to innovation and discovery.