MUHC Foundation Associate Vice President of Development Wins Award

The MUHC Foundation is proud to announce that Edith Bolduc, the MUHC Foundation's Associate Vice President of Development, has been named to the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) 40 Under 40.

Known for her passion and dedication to health care philanthropy, Edith has secured multi-million-dollar donations supporting vital research and patient care at the MUHC. She leads fundraising efforts for the MUHC Foundation’s signature event, Le Bal Rouge, and championed the DOVEEgene campaign, surpassing its $3-million goal for early ovarian and endometrial cancer detection.

Beyond her work with the MUHC Foundation, Edith helped build a new shelter near Atwater Market and advocates for the return of the Certificat en gestion philanthropique at Université de Montréal—the only graduate degree in fundraising offered in French in Quebec.

We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Edith to discuss her philanthropic work:

Q: What aspect of philanthropy inspires you most?

Philanthropy is about change making. It's identifying a problem in the world and choosing to fix it through a donation and/or volunteering. By definition, it is pure love of humanity. My work at the MUHC Foundation has been so gratifying. Every day, I get to connect amazing donors and extraordinary health care leaders who want to improve health care for our community and for the world. Together, they find solutions to a wide range of challenges—none are too big to tackle.

As a perk, I get to bring donors to exclusive places like research labs and operating rooms, and I get sneak-peeks into the exciting future of health care, hearing from researchers about their groundbreaking projects and dreams. I love hearing about people’s dreams to change the world!

Q: How does it feel to be named one of AHP’s 40 Under 40?

It feels amazing. I am so honoured to join this amazing group of professionals, including the MUHC Foundation’s very own Miguel Burnier. It means even more knowing that my colleagues submitted my candidacy for this award and are celebrating with me! AHP recognizes front line fundraisers, but this award is really a testament to the incredible collaboration across the entire foundation: from data entry to our communications team, each member is devoted to the cause. We all care deeply about the MUHC and our donors.

Q: What is your favourite thing about your job?

One of my favourite things about this job is learning to explain complex scientific projects in language everyone can understand. Every step of the process is exciting: from reading publications, to meeting researchers and asking them questions, all the way to seeing the twinkle in a donor's eyes when they feel passionate about the project you're describing.

I often try describing a very basic version of new projects to my daughter (my utmost favourite thing ever, and my "best job"). Her curiosity at 9 years old is immense and her questions are always really clever and helpful.

Q: What advice would you give to someone looking to start a career in health care fundraising?

Philanthropy is all about relationships, but health care philanthropy really carries it to the next level. You’re going to make meaningful connections, and you better be prepared to feel the entire spectrum of human emotions. If you’re lucky, donors will share their most intimate moments with you, and sometimes they will include miraculous recoveries, but also challenging losses— the truth is that you’re a part of their journey, and they’re a part of yours.

I think my biggest piece of advice is to ensure that you always place your humanity above securing the donation. Often, donating is part of the healing process, and it will come with time. It will come when the donor recognizes that donating is empowering, that it validates what we already know: that we have the ability to change the world when we work together.