Piper Fellow:
Nate Lowrie

When awarded the Piper Fellowship, he served as CEO of Valleywise Health Foundation, the nonprofit partner to Valleywise Health, Arizona’s public teaching hospital and healthcare system serving Maricopa County’s most vulnerable families. Lowrie’s personal experience as a patient of the safety-net health system during college gives him a deeper perspective and passion for the Valleywise Health mission which is to provide exceptional care, without exception, to every patient, every time.

For six years with Lowrie at the helm, Valleywise Health Foundation has provided record philanthropic support to the health system through major gifts, grants, and individual giving toward critical patient and program needs. Before joining Valleywise Health Foundation as CEO, Lowrie served as Chairman of the Valleywise Health Foundation Board of Directors. Lowrie previously served as president of L&N Investment Company, was owner and co-founder of local small business Bicycle Haus, and led regional teams as President of Zoe’s Kitchen Southwest. Lowrie graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business and entrepreneurship from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. He lives in Phoenix with his daughter Dillan, son Austin, and longtime partner Harmony Fulton.

Part of Lowrie’s Fellowship will focus on two leadership growth areas: industry knowledge and organizational culture. Plans include participating in Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management program—this coincides with a summit at Mt. Kilimanjaro with Team Courage Rising (comprised of inspiring burn survivors, medical professionals, and supporters of the Arizona Burn Center at Valleywise). Lowrie believes the timing is ideal to grow his skills and apply the lessons learned from what will be a life-changing journey.

Recognizing approximately 60 percent of Valleywise Health’s patients are either Spanish only or first-language Spanish speakers, Lowrie will focus on expanding and improving his Spanish language skills through an intense Spanish-immersion program as he desires to improve communications throughout the Valleywise community of patients, providers, and prospective supporters.