Local Spotlight

CommonSpirit Health Philanthropy Announces New Leadership at Local Foundations 

Chicago, Ill. (July 21, 2022) – CommonSpirit Health is honored to announce the appointment of four new foundation leaders within its local fundraising offices. Each of these highly-skilled professionals has served their foundation and hospital community in other capacities and is now being promoted to a new leadership position to help guide our organization into the future.  

“Recognizing and cultivating excellence within our national philanthropy teams is a key priority,” says Fred Najjar, CommonSpirit’s Executive Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer and President of CommonSpirit Health Foundation. “As we looked at the openings and envisioned the upcoming opportunities in four of our local markets it became clear that we already had individuals primed for success in each office.  I’m proud to welcome Sandra Barrington, Julie Alvarado, Markham Miller and Anthony Pagliaro to our philanthropy leadership team.”

Sandra Barrington, CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) has been named Chief Philanthropy Officer of Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Foundation in Grass Valley, California.  With more than 20 years of philanthropic experience, Sandra has been with the foundation for the past 15 years, serving as its Associate Director since 2016.  Sandra is a talented major gift, planned gift and grant acquisition officer, and has deep experience in management and strategic planning. She is deeply involved with her community, and is the President-Elect of Grass Valley Rotary, and current Trustee of the Nevada City School District. Sandra is a graduate of the Nevada County Leadership Institute, along with their related Executive Director Academy. She is stepping into the leadership role at Sierra Nevada previously held by Kimberly Parker who recently retired after 22 years of dedicated service.

In Chandler, Arizona, Julie Alvarado has been named Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer for Dignity Health Foundation - East Valley.  Julie joined Dignity Health in 2009 and has served in leadership roles at East Valley, St. Joseph’s Foundation and Barrow Neurological Foundation.  Since 2011, she has served as the Director of Philanthropy for the East Valley foundation where she has managed the day-to-day operations and budgets, cultivated philanthropic relationships, coordinated board development and overseen the transfer of funds and grants for hospital use.  Julie is extremely active in her community and has volunteered for several organizations including the Aris Foundation, YMCA, Raising Special Kids Arizona and the Arizona Association of Foster and Adoptive Parents.  Prior to Julie,  Dignity Health - East Valley Foundation was overseen by Charlie Guida who now serves as the Vice President of Philanthropy for CommonSpirit’s Southwest Division.

Markham Miller has been named Chief Philanthropy Officer at St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation in San Francisco, California.  He has been dedicated to philanthropy and the art and science of nonprofit management for 35 years, including the last four years serving as Senior Director of Philanthropy at St. Mary’s. Markham served as Vice President of Dignity Health’s Saint Francis Foundation for 15 years and previously as Development Officer for Seton Health Services Foundation. He led the successful Centennial Campaign to renovate the Emergency Department and Bothin Burn Center at Saint Francis, as well as the more recent campaign to renovate the Emergency Department at St Mary’s. In 2019, Markham completed the CommonSpirit Health Emerging Leaders Cohort and, as a community volunteer, serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Playwrights Foundation. Margine Sako, St. Mary’s longtime Chief Philanthropy Officer, retired in December of 2021 after 21 years of service.

This fall, Anthony Pagliaro will transition into the role of Chief Philanthropy Officer at Dominican Hospital Foundation in Santa Cruz, California.  A life-long community resident, Anthony joined our ministry in 2014, coordinating system-wide Hello Humankindness Retreats for thousands of our Bay Area colleagues. He joined  Dominican’s foundation in 2016 and most recently served as Director of Philanthropy,  managing foundation budgets, transfers, investments and operations as well as fundraising and major gift work.  Anthony served on the hospital’s COVID-19 Response Team and also has a role as the Policy Advocate Liaison for government relations at Dominican working closely with CommonSpirit’s Advocacy Team.  Earlier this year, Anthony received the Philanthropy Values Award at CommonSpirit Health’s Philanthropy Education Summit 2022 Phillie Awards. This recognition honors a foundation team member who truly embodies CommonSpirit’s mission, vision and values. Prior to Anthony, Dominican’s foundation was overseen by Drew Gagner who now serves as the Vice President of Philanthropy for CommonSpirit’s Northern California Division.

Sandra, Julie, Markham and Anthony join more than 60 other philanthropy leaders at CommonSpirit’s 80-plus affiliated foundations across the nation. Their guidance in the local markets served by CommonSpirit drives community engagement and supports the building of healthy communities by advocating for those who are poor and vulnerable, and innovating how and where healing can happen.

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