As we reflect on 2022 with its whirlwind of activity, challenges, and accomplishments, we want to pause and acknowledge that we would not be where we are today without the support of our incredible community.
We are grateful to the Leadership Council, the Fellowship Network, our Collaborative members and Fellowship sponsor organizations, and our distinguished governing board as well as the innumerable partners, major donors, corporate sponsors, and overall ambassadors to the cause of gender and racial equity in healthcare leadership. Your commitment to the Foundation’s mission, your invaluable volunteer hours, and your financial support have made possible the growth and achievements of the organization.
We honor you, the Carol Emmott Foundation community, who are moving forward our mission to accelerate gender equity and diversity in healthcare by connecting a powerful network of women, allies, and organizations.
Despite the turmoil we face in the current healthcare environment, we are engaging the “power of the network” to rebuild a brighter future where we will truly change the face of healthcare.
I look forward to continuing this important work with you, and we wish you a successful 2023.
~ Anne McCune, CEO and The Carol Emmott Foundation Team
Highlights of 2022
We are pleased to look back at 2022 and share some of our favorite highlights with you.
The Fellowship Class of 2022
The Fellowship Class of 2022 brought us the largest and most diverse cohort to-date. The 22 women leaders hailed from new geographies including Missouri, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and North Dakota, widening our reach across the nation.
Two new sponsoring organizations joined: the Mayo Clinic and the University of Oklahoma, Carol B. Emmott’s alma mater. Additionally, we exceeded our goal and were able to accept and fully fund four Foundation-sponsored fellows from safety-net institutions that otherwise would not have been able to participate in the Fellowship. A successful program year throughout, led by our new Fellowship Curriculum Director, Joanne Dias and in partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership.
A Growing Fellowship Network and Our Impact
In 2022, the Network welcomed the CEF5 cohort into the Fellowship Network membership, growing it to 93 fellows from 48 organizations!
The Network hosted their first in-person annual meeting in two years, with robust representation across all cohorts. The meeting took place just prior to the Foundation’s Symposium and open reception in Chicago and was successful on all counts – from participation to hosting keynote speakers such as Dr. Allison Arwady, the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
We developed a new strategic direction for the Fellowship Network, complete with rebranding, and thanks to continued support from BDC Advisors, a sustainable annual investment business model and structured governance which will support a scalable future.
We also continued to develop our longitudinal impact research, focusing on outcomes based on being a past Fellowship participant and part of the Fellowship Network. An astounding 63% of the Network Fellows have received promotions during or following their Fellowship. Of those promoted, we are proud to say 5% have been promoted twice, and 64% of all promotions have been internal.
We are excited to watch this group of remarkable women leaders grow exponentially and start to make far-reaching changes in our health communities.
The Equity Collaborative
The Equity Collaborative member organizations entered into their third-year commitment to make real change in gender and racial equity their organizations. Major actions that members took in the past three years due to their participation in The Equity Collaborative included:
- Recognition of DEI as a business imperative with the highest priority.
- Creation of sponsorship and allyship initiatives.
- Creation of metrics and DEI scorecards with leadership accountable for process, outcomes, and representation goals.
- Changes in policies, procedures, actions, and leadership behavior to reduce bias in hiring, performance review, benefit and compensation packages, decision-making, and more.
- Creation of strategic and action plans to measure the DEI journey.
- Creation of ERGs, Offices of DEI, and training programs that measure action, not just listening!
We continue to work in partnership with McKinsey & Company, enabling our member organizations the unique opportunity to benchmark their collective organizations’ advancements in equity to the healthcare industry as a whole. It is rewarding to share that have seen 3% to 5% increases in representation of women and women of color in our members’ senior executive and board member positions since they joined the initiative.
Leadership Council
This volunteer group of about 50 prominent senior executive leaders in healthcare continues to remain at the core of the Foundation’s work and is part of our “secret sauce.”
Leadership Council members are extremely engaged with 80% or more participation at each quarterly meeting. They provide our Fellows with exceptional mentorships, and in their enthusiasm to further contribute their wisdom and experience, they decided to offer “Just in Time Resource Advisor” hour-long consultations to both current and Network Fellows.
Looking at our own DEI efforts, this past year we added more remarkable leaders with diversity of thought and diverse backgrounds and positions into the fold. The work and incredible resource the Leadership Council provides is fundamental to the workings of the Foundation and our ability to positively impact gender equity in healthcare leadership.
Outreach & Engagement
The Carol Emmott Foundation continued to foster and grow brand awareness among health organizations across the US last year. Kevin Mahoney, CEO of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which has participated in the Fellowship–our longest-standing initiative–since inception, recognized our work, stating, “The Carol Emmott Fellowship is becoming a coveted pathway for growth and a leadership track at Penn. Results have been stunning.” What an honor to see Carol B. Emmott’s legacy come to fruition as we begin our 7th Fellowship program year!
Our thought leadership also grew in 2022. Thanks to a longstanding partnership with the American College of Healthcare Executives, we cross-published quarterly articles that reached a wide audience. And Fellows and leaders in our community made up a significant portion of speakers and panelists at the 2022 Modern Healthcare’s Women in Healthcare Conference.
And we keep growing! The Foundation’s Fellowship organizations and Equity Collaborative members now represent over 50 institutions from 29 states and the District of Columbia.
We achieved our $100K Annual Campaign goal as well as our $150K goal for the Fellow Scholarship Fund, thanks to the contributions of many of our Fellows, Leadership Council members, and Board members. We want to especially recognize the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Duke Health for their large donations that helped us close the financial gap to secure three Foundation-sponsored fellows for the 2023 program year! We ended the year in a strong financial position, despite inflation, with a balanced budget and no intention of raising program fees.
We are excited to see where all of this work will lead.
With your help we will continue to ‘move the needle’ and positively influence the face of healthcare leadership and patient outcomes in a more equity-driven world!