Thank you to those of you who were about to join us in Houston for Fall Business Meetings and the CDO Summit. We had a record-setting attendance at both events and it was exciting to see the engagement and energy amongst CDOs and Foundation Leaders as we recapped an amazing 2023 and laid the groundwork for 2024.

This year, we added a Roundtable Discussion session to the morning, where CDOs could network with their colleagues around a variety of topics that were facilitated by several of their peers.

During the CDO Summit, attendees had the chance to hear from CMN Hospitals new President & CEO, Dr. Aimee Daily. Aimee shared some of her background with the group and how she hopes to engage with Foundation Leaders during her first 100 days and beyond.

Additionally, we were fortunate to have an amazing panel discussion around CEO/CDO relationships. The panel was facilitated by Monica Taylor-Lotty (EVP & CDO- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia), and featured Barbara Joers (CEO- Gillette Children’s), Rick Merrill (CEO, Cook Children’s Health System), Grant Harris (SVP & CDO- Cook Children’s Health Foundation) and Stephen Bariteau (EVP & CDO- Gillette Children’s). The panelists discussed how they’ve learned to best partner and leverage their individual strengths to create an optimal working partnership between the Foundation and the Hospital Executive team.

Lastly, Frances Fu (CMN Hospitals Chief Financial & Strategy Officer) shared a recap of the successes the organization has experienced in 2023, plans to build upon those successes and address challenges in 2024 and key initiatives that are in the planning process to best position the network for growth in 2025 and beyond.

Thank you to everyone who attended, and we look forward to seeing more of you at the spring CDO Summit in Orlando during Children’s Hospitals Week!