Board member profile: Liz Rabiner Lippoff
Liz Lippoff is a perfect example of peer recruitment: knowing she helped physicians with their marketing and public relations, board member Howard Klink approached her with the request to help Project Access NOW, too. The original idea was to have Liz chair the marketing committee; before long, she stepped up to join the Board.
Volunteering and healthcare run in Liz’s family. Her father, who was a hematologist at Legacy Good Samaritan, chose to have a limited practice so he could do research and help in the community. Her mother volunteered at the hospital and served as the Auxiliary president.
Liz and her husband David are both active in the community. “David and I consider ourselves blessed. We are happy we have the time to help because we believe it’s our responsibility. We both subscribe to the old value ‘Repair the world’, that everyone should strive to make the world a better place than they found it.”
At the same time, Liz wants to contribute what she’s good at: marketing and PR. “Non profits often lack the capacity internally do the marketing and PR that would help them thrive,” Liz said. “It’s a pleasure to help fill that gap.”
During the strategic planning process at Project Access NOW, Liz found that her role straddled the work of both the marketing and development committees.
“Marketing and development are doing the same thing: spreading the word about the organization so that people will support it. Whether the goal is to get donors or bring in provider and community volunteers, the job is so much easier when people have already heard good things about us.”
Through a series of meetings and conversations, the two committees recently merged and Liz now chairs the combined Marketing and Development Committee. According to Liz, the committee’s first job is to create a strategic development plan that supports the overall organizational strategic plan. The group will then help the people responsible for carrying out the plan clarify their message, contact donors, and reach out to the community.
“We must communicate clearly what we do,” Liz said. “And we must focus on how to get the most bang for our buck.” The job is made easier, she says, because Project Access NOW has an incredible staff, and they have brought in terrific volunteers to help them do their jobs.
Concerning her work on the board, Liz said she’s “flattered to be included in this group of folks. It’s a pleasure to participate in such a high-functioning board and I’m in awe of how much they have accomplished in an incredibly short time. They know more about healthcare than I ever will, and they’re completely committed to getting uninsured people the care they need.”
(June 2010)
