STA FF profile
GINA COMPTON
Gina Compton’s husband, Adam, asked her
recently one of those big-picture questions: If you
could do anything you wanted, what would you
do? Gina’s answer: plan events that raise money to
fight cancer.
As an officer for Baylor Health Care System
Foundation, that’s exactly what she’s doing. Her
event-planning role at the Foundation entails coordinating the logistics of quarterly board of directors meetings, as well as events, such as the annual
Grand Rounds® Golf Tournament, where some
200 golfers help raise money to benefit medical
education at Baylor University Medical Center at
Dallas.
This is more than just a career, though. Raising
money to find a cure for cancer is personal for
Gina, who joined the Foundation this past August.
She just celebrated 10 years living cancer-free.
Diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma in 2005, Gina, then 18,
spent the better part of the year going through 14
rounds of inpatient chemotherapy at Ronald
McDonald Children’s Hospital at Loyola
University. Reaching the 10-year, post-cancer
milestone is huge for Gina, because Ewing’s sarcoma often recurs, and when it does, the prognosis is not good.
Gina has worked for nonprofits in the past —
including Sigma Kappa Sorority, which she
pledged at Marquette University in Milwaukee,
Wisc. — but Baylor provides her a unique opportunity to combine two of her passions: working for
a nonprofit and planning events.
“There’s such a focus on how we, as an organization, are serving the community around us, and
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that’s not something that I’ve gotten to do in the
past,” Gina said. Prior to joining Baylor, Gina was
the creative design director for a Dallas-based
event planning company, and, before that, she was
a behavioral health counselor in Chicago.
“In my previous jobs, there has been such a focus
on sales numbers, profit margins and client satisfaction,” she said. “And while I definitely have to
answer for my budgets now, it’s not the focus. It’s
about celebrating Baylor’s accomplishments, or a
generous donor, or raising money for medical education — and I really appreciate those pieces.
There’s a passion and a reason and a purpose
behind what we’re doing.”
Gina said she has often gotten job leads throughout her career, but she would always pass them off
to friends or colleagues who were looking for work.
It was different when she learned about the opening at Baylor.
“The Foundation was my opportunity to combine
my professional skills in event planning with my passion to help pave the way so no other family has to
hear the heartbreaking news that their loved one —
whether it be their child, sister, brother, mother,
father, or dear friend
— has cancer.”
GINA COMPTON