From The Private Sector To Non-Profit: Stephanie Fox Loves Doing Meaningful Work Every Day
Growing up in Fredericton, Stephanie Fox learned the importance of paying it forward from her parents.
“They were dedicated professionals, supported my brothers and I in almost anything we wanted to do but the best example they gave was in the simple day to day. If there was something that needed fixed, it was. If a neighbour needed help, they were there,” she says.
“I understood from a young age that if we’re able to help, it’s our responsibility to do so. I also smile when I think of my 10-year-old self-reciting the 4-H pledge. The ‘I pledge my hands to larger service’ bit also stuck with me. I always wanted to get involved if I felt I could make things better in some way.”
That desire to give back has led her to a rewarding career in philanthropy, and her work is being recognized across North America.
Fox, Vice President of the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, has been included in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy’s (AHP) 2019 40 Under 40 list. The program is designed to recognize the future leaders within the health care philanthropy community.
AHP is honouring these 40 young professionals because they are shaping the future of the health care development industry.
“They’re doing incredible work in health care philanthropy. It’s a true honour to be in their company,” says Fox.
Fox says being named to the list is also a sign that great work can be done from smaller regions like New Brunswick.
“It’s a message that learning and achievement in our field doesn’t always require one to move to a major city centre or working in a similarly massive system as well,” she says.
I think there is a bit of a message there to professionals in this field that you can do really great things here at home in New Brunswick.”
After graduating with a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick, Fox started her career in the private sector, where she volunteered on her office’s charitable committee. It’s here where she saw the potential and reward in philanthropy.
“I had never thought about philanthropy or fundraising as a career option until after university,” she says. “It was only then that I realized that you can build a career by contributing to meaningful work every day. I thought, ‘what could be better than that?’ and made my way from the private sector to nonprofit.”
Fox began her career in philanthropy with United Way, serving as Campaign Director and then Community Development Director over seven years. She then joined the Advancement team at St. Thomas University as its Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving.
Looking for opportunities to reach more people and have more impact through philanthropy, in 2015 Fox then took the job as Director of Philanthropy at the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation (SJRHF), an organization that works with Horizon Health Network to identify the highest priority medical equipment and health care projects that are not funded through government. In 2017 she became the foundation’s Vice President.
“At the time, the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, in their words, were in an exciting period of renewal, which is really just business-speak for being open to change and being excited about change and being a really progressive place to be,” says Fox.
“Just the potential of what the foundation wanted to accomplish and what they were open to doing and changing was really inspiring, so just out of the gate I wanted to be a part of that and contribute to that change.”
At SJRHF, Fox manages a diverse team of professionals and programming as well as supports strategy development with her CEO for the largest healthcare centre in the province of New Brunswick.
“It’s a gift to be a part of such a super star team here and doing work that is important to patients from across New Brunswick,” she says.
Right now, the foundation’s big project is The Give Campaign, a multi-year effort to raise $12 million for the hospital’s Clinic 1 expansion and renovation.
“It’s our largest campaign to date so that’s a really exciting milestone in our organization and for our hospital and our community of donors,” says Fox.
With the need for health care growing in New Brunswick, Fox is looking forward to helping with the foundation’s continued growth.
“This foundation has an ever-growing role to play,” she says. “Our goal is to really continue that healthy growth we’ve been experiencing and be really innovative and entrepreneurial in the way that we do that.”
Personally, Fox’s goal is to continue learning in her field and put what she learns to good use in New Brunswick.
“I’ve always found that the further I can reach out to learn what’s happening in other areas across sectors or colleagues doing similar work, the better I can be at my job,” she says. “It’s really just learning as much as I can from as many different people and places and bring that back home.”
Stephanie will be recognized at the 2019 AHP Annual International Conference October 23-26 in Washington, D.C. Recognition events will include an invitation-only breakfast and award dinner on Thursday, October 24, during the conference.
This story was sponsored by the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation.