about us
Founded in 2018, we are committed to improving the health and well-being of children by creating a movement to change how we talk about kids, how we can invest wisely and productively in their futures, and how our decision makers can better protect their rights and reflect their voices.
Our Mission
Learn more about our mission and how we plan to build a culture that more deeply values children by checking out our Strategic Plan.
our Team
Leading for Kids is made up of doctors, hospital presidents, and leaders from the non-profit and philanthropic sectors. Read more about our expertise below.
staff
David Alexander, MD
President
David’s career as a pediatrician and advocate for children spans more than three decades. He is currently President of Leading for Kids, which was established in 2018 with initial funding from the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, with the mission to create a society that puts children first.
From 2007 to 2018, David served as President and CEO of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, where his many accomplishments included leading the Foundation’s fundraising efforts, resulting in more than $800 million raised during his tenure. David also worked to actively engage clinical staff and board members in philanthropy and personally led solicitation efforts resulting in several transformational gifts.
David served as President for Devos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan from 2002 to 2005, directing all aspects of operations including strategic planning, clinical quality, physician alignment, and community relations.
For nine years, David was Medical Director and Administrator at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. Prior to Blank Children’s, he served as Medical Director and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia from 1988 to 1993.
From 1984 to 1988, David served as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Inpatient Pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University, where, in 1987, he was named “Pediatric Faculty Member of the Year.”
He has served on numerous boards including The National Association of Children’s Hospitals Board of Directors and Stanford Child Health Research Institute Board of Directors. He is a published author and sits on four editorial boards related to pediatric medicine.
Board of directors
John Gomperts - Board Chair
John Gomperts is a long-time leader in non-profits and government organizations devoted to civic engagement and to creating greater opportunity for children and youth. John is currently an Executive Fellow with the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, and is advising a wide range of organizations and leaders working in the children & youth space and in national service and civic engagement.
From 2012 - 2020, John served as President & CEO of America's Promise Alliance, the nation's largest coalition of organizations and communities working on issues related to young people. Prior to that, John served as the Director of AmeriCorps in the Obama Administration. Earlier, John led non-profits that work to enlist individuals and communities to provide young people with the resources and supports they need to thrive. In an earlier portion of his career, John worked in the US Senate (Sens. Wofford, Kerry, Daschle), practiced law and advocacy, and served as a judicial clerk.
John earned his JD from Georgetown University Law Center and his AB in History from University of California, Berkeley. John has served on a wide range of boards in including FoodCorps (Chair), Points of Light, Presidio Institute, News Literacy Project, and others.
John is married to Katherine J. Klein, a Professor of Management and Vice-Dean for Social Impact at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and they have two daughters, Nora and Lily.
matt james
Matt has long been a non-profit and philanthropic leader and is recognized as an innovator in communications initiatives for social good, both in the Bay Area and nationally. Currently a senior counselor with GMMB, Matt’s award-winning contributions extend to strategic communications and campaigns in health, climate change, and early childhood development.
Matt was co-founder and president of Next Generation and spent many years at the Kaiser Family Foundation, where he was a principal architect of Kaiser Health News and oversaw the Foundation’s media and public education work. Previously, he was a visiting scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, where he worked to increase funding on health and climate change.
He began his career in politics, serving as a key aide to Congressman Mo Udall as well as Senators Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Dale Bumpers. Passionate about public health, Matt currently serves on the board of the CDC Foundation as well as advisory committees for the National Wildlife Federation and the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health.
WEndy Lazarus
A leading child advocate and strategist for more than 40 years, Wendy most recently co-founded Kids Impact Initiative, a nonprofit working to support front-line leaders for children in order to increase the efficacy of the child advocacy field as a whole. She is also a Senior Fellow at UCLA’s Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, and advises a variety of social change initiatives, including serving on the Board of Directors of Connected Nation.
Wendy co-founded and led The Children’s Partnership, served as vice president of policy for Children Now, and was the first director of health for the Children’s Defense Fund in their Washington D.C. office. Throughout her career, Wendy has pioneered a form of child advocacy that blends rigorous research and policy development with compelling narrative to advance policies and practices that support children’s well-being. She has authored more than 50 reports and articles on a wide range of topics affecting children and is frequently turned to as an expert and strategist by policymakers, advocates, grantmakers, and the media.
Wendy graduated from Yale University in the first class of women and received her MPH from the University of North Carolina. She lives in California with her husband and has two adult children and a grandson.
Brian perronne
Brian currently serves as executive director of The River Church Community. He is a longstanding advocate of children, with more than 23 years of expertise leading teams that advance the philanthropic interest of kids’ health and well-being.
As a founding member of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health executive team, and in his roles as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President for Development, Brian oversaw the day-to-day aspects of development office and the long-term strategic initiatives of the Foundation. He played a key role in the two major campaign efforts for Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, which led to the Hospital’s rise to national pre-eminence and the 2017 opening of the new Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Brian spent five years in Stanford University’s Office of Development where he held leadership roles in annual and reunion giving. He earned his Bachelor of Arts with distinction from Stanford University. Brian and his wife live in Northern California with their three children.