[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 197 (Friday, November 12, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING MARY ANNE CHERN ON HER DECADES OF SERVICE TO ADVENTIST 
    HEALTH WHITE MEMORIAL AND TO THE HEALTHCARE FUNDRAISING INDUSTRY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 12, 2021

  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Madam Speaker, today I recognize my good friend 
Mary Anne Chern, ACFRE, FAHP, a highly regarded healthcare fundraiser 
who has retired from Adventist Health White Memorial in Los Angeles 
after 24 years of dedicated service. White Memorial is the region's 
leading faith-based, nonprofit hospital and is located in the Boyle 
Heights neighborhood of East Los Angeles. For years, Mary Anne served 
as president of the Adventist Health White Memorial Charitable 
Foundation and as a member of the hospital's Executive Team. I thank 
Mary Anne for her years of friendship and counsel and her unrelenting 
dedication to the healthcare fundraising profession.
  Over the course of her 40-year career, Mary Anne has raised over $500 
million for healthcare institutions in principal and major gifts, 
private grants, and government funding. She is highly respected by her 
peers and is a friend and mentor to healthcare development 
professionals across the nation and worldwide. Mary Anne is one of only 
seven fundraising professionals in the world to have achieved both the 
Advanced Certified Fund Raising Executive (ACFRE) and the Fellow of 
Association of Healthcare Philanthropy (FAHP) certifications. She is 
also a Si Seymour Award winner for ``career excellence and outstanding 
leadership.'' The Si Seymour Award is the highest international 
recognition in healthcare fundraising and has only been given to a 
total of 41 fundraising professionals since 1970.
  In 2010, Mary Anne was elected to be the international chair of the 
Association of Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) by its over 5,000 members. 
The AHP is the leading authority on healthcare philanthropy and it 
represents development professionals at more than 2,000 nonprofit 
hospitals, medical centers, health systems and related facilities 
throughout North America and abroad.
  Mary Anne has extensive experience teaching fundraising best 
practices and she served on the two boards that certify professional 
fundraisers internationally: the CFRE Board of Directors and the AHP 
Board of Certification, the latter of which she chaired. She also 
served on the national board of the Association of Fundraising 
Professionals and its greater Los Angeles chapter, as well as the 
boards of CFRE International, which credentials fundraising 
professionals; the Milton Murray Foundation for Philanthropy, which 
develops the expertise of nonprofit leaders; and the Southern 
California Association for Healthcare Development (SCAHD).
  Mary Anne is the co-author of a book and the author of numerous 
articles on fundraising. She won the AHP Journal Award in 2009 for her 
article, ``Hispanic Fundraising: Myths and Realities.'' She has a 
special interest in social determinants of both individual and 
population health, and she currently serves on the Steering Committee 
of the Los Angeles County Community Health Assessment and Action 
Partnership.
  Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing Mary 
Anne's immense contributions to the healthcare fundraising industry and 
her outstanding leadership and commitment to providing quality and 
accessible health services to the greater Eastside Los Angeles 
community through Adventist White Memorial. Thanks to her years of 
service, my constituents have been able to access high-quality care in 
a modern and technologically advanced facility. Mary Anne's ability to 
make others feel special and welcome in the Adventist Health White 
Memorial community is something we will all miss. I thank her for her 
warmth and her dedication to ensuring that the healthcare industry has 
the funding it needs to implement the highest possible care for 
Angelenos, Americans, and patients around the world.

                          ____________________