Pictured left to right: Heather Major, executive director, IBX Foundation; Kate FitzPatrick, DNP, RN, ACNP, FAAN, NEA-BC, EVP, Connelly Foundation; Jared Lyon, National President & CEO, Student Veterans of America; Marie Ann Marino, EdD, RN, FAAN, Dean & Professor, Thomas Jefferson University, College of Nursing
Independence Blue Cross (IBX) Foundation Executive Director Heather Major led a general session panel about building healthcare talent pathways through cross-sector partnership during Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship’s 2025 Corporate Citizenship Conference. Panelists included:
- Kate FitzPatrick, DNP, RN, ACNP, FAAN, NEA-BC, EVP, Connelly Foundation; Chief Nurse Executive Officer; Jefferson Health; Professor and Associate Dean for Nursing Academic Partnerships, Thomas Jefferson University
- Jared Lyon, National President & CEO, Student Veterans of America
- Marie Ann Marino, EdD, RN, FAAN, Dean & Professor, Thomas Jefferson University, College of Nursing; VP, Nursing Academic Partnerships and Innovation Jefferson Health
Major highlighted the IBX Foundation Service Scholars Program, a pathway for student veterans pursuing their first degree in nursing. Service Scholars enhances benefits offered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program and offers career development and mentoring for student veterans.
The IBX Foundation recently announced the Service Scholars Program’s expansion from five to seven area schools in 2025. In May, 10 of the Service Scholars Program’s inaugural cohort of 18 students are set to graduate from nursing schools in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
This marks the second consecutive year that the IBX Foundation has been invited to address the annual three-day conference for corporate social responsibility professionals, held in National Harbor, MD.
