Veteran United Way Executive Joins FamilyWize

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The FamilyWize Community Service Partnership, the nation’s leading provider of free prescription discount cards, today announced Susan Gilmore has been named Executive Director of Community Engagement. Gilmore will focus on expanding the grass roots partnerships of FamilyWize, nationally and locally, including the partnership with United Way.

 

Gilmore joins FamilyWize after having spent seven years as President of United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley.  Prior to that she spent eight years with United Way Worldwide.

 

“The combination of Susan’s national experience and local leadership will be a huge help as FamilyWize continues to expand rapidly to reach the 100 million Americans that need our help to get their medicine,” said FamilyWize CEO and Co-founder Dan Barnes. “We are very excited to have Susan join our team, to develop an even stronger partnership with United Way, and to make an even greater community impact across the United States.”

 

In Gilmore’s new position, she will provide strategic and operational support to 950 local United Ways and more than 50,000 community organizations and government agencies that collaborate to distribute free FamilyWize prescription discount cards.  In total, the FamilyWize partnership has saved over 5 million people almost $500 million on prescription medicine since 2005 through the dedication and efforts of United Ways, local partners, pharmacists, physicians and others.

 

With more than 30 years in the service field, 25 of them at United Way headquarters in Washington or with local United Way chapters, Gilmore is the perfect candidate to fill this role at FamilyWize, Barnes said.  While at United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, Gilmore led a staff of roughly 40, worked with a board of 25 businesses, community and government leaders and harnessed the talents of over 3,000 community volunteers.

 

Barnes and his wife, Susan, founded the company in 2005 to address the urgent community need to help people get better access to affordable medicine and have worked with Gilmore at United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley since then.  

 

Gilmore says she’s leaving the organization after 30 years in human services for what she’s calling “Act Three” of her life.  “I love community engagement. That’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years,” said Gilmore. “It’s a dream job.”

 

 

The FamilyWize Community Service Partnership was established in 2005 to help people get the medicine they need. Today, more than 50,000 community agencies, coordinated by nearly 1,000 participating United Ways and America’s Promise Alliance Partners in all 50 states coordinate local distribution of the free FamilyWize prescription drug discount cards, which lower the cost of medicine by up to 75%. As of December 2012, the free FamilyWize cards have helped more than five million people save over $450 million. For more information, visit familyWize.org/about-us.