About Me

The development staff at Tarrant County Hospital District has grown and matured into a team that now consistently raises more than $3 million annually in local, state and federal grants and individual donations (over and above the capital campaign revenue). Originally, as coordinator of development, I was the lone grant writer and was fortunate to garner multiple-year funding from multiple state, private and corporate entities.

As the managing partner of the hospital district's foundation, Partners Together For Health (created in 1997), I have enjoyed the opportunities involved with administration of funds, management of a talented staff of six, budgetary responsibilities and strategic planning. Most importantly, however, was being a part of the hospital district's mission -- to provide medical care for those who could not afford it.

I have been particularly pleased to be an integral part of obtaining two Kresge Challenge grants over the years, helping create and implement an annual employee giving program in 1997 that has raised more than $700,000 to date, obtaining my CFRE and most recently, earning Grant Professional Certification, one of 170 in the nation in the first nationally recognized, professional grant certification testing.

We are lucky to have several extremely generous hometown foundations that I am proud to have worked with to secure nearly a million dollars for community health care center construction, the first of today's 34 community sites.

I serve annually as grant reviewer on Texas Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service applications for AmeriCorps State programs and was fortunate to serve as a founding state committee member for Turning Point, a coalition created to improve the health of Texans. This effort continues today as a political action group in Austin.

In addition to my passion for helping the underserved receive health services, I value education as an avenue to not only a better lifestyle but a broader view of the world and its mysteries. I am a graduate of Texas Christian University with a Master of Liberal Arts (communication track) and The University of Texas at Arlington with a BA in communications/journalism. I try to continue to learn and participate as a member of the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy, Association of Fundraising Professionals, Society of Professional Journalists, Dora Lee Langdon Cultural and Educational Center and founding and continuing member of Dycus Scholarship committee.

In my prior life, I wrote for numerous newspapers and magazines. My family, consisting of an adventuresome husband, 14-year-old son (an excellent sailor), porpoise-spotting dog and emotionally distraught cat, left Texas in 1986 and sailed a 42-foot French-ketch for a year.

Life has never been the same.