SHSMD Announces Winner of 2025 Leadership Excellence Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SHSMD Announces Winner of 2025 Leadership Excellence Award

CHICAGO (August 21, 2025) — The Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD), a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association, has announced that Donna Teach, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Nationwide Children’s Hospital of Columbus, Ohio, has been named the recipient of its 2025 Leadership Excellence Award. This award honors strategic leaders in the health care field who are exemplars of the strategy professions, demonstrating a career of stellar achievement and excelling in the areas of innovation, enhancement of the strategy profession and leadership abilities.

Teach has dedicated her career to health care marketing and communications with nearly 30 years of service at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, one of America’s largest pediatric academic medical centers. She is a leader behind Nationwide Children’s creation of The Kids Mental Health Foundation, which gives expert-created resources and tools to U.S. communities so that everyone can understand and promote mental health for children. Since 2018, the foundation has provided free resources to more than 24 million parents, teachers, coaches and providers.

As an active member of SHSMD for many decades, Teach has served two terms on the Advisory Board and volunteered on multiple committees. She is a co-creator of the Bridging Worlds reports for health care strategists as well as SHSMD’s Public Relations and Communication in Health Care Settings certification course.

“Donna’s leadership has been vital to our growth. Nearly everything about the way people view our hospital — from our logo to our public commitments to behavioral and population health — has come as a result of her guidance and leadership,” said Timothy C. Robinson, CEO of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. "She is exactly the kind of strategic, innovative and empathetic executive that the SHSMD Leadership Excellence Award was created to celebrate."

Holly Sullivan, VP, Brand, Marketing and Consumer Experience at Corewell Health, who served on the SHSMD Advisory Board with Teach, shared, “Donna's leadership, innovation and commitment have significantly advanced both our profession and SHSMD itself. She embodies the very qualities this award was created to recognize — strategic vision, groundbreaking innovation and empathetic leadership.”

Teach will receive the award on Monday, Oct. 14 during the 2025 SHSMD Connections Annual Conference in Dallas, Texas.

About SHSMD
The Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD), a professional membership group of the AHA, is the largest and most prominent voice for health care strategists, marketers, communicators, and business developers. SHSMD serves strategists across diverse disciplines, providing essential knowledge, leading-edge tools, and invaluable connections. SHSMD empowers members to overcome obstacles, foresee the future and drive change, towards the vision of a world with healthier people and communities achieved through bold, actionable, and inclusive strategies. For more information, visit shsmd.org.