Dear Friends,
Thanks to your continued support, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation is entering 2024 with incredible momentum. Secretary Bob McDonald was recently elected our next Board Chairman, assuming the role at the start of the new year. As we embark on this next chapter, I look forward to welcoming new key leaders to our team and expanding the ways the Foundation partners and collaborates across our community to effectively deliver impact and results. Please take a moment to read Secretary Bob’s inaugural message to our community below.
I am thrilled to have such an experienced, tested, and passionate leader as our new Chairman. I look forward to working with Secretary Bob to holistically support caregivers, their veterans, and families by growing the Foundation’s mission in 2024. We will power the transformative year ahead by unveiling a groundbreaking new RAND study, commissioned by the Foundation with the support of Wounded Warrior Project, the Lilly Endowment, AARP, and Lockheed Martin. This study will be an expansive follow-up to our landmark 2014 report.
I am proud to welcome a world class leader to our Foundation as we continue to transform the ways our nation supports its military and veteran families.
Sincerely,
Steve Schwab
Chief Executive Officer
Elizabeth Dole Foundation
To America’s Caregivers and Supporters,
I am honored to join an organization that has so markedly changed America’s awareness, appreciation, and support of the millions of hidden heroes caring for our service members and veterans.
When I was confirmed as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation was just beginning to present the nation with evidence of caregivers’ vital role in the well-being of America’s veterans. I immediately saw the proof of what they had revealed. Caregivers were the ones calling VA centers on behalf of veterans. They were attending every one of their veterans’ medical appointments, tracking all the details of their treatments, and managing the 24/7 responsibilities of their care at home. When I asked for ideas for how to strengthen the VA experience for our veterans, it was often the caregivers who provided the best insights.
Thanks to the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, I quickly understood that our nation could not provide our veterans with the care they deserved, without also supporting their caregivers and families. Each of them has made sacrifices on behalf of our nation, and we must support them as a unit, together.
Over the last decade, I have seen the Foundation become the model for how we bring together the country on behalf of those who serve. Built on a bedrock of evidence-based research, the Foundation has developed innovative programs, built strong coalitions, and championed legislative and policy reforms that directly respond to the greatest challenges faced by caregivers, veterans, and their families. Following in the example of the consummate servant leader, Senator Elizabeth Dole, they have carried out this mission with courage, devotion, and a firm belief that Americans can come together to do the extraordinary.
As CEO, Steve has led the Foundation with an inspiring vision and a keen sense for what our country must do to support caregivers and their families. He and the team have made incredible progress, and I look forward to working with you and the Foundation’s broad base of friends and partners to deepen our impact on the lives of those we serve.
In the months ahead, I will join Steve and other EDF leaders to meet and engage directly with our community and key stakeholders across the country. Your feedback will be vital as we pursue our plans for the coming year and beyond. Thank you for your continued partnership and support.
Sincerely,
Bob McDonald
Chairman of the Board
Elizabeth Dole Foundation
