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.

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.

Robert Emmons is the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude. For nearly two decades, Dr. Emmons has been studying the effects of gratitude on physical health, psychological well-being, and on our relationships with others. Dr. Emmons is director of the Emmons Lab, a long-term research project designed to create and publicize a large body of novel scientific data on the nature of gratitude, its causes, and its potential consequences for human health and well-being. Emmons’ research has found that people who actively practice gratitude are 25% happier, workout 33% more, and overall tend to live healthier lifestyles. Dr. Emmons co-authored our whitepaper on Understanding Gratitude: The Connection Between Healing and Philanthropy and leads our curriculum development initiatives with a focus on gratitude, giving, and healing.

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 University of Rochester Medical Center. Chad has built the Gobel Group into the largest consulting firm working exclusively in healthcare philanthropy and the leader in grateful patient philanthropy programs. The Gobel Group works with 200 hospitals throughout North America. Chad received his Masters in Business Administration 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, serves on the faculty of the AHP Madison Institute, and published the widely circulated book, “How to Become a Top Producer in Healthcare Philanthropy.” With his two sons, Chad is active advocate and donor for children and animal causes in his community. He serves as Chair of the Development Committee, member of the Executive Committee and Board Member for the YMCA of Greater Brandywine Valley, as well as a Board Member for the Brandywine Valley SPCA.

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.

Bill joins the Gobel Group as a Principal Consultant and will assist clients with implementing its comprehensive Grateful Patient and Family Philanthropy Program. Bill is a seasoned fundraising executive with over 40 years of experience. Most recently, he spent two decades working to advance healthcare philanthropy as the Chief Development Officer at Franciscan Health in Lafayette, Indiana. Prior to that he was with Henry Ford Allegiance Health and St. Francis Healthcare System in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Bill has been deeply involved with the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy where he served as a regional Director, a National Board Member, and as Secretary/Treasurer. Bill holds a BA from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and a MA from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

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 works directly with clients and members of the Gobel team to coordinate client engagement and special projects. Lauren comes to the Gobel Group from Relin, Goldstein, and Crane, LLP where she served as a paralegal. At Relin, she acted as a liaison between the firm and its clients. She’s previously been involved in philanthropic programs for Livingston County Cares and the Migrant Children’s Center of Geneseo.Lauren has a strong background in project management, research and administrative roles. She brings a strategic, focused and detail-oriented passion to her work. Since starting with Gobel Group, Lauren has been an important asset with many clients. She has played an integral role in projects ranging from benchmarking studies, data analysis, database services, stewardship programming, among other activities.

Kaitlin currently works as the Operations Manager. She works closely with the Gobel Group team members to provide administrative support, scheduling and travel arrangements. Kaitlin 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.

Elizabeth works closely with Gobel Group team members to provide administrative support, scheduling, travel arrangements and correspondence with clients. Liz was previously employed at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center with Riverside Productions and Safran Production Services Inc. She assisted in the production and decoration of special events throughout the Greater Rochester area including various fundraising galas within the medical and healthcare community. In addition to working with the event planning crew, Elizabeth served as a receptionist at the Convention Center.Elizabeth graduated from the Delta College at The College at Brockport with a B.A. in International Studies and a Minor in Recreation and Leisure. She brings a global perspective, organizational skills and enthusiasm about working with, and learning about others, to the Gobel Group.

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.

Danielle is a Director of Client Engagements at the Gobel Group. She has been with us since 2013 working alongside Principal Consultants to drive the implementation and rollout of the Grateful Patient Program with Clinician Engagement. In her time with Gobel, Danielle has worked with over 50 clients to successfully implement grateful patient programs at large and small hospitals, health systems and academic medical centers across the United States and in Canada. Danielle comes to us with diverse experience in the Healthcare industry, previously processing claim adjustments and benefit inquires at Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, and working as a Pharmacy Technician at CVS Pharmacy. Danielle Graduated from The College at Brockport State University with a B.A. in Organizational Communication and a minor in Studio Art. Danielle believes in the power of philanthropy to enable the few, to change the lives of the many. She participates in fundraising activities for the American Breast Cancer Foundation, the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In her spare time, she likes to enjoy local festivals, go camping, and hangout with her Great Dane, Dexter.

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 serves 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 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 will be working 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 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.

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.

Scott’s professional career has solely been focused on fundraising, with a specialization in 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 Gobel 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.

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 has 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.

Sandi is a fundraising professional with more than twenty-five years of experience in the philanthropic process and a successful track record in planning, implementing and coordinating development and alumni programs, grateful patient and family programs and managing staff and infrastructure.

During the last two and a half decades, Sandi’s primary focus has been in academic medicine and she has served in leadership roles at the University of Michigan, IDC, the University of Southern California and the University of North Carolina. In each of these leadership positions Sandi played a major role in the strategic planning and execution of a successful comprehensive campaign ranging from $2.5 billion to $6 billion, creating the infrastructure to identify and manage the pipeline of prospects necessary to reach the goal.

Her areas of expertise include annual giving programs, communications, web services, prospect management, research and stewardship. She has designed and implemented successful grateful patient programs for St. Joseph Mercy Health System, the University of Michigan Health System, Keck Medicine of USC, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and UNC. In her consulting practice, she has partnered with several healthcare clients across the country to assess, improve and expand their existing grateful patient programs bringing best practices in policy development, the design of data solutions, secure data storage and transmission, donor acquisition, and the recruitment and training of physician champions.

Sandi is a member of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of Fund Raising Professionals and CASE and has also been involved with the National Committee on Planned Giving and the Mid-Michigan Planned Giving Council. She has been a conference speaker for the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy and CASE.