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St. Jude Children鈥檚 Research Hospital鈥檚 fundraising organization, ALSAC, promoted Ike Anand Tuesday to become its new president and chief executive officer.

The leadership change comes as ALSAC — which raised more than $2.5 billion for the Memphis-based hospital in 2024, according to tax filings 鈥� navigates a global expansion and an increasingly complicated funding landscape in the United States.

鈥淢y role is to make sure that ALSAC is able to deliver on its promises to St. Jude so that St. Jude can continue to dream big,鈥� said Anand, who had been ALSAC鈥檚 chief operating officer since 2020. 鈥淎nd ALSAC has a lot of initiatives in the pipeline to make sure that that happens.鈥�

Dr. Frederick M. Azar, chairman of ALSAC鈥檚 board of directors, said Anand had been instrumental in redefining the organization鈥檚 strategic direction, including its six-year $12.9 billion plan to provide pediatric cancer cures and treatments globally, and will help it continue to grow. 鈥淭hroughout his tenure, Ike has demonstrated visionary leadership and an unwavering commitment to the St. Jude mission,鈥� Azar said in a statement.

For Anand, who spent 15 years at travel tech firm Expedia Group and the rest of his career at other for-profit businesses, heading a nonprofit, even one as large and influential as ALSAC, was not an early life goal. But the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on his family and friends changed that.

鈥淚 was hunting to do something that makes me feel valuable and purpose-driven in this world,鈥� Anand said. 鈥淎nd what I found, it was the perfect match.鈥�

At Expedia, he learned the importance of data, nurturing customer relationships, and managing teams around the world 鈥� experiences he says helps at ALSAC. 鈥淲e have a culture here now of testing and learning, getting better at what we do and ultimately understanding that we鈥檙e not really competing against anybody else,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are trying to be better at what we do.鈥�

One area where Anand has drawn attention is incorporating artificial intelligence into ALSAC鈥檚 fundraising. Its initiative of using AI to help guide its communications with donors has influenced multiple programs in philanthropy.

Anand is quick to point out that ALSAC does not use donors鈥� specific data to communicate to them individually, but does use aggregated data to make decisions about what information may interest certain types of donors. 鈥淔or us, it is really, really vital that the consumers have trust in us and that they see us valuing their privacy, that they see us valuing their information and using it in the right manner,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so we鈥檙e really careful about it.鈥�

Health care policy changes from President Donald Trump’s administration may impact rural hospitals and increase the need for St. Jude’s services, which include free treatment for children with cancer. However, Anand says that St. Jude and ALSAC see it as their mission to care for all 400,000 children around the world diagnosed with cancer, so the changes do not really change their focus.

鈥淥ur mission is a unifying mission,” he said. 鈥淲e are not a political organization. I think everybody agrees that saving children is one of the most important things we can do as humanity.鈥�

Marlo Thomas, National Outreach Director for St. Jude and daughter of the late entertainer and philanthropist Danny Thomas who founded ALSAC and St. Jude, said that goal has remained the same.

鈥淲hen my father founded St. Jude with a dream that no child should die in the dawn of life, he meant no child anywhere,鈥� she said in a statement. 鈥淚ke Anand is the perfect person to carry that dream forward and help continue to expand our mission globally.”

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP鈥檚 collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP鈥檚 philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.