Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Ep 62: Crystal Miller, President of the IU Health Foundation & SVP at IU Health

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Elevate Ep 62: Crystal Miller, President of the IU Health Foundation & SVP at IU Health · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

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Welcome to the Elevate podcast, where
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every leader has a story. We bring you
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conversations with influential leaders
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who are shaping our local communities.
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Hear about their path to leadership and
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experiences that define them and how
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they're driving meaningful impact today.
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Hey everybody, Jason here with another
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episode of the Elevate powered by Braden
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podcast. And these episodes we've been
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doing now for over half a year talking
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to for-profit, nonprofit business
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leaders from around the state of Indiana
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and also at Illinois. Conversations are
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always excellent and this one is going
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to be no different because I'm joined by
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a new friend who actually, you know, be
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was a Tar Hill but now is a Hooer and we
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welcome and are into our states and
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Crystal, welcome to the show.
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>> Thank you. Really excited to be here.
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>> Yeah, it's going to be an awful lot of
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fun. So before we go back and talk about
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kind of your journey to how you got
0:53
here, let's let everybody know what your
0:54
role is today and where you're working.
0:56
>> Great. Well, I actually came to Indiana
0:59
because of my role. So I'm I'm excited
1:01
to share about it. I serve as senior
1:03
vice president for Indiana University
1:05
Health. I lead our philanthropy
1:08
programs. Uh I just recently, a couple
1:10
years ago, helped to stand up our
1:12
sustainability efforts. And I also serve
1:15
as president of IU Health Foundation.
1:17
>> All right. So, it doesn't sound like you
1:18
have much going on, which is great. I'm
1:20
sure that's just awesome. But, no,
1:21
actually, it sounds like a lot of stuff,
1:23
and I know that that's awesome, and I'm
1:25
I'm really excited to hear about that,
1:26
but that's not where you started. So,
1:28
let's go back to the beginning. Where
1:29
you from originally?
1:31
>> I'd like pay money if anybody could say,
1:33
"I've been to this place before." I uh
1:36
grew up in a really small town in North
1:38
Carolina called Oakboro, North Carolina.
1:41
Population 10,00.
1:42
>> Okay. All right. And I went from there
1:45
to Chapel Hill. From Chapel Hill, I I
1:48
lived for about 5 years in Boone, North
1:51
Carolina, Mountains. Um, Michigan fans
1:53
will probably cringe if I say Appalachin
1:55
State, which is is what is there. Um,
1:58
because of some fun football a few years
1:59
ago and, uh, from there, uh, back to
2:02
Chapel Hill for a long work career.
2:05
>> Okay. All right. All right. So,
2:06
originally from smalltown North
2:08
Carolina, going to high school, small
2:11
school, I'm imagining as you're thinking
2:13
about where you're going to go and what
2:15
you're going to do next, you know, what
2:17
are you what's what's your career going
2:19
to look like, you think? And which
2:20
school do you choose?
2:21
>> Oh my gosh. Well, you know, for me, I
2:25
will say in high school, I was never
2:28
somebody who wanted to be on the
2:29
sidelines. So, I always wanted to be not
2:32
just in a club, but I wanted to be the
2:34
president of a club or I wanted to take
2:35
something on. And I had a couple of
2:38
opportunities in high school where I
2:40
served as a state officer for one of the
2:41
clubs that I was at. Cool. And that
2:43
actually gave me a great opportunity to
2:45
network. Kind of gave me a great way to
2:47
travel across my state and see and and
2:49
explore. And uh from that um made great
2:52
friends that I knew were going to
2:54
different colleges. So, I was really
2:56
looking at a few. I um I love to kind of
2:59
make fun of myself and say I am such a
3:02
diehard Targill now and that was not my
3:05
top choice when I was applying to
3:06
colleges. Okay.
3:08
>> Um I wanted to go to North Carolina
3:10
State. Um loved um the Wolfpack and I'm
3:14
sure some of my North Carolina friends
3:15
who are listening now, they would love
3:17
to hear me say that. But wow. Um I um
3:19
actually went to school thinking I would
3:21
be a teacher.
3:23
>> Okay. So coming out of high school,
3:24
you're thinking teaching. All right. But
3:26
it's also interesting too that you you
3:28
mentioned in high school that you got a
3:29
chance to network. By the way, I want
3:31
people that are listening to this if
3:32
you're younger, you can do that in high
3:35
school and and it's it's no different
3:37
than college or in business. It could
3:39
start early. Like you said, you made
3:40
some friends and those relationships,
3:43
I'm sure, kind of lasted for an awful
3:44
long time. But you're thinking teaching
3:47
and originally you're thinking NC State.
3:50
Do you But you end up going to North
3:52
Carolina. Is that right?
3:53
>> Yes. So early on in high school, I was
3:56
thinking teaching. Yeah.
3:57
>> Um I then decided I wanted to try
4:00
physical therapy.
4:01
>> Okay.
4:01
>> Uh UNCC was the only school in our state
4:04
where I could actually take that path.
4:06
>> All right.
4:07
>> Uh really quickly my first semester at
4:10
Carolina. I learned biology was not my
4:12
thing. I'm sure there are other people
4:14
out there that may discover those types
4:16
of things about themselves. And so I
4:19
quickly pivoted. uh graduated with a
4:22
degree in communication studies, but I
4:25
focused on a different area of health,
4:27
which was speech and hearing science.
4:29
Oh,
4:29
>> okay.
4:30
>> So, um went on to graduate school at
4:32
Appalachin and um I got a double major
4:35
there in uh special education and
4:37
reading and language and I did end up
4:39
being a special education teacher right
4:41
out of grad school.
4:42
>> No kidding. All right. So, so you
4:44
thought about teaching, change a little
4:46
bit, go through go through college,
4:48
finish up in grad school, but then
4:50
you're teaching. Where are you teaching
4:51
at? Where was the
4:53
>> I taught in Greensboro, North Carolina.
4:55
Okay.
4:55
>> Uh, one of my favorite places to live. I
4:58
just I loved Greensboro. It was a
5:00
greatiz town. Did not do that for very
5:03
long. Uh, I um I actually graduated mid
5:06
year, so I graduated in December. I
5:09
taught for that that uh remaining part
5:11
of the school year, but kind of taking
5:14
me back to grad school, I was president
5:16
of student government for my graduate
5:18
school.
5:19
>> Okay.
5:19
>> And I had a a dean that I worked with on
5:23
some fundraising projects as gradu
5:25
graduate student president. And she
5:27
said, "Hey, you're not teaching in the
5:29
summer. Why don't you come back and fund
5:31
raise for me?" And you know, the rest
5:34
was I mean, it was kind of in the books
5:36
at that point. like my path had changed.
5:38
>> So, so all right. So, from that
5:40
perspective, you're not teaching, but a
5:41
dean came to you and said, "Hey, why
5:43
don't you think about doing this?" That
5:44
was passion. You kind of found something
5:46
you thought was going to be the next
5:48
thing for you.
5:49
>> It was. And I kind of found, you know, I
5:51
feel like one of my um hopefully we all
5:54
feel like we've identified our
5:56
superpowers or we're working on those.
5:58
And for me, I feel like it u it's easy
6:01
to connect to um what's important to
6:03
other people and and listen and being in
6:06
that fundraising philanthropy space um
6:10
being passionate about something and
6:12
then being able to connect with someone
6:14
else who has that same passion.
6:16
>> I I found something there that really
6:18
kind of filled my bucket.
6:19
>> Yeah. Right.
6:20
>> And so that was it was off and going.
6:22
>> I don't want people to miss that, by the
6:24
way. So finding your passion, finding
6:26
something that you really resonate with
6:28
and want to do, but also mentioning kind
6:31
of filling your bucket, right? The
6:32
opportunity to do work that recharges
6:35
you just gives you more energy to go do
6:37
more of that work, right? It doesn't
6:39
feel like it's so much work. It feels
6:41
like you're you're actually doing
6:42
something meaningful. And so I don't
6:44
want people to miss that because that's
6:46
a terrific thing for for all of us to
6:48
aspire for. And so all right, so now
6:50
you've moved into that space. what
6:52
what's that role look like and kind of
6:53
what are you doing next?
6:55
>> Oh gosh. Well, you know, I had no
6:57
experience of this whatsoever. So, I
6:59
kind of moved around a little bit. I
7:01
spent a couple of years at Appalachin
7:02
and I began to kind of build programs
7:06
and that was something that I found a
7:08
professional passion in was how do I go
7:11
in and look at something, evaluate what
7:13
it is, can I either make it better, um
7:17
if there's a change, we need to make a
7:18
pivot, how do I do that? And so I
7:22
launched uh I'm going to get technical
7:24
for a minute with you. Sure.
7:26
>> I launched an in-house um annual fund
7:29
kind of phoneathon. I know most of us
7:31
get calls from our alma mater saying,
7:33
"Hey, will you give money?" Sure.
7:34
>> That was what I stood up for my um my
7:37
graduate school uh university. I then
7:40
kind of moved into working with a
7:42
particular area of the university. um
7:45
working with people who gave u larger
7:47
amounts of money and and working then
7:49
more on the strategy. So what are we
7:51
going to use this money to do and how is
7:53
that going to move forward? And it's
7:56
kind of funny um we there was a a person
7:59
uh in in the uh development team there
8:03
who when he would move into a job I
8:05
would kind of just not on purpose but
8:08
just because of opportunity would take
8:10
the job that he had.
8:12
>> Okay. and he left from uh the uh from
8:15
Appalachin and went to UNC and started
8:20
working for the health system
8:22
fundraising or for the foundation there.
8:24
And he was actually someone I was
8:26
calling on to ask him to give money.
8:29
>> Okay.
8:29
>> And by the end of the visit, he's like,
8:31
"Hey, we'd really like for you to
8:32
consider coming to work here." And so
8:35
again, I I ended up going where this
8:37
this guy had gone. Um that really, you
8:42
know, one of the the really important
8:43
things for me early on, uh was exposure
8:46
to health care because my dad was
8:48
president of the health system where I
8:50
grew up.
8:50
>> Oh, no kidding.
8:51
>> And so I really had never considered
8:54
being in the business side of health and
8:58
it just kind of opened up my eyes and
9:00
it's like, okay, this is it. I think
9:02
this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I
9:04
then went back and spent 17 years at UNC
9:07
um because of that one visit. No
9:09
kidding.
9:09
>> And um and loved it. I mean when you
9:12
talk about passion, I I had a passion
9:14
for what I was doing earlier. I really
9:17
found my passion in in healthcare plan.
9:19
>> All right. So healthcare was going to be
9:21
it. Philanthropy was definitely where
9:23
you were filling your cup. But it's also
9:24
interesting too that you kind of
9:26
followed an individual and then
9:29
ultimately made a call on those folks to
9:31
try to bring them in and then they
9:32
brought you into the fold. I love that
9:34
part of the story. That's terrific. All
9:35
right. So 17 years there. How do you end
9:38
up going from being a lifelong Tarhill
9:41
to ending up here in Indianapolis and
9:44
becoming a a Hooser the great state of
9:46
Indiana? How's that happen?
9:47
>> I will say it's because of people.
9:49
>> Okay.
9:50
>> And I have worked with, this is a a a
9:53
plug, if you don't work with an
9:55
executive coach. I've had one that I've
9:57
worked with on and off for 15 years or
9:59
so. And I I hit this point in my career
10:02
where I knew I had to make a a a hard
10:05
decision. I was going to either commit
10:07
and lock in and stay at UNCC and and I
10:10
was going to do it because I I loved the
10:12
environment, I loved the people there,
10:15
or I could make a pivot professionally
10:18
and branch out and go to a place that
10:20
maybe I wasn't as comfortable with, but
10:23
I had opportunity. And so, you know, I
10:26
talked through this with my executive
10:28
coach at length. And uh this is going to
10:31
be where I'm going to make the the funny
10:33
comment of she said draw a circle around
10:36
the part of the country you think you
10:37
want to be in and really start to zero
10:39
in on where do you want to grow like
10:41
where are the opportunities to do that?
10:43
So Indiana was not in my circle.
10:45
>> Okay.
10:45
>> And u that's where the people come in
10:47
because I I actually um had someone who
10:51
reached out to me about uh the
10:52
opportunity to join IU Health. Knew
10:54
nothing about IU Health. uh had only
10:58
been to Indianapolis one time in my life
11:00
and that was in college. Totally
11:02
different uh spin on things when you're
11:04
in college.
11:05
>> Yeah, sure.
11:06
>> And it really was coming here, meeting
11:10
the executive team, meeting the people
11:12
that I would be working with that
11:14
absolutely sold me on Indiana.
11:17
>> All right. So, Indiana wasn't in your
11:18
circle. So, I'm curious, where did you
11:20
want to be? What was the
11:22
>> southern girl and wanted to stay in the
11:23
southeast?
11:24
>> All right. Wanted to be in the
11:25
southeast. ended up here in Indiana, the
11:27
great state, obviously. All right. So,
11:29
when did you end up coming here?
11:31
>> I have been here almost 10 years. I
11:33
moved in January of January is not a
11:35
great time to move, by the way. Yeah.
11:37
>> Uh I moved in January of 2017, and I
11:40
will celebrate 10 years without you help
11:42
this coming January.
11:43
>> Congratulations. That's awesome. So,
11:45
what a story. And one of the other
11:46
pieces in there, too, that people should
11:48
hear, like an executive coach, having
11:50
somebody that she can bounce these ideas
11:52
off and work those things through. I
11:54
completely agree with that. Right?
11:56
Sometimes that it comes in the form of a
11:57
mentor in some cases for some
11:59
individuals, but certainly somebody that
12:01
you can work with. And then the
12:03
relationship piece, right? Somebody that
12:05
you've known in your past that's been
12:07
able to give you an opportunity to say,
12:08
"Hey, take a look at this. This may be
12:10
right for you." Those are some of the
12:12
things also that people I think should
12:14
listen to because that network right
12:17
that you've built over time that knows
12:19
you and and has a relationship with you.
12:21
There's an opportunity to get you into
12:23
that next place if you're open to it.
12:25
The other part is I want to ask a little
12:26
bit. So you're you're 17 years in at UNC
12:30
and you've decided to make that change
12:32
or think about because like you're
12:34
either going to lock in or you're going
12:36
to go out to be open and maybe go
12:38
somewhere else. looking back at it now
12:40
10 years past that. Is there a piece of
12:42
advice you might give somebody that
12:44
could be in that point in their career
12:45
right now?
12:46
>> Yeah.
12:47
>> Yes. Um and that that really is um think
12:51
about um how comfortable you are being
12:54
uncomfortable
12:56
>> because for me, you know, I was born and
12:58
raised in North Carolina. I being in
13:02
healthcare philanthropy, I had a network
13:05
from being there so long. I also had my
13:07
dad's network. So my dad had been on the
13:09
hospital association board. He had been
13:12
again president. He had been with the
13:13
same health system for 41 years. Like
13:15
the people that I had that I could call
13:18
on um made made my opportunities easier
13:23
and kind of helped multiply my network.
13:25
>> Y
13:26
>> I had to decide that professionally. I
13:29
was in my mid-4s at the time. uh I
13:32
needed to decide if I was willing to
13:35
take that risk to go somewhere and um
13:39
start over, but it meant that I had to
13:41
be confident in my skills, confident in
13:44
myself um without having a network. And
13:47
I just felt like the opportunities were
13:49
so great here. You know, when I when I
13:52
met with IU Health, we were talking
13:53
about building at the time, the numbers
13:56
were much smaller than they are now, but
13:58
we were talking about already 10 years
14:00
ago, building this incredible facility
14:02
that we're working on right now. Those
14:05
are the types of things that are
14:06
transformational in a career to have the
14:08
opportunity to come do that. And it was
14:10
worth the risk, but I had to be willing
14:12
to take that risk and be uncomfortable.
14:15
>> Yeah. Be be comfortable being
14:17
uncomfortable and bet on yourself,
14:19
right? an opportunity to go do it. Now,
14:20
10 years later, you can tell that that
14:23
was the right choice for you, obviously.
14:24
All right. So, IU Health Multiple Hats
14:28
when you kind of introduced yourself.
14:29
There's lots of things you have going
14:30
on. So, let's talk about that. Talk a
14:33
little bit about your roles. I mean, the
14:34
foundation is something that probably
14:36
some people know about but don't know an
14:38
awful lot about, but then also what's
14:39
going on in the IU Health system,
14:41
>> right? Well, uh, lots to keep us busy
14:44
every day at IU Health. You know, for
14:46
people that aren't familiar with IU
14:48
Health, um we are the only academic
14:51
health system in the state of Indiana.
14:54
Um we serve well over a million people
14:58
every year. uh we reach the state from
15:01
Fort Wayne where we are getting ready uh
15:04
within uh less than a year to open a new
15:06
hospital there. Um in the southern part
15:08
of the city all the way down to um our
15:12
um our hub or our larger facility in the
15:14
southern part of the state is um in
15:16
Bloomington, but we have facilities in
15:19
or hospitals in Bedford and Poli. I mean
15:21
like South and Indiana. and we have this
15:24
incredible partnership with the IU
15:26
School of Medicine and we work with the
15:27
IU School of Nursing. Um we are really
15:30
uh connected in such a way that we can
15:32
provide this incredible care across Ro
15:34
State. So IU Health Foundation kind of
15:38
take us back a little bit. Uh one of the
15:40
things that I was recruited to IU Health
15:42
to do was to actually merge all of our
15:45
foundations. So we are a a statewide
15:49
network. um our hospitals uh you know as
15:52
we would acquire a hospital or build a
15:54
hospital they may come with a foundation
15:57
that was the very last part of our
15:59
system that really had not become
16:02
integrated.
16:03
>> Oh no kidding. I guess I didn't realize
16:05
that. So the there used to be multiple
16:08
foundations.
16:09
>> Yes.
16:09
>> Okay. So as of 10 years ago they were
16:11
operating kind of independently.
16:13
>> Uh completely independent.
16:14
>> Wow. Okay. And so a lot of that um you
16:17
know my background when I was at UNCC a
16:19
lot was in um board governance and and
16:22
board best practice. And so part of it
16:24
was looking at this organizational
16:26
strategy and opportunity. Um we have
16:28
grown uh 10x in our in our uh
16:31
performance now just by coming together
16:34
and finding this synergy. So
16:36
>> wow that was the first part of IU Health
16:39
Foundation. Um we have gone from uh this
16:44
um unintegrated completely separate
16:46
structure to um having a a really strong
16:49
campaign right now for the system that
16:51
we are going uh uh going through. Um we
16:54
actually the the fundraising campaign
16:56
goes through the end of next year. We
16:58
hit our goal at the end of last year. So
17:01
we have um we've raised 200 million. Um
17:04
we're on a a path toward what I suspect
17:07
will probably end up being 250 260. um
17:10
by the end of the campaign, but in a
17:13
great way to really um unite uh people
17:17
across the system and and some shared
17:19
priorities.
17:19
>> Sure. Wow, that's awesome. I mean, a lot
17:21
of stuff going on over the last 10
17:23
years. Congrats on the campaign, but
17:25
also, you know, you mentioned that IU is
17:27
the only teaching hospital in the state
17:29
of Indiana, but I also know it leads in
17:32
a lot of different areas as well. One of
17:34
them, I think, is you guys have a real
17:35
focus on sustainability.
17:37
>> Yes. So talk a little bit about kind of
17:39
that and the mission, what you guys have
17:40
going on there.
17:41
>> Yeah, it's, you know, we talked about
17:43
passions and where people are
17:44
passionate. This has been an opportunity
17:46
that I've been able to apply some of my
17:48
personal passions to something that was
17:49
a priority for IU Health. And so as an
17:52
industry, healthc care has has been
17:55
lagging in where we look at um waste
17:59
reduction, where we look at the types of
18:01
food that we're serving to our guests
18:03
that may come through our facilities.
18:06
are we getting local uh locally supplied
18:08
food sources for example those sorts of
18:10
things and even looking at the types of
18:13
um things that we use in our hospital
18:15
that may not be the greatest for the
18:17
environment. And so um that was
18:20
something personally I had started on
18:23
this journey uh about four years ago. I
18:26
went through Harvard Business School um
18:27
got a certification in sustainability
18:30
and around that time we were thinking
18:32
about what does that look like for IU
18:34
Health and so growth opportunity for me
18:37
uh I took that on for the system. So um
18:40
we launched a a I would say a very um
18:43
focused concentrated effort about two
18:45
and a half years ago.
18:46
>> Okay.
18:47
>> Um since then we've really looked at
18:50
what are the environmental impacts of
18:53
our work. um what are the social impacts
18:55
of our work? So, how do the choices that
18:58
we make um help to make our communities
19:01
healthier around um the state and in
19:03
particular around the hospitals like in
19:06
the communities? And then how do these
19:08
choices help us to be a um a better um
19:12
economic steward of the dollars that we
19:15
have? So, for example, you reduce waste,
19:18
you conserve energy, you're going to
19:20
find um savings there that are going to
19:23
help us to be uh more financially um
19:26
responsible. So, we I'm I'm incredibly
19:29
proud to say uh a little less than a
19:32
year ago, IU Health was one of the first
19:34
10 health systems in the country to
19:37
receive uh certification from an
19:40
organization called the Joint
19:41
Commission.
19:42
>> Okay. Those of us in healthcare, you you
19:45
immediately know what the joint
19:46
commission is. So, as a a primmer for
19:48
others, the joint commission is the
19:50
organization that certifies hospitals to
19:53
provide care. So, they're the ones that
19:55
come in and do visits and say, "Yes, you
19:58
are doing what you need to do. You can
20:00
care for patients and you can bill them
20:02
for it." So, for us to have that type of
20:04
organization say, "You're doing the
20:06
right things. You are putting the right
20:08
practices in place." You know, it's just
20:11
you and I were talking before the show,
20:13
Indiana leads in so many things and and
20:15
we are proud that this is something that
20:17
we can do that positions Indiana as a
20:20
leader in our way.
20:21
>> It's terrific. You mentioned a word in
20:23
there though that I think goes back to
20:25
maybe the culture that IU is producing
20:27
and in helping uh the patients and
20:30
people from around the state of Indiana.
20:31
You mentioned stewardship,
20:33
>> right? and and being a good steward of
20:35
what you've been given and being able to
20:37
to find, like you said, if we can if we
20:39
can minimize some cost here and be able
20:42
to do things through sustainability, it
20:43
gives us the opportunity to provide
20:45
better care. But that word stewardship
20:47
stuck out to me because when you
20:49
leverage that type of word, you're
20:50
you're you're creating a culture and an
20:52
environment that is inviting for all and
20:56
able to support not only the people
20:57
working for IU Health, which there's a
20:59
whole lot of folks working around the
21:00
state of Indiana, but also the million
21:02
people that you care for on a on a on a
21:04
yearly basis. That's just excellent to
21:06
hear from a leader there. So, thank you
21:08
for that. you know, Braden Business
21:10
Systems, which is where we're sitting
21:12
today, a technology company. We started
21:14
back in 1989 selling fax machines out of
21:17
a out of a garage, and we've grown a
21:18
little bit since then. But from a tech
21:21
perspective, one of the things we're
21:22
always interested in in talking to our
21:24
leaders is the evolution of technology
21:28
in their space. And you've had a little
21:30
bit of experience, obviously, 17 years
21:32
at UNCC, now 10 here, 10 years here in
21:34
Indiana. I'm curious, how's tech been
21:38
evolving in the space and also maybe
21:40
where do you see it going in the near
21:41
future?
21:42
>> Oh my gosh. You know, we just um IU
21:45
Health was fortunate to help or our
21:48
foundation was fortunate to help host
21:50
last summer an AI summit in healthcare
21:53
philanthropy here in Indianapolis.
21:56
And oh my gosh, I the the amount of
21:59
stuff that's even changed since then, uh
22:02
you know, it's I'm I'm preaching to the
22:04
choir. I mean it it's constantly
22:06
evolving. Um what we see is kind of I
22:09
feel like there's two parts to it. Um
22:11
there is technology with AI that's just
22:14
helping us to work smarter.
22:16
>> Um you know these are the you know
22:18
what's taking notes for you on a team's
22:20
call so you don't have to miss anything.
22:23
How are you writing things in a better
22:25
way so it's more clear for people to
22:27
understand. So, there's that side of it
22:30
where I'm really excited for us is, you
22:33
know, we've we've talked about matching
22:35
up people's passions. And for us with
22:37
our donors, it's helping us think about
22:41
what are the potential things that
22:43
people may be interested in if they may
22:45
be a patient of ours. And um we are
22:48
thinking about how to provide
22:50
opportunities for them to give. um
22:52
predictive modeling, predictive
22:54
analytics are going to be a gamecher for
22:57
us and they already are. You know, I
23:00
think in the sustainability space, it's
23:03
really helping us think about um how are
23:06
we um just like a lot of industries, how
23:09
are we doing more faster and being more
23:12
refined? Um how are we able to set goals
23:15
much quicker? Because um it's not just,
23:18
you know, one person looking at data
23:20
from one place. It's really thinking
23:22
about as an industry and um you know
23:25
outside of health what is happening that
23:27
that's really going to feed into the
23:28
mount we're looking at.
23:30
>> That's a great answer by the way. You
23:31
know one of the things I probably should
23:32
have asked earlier was a little bit more
23:34
about the foundation. Obviously you guys
23:36
are going to close out this round at you
23:37
know 250 million to 260 million.
23:40
Congrats on that but I wonder I would
23:42
imagine some folks don't actually know
23:44
what the foundation actually does. It'd
23:46
be great to learn a little bit more
23:48
about kind of how the foundation
23:49
operates and how it helps the community.
23:51
>> Sure. Well, the foundation exists to
23:53
make sure that IU Health can realize its
23:56
vision. Our vision is to make Indiana
23:58
the healthiest state possible. And for
24:01
us, the majority of that work is
24:04
fundraising. Um, I'll talk a little bit
24:06
about another part of it as well, but
24:08
you know, we focus on uh uh securing
24:12
dollars that are going to be a margin of
24:14
excellence. um you know a little bit
24:16
different than other foundations in our
24:17
space. We are not raising money to keep
24:21
the lights on. We're grateful IU Health
24:23
is the type of organization that um is
24:26
is financially strong. We are you know
24:29
um hence you know some of these great uh
24:31
building opportunities that we have. Our
24:34
foundation is focused on creating a
24:36
margin of excellence. How do we do
24:38
things faster? How do we do things in a
24:40
way that's reaching more people? And so
24:43
that's really um the the focus inside of
24:46
the walls. One of the things I'm I'm
24:48
also grateful about with our foundation
24:51
and again a little different than maybe
24:52
some of our peers um we are also focused
24:56
on what are IU Health's priorities in
24:58
the community. And so as we think about
25:02
opportunities in the workforce
25:04
development space, for example, um we
25:06
want to serve our communities and make
25:08
sure that if people are looking for a uh
25:12
a good and promising wage and a job,
25:15
then we have opportunities for them to
25:17
join IU Health. Um great example of this
25:20
is a program that we have downtown
25:23
around 18th and Meridian uh near our
25:26
downtown um Indianapolis hospital. It's
25:28
called the Mosaic Center
25:30
>> and this was funded through a Lily
25:31
Endowment grant a few years ago. Um it's
25:34
a center where individuals who are
25:37
either under or unemployed but who are
25:40
interested in creating a career pathway
25:43
in health care. They um participate in
25:46
some job training and we pay them for
25:49
that training. Like we want to get them
25:51
off on the right foot to bandwidth. Um
25:53
if they complete uh the the you know the
25:56
program that we have then um through our
25:59
talent acquisition we have oh my gosh
26:02
about 30 35 different um job opportunity
26:06
pathways they can look at um this is
26:09
this was overwhelming to me. We had our
26:11
very first informational kind of sign up
26:14
day for people to come to the Mosaic
26:16
Center um sign up and say hey I'm
26:19
interested I want to learn more. In one
26:22
day we had um over 450 people. We had
26:25
like a line around the building.
26:27
>> No kidding.
26:28
>> It it's out there. I mean it's a need.
26:30
And so that is the type of thing I'm
26:33
really grateful the foundation focus on
26:35
as well.
26:36
>> Uh we do uh partnering with IU Health,
26:39
we also help to administer uh a
26:42
community impact investment fund that we
26:45
launched through IU Health uh 2019.
26:48
>> Okay. And so since that time, we have
26:51
given away close to $45 million in um
26:55
direct investments in our community. Um
26:58
we also partner with those organizations
27:00
to help them fund raise. So there's some
27:02
uniqueness to to the way that we're
27:04
doing it, but at the end of the day,
27:06
it's all making Indiana healthier.
27:07
>> Yeah. What we're focus
27:08
>> that that's the focus and the goal. But
27:10
what a terrific thing and and what
27:11
you're doing for our communities. You've
27:13
mentioned community all through your
27:15
story, right? the community back in
27:17
North Carolina and now here in Indiana.
27:19
One of the other questions we like to
27:20
get feedback on is just really what's
27:22
community mean to you?
27:24
>> Yeah. You know, community to me is
27:27
finding a group of people that have um
27:30
common shared values. Um you're focused
27:33
on um heading in the same direction. Um
27:36
everybody carries maybe a different load
27:38
in different places, but at the end of
27:40
the day um you're all working toward um
27:43
making life better for each other.
27:45
So, um, for us, you know, that was part
27:47
of again what drew us to Indiana is we
27:49
really felt like central Indiana where
27:50
we are was that kind of community.
27:52
>> Yeah, it's terrific. You know, and
27:54
before before we close and talk a little
27:56
bit about what's fun, but just just your
27:58
story, right, North Carolina, uh, being
28:00
a Tarle down there, thinking about
28:02
teaching, going to school, actually
28:04
getting an opportunity to teach for a
28:06
while, and then, you know, working
28:08
through kind of your career and somebody
28:10
saying, "Hey, you're not teaching. uh
28:12
why don't you come do some fundraising
28:13
and work with us over here and finding
28:15
passion and having an opportunity then
28:18
to work in the North Carolina UNCC
28:20
system uh for an individual for 17
28:22
years. Well, one of the key points that
28:24
I want everybody to remember is that
28:26
you're working with a coach and made the
28:28
decision to bet on yourself and say, "I
28:30
I can I can expand and you draw a circle
28:33
where you want to be and outside of that
28:35
circle is a place called Indianapolis."
28:36
But you end up here because of a
28:38
relationship. Now, 10 years later, you
28:41
know, going through this fundraising
28:42
path, beating your goal, looking at 250
28:45
million to 260 million. the community
28:47
that you're serving. Everything that
28:49
you're doing is here to make us
28:50
healthier, and ultimately that makes us
28:53
better, allows us to be better students,
28:55
to be better parents, to be better moms,
28:57
dads, uh workers all across the state of
29:00
Indiana. Thank you for what you're doing
29:02
at the foundation and at IU Health. But
29:04
if you're not doing all of those really
29:06
cool things, what are you doing for fun?
29:09
H well when I have time which I've
29:12
missed the past few weeks I love to play
29:14
tennis in the evening so I have a couple
29:16
groups that I play with so that's u more
29:19
for me like what what gives me a place
29:21
to uh relieve I won't say stress because
29:24
I don't have a lot of you know work
29:25
stress but um it just gives me that
29:28
outlet um to be outside in the winter I
29:30
play inside you know as a family we love
29:33
to travel um I have my husband and then
29:36
I have a 16-year-old and a 20-year-old
29:38
year-old. Uh both both sons. We just got
29:41
back from Hawaii. So that was uh our our
29:44
fun uh thing together. Love exploring.
29:47
Uh love going places. It's been fun
29:49
recently to go places that none of us
29:51
have been
29:52
>> and we've actually now had uh with my
29:55
kids, both of them have been
29:56
internationally to places that we
29:58
haven't been. So it's it's been a fun
30:01
opportunity to learn from them. And so
30:03
that's, you know, that's part of it. Um
30:04
I love being involved in the community.
30:06
I'm really involved with my church. I
30:08
try to be involved with uh my uh kids
30:11
schools where they were. My older just
30:13
graduated from Midwest Academy um up in
30:16
Carmel. My younger is going to be a
30:19
junior at Brebuff. Uh so, you know,
30:21
finding ways to get connected into both
30:23
of those. And then um I I love the arts
30:26
and so, you know, as I think about for
30:28
myself and where I personally want to
30:30
spend some time, I just uh joined the
30:32
Indie Arts Council board. So, I'm really
30:34
having fun exploring more about what the
30:37
arts mean.
30:38
>> Oh, that's true.
30:39
>> Yeah.
30:39
>> Well, it's excellent. It's also
30:40
something he said there, too. You don't
30:41
have a lot of work stress, but some of
30:43
the times playing tennis is for you and
30:45
then traveling with your family. And so,
30:47
you know, thank you so much for sharing
30:49
your story. Thank you for what you're
30:50
doing at the foundation and what IU
30:52
Health is doing for us in the state of
30:54
Indiana. I appreciate you being on the
30:56
show
30:56
>> and thanks for doing this to highlight
30:58
some great stuff that's going on across
31:00
the state.
31:00
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