Partnerships & Impact: How Greater Gift Celebrates Clinical Trial Heroes

Joan Chambers, CEO of Greater Gift, shares insights on their mission to raise awareness about clinical trials, especially among underrepresented communities.

Hear how Greater Gift uniquely honors clinical trial participants through donations to positively impact patient retention and engagement. 

Joan also highlights the importance of partnerships and upcoming projects that are driving their mission forward.

Transcript

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Jimmy Bechtel 0:01

Welcome and thank you for joining the Society for Clinical Research Sites for SCRS Talks. I'm Jimmy Bechtel, the Vice President of Site Engagement. SCRS Talks allows our partners and those that we work closely with to take a few minutes to address issues of industry concern, share exciting achievements, and to learn more about our amazing community. Today we have Joan Chambers, the Chief Executive Officer of Greater Gift, here with us to share some of the work that Greater Gift does, some of the advancements that they've made in the last couple of years, and what they're looking forward to in the future. Joan, it's great to have you with us today. We'd love to learn a little bit more about you.

Joan Chambers 0:40

Great. Thank you, Jimmy for this opportunity to share information about Greater Gift and our mission. And it's so wonderful to be here with you today. A little bit about myself. I started my career in clinical research with Parexel International, and believe it or not, through the 30 plus years, my career journey led me to opportunities with CenterWatch Tufts, CSDD, Cambridge Health Tech Institute, CISCRP. And to now leading Greater Gift as the CEO. I also serve on the Executive Steering Committee for the PharmaTimes Clinical Researcher of the Year program. And I'm on the advisory board of the Pharmaceutical Business Conference group, the PBC group. So, Jimmy, again, a pleasure to be here and to share information about Greater Gift and, and what we've been accomplishing.

Jimmy Bechtel 1:28

Thank you, Joan. It's again really awesome to have you and to talk about greater gift and your mission and and what you're all here to do. And some of our listeners may actually already be familiar with greater gift since at one instance you collaborated with our 2022 site Patient Recruitment Award winner, Javara, our SPRIA award winner. Like SCRS, some of those partnerships are really essential, I know, to Greater Gifts success. So could you tell us a little bit more as we start out here about those collaborative efforts that you have ongoing with other industry partners?

Joan Chambers 2:04

Definitely, Jimmy. And so let me just take a little bit of a step back for our listeners a little bit about Greater Gift. We are an independent 501c3 nonprofit that Jennifer Byrne founded in 2010, so we're really 13 years old. And the whole mission behind greater gift is really to increase clinical research awareness to build trust through the celebration and expression of gratitude, which is so important today for everyone involved in clinical research. Jennifer founded the organization to celebrate and say thank you to the clinical trial participants, but since joining in March. I really took a step back to say, you know, it's really important to express gratitude and say thank you to everyone involved in clinical research, no matter your role because everyone has a touch point in clinical research that helps, you know, advance medicine treatments and therapies to market. And, and with that expression of gratitude is the opportunity to pay for the gift of health created by the participants and all the contributors to clinical research. And we pay that gift forward to children in through our partners, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and Feeding America. And additionally, we're able to, part of our mission is, is empowering minority and diverse students by funding through donations a scholarship program, which is fostering a diverse workforce for the future of clinical research. So if, if you really kind of step back and I'll, I'll address your question in a minute, Jimmy. If you really step back. Greater Gifts mission is, you know, looking at everyone that's involved in clinical research to help advance medicines, therapies, and treatments. And as a way of saying thank you to their commitment, their passion, their dedication to help advance the medicines through Greater Gift, a donation can be made as a way of thanking Their contributions and then the year in turn helping a child in need that is in need of a vaccine or in need of a meal. And really now we're helping the future generation come through. So that's kind of an overarching viewpoint or view of, of Greater Gift. So, to kind of also take the next question, Jimmy, of the collaborative efforts with our industry partners, we, we do, and we were so excited that Javara and Greater Gift were acknowledged last October for the SPREA award, and really, we work with all industry stakeholders. Whether it's study specific on their corporate social responsibility, ESG initiatives corporate team acknowledgement, the list is basically endless. And we're really working with industry stakeholders to help show that level of appreciation and express that gratitude for, you know, everyone that's involved. And again, what I just mentioned is that we're somewhat paying it, we are paying it forward. The other pillar that we work. With industry stakeholders and partners like Javara is really with our community readiness, outreach and engagement program. And so we're able to partner with organizations to build awareness about clinical research as a care option because a lot of community members and, and general people just don't understand that clinical research is a care option. And we collaborate with local community organizations where we are able to go in to a community. four to eight months prior to a potential study being activated and we're not recruiting patients. We're just going into local communities to lay that foundational information about clinical research, that it's a care option and general information about a specific medical condition so that the community is really informed about. Their options. And so when the clinical study is activated, the community is aware and informed. And part of the the beauty with partnering with industry stakeholders and partnering with greater gift. Is that through our relationships with Feeding America and local food pantries that we make donations to, we're able to connect with the local community food pantries, build that relationship, maintain that relationship so that when we do go into the communities about sharing that information, they're a local trusted voice and they're able to make. You know, further introductions to greater gift for us to help lay that foundational knowledge. And I guess the third point Jimmy is from a corporate responsibility and ESG, you know, our partners acknowledge and want to say thank you to their team members to, you know, new team members that they, they hire acknowledge work anniversaries or even the site staff. For their commitment and really knowing that they can say that thank you, showing that expression of gratitude with the goal of giving back to help a child in need, which really falls into that corporate responsibility under organizations.

Jimmy Bechtel 7:38

Thanks, Joan. There's so much that's part of that. And then part of what you do, it's, it's. Really, really cool to see and hear about the different aspects. Right. It's not just one route that you are pursuing as an organization to help tackle some of the biggest challenges in the industry right now from not only clinical research, but also medicine in general, when you talk about the vaccine access for some of those underserved populations. So thank you for, for sharing that aspect of it. And I know. As you explained so eloquently, celebrating and honoring those participants is a really unique and special aspect of Greater Gift. So how does Greater Gift make donations specifically? What is that pathway, I guess, and mechanism of action? And then talk a little bit about as part of that, what impact has that had on patient retention and engagement maybe in our clinical trials?

Joan Chambers 8:32

Definitely. So we focus on our first pillar offering, which is our celebration and gratitude certificate program where we work definitely with industry stakeholders across the board. And again, it can vary on their mission. It could be very study specific. It could be acknowledging the participant in that study. They want to say thank you to the site staff, the study coordinator, the clinical trial navigator, to bring their voice back because it's important to bring their voice back and also say, to say thank you to the site staff or even internal team members. Well, Greater Gift will partner with these industry stakeholders to say, okay, well, we have these thank you, gratitude certificates, and they can be funded either print or digital, and then they are, you know, presented, or Shipped to the site or wherever the sponsor would like us to direct the shipment, and it's at that time where study coordinator is presenting the certificate to that participant or to that caregiver and basically saying, you know, we have partnered with greater gift and thank you for your participation, your contribution, or your work, or this huge accomplishment and in your honor, thank A donation has been made to Gavi, the vaccine alliance to help a child in need in a third world country or to Feeding America to maybe a potential local food pantry within your community that has a lot of meaning and impact. And through that donation, a portion is given to Gavi or to Feeding America. And that's kind of like the whole process. Around our certificate, our celebration and gratitude certificate program and the impact. I would say, Jimmy is that we we know and we're just starting to collect a lot of the information that we have testimonials quote saying, Oh, my goodness, this is so nice. This was such a nice gesture or wow, this is so unexpected. And what we want to be able to do is start collecting more of that, that impact of you know, that feeling when you're presented this certificate, that I, I participated my role, whatever my role is, whether it's a coordinator, a CRA or someone within an organization that because of my contribution that now I've actually helped a child. So that's really that part of the program. And again, we have statements from individuals that have presented the certificate. And we have statements that have actually received and we want to kind of put some processes in place to Capture more of that anonymous information.

Jimmy Bechtel 11:23

Joan It's really really interesting to hear the process and the the chain of events that happen to Spark, giving care to someone who's in need. So thank you for sharing All the different angles and aspect of that and and a little bit about the app in the impact as well. I think it's important for us to understand what these things do and the effect that they have on the industry of medicine and then clinical research as a whole. So again, thank you for for sharing some of that.

Joan Chambers 11:52

Definitely.

Jimmy Bechtel 11:54

The other thing that you had mentioned Joan, is that the mission involves increasing awareness of clinical trials particularly among those underrepresented communities. So how do you educate and engage those communities to help really dispel some of the misconceptions and encourage general participation in clinical trials? Yes. Something that we know is so important and a really a missing. And I think that's a really important piece in a lot of ways in clinical research as a whole.

Joan Chambers 12:21

Definitely. So I alluded to this a little bit where, you know, as a nonprofit, as an independent nonprofit organization you know, it is important to to go into communities where you, you have a presence or you have a relationship and, and what differentiates in my opinion greater gift is that with our Partner Feeding America and our partnerships with local food pantries where we are Pledging donations through our celebration and gratitude program that we maintain those relationships and so when we partner with different organizations, and they say, well, we would like to go into Savannah, Georgia, or to this North Carolina community or to this Texas community, we then look in and figure out, okay, And Who within these communities do we have relationships with through Feeding America, through local food pantries, and we, you know, contact them. They're the trusted local voice, and they're helping us kind of Spread the awareness, but then also make introductions to other local organizations because they are known in that community. They're trusted and we're coming in because we're, we're a partner and we're nonprofit and we can have that independent view. And so when, when we're working with our local trusted voices and the organizations and the leaders they're helping us spread that information and it's just. general information. It's not patient recruitment whatsoever. We're just again laying that foundational knowledge of this is what clinical research is about. It's a care option for you to consider. And here's some just general information about this specific medical condition, whether it's, you know, diabetes, hypertension whatever that might be. And so that we're laying that foundational knowledge again. And when. The trial is ready to be activated. The partner and we may be invited back in to say, okay, well, you were here four to six months ago or eight months ago. We kind of remember you were somewhat aware. And this is now a trial that they may be interested in. And some of our local partners would, you know, may involve someone like. The second harvest food bank or a fraternity or like a Samaritan free clinic. So again, we're, we're building and maintaining these relationships and then this way we can go in working closely with our local partners to build that trust and we're not coming in just out of the blue, but we're coming in collaboratively working together, laying that foundation and then you know, hopefully being able to build that trust within that community.

Jimmy Bechtel 15:33

Thanks, Joan. I like that approach for a lot of different reasons, but particularly the collaborative, approach, right? The collaborative attitude that you come in there with when you're working with other partners, not thinking that any one particular solution is going to be the right way, but or the end all be all for that. But understanding that we can do this together. We need to do this together. You know, clinical trials are not done in a silo. They're not done. Isolating anyone or any particular group. So I think that's really a really important message as part of what you do. So thank you for sharing that. I think it's a great takeaway, a great lesson for those listening that, that, that's a really important and I think doable approach for them to consider when they also try to embark on their own community outreach efforts.

Joan Chambers 16:19

Right. And Jimmy, part of that too, I think when we worked with Javara you know, last year that was the collaborative team approach. And that was our approach which then ultimately was able to have Javara Be awarded the Spria award. So that was our entire approach and the teamwork that was put in place.

Jimmy Bechtel 16:39

So cool. It was great to see and great to hear about that in person last October, Joan. We're coming to the end of our time here, but let's talk a little bit about the future. So looking ahead. What are some future projects or initiatives that greater gifts looking at or planning on to enhance the impact and continue the reach of your mission? And then as part of that, please let us know how others might be able to get involved in the form of support with

Joan Chambers 17:09

greater gift. Sure. Definitely, Jimmy. So I think definitely we're looking at expanding our celebration and gratitude certificate program you know, kind of adding a level of. Tracking metrics, as I mentioned earlier. So we want to be able to kind of tie that in. We've just added a new 11 by 17 celebration and thank you poster for the site staff. Where that can be a visual testament to the site staff's team and their outstanding work and a donation can go back to Gavi and Feeding America. Definitely looking at maintaining and building our relationships and it didn't really focus a lot on our scholarship program, but I'm going to be looking at potentially expanding the scholarship program for diverse and minority students with institutions outside of the North Carolina area. Because right now we have. four in the North Carolina area and just so many other new initiatives going on, but with regard to supporting Greater Gift everyone can support Greater Gift's wonderful mission through general donations through our website. We will be introducing holiday cards very soon and definitely interested in having people contact me about a new Package that I'm putting together magnitude of gratitude packages. And if anyone's interested in about our community readiness program, and then lastly, volunteer opportunities. I invite listeners to contact me about interest in, you know, volunteering as a compu As a community ambassador if you're interested in writing or submitting an article but also maybe sharing a brief statement of why clinical research is so important to you and why are you so passionate about clinical research, because I'd like to kind of start gathering. Those simple statements and amplifying the importance of clinical research, not just to participate, but also that it's an opportunity to pursue as a career if you're not aware of clinical research as a career. So those are just some real key highlights. Jimmy.

Jimmy Bechtel 19:18

Well, Joan, I think those are some great ways and I like that. There's different ways people can get involved. You know, you can if you don't have maybe the funds you maybe be able to donate your time through volunteering. So thank you for sharing some of those examples. I hope that some of you take this as the impetus to get involved with organizations like Greater Gift in the future. Joan, thank you for being here with us today. Thank you so much for sharing what important and valuable work Greater Gift is doing and the the purpose that you're bringing to clinical research and to medicine as a whole. So again, thank you for your contributions and thank you for being here with us.

Joan Chambers 19:55

Great, Jimmy. Thank you again for this opportunity. Wonderful to share information about Greater Gift and I will see you at the next SCRS event. Thank you. Sounds great.

Jimmy Bechtel 20:06

Looking forward to it, Joan. All right. Take care. For everyone listening, make sure that you register for those upcoming events being held throughout the year by visiting the summit page on our website, myscrs. org. While you're on our website, be sure to also check out other publications that we build for the community in the publications section of that website as well. We appreciate your participation and listening to today's program and look forward to having you join us for more great content coming out soon. Thanks again for listening.