The Foundation, the philanthropic arm of East Jefferson General Hospital, announces that Carolyn A. Chassee, CFRE, has been named its President and CEO. The Foundation supports EJGH by funding programs, services, and capital expansion projects through charitable contributions. As a private not-for-profit 501(c)3, the Foundation enables people from all walks of life to come together and give of their time, talents, and treasure to strengthen our healthcare system.

"I am thrilled to be part of such a great organization," says Chassee. "The future of The Foundation of EJGH is bright, and continued support is vital to the advances we make to provide the highest quality, compassionate healthcare to our community. To be able to work with such outstanding trustees, a dedicated administration, EJGH team members and our friends in the community is an honor. It's all about caring people caring for people. I look forward to working with you to build a legacy of caring in our community, now and for generations to come. "

With over 20 years of accomplished non-profit leadership experience creating, building and strengthening the Culture of Philanthropy for diverse organizations, Carolyn's primary focus has been in the healthcare industry – serving as VP of Development and Chief Development Officer of Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and Foundation in Baton Rouge, the St. Tammany Hospital Foundation as their first Executive Director, and with Ochsner Foundation as their first director of planned giving. She also launched her consulting firm, Chassee Development, LLC in 1999 focusing on board and leadership development, planned giving, capital campaigns and endowment. Carolyn has a B.S. in accounting, and also has eight additional years of business experience including tax accounting, auditing, and OTC stock trading.

Ms. Chassee earned the internationally recognized credential, Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) in 1998 and is the recipient of the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) awards in fundraising. She has presented at CASE, Association for Fundraising Professionals (AFP), National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG) local, regional and national conferences. Ms. Chassee also served as a guest lecturer at Vanderbilt University, the Peabody College of Education. In 2010, she earned the AFP's Master's Trainer credential.

Ms. Chassee has served in leadership roles in the AFP Greater New Orleans Chapter and was founding president of the newly chartered AFP Greater Northshore Chapter – now serving on the chapter's board of directors. She is a 2006 graduate of Leadership St. Tammany and serves on several local non-profit boards.

Carolyn is married to Mark S. Richards of Covington and is the mother of Sam Murphy, a student at Southeastern University.