Pierre joins the Gobel Group as a Principal Consultant, leveraging decades of experience and having implemented the Gobel Grateful Patient Program in his most recent role as Vice President and Chief Development Officer at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, FL. In addition to supporting clients and their specialized needs, Pierre will lead the firm’s work in developing innovative solutions for Volunteer and Board Engagement. At Baptist Health Foundation, Pierre was responsible for all fundraising activities across the five-hospital system including a $138 million comprehensive campaign along with implementing Gobel’s Grateful Patient Program. Prior to his Baptist Health appointment, he spent 17 years as Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the University of North Florida Foundation where he led two successful comprehensive campaigns of $103 million and $130 million and was in charge of development, alumni affairs, public relations, advancement services, and day-to-day operations. Previous positions include Associate Vice President for Development and Executive Director of the Clemson University Foundation as well as numerous positions at the University of Florida Foundation, including managing a five-year campaign which raised $392.6 million. Dr. Allaire received his Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, his MS at Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, and his BS at St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas.

Nancy is a philanthropy professional with over 33 years of varied and comprehensive experience in the field. Her work has included building and shepherding a foundation and corporate relations program at Duke Medicine, establishing and directing a non-profit organization, and evaluating grant programs for private foundations. She is most interested in helping organizations establish effective foundation fundraising programs that optimize knowledge and experience to connect innovative ideas with appropriate funders, creating collegial and transparent lines of communication between foundation representatives and the people and programs that can advance their priorities, and mentoring people new to the field, including both fundraisers and philanthropists.

Nathan serves as President of Futurus Group, an affiliate of Gobel Enterprises. In his prior role as Senior Vice President of Philanthropy at City of Hope, Nathan oversaw operational and fundraising activities that helped generate more than $165 million per year. Prior to joining City of Hope, Nathan served as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advancement Operations and Campaign at UC San Diego and also as a fundraising consultant with CCS Fundraising. As a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Nathan is regarded as a thought leader in the nonprofit industry and presents frequently on the topic of precision philanthropy. In 2018, Nathan presented the first TEDx on the topic of artificial intelligence and the future of generosity. Nathan holds a Master in Nonprofit Administration from University of Notre Dame, a Master in Business Administration from University of Redlands, a certificate in International Economics from University of Cambridge and a certificate in Artificial Intelligence from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Dave joins the growing team at Gobel Group as a Director of Business Development. Prior to this role, he spent over a decade leading development teams at the Rainforest Alliance, an international conservation nonprofit. At the Rainforest Alliance, he was involved in several philanthropic functions including membership, operations, cause related marketing, board relations, and major giving. With his broad background in development and his deep understanding of the complexities and challenges of the development process, Dave is excited to be helping prospective clients identify new strategies to raise philanthropic dollars at nonprofit healthcare institutions. Dave received his undergraduate degree in Economics from Bucknell University, and his MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Desirae joined Gobel Group in 2012. She serves as Principal Consultant, Programs and has worked first hand with over 35 hospitals in that time. In her role, she has educated hundreds of physicians and clinicians, encouraging the identification of thousands of prospects capable of making major and principal level gifts. She has successfully mentored and fostered an increase in gift offer productivity to successfully close gifts of all sizes, including a $2M gift from a grateful patient.

Prior to joining the firm, Desirae served as the Director of Advancement at the University of Rochester Medical Center, overseeing all development functions within a clinical unit. She worked closely with physicians and board members to close six and seven figure gifts. She was directly responsible for growing grateful patient fundraising programs, building strong internal and external relationships, campaign planning and implementation, volunteer management, major/leadership gift strategy and solicitation, special events and donor recognition programs. Previously, she worked at Rochester General Hospital, partnering with employed and private physicians to implement process improvements and create aligned interests between physicians and the hospital.

Along with her experience in medical center fundraising, Desirae has special expertise in the areas of campaign preparation and implementation, major gifts strategy, evaluation of advancement office structure and programs, strategic planning, and executive coaching.

Debbie joins Gobel Group as a Principal Consultant, having recently retired after a distinguished career, most recently as the Vice President for Major Gifts at Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation. She was in that role for over a decade during which she led a team of 28 fundraisers and was responsible for raising 80% of the Foundation’s $100M+ annual goals. A professional fundraiser for 25 years, Debbie is a strong team builder and communicator, who is very committed to accountability in donation management, while investing thoughtfully for future growth. In addition to her fundraising skills, Debbie excels at organizing and planning. “I’m delighted and excited to be joining the Gobel Group. Having the experience of working with Gobel as a client, I look forward to sharing my enthusiasm for the Gobel Group’s work with the clients I will be supporting.”

Debbie will be using her vast experience both with fundraising and as a former Gobel Group client, to further enhance our efforts with Grateful Patient Programs in Canada.

Mother of 4, and grandmother of 3 beautiful granddaughters, Debbie spends a lot of her time in Prince Edward County, Ontario (just outside Toronto) and is an active volunteer in her community.

Chad is a twenty-year veteran of institutional advancement programs, having played leading roles in billion-dollar medical center campaigns at the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Rochester Medical Center.
In 2011, Chad founded Gobel Group with one employee and one client. Today, Gobel Group has grown to 30 employees and actively works with more than 315 clients around the world. Gobel Group has become the leading philanthropy consulting firm working exclusively in healthcare and the experts in building a grateful patient and family philanthropy program with engaged clinicians. In 2019, Chad launched Futurus Group, a technology company headquartered in Irvine, CA, to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to help healthcare organizations increase philanthropic support. Futurus’ first product, G2G, or short for “Gratitude to Give,” has proven to be more than four times as effective as traditional predict models on giving.
Chad received his MBA from the Ohio State University and his undergraduate degree from Towson University. He has served in leadership roles as Associate Chairman of Development at the Cleveland Clinic, Chief Development Officer at the University of Rochester Medical Center, Assistant Dean for External Affairs at the Ohio State University College of Dentistry, and Executive Director of Development at the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs. He’s a frequent speaker at national conferences, served on the faculty of the AHP Madison Institute for ten years, and has published the widely-circulated book, “How to Become a Top Producer in Healthcare Philanthropy.” With his family, Chad is an active advocate and donor for children and animal causes in his community. He serves as the Chair of the Development Committee, a member of the Executive Committee, and a Board Member for the Brandywine Valley SPCA and is an active donor and volunteer for the YMCA.

Most recently, Randall served for 5 years as the Chief Development Officer for the Nebraska Medical Center. He was responsible for all aspects of fundraising, including the transition to a major gifts program from one historically based on annual gifts and special events. As a part of the major gift transformation, Hallett led the design and implementation of a grateful patient fundraising program that effectively partnered with physicians and nurses. He also developed a highly successful concierge program and a planned giving effort. Fundraising results improved 600% increase during his tenure.For the first 12 years, Randall led development offices for private Catholic schools in Kansas City, MO and St. Paul, MN. In his career, Randall has overseen all aspects of external relations including annual giving, planned giving, marketing, special events, donor relations, admissions, public relations, alumni associations and two successful capital campaigns.Randall has a bachelor’s degree in business/finance, an MBA, and a law degree where his personal emphasis was in taxation issues of estates and trusts. He is currently writing his dissertation for an Education Doctorate (Ed.D.). His dissertation topic is a national study of major fundraising success at the high school/elementary level in public schools.

Chris is a story teller. Before Gobel, Chris worked for many years as the senior cinematographer for Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging division. In this position, he was responsible for producing and shooting films used in launching every new motion picture stock that Kodak introduced since the late 1980’s. Chris has also worked independently on commercials and independent features. With his eye for well-designed lighting and composition, he creates stories with remarkable images.At Gobel, Chis works with clients to create a digital library of videos that are used to create products (orientation programs, training programs for physicians and volunteers, website promotional videos, and other tools) that help clients create a culture of gratitude in their hospital.

Jenny has a true passion for grateful patient programs and philanthropic operations. She has extensive experience in healthcare philanthropy including implementation and management of fundraising systems, information management, gift processing, donor acknowledgments, reporting, metrics and prospect management. Before joining the Gobel Group, Jenny oversaw advancement services at Abington – Jefferson Health and prior to Abington she was an integral member of the development operations team at Fox Chase Cancer Center. At both Abington and Fox Chase Jenny was instrumental in implementing grateful patient programs by putting the systems, procedures, training and support in place to manage robust programs. She led two fundraising software conversions, one at Abington from Sage Millennium to the Raiser’s Edge and another at Fox Chase from Team Approach to Blackbaud Enterprise CRM. She holds a certificate for Foundations in Project Management from Villanova University and a Blackbaud certification in the Raiser’s Edge-Professional. Jenny has presented multiple times at conferences on numerous topics including grateful patient programs, developing trainings around system conversions and strengthening the partnership between frontline fundraisers and development operations. She presented a best practice webinar for AASP titled “Prospect Screening: Your Roadmap for Measurable Results” and wrote a chapter in the book published by CASE, “Advancement Services: Enhancing Fundraising Success”.

Lauren joined Gobel Group in June 2011 and has held roles of increasing responsibility in her tenure. In her current role, Lauren works to cultivate and maintain relationships with industry strategic partners to drive continued growth of our brand and business. Lauren also works closely with the CEO to champion and manage development of Gobel Group’s new innovative products and technology solutions.

Lauren has a strong background in project management, research and administrative roles. She brings a strategic, focused and detail-oriented passion to her work. Previous roles within the company have included four years as Senior Director of Business Development and Marketing, Director of Administration, and Philanthropy Analyst. Prior to meeting Chad and launching a career in healthcare philanthropy, Lauren was serving as a paralegal in upstate New York while considering a career in Law. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Public Administration from the State University of New York.

Kaitlin currently works as the Operations Manager. She came to Gobel Group from Penn Medicine after being employed as the Managed Care Coordinator. Kaitlin worked closely with physicians, providers and other healthcare professionals by navigating patients throughout the health system in efforts to improve their overall patient experience with Penn Medicine. Prior to working as the Care Coordinator, Kaitlin worked as a Clinical Service Associate for Penn Family Medicine, Penn Neurology and Penn Cardiac Care. Kaitlin’s interest in Healthcare Philanthropy began in 2011 after being awarded as a “Healthcare Hero” by a grateful patient through Penn Medicine’s Development and Alumni Relations Department. Kaitlin has annually organized teams in donating and walking for the American Heart Association in Philadelphia, PA. Kaitlin holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Healthcare Administration from Immaculata University. She brings a profound understanding surrounding the importance of patient engagement necessary for a successful grateful patient program.

Marissa comes to the Gobel Group with over 15 years of marketing and project management experience. She previously worked for Cengage Learning, one of the country’s leading educational publishers, as well as for a digital marketing firm and a marketing consulting company. Marissa will be working closely with the Director of Marketing and Business Development to strengthen awareness for the services offered by the Gobel Group and also to ensure that each of our consultants have all the tools they need when meeting with clients. She has a proven track record of successful implementation in all aspects of marketing initiatives. Marissa strives to exceed expectations for her clients while ensuring that plans are executed efficiently, in a timely manner, and with great attention to detail.

Jason joins Gobel Group as a Senior Consultant in Programs, bringing with him over 13 years of experience in Development, Fundraising, and Philanthropy. His professional experience includes work with alumni relations, board relations, marketing and public relations, operations, special event planning, annual funds, major gifts, planned giving, and campaign planning.
During his career, Jason managed, and was on teams of, development staff ranging from 2 to 25 individuals with annual fundraising goals ranging from $125K to $15M. He successfully led annual fundraising programs for 10 years including implementing a leadership annual fund program which increased unrestricted giving by 30% in one fiscal year.
Just prior to joining Gobel Group, Jason was the director of Development for Clinical Engagement at Albany Medical Center in Albany, NY. He effectively led the integration of a grateful patient program working alongside the Dean of the Medical College and other executive leadership. During his tenure at Albany Med, he coordinated and led the efforts for 7 gift officers working with 70+ clinician champions while acting as the liaison to Development Operations. He succeeded in shifting the culture of grateful patient philanthropy from one that was episodic in nature, focused mainly on a few service lines, to one that became fully immersed throughout the institution. Grateful patient and family philanthropic gifts rose to over $7M. Working in partnership with their physician and clinician champions, he and his team regularly closed five, six, and seven figure gifts from grateful patients and families in support of the strategic priorities of the Medical Center.

Mike will leverage over 43 years of institutional advancement experience to assist Gobel Group clients with implementing its comprehensive Grateful Patient and Family Philanthropy Program. Mike will also help expand Gobel’s innovative solutions for Campaign Planning and Management. Before Gobel Mike chaired Mayo Clinic’s development efforts at its three major sites in Minnesota, Florida, and Arizona. Under Mike’s leadership, Mayo Clinic launched its first-ever comprehensive campaign in history. This campaign surpassed its $1.25 billion goal in less than its anticipated five years. Mike has been a presenter and panel participant at meetings of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Institutional Advancement (AAMC-GIA), and the Association of Fund Raising Professionals (AFP). He received his BA and MA degrees in journalism and communications from the University of Iowa.

With over 10 years of experience in client management, Mindy understands the importance of anticipating and exceeding client needs. Prior to Gobel Group, she worked as the Client Services Manager for En Route, a marketing agency specializing in tourism and civic arenas. She also previously worked with Holland America Cruise Lines and Flamingo Educational Tours, planning logistics and executing itineraries. With such a well-rounded background, Mindy provides her Gobel Group clients with a unique perspective which she utilizes while helping them successfully implement grateful patient programs. Mindy is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University with a B.S. in hospitality management and A.S. in travel and tourism management.

Kevin Pickett has two decades of experience advancing healthcare philanthropy including 17 years in complex gift planning. In securing transformational gifts and crucial philanthropic support, he demonstrates creativity and professionalism while collaborating across all areas of the institution. His experience includes serving as Executive Vice President at a nationally recognized cancer center and Executive Director of Development at another major, national cancer center where he led a team of development professionals raising $50 million+ annually. Previously, he was VP for Institutional Advancement in higher education and Director of Estate and Asset Services for a national health charity. Programs under his leadership have won multiple awards for creativity and effectiveness. Kevin is a nationally recognized expert and speaker on gift planning, digital fundraising and development marketing. He has published several articles on gift planning and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, NonProfit Times and Planned Giving Today. He formerly served on the faculty of the Rice University Center for Philanthropy and Leadership. Kevin has served as a board, conference and committee leader in a variety of professional associations and is actively involved in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, Association of Fundraising Professionals and Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. He earned a BA from Kentucky Christian University and an MBA from the University of Houston. He has achieved the designation of CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM.

With over 40 years of healthcare management experience in both the clinical setting and in philanthropy, Helen is a well-known expert in developing and implementing successful grateful patient engagement programs. She works with Gobel Group clients to achieve new levels of fundraising with innovative grateful patient programs. Helen was most recently the executive director of Grateful Patient Programs at Duke Medicine and is a trained clinical nurse. Helen has experience closing major and planned gifts and has played a key role in several billion dollar campaigns. She is a well-known speaker at AHP, AAMC and CASE conferences. Helen has been awarded a number of honors, including the Triangle Business Journal 25 Women in Business Leader Award and the Innovation Award from Duke Medicine Development and Alumni Affairs. Helen holds a BSN degree as well as the MPH in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Denise brings more than two decades of experience advancing healthcare philanthropy in executive leadership roles. Most recently she served as Executive Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer for Stratum Health System and Tidewell Hospice in Sarasota, Florida, where she also provided leadership over the organization’s marketing and communications programs. Previously she served as Chief Development Officer for St. John’s Hospital and St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. She is now transitioning from this great career into consultant work.

She has experience with elevating annual, major, capital, and endowment building programs; donor relations and stewardship programs; planned giving; prospect research; implementing grateful patient and clinical integration programs; volunteer management and special events. In addition to her advancement experience, she also brings an executive leadership team perspective to her clients.

“I’m thrilled for this transition from being a Gobel Group client to working with Gobel Group’s clients on their Grateful Patient Programs.”

Denise is an active member and has held volunteer leadership positions with the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) and Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and earned her Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) designation in 2008. She has her bachelor’s degree in public relations from Western Kentucky University and her master’s degree in communication from the University of Illinois-Springfield.

Lawrence is a fundraising professional with two decades of diverse and extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector, and will lead Gobel Group’s work in the provinces of Canada. Most recently, Lawrence served as the President & CEO of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba. As the senior executive member of the Foundation, he guided it to an almost 175% increase in revenue over a five-year period, and broadened the foundation’s scope of fundraising programs with the largest increase in revenue coming from annual gifts, major gifts, and a major emphasis on donor retention and stewardship. He has a bachelor’s degree and education certificate from the University of Manitoba and a Fundraising Management Certificate from the AHP Madison Institute. Lawrence has served as a volunteer on numerous healthcare boards and is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal for his contributions to society.

Megan brings to the Gobel Group team 7 years experience in working with healthcare clients.
Prior to Gobel Group she was a Registered Behavior Technician, providing services to clients alongside Board Certified Behavior Analysts and healthcare professionals.
Megan graduated from Elizabethtown College with a Bachelor of Social Work.
As a Client Engagement Manager, she brings her client-focused experience into play as she partners with Principal Consultants to implement our Grateful Patient Program.

Jocelyn brings to the Gobel Group over 16 years of experience in Philanthropy Services. She thrives on taking an analytical approach to her work by assessing the overall situation and strategically developing appropriate solutions.
Jocelyn previously worked at Westchester Medical Center, the FDNY Foundation, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and as a consultant in Philanthropy Services. In each of these roles she developed strong policies and procedures for Database and Financial functions improving data accuracy, segmenting, and reporting. She oversaw multiple database conversions and merges and was also instrumental in implementing numerous software applications including wealth screening for grateful patient programs.
Her strong focus on improving processes for accuracy and efficiency, combined with her numerous years in the healthcare industry and with grateful patient programs, will prove to be excellent assets for our clients.

Sharon is a Certified Public Accountant with over 30 years experience in providing professional services across a broad range of financial areas including compliance, internal controls, business processes, and acting in business advisory roles. She has been involved with multiple not-for-profit organizations as a board member, a volunteer, a part of the audit team, an internal business manager, and the provider of policies, procedures, and internal control reviews.
Sharon has a B.A. from Thomas Edison State University.
At Gobel Group she is responsible for the delivery of financial services including accounting, treasury, reporting, and budgeting, all in accordance with legislative requirements and organizational policies and strategies.

Scott’s professional career has solely been focused on fundraising, specializing in data analytics and healthcare capital campaigns. His first position was at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore during their $150 million capital campaign. While at the Archdiocese, he oversaw various components of capital campaign management including prospect research, campaign consulting, financial reporting, volunteer recruitment, data analytics, campaign projections and pledge redemption tracking, among other projects. Prior to joining Futurus Group, he was Senior Executive Counsel and Director of Data Analytics with a consulting firm primarily focusing on healthcare philanthropy. During this time, while managing over $50 million in capital campaigns, Scott implemented the use of data analytics to maximize the fundraising performance of his clients’ efforts. The results of this work have been used in feasibility studies, capital campaigns, and major gift programs. Scott received his undergraduate degree from Elon University in North Carolina and his Master’s Degree in Psychology at Loyola University Maryland.

Prior to joining the firm, Lyn served as the Director of Data Services and Business Analytics at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. In this role, Lyn was responsible for the Foundation’s Information Systems, which included The Raiser’s Edge, LuminateOnline, the Foundation’s data warehouse, and many other ancillary systems. Under Lyn’s leadership, the Foundation established a data reporting and visualization environment, enhanced data integrations between The Raiser’s Edge and LuminateOnline, and implemented new technology such as TeamRaiser and PaperSave.

Lyn began his career more than 20 years ago at Blackbaud and has consulted with numerous organizations including the United Nations Foundation, Broward College Foundation, Save the Chimps, Hombre Nuevo, Lighthouse for the Blind, Marywood University, and the Legion of Christ. Lyn also holds a Master of Art in Philanthropy and Development from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Amanda serves as the Director of Operations for Futurus Group. Before joining the team, she served as the Administrative Director for the Office of Philanthropy at City of Hope where she managed a wide range of administrative matters concerning the 160-member fundraising team. Prior to her time at City of Hope, Amanda served in a variety of fundraising roles including several years as a frontline fundraiser, as well as a grant writer for an international nonprofit. Her experience as a frontline fundraiser has allowed Amanda to understand the unique needs and challenges of our clients. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services from California State University Fullerton and a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Biola University.

Chris works with clients on developing and implementing Gobel’s comprehensive grateful patient philanthropy program. With 25 years of experience in philanthropy, Chris most recently was Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Advancement at the University of California, Irvine. He has also worked in senior healthcare leadership positions at the University of Cincinnati Foundation and University of Utah.
In addition to Chris’ expertise in grateful patient philanthropy programs, he has extensive experience in the oversight of annual fund programs, corporate/foundation relations, planned giving and stewardship programs, as well as implementing strategies for major gifts and all other advancement functions.
Chris has been active in professional associations such as CASE, AFP, AHP, and AAMC and has presented at conferences both on national and local levels. Currently, he serves as the Chair at the GIA of AAMC Steering Committee.
Chris holds CFRE accreditation as well as an Adjunct Faculty position at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University and was adjunct faculty at Xavier University in Cincinnati. He has a BA from Georgetown University in English Literature and an MBA from the University of Miami, as well as a Certificate in Fundraising Management from Indiana University.

Shannon spent nearly nine years building grateful patient programs at two of the top hospitals in the world: Johns Hopkins and Cleveland Clinic. At both institutions she has taken new or struggling development programs in clinical units or satellite locations and built them into highly productive and sustainable grateful patient programs. This includes recruiting and training faculty champions, building and coaching staff to exceed metrics, strategically creating volunteer boards, and personally closing seven and eight figure gifts. She has been involved with billion dollar campaigns at both institutions, and most recently, she has had personal responsibility for a $100 million campaign goal. She has experience in all aspects of a comprehensive development program including stewardship, events, and annual giving. Shannon began her development career at the Land Trust Alliance, followed by the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. She received her B.A. from Miami University in Ohio, and her M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Maryland.

David Victorson is a licensed psychologist and Associate Professor of Medical Social Sciences in the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University where he directs the Consciousness in Health Research Lab. He is also the Director of Integrative Oncology at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Survivorship Institute, and founder and director of a young adult cancer support nonprofit called True North Treks. Dr. Victorson’s clinical and research pursuits have focused on measuring and studying the effects of contemplative awareness practices – such as mindfulness meditation, self-compassion, and yoga – and also on the quality of life and well-being of people with cancer and other chronic medical conditions. Dr. Victorson leveraged his background in mindfulness, self-compassion, and empathy to develop the curriculum for our GRACE program. He is also leading our research study to measure and analyze qualitative and quantitative outcomes of GRACE. Learn more about GRACE here.