2025 40 Under 40 Winners

Under Parker’s leadership, the Phoebe Foundation raised 4.8 million dollars in one year, which was 2 million dollars more than the previous fiscal year, significantly benefiting trauma and critical care services in Southwest Georgia. 

She led six classes of Phoebe 101/ Earn Your Scrubs, helping over 50 participants become ambassadors for the health system and deepening community connections. Additionally, Parker was selected for the Leadership Albany Class of 2024, reflecting her commitment to civic engagement and leadership development. 

Parker serves on the board of directors for Flint River Fresh in Albany, Georgia, an organization whose mission is to increase access to fresh, local, affordable, healthy food for our neighbors, create new economic opportunities for local farmers, develop young people through agriculture, and conserve natural resources for future generations. 

She is a member of the Phoebe Women’s Network, which helps promote leadership opportunities for women across the health system. 

I happened upon my career in philanthropy in general! I was a volunteer for many organizations in my hometown and a board member for our local art museum. After many committee meetings and events, people started to figure out that I had no problem asking people to have a conversation about giving. So one day I was asked to be the director of philanthropy for Artesian Alliance, our local zoo, aquarium, and historical museum. After two years there, a position opened up at Phoebe and I jumped at the chance to help my community!

In 2015 as a healthy newly married young woman, I was working out and suffered a vertebral artery tear. This tear formed a blood clot to heal itself, and unfortunately that blood clot was released to my cerebellum, and I suffered a stroke. Fortunately, I was able to go to our Phoebe emergency center and ultimately admitted into the hospital so we could figure out what happened! Up until that point in my life, I had been healthy and not thought too much about healthcare, our hospitals resources, or what it means to our wonderful citizens of Southwest Georgia. After many tests and labs, I became more familiar with healthcare and just how much a health system can mean to a community. This stroke put me on a path that ultimately led me to a career in healthcare philanthropy.

I joined Phoebe Foundation as the Children's Miracle Network coordinator in 2022, filling the shoes of Becca Miller, another AHP 40 under 40 recipient! I quickly learned what the Foundation means for our hospitals, and the communities they serve. During my first year and half with Phoebe Foundation, there was a transition with leadership of our department. Boldly, with a lot of heart, I threw my hat into the ring for the interim director position. I was chosen and ultimately became the permanent director eight months later. This career means so much to me because the only reason I do what I do is for the love of Phoebe Putney Health System, my community, and the people we serve, this is personal. 

My greatest passion in life is my faith. I believe in the charge that God has given us to love each other as we would want to be loved. Philanthropy is exactly that—it is showing the love of humankind.

I would tell anyone coming into healthcare philanthropy to build relationships with your clinical providers! They help you better understand their struggles and needs. They are boots on the ground, and you need to understand everything about what they do so you can support them effectively.