Sandy Zando will retire as executive director of the Thomas Foundation, the fundraising arm of Thomas Health System, in April after a decade at its helm.
Zando, a former senior vice president of United Bank, had 22 years of banking experience when she joined the Foundation. In April, Sally Noakes Barton will take over as executive director for the Foundation, which raises money for Thomas and Saint Francis Hospitals in Kanawha County.
“We have grown and have raised millions of dollars. We have grown the Foundation itself and invested millions of dollars back into the community,” Zando said. “During my time here, we launched a capital fundraising campaign that raised money for the new building, which now provides all private patient rooms for anyone coming to Thomas Memorial Hospital.
“I can’t even express what an honor it truly has been to serve here as executive director,” she said. “We have an amazing staff and board, and I’m certainly going to miss all of them.”
Zando, who has lived in Charleston for 34 years, began as a volunteer with the Foundation before being asked to serve as its executive director. She said she is proud of the gains the Foundation has made in recent years.
“Sandy has been an exceptional leader and she will be greatly missed,” said Paula Vineyard, board president of the Foundation. “We appreciate the years that Sandy has led and further developed this foundation to what it is today.”
Barton, Zando’s successor, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a degree in media studies. Barton moved from Washington, D.C., where she worked for CNN, to Charleston, where she served in corporate development for Charleston Area Medical Center, the state’s largest health-care system, and developed award-winning communication materials.
“I really saw it as a change agent for great things, and that changed my career. The work I’ve been doing ever since has been focused on really being a conduit between people with an intent to do good things in the community with their time and their talent and their resources and the places that could benefit from that,” Barton said. When I left CAMC after 12 years, it was really for an opportunity to create something from the ground up.”
After 12 years with CAMC, Barton became the founding executive director of the Tamarack Foundation and has been responsible for the Tamarack’s strategic initiatives. Since its creation in 2003, the Tamarack Foundation has given more than 2,000 West Virginia artisans the tools and support to further their careers, she said.
The Tamarack Foundation is currently conducting interviews to hire a new executive director, and Barton said they hope to have a decision by March.
“It’s a bittersweet opportunity, because I care so much about the organization I created, but it is thriving,” she said. “So many other good people are involved in this organization, and the opportunity to return to health care really was exciting to me, and was a good opportunity for me and my family.”
Barton has served on several boards, including for Philanthropy West Virginia, Leadership West Virginia, West Virginia Arts Advocacy, West Virginia Alliance for Economic Inclusion, the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce Tourism and Economic Development Committees, and the Clay Center Marketing Committee.
“My hope is that [Barton] will be able to continue to grow the Foundation so that we can continue to do more,” Zando said.
Zando said she hopes to take some time to relax, work out and travel more in her retirement, but she hasn’t yet decided whether she will retire completely or continue working in the community.
“My phone has been ringing off the hook lately from nonprofits and businesses, so I don’t know where I’m going yet, but there will be another chapter,” Zando said.
The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1989 to provide financial support to enhance the care of patients who come to Thomas Memorial and Saint Francis Hospitals for their care. In December, the Foundation raised more than $430,000 during its annual charity gala and auction. For more information, including ways to donate, visit www.thefoundationwv.org.
Reach Lydia Nuzum at lydia.nuzum@wvgazette.com, 304-348-5189 or follow @lydianuzum on Twitter.
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