Catherine (Kate) Judge, Executive Consultant, American Nurses Foundation (the Foundation), has tirelessly cultivated a culture of philanthropy in nursing, raising over $62 million to advance the profession, in her position leading the Foundation as Executive Director for twelve years. Ms. Judge raised the visibility of nursing and advanced financial support for the profession, directly benefiting healthcare nationwide.

Notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Judge launched the Coronavirus Response Fund for Nurses, the largest public disaster relief campaign for nurses, raising over $30 million over the course of 18 months. Ms. Judge secured nearly $5 million for the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation program, which is focused on advancing the health and well-being of the nursing workforce, supporting more than 300,000 nurses to date. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Nurses Foundation launched a first of its kind survey, the Pulse of the Nation’s Nurses Survey, to assess the current state of nursing, give voice to nurses’ needs, and to gather data to inform decisions about how to best support nurses during a public health crisis and beyond. The survey revealed the extreme mental health strain, stress, and burden that nurses experience. As a result, to support the nation’s nurses, the Foundation established a Nurse Well-Being: Building Peer and Leadership Support program with funding from the United Health Foundation, among other offerings with philanthropic support. It  also engaged in efforts to increase vaccination adoption and education in collaboration with over twenty nursing and health care organizations, reaching over 1 million nurses.

During her tenure at the Foundation, Ms. Judge was instrumental in leading many successful projects and initiatives, including working with partner organizations to establish the Nurses on Boards Coalition (NOBC), funded through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant. The impetus for NOBC was driven by the Institute of Medicine’s (now the National Academy of Medicine) landmark Future of Nursing 2010 Report recommendation that more nurses needed to occupy Board of Director seats. She also served as executive producer for Defining Hope, a documentary by renowned filmmaker Carolyn Jones, focused on the unique expertise of nurses providing palliative care to patients. The Foundation provided funding for the documentary to be shown on PBS and developed corresponding video learning modules that have been widely viewed. Ms. Judge orchestrated the Reimagining Nursing Initiative, which was designed to challenge current assumptions about nursing practice and test new approaches for the future. This $20 million program has already distributed more than $14 million in grants to ten organizations. Ms. Judge also led the  commissioning and dissemination of the first study on nursing and philanthropy.

Prior to joining the American Nurses Foundation, Ms. Judge worked in philanthropic consulting as the co-principal of End/Start Consulting, where she honed her expertise through projects that focused on the assessment and reorganization of major and annual gift programs, Board of Director development and training, and the creation of campaign materials and branding concepts. At the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), Ms. Judge led fundraising for Penn’s School of Nursing, where she played a key role in creating one of the nation’s largest nursing scholarship programs. She also led fundraising efforts for the Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine $125 million capital campaign. A skilled communicator, Ms. Judge directed development and communications at the American Red Cross, Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter, and consulted with the national Red Cross organization. Her career in fundraising began at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Ms. Judge earned a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Economics from Beloit College. Her commitment to the non-profit sector as a volunteer has included board service with social service and religious organizations in the Philadelphia community.