Five Questions for: Flavia Llizo
Jackson Health Foundation’s chief development officer discusses the hospital's mission in trying times
Governed by the Public Health Trust, Jackson Hospital System is a public hospital with the mission of providing world-class healthcare to anyone who walks through its doors. That’s one reason it’s gotten the financial support of private corporations including the likes of Estée Lauder Travel Retail Americas and The Hearst Foundations. SocialMiami contributor Allison Weiss Brady sat down with Jackson Health Foundation’s executive vice president and chief development officer, Flavia Llizo on how Jackson is coming together with other hospitals and some pretty big donor names during these trying times.
1) Can you mention some celebrity hometown heroes, and what they’ve done to support Jackson recently?
Singer Camila Cabello, who went to Miami Palmetto High School and has family in the area, and her boyfriend Shawn Mendes dropped off 150 Cuban sandwiches from El Riconcito Latino to our frontline workers. Emilio and Gloria Estefan partnered with The Jose Milton Foundation, Iris and Michael Smith, and art gallery owner Gary Nader to send over 250 meals from their Estefan Kitchen in the Miami Design District, and Miami Heat basketball player Duncan Robinson partnered with Dunkin Donuts to deliver the treats to the hospital.
2. Have any corporations got creative with their donations?
Estée Lauder Travel Retail Americas is donating some of their top selling face moisturizers, hand creams, and soaps as part of Nurse’s Appreciation Week in May. Join the Estee E-List and Receive 15% Off One Order as a Loyalty Member. Unlock Rewards and Much More!
3. How has Jackson partnered with other local hospitals to best help Miami-based COVID-19 patients?
Jackson was able to quickly set up a new piece of medical equipment that provides same-day COVID-19 test results. Before this, we had to send out samples to an outside clinic and results would come back in a few days. Now we are able to turn around the results in a few hours. We are also processing patient samples from the University of Miami and Mount Sinai hospitals, so the community as a whole are getting test results much faster.
4. How are patients getting support from their families during this time?
Since only patients and essential staff are allowed in the hospital, families are not permitted to visit their relatives on site, we came up with a new plan to help them stay in touch and connect. We have increased our purchase of tablets that are similar to Ipads. They sell for around $50-$150, so even smaller size donations to Jackson can really help in the purchase of items like these.
5) Interview bonus! I spoke to Miami hometown hero, Super Bowl 50 champion NFL player Kayvon Webster — a graduate of Monsignor Edward Pace High School in Miami Gardens — who also made a donation to Jackson’s doctors and nurses. Here’s what he told me:
We – along with my Miami childhood friends and NFL players Xavier Rhodes (Indianapolis Colts) and Teddy Bridgewater (Carolina Panthers) — recently donated over 1,000 chicken wings to feed Jackson’s front liners! They came from my food truck company, Vybe305, and were accompanied by our own secret sauce that’s both spicy & sweet, as well as the traditional Jerk and Golden BBQ sauces. For social distance, we placed a line roller cart outside the food truck, and stacked meal boxes one by one onto the cart, which rolled the food right through the Jackson Memorial Hospital entrance. Turns out that several Jackson doctors went to the same high school as Webster, so they came outside to say hello (and Go Spartans!) and posed together for a social distance photo!
Allison Weiss Brady handles marketing for celebrities and non-profits. She is active in many organizations in South Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania including Big Brothers Big Sister, The Community Coalition, Voices Against Brain Cancer, Gene Spotlight, The Barton G. Kids Hear Now Foundation, and one of her family’s foundations Say Yes to Education, which recently partnered with Quincy Jones. Weiss Brady and her husband Chip Brady are members of Art Basel’s Junior Host Committee and Weiss Brady is a member of the Vizcaya Preservation Luncheon Founding Committee. She on the Board of Advisors at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice and she’s the only female on the university’s Football Board. Weiss Brady was also the sole recipient of the University of Pennsylvania’s 2008 Young Alumni of the Year Award, and serves on the Overseers board for the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania.
