Health & Philanthropy to be Topic of Center on Philanthropy’s 19th Annual Symposium

INDIANAPOLIS – “Health and Philanthropy: Leveraging Change” will be the theme of the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University’s 19th annual symposium to be held August 24-25 in Indianapolis. The event will bring together top nonprofit and for-profit practitioners, scholars and leaders from throughout the health and philanthropic sectors to reflect on the role of philanthropy in health, both in the United States and globally.

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University is part of the IU School of Liberal Arts on the campus of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. It is a leading academic center dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice through research, teaching, public service and public affairs programs in philanthropy, fundraising, and management of nonprofit organizations.

This year’s symposium will begin with a keynote speech about philanthropy’s role in addressing global health issues, given by Ambassador Stephen Lewis, Special Envoy to the United Nations for HIV/AIDS in Africa and former Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations. The event will end with an address by Dr. John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, on how creativity, collaboration and change have the potential to conquer cancer in the 21st century.

Participants will also have the opportunity to attend breakout sessions led by experts who are doing creative work at the intersection of health and philanthropy. These small-group discussions will address timely issues such as information about funding for ethically-sensitive research, the role of philanthropy in ensuring access to health care, alternative funding strategies for improving public health, the critical role of public-private partnerships in facing the global challenge of infectious diseases, and how expectations are changing for disaster relief organizations.

Other keynote speakers during the symposium will include Greg Simon, president of FasterCures/The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions and Dr. Henrie Treadwell, director of Community Voices at Morehouse School of Medicine.

Breakout sessions will also address relevant issues such as new roles and expectations for volunteer leadership in health philanthropy, the collaboration required to address curriculum gaps in information technology competencies, organ donation as biological philanthropy and opportunities for holistic engagement in aging, health and philanthropy. Among the breakout session presenters will be:

• Dr. Patrick Aeberhard, co-Founder, Doctors Without Borders
• Dr. Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund
• Arun Mohan and Carmen Patrick Mohan, co-Founders, HealthSTAT (Health Students Taking Action Together)
• Thomson Prentice, managing editor, World Health Report, World Health Organization
• Dr. Steven Schroeder, Distinguished Professor, Health and Healthcare at the University of California, San Francisco

Symposium registration is $300 before July 7 and $375 after that date. For additional information, please visit the Center’s web site at www.philanthropy.iupui.edu or call Andrea Pactor at (317) 278-8990.

Note to Reporters, Editors, Photographers: Media are invited to attend the symposium. Complimentary registrations are available for media; please contact Adriene Davis at (317) 278-8972 or adrldavi@iupui.edu to register or for additional information.