The Founders' Board - The Woman's Board of Children's Memorial Hospital

Peggy Carr, a Founders’ Board member since 1949, played an instrumental role in establishing the hospital’s horticultural therapy program in the 1960s. Read more.

The Founders' Board, the Woman's Board of Children's Memorial, exists to support the hospital's mission of providing the most advanced and compassionate health care for children and their families.

The Board, made up of 94 active members and 63 associate members, provides support through personal philanthropy, fundraising, advocacy, hospital governance and volunteerism.

Leadership Legacy

In 1892, hospital founder Julia Foster Porter recruited a board of her close associates to serve as the first Board of Lady Managers, later known as the Woman's Board. For more than a century, members have played an integral role in the hospital's growth and helped transform care for children in Chicago and beyond.

In May 2007, the board officially changed its name from the Woman's Board to the Founders' Board to reflect its leadership legacy, which dates back to the early days of the institution.

Governance

Founders' Board members are active in all hospital and foundation Board of Directors' committees and play a leading role in furthering the hospital's advocacy efforts.

Fundraising

The Founders' Board is the hospital's most enduring philanthropic partner. In the last decade alone, the Founders' Board has provided critical funds totaling more than $20 million for a number of endowed chairs for Children's Memorial staff and faculty.

The Founders' Board recently completed a $2 million commitment to the Division of Endocrinology to help patients like Melissa with diabetes and other endocrine conditions.

Members also support Family Services programs, including Kohl's House and Project Open Book, and hospital facilities, including the garden court and the Brown Family Life Center.

The Founders' Board has a current commitment to the hospital to raise $2 million to establish an endowed Professorship in Pediatic, Adolescent, and Maternal HIV Infection.

Recently completed commitments include a $6.5 million pledge to the Division of Neonatology to benefit the hospital's tiniest patients, and a $2 million commitment to the Division of Endocrinology in support of better treatments and potential cures for diabetes and other endocrine conditions affecting children.

Members raise funds through personal appeals and outreach; retail operations including the White Elephant resale shop, gift shops and café; and annual fundraising events including:

• The Pro Am Golf Tournament – One of the oldest and most successful golf tournaments in the country.
• Children Celebrate Children – A holiday tree decorating event for local school children

Volunteerism

In addition to providing hospital leadership and fundraising expertise, Founders' Board members volunteer their time and talents to help ease the stress on patient families and to recognize the nursing staff. The president of the Founders' Board, currently Leslie Newman, serves a three-year volunteer term and works from an office in the hospital on a daily basis.