2019 40 Under 40 Winners

1. At Northwell Health, Ben has spent the last eight years building a corporate and foundation program that raises in excess of $13 million annually, a 500% increase in corporate and foundation funding since 2011.

2. Ben was nominated for and completed the first cohort of Northwell’s Corporate Director Leadership Program in 2018.

3. He regularly teaches CEU and CME credit-eligible courses on grant seeking and proposal writing for physicians, researchers, and executives within Northwell.

4.  Ben raised or helped facilitate more than $55.2 million to advance medical research, medical education, and other priorities at Mount Sinai in New York, NY as part of the Campaign for Mount Sinai.

1. How did you get into health care philanthropy?

I was always drawn to health care but wasn’t initially sure of what role I wanted to play. Shortly after college, I had dinner with a friend who began to describe his new job as Development Director overseeing the Team in Training Program for a chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. A career that provided opportunities to directly advance breakthroughs in science and medicine strongly resonated with me and that night I went home and began working on my resume. I interviewed and received a job with CancerCare, a social service non-profit dedicated to providing free, professional support services including counseling, support groups, education, and financial assistance to anyone affected by cancer. By the end of my first month, I knew I was on the right path.


2. Why did you choose to make health care philanthropy your career?

The opportunity to make a meaningful impact on people’s lives was always essential as I considered a career, and I was fortunate enough to learn of health care philanthropy at a time when it was not as widely known as a profession. I was also fortunate enough to find mentors, early on, who helped cultivate my passion for the work and continuously entrusted me with increasing responsibility. For those and many other reasons, choosing this career was not difficult. A few years ago I received an important reminder of why what we do matters when my aunt was facing end-stage multiple myeloma. A palliative care nurse provided compassion and comfort to our whole family during that time, and there are no words to express how much it helped us. At one point she asked what I do, and I replied “hospital fundraising.” She then asked whether I knew the donor that had established her program and, as fate had it, it was a donor I had worked with to build similar programs at multiple hospitals. It was a powerful reminder of just how important health care philanthropy really is.


3. Tell us about a pivot point or crucial step in your career journey.

Being recruited to build the Corporate and Foundation Giving Program at Northwell Health has been the opportunity of a lifetime. By the time I accepted the role, I had a track record of success securing very sizeable gifts and grants for several organizations doing incredible work, but this was a chance to create a core fundraising program from scratch for one of the largest and most innovative health systems in the country. As Northwell has grown, the role has grown with it and our group now supports 23 hospitals, a research enterprise, and schools of medicine and nursing as part of the largest fundraising campaign in the organization’s history.


4. What was your first job, and what is something it taught you?

My earliest job was with the Bayside/Flushing YMCA in Queens, NY. I started as a volunteer, and eventually became director of their Juniors Program, for children ages 5 – 7 years. Looking back, the role is definitely where my draw to the nonprofit sector began. It taught me the rewards of throwing yourself fully into a mission that you believe in.


5. What are your future aspirations?

For now, I look forward to continuing to grow and support my team in our work advancing Northwell Health’s $1 billion Outpacing the Impossible Campaign. In the longer term I will be working towards a Masters in Nonprofit Management, and will continue to pursue every opportunity to have an impact on the future of health and medicine. I am also thoroughly enjoying being a father to my three year old son and look forward to welcoming our second child this fall.