Nancy Zionts Speaks to Consumer Technology Association Foundation Board

On April 18, Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) COO and Chief Program Officer Nancy Zionts spoke at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Foundation board meeting, held virtually via Zoom.

Zionts was invited to speak by Steve Ewell, executive director of the CTA Foundation, to share about JHF's experience of coming to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) as a healthcare foundation, how the experience of attending has changed over time, why JHF continues to come back, and what influence it has had on JHF's grantmaking.

While JHF was one of the first foundations to accept an invitation to attend CES almost 10 years ago, nearly a dozen foundations attended this year.

Zionts and JHF President and CEO Karen Wolk Feinstein attended CES in January to explore how technology is being used in JHF's key focus areas, including aging, the healthcare workforce (think "community health worker with a smartphone"), and patient safety.

Zionts shared what she and Dr. Feinstein had reported to the Health Careers Futures Board, namely, that as a foundation that aspires to bring creativity and new ideas to the healthcare space, it is important to gain exposure to the cutting-edge of technology, and CES is the ultimate place to do so. Ewell inquired about the evolving role JHF and Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative are playing relative to patient technology challenges, and he expressed hope that collaborations with CES will evolve in that regard.