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About Us

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health raises funds for child and maternal health at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and the Stanford School of Medicine. We also invest in and shape programs for children with complex medical needs.

We are champions for children—driving extraordinary care for families today while fueling research, discovery, and change in our health care systems for a better tomorrow.

Mother holding newborn baby

Vision and Mission

Vision and Mission

Young patient with his doctor

Our Vision

Resources never stand in the way of the best possible health for all kids and moms.

Our Mission

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health is here to unlock philanthropy to transform health for all kids and moms, in Northern California and around the world. 

We are champions for children—driving extraordinary care for families today while fueling research, discovery, and change in our health care systems for a better tomorrow.

Our Foundation raises funds for child and maternal health at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the Stanford School of Medicine. We also shape and support programs that make health care more accessible for children with complex medical needs.

Commitment to Health Equity

Every child deserves to realize their full health potential, but the reality is that many children and families face barriers to care that keep them from reaching that potential. The impact of health inequities is multiplied for children and youth with special health care needs, who have greater requirements for health and social services and often face discrimination.

We believe children’s characteristics—including race, ethnicity, language, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and physical, intellectual, social, behavioral, and developmental abilities—should not affect their access to essential resources and services that ultimately can improve health outcomes.

And we know that it will take innovation, collaboration, compassion, and drive to ensure that all children and families can lead their healthiest lives. Our Foundation’s unique approach to health equity—extraordinary care and support for individual kids and families, combined with work to transform health policy and systems of care—sets us apart. All of our efforts are designed with those who have the most acute needs in mind, and are bolstered by rigorous research to understand and address the roots of inequity and develop evidence-based solutions.

Learn more about our focus on health equity in our Program for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs.

Learn more about our fundraising efforts to support health equity.

Board of Directors

Members of the Foundation’s board of directors are forward-looking, strategic leaders who are passionate about advancing the fundraising mission of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and the Stanford School of Medicine.

Susan Ford Dorsey

Chair

Paul Kwan

Vice Chair

Cynthia J. Brandt, PhD

ex officio

Dan Bomze

Jeff Chambers

Lisa Cole

ex officio

Jonathan Coslet

ex officio

Kate Dachs

Jennifer Duda, MD

Elizabeth Dunlevie

Jane Dunlevie

Yasser Y. El-Sayed, MD

Paul Fisher, MD

Chris Gallo

David George

Cindy Goldberg

Tonia Karr

Paul King

ex officio

Julie Lee 

Mary B. Leonard, MD, MSCE

John Lillie

Mohamad Makhzoumi

Yvonne “Bonnie” Maldonado, MD

Lloyd Minor, MD

ex officio

Peter Munzig

Katherine Orr

Susan P. Orr

Michelle Sandberg, MD

Celina Tenev

Nina Wanstrath

Charlotte Waxman

Elizabeth Weil

Leadership

Carolyn Otis Catanzaro

Vice President, Fundraising Strategy and Campaigns

Sarah Collins

Senior Vice President, Principal and Major Gifts

Kathy Coulbourn

Chief Financial Officer

Jim Deasy

Senior Vice President, Development

Sarah Hernandez

Chief of Staff

Andrew Kaufteil

Senior Vice President, Strategic Communications

Rhonda Marion

Chief People Officer

Rachel Olinger

Executive Director for Children with Special Health Care Needs

Jennifer Stameson

Vice President, Major Gifts

Financial Information

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health is funded by multiple sources. 

All fundraising activities are backed by our partners: Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and the Stanford School of Medicine. All donations to the Foundation go directly to supporting extraordinary care and groundbreaking research at the hospital and School of Medicine.

The grantmaking and programmatic activities of the Program for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs are funded by a payout from our board-designated endowment. The endowment originated from a contribution of unrestricted funds by the hospital as part of the establishment of the Foundation.

To view our Form 990, please visit GuideStar.

Governing Documents

Our Values

The Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health adheres to the Statement of Values and Code of Ethics for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Organizations developed by the Independent Sector

For our Foundation, chartered as a public charity, these include:

  • Commitment to the public good;
  • Accountability to the public;
  • Commitment beyond the law;
  • Respect for the worth and dignity of individuals;
  • Respect for pluralism, diversity, inclusiveness, and social justice;
  • Transparency, integrity, and honesty;
  • Responsible stewardship of donors’ and the Foundation’s resources; and
  • Commitment to excellence and to maintaining the public trust.

Also see our Whistleblower Policy and State Nonprofit Disclosures

Code of Ethics

I. Personal and Professional Integrity
All staff, board members, and volunteers of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health act with honesty, integrity, and openness in all their dealings as representatives of the Foundation. The Foundation promotes a working environment that values respect, fairness, and integrity. The Foundation expects no less of the many nonprofit organizations it supports through philanthropy.

II. Mission
The Foundation has a clearly stated mission and purpose, approved by the board of directors, supported by staff, and pursued in the public’s best interests:

To fund efforts that promote, protect, and sustain the physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children.

All of its programs support that mission, and all who work for or on behalf of the Foundation understand and are loyal to that mission and purpose. The mission is responsive to the constituencies and communities served by the Foundation and committed to be of value to the community at large.

III. Governance

The Foundation has an active governing body, the board of directors, which is responsible for setting the organization’s mission and strategic direction and for overseeing its finances, operations, and policies. The board of directors:

  • Ensures that its members have the requisite skills and experience to carry out their duties, and that all members understand and fulfill their governance duties acting for the benefit of the Foundation and its public purpose;
  • Has a conflict-of-interest policy for board members and the Foundation’s staff that ensures that any conflicts of interest, or the appearance thereof, are avoided or appropriately managed through disclosure, recusal, or other means;
  • Is responsible for engaging independent auditors to perform an annual audit of the Foundation’s financial statements, and has an audit committee that is responsible for overseeing the reliability of financial reporting. This includes:
    • The effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting,
    • Reviewing and discussing the annual audited financial statements to determine whether they are complete and consistent with operational and other information known to the committee members,
    • Understanding significant risks and exposures and management’s response to minimize the risks, and
    • Understanding the audit scope and approving audit and non-audit services.
  • Ensures that the CEO and appropriate staff provide the board with timely and comprehensive information so that the board can effectively carry out its duties;
  • Ensures that the Foundation conducts all transactions and dealings with integrity and honesty;
  • Ensures that the Foundation promotes working relationships with board members, staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries that are based on mutual respect, fairness, and openness;
  • Ensures that the Foundation is fair and inclusive in its hiring and promotion policies and practices for all board, staff, and volunteer positions;
  • Ensures that policies of the Foundation are in writing, clearly articulated, and officially adopted;
  • Is responsible for engaging independent auditors to perform an annual audit of the Foundation’s financial statements, and has an audit committee that is responsible for overseeing the reliability of financial reporting. This includes the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, reviewing and discussing the annual audited financial statements to determine whether they are complete and consistent with operational and other information known to the committee members, understanding significant risks and exposures and management’s response to minimize the risks, and understanding the audit scope and approving audit and non-audit services;
  • Ensures that the resources of the Foundation are responsibly and prudently managed; and
  • Ensures that the Foundation has the capacity to carry out its programs effectively and sustain them financially.

IV. Legal Compliance
The Foundation engages independent counsel on a regular basis to ensure that it is knowledgeable of, and complies with, all laws, regulations, and applicable international conventions.

V. Responsible Stewardship
The Foundation manages its own funds, and those of its donors, responsibly and prudently. To this end, it:

  • Spends a reasonable percentage of its annual budget on programs in pursuance of its mission;
  • Spends an adequate amount on administrative expenses to ensure effective accounting systems, internal controls, competent staff, and other expenditures critical to professional management;
  • Compensates staff, and any others who may receive compensation, reasonably and appropriately;
  • Incurs reasonable fundraising costs, recognizing the variety of factors that affect those costs;
  • Does not accumulate operating funds excessively;
  • Draws prudently from endowment funds consistent with donor intent and to support its public purpose;
  • Ensures that all spending practices and policies are fair, reasonable, and appropriate to fulfill its mission; and,
  • Ensures that all the Foundation’s financial reports are factually accurate and complete in all material respects.

VI. Openness and Disclosure
The Foundation is committed to providing comprehensive and timely information to the public, the media, and all constituents, and to being responsive in a timely manner to reasonable requests for information. All information about the Foundation fully and honestly reflects its policies and practices. Basic informational data about the Foundation, including its Form 990, reviews and compilations, audited financial statements, and its audit committee charter, will be available on the Foundation’s website or otherwise available to the public. All of the Foundation’s solicitation materials accurately represent its policies and practices and reflect the dignity of beneficiaries. All financial, organizational, and program reports are complete and accurate in all material respects.

VII. Program Evaluation
The Foundation regularly reviews program effectiveness and has mechanisms to incorporate lessons learned into future programs. The Foundation is committed to improving program and organizational effectiveness and develops mechanisms to promote learning from its activities and the field. The Foundation is responsive to changes in its areas of activity and is responsive to the needs of its constituencies.

VIII. Equality of Opportunity
The Foundation respects inclusiveness and has a policy of equality of opportunity for its staff, board, and volunteers. It provides its staff, board, and volunteers with opportunities to capitalize on their abilities. The Foundation bases decisions on hiring, retention, promotion, board recruitment, and constituencies served so as to further the principles of equality of opportunity.

IX. Fundraising

The Foundation respects the privacy concerns of individual donors, and directs and stewards funds consistent with donor intent. It discloses all important and relevant information to potential donors. The Foundation further respects the rights of donors:

  • To be informed of the Foundation’s mission, the way donors’ resources will be used, and the Foundation’s capacity to ensure that donors’ contributions will be expended only for the purposes they were given;
  • To be informed of the identity of members of the Foundation’s board of directors, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities;
  • To have access to the Foundation’s most recent financial reports;
  • To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition;
  • To be assured that information about their donations is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by the law;
  • To expect that all relationships with the Foundation’s representatives will be professional in nature;
  • To be informed whether the Foundation’s fundraising representatives are volunteers, employees of the Foundation, or hired solicitors;
  • To have their names deleted from mailing lists that the Foundation may have reason to share; and
  • To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful, and forthright answers.

X. Grantmaker Guidelines
The Foundation has particular responsibilities in carrying out the grantmaking aspect of its mission. These include:

  •  Having constructive relations with grant seekers, based on mutual respect and shared goals;
  •  Clear and timely communications with potential grantees;
  •  Fair and respectful treatment of grant seekers and grantees alike;
  •  Respect for the expertise of grant seekers in their fields of knowledge;
  •  Seeking to understand and respect the organizational capacity and needs of grant seekers; and
  •  Respecting the integrity of the mission of grant seeking organizations.

Learn More About Us

Join Our Team

Interested in being part of our journey to help every mom and child reach their full health potential? Come work with us.

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Program for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

Through grantmaking, thought leadership, and advocacy, we’re working to create a more equitable, efficient health care system for children and youth with the greatest care needs.

Learn More

The Power of Giving

Your gifts transform lives. Get to know some of our patient families and their stories.

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Give to the Children's Fund

Your gift will support undercompensated care, innovative research, and family and community services at our hospital.

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