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The BackstoryWith Anne Hancock Toomey Author: Jarrard Inc.
The Backstory, formerly the High Stakes Podcast, is a new, limited series from Jarrard Inc. President and Co-Founder Anne Hancock Toomey. For nearly two decades, Jarrard one of the nations top communications consulting firms for healthcare has partnered with thousands of leaders across the country who are striving to make healthcare better every day. But this isnt a podcast about healthcare, or politics or even communications. Its about authentic leadership. The Backstory is about demystifying respected leaders whove had a lot of success along the way because of the kind of leaders theyve chosen to be. Each person Anne interviews is visionary, of course. Theyre smart as hell, and theyre fierce about their business and their mission. Theyre also humble, kind and create the kind of environments in which people can thrive. Theyre not perfect. But they are real. And its the combination of those two things that makes each one of them great. In every episode, Annes guest digs into who they are, where they come from and whats influenced them to be the person and the leader that they are today. Language: en Genres: Business News, News Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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210. From Local Newspaper Delivery to National Philanthropy Leader, with Cynthia Brandt, PhD
Episode 10
Wednesday, 24 June, 2026
In the final episode of Season 2, Anne Hancock Toomey interviews Cynthia Brandt, PhD. Brandt is CEO of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health and a deeply respected leader in the world of philanthropy. Brandt reflects on growing up in the Midwest in a minister’s family, early lessons in authenticity from a difficult camping experience and the teacher who led the excursion, and how receiving scholarships didn’t just make higher education for her but also sparked her belief that philanthropy can change lives. Before joining the foundation that helps power Stanford Children’s Health, Brandt built her career through a series of impressive roles. After work in banking and nonprofit roles, she pursued sociology in graduate school, worked at Stanford, moved to a profoundly meaningful role at Mills College, and later led a record-breaking Smithsonian campaign that exceeded its $1.5B goal by educating the public through grassroots storytelling. She discusses her CEO learning curve through the pandemic, a stewardship mistake that reshaped her approach, leadership traits like culture, humility, and clarity, and her focus on joy and purpose at work. 1:40 Midwest Roots 4:22 A Lesson from Camping 06:44 Scholarships Changed Everything 10:52 Finding Sociology 12:18 Stanford And Mills 16:57 The Smithsonian and Storytelling At Scale 22:38 From the Smithsonian To Children’s Health 26:10 First Time CEO Lessons…and Mistakes 31:46 Traits Of Great Leaders 34:52 Lightning Round Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
