The Cooper Foundation Appoints Lois Gabin-Legato as Vice President of Advancement for Major Gifts and Planned Giving

(CAMDEN, NJ) To respond to the growth of Cooper University Health Care and to meet the needs of the community it serves, The Cooper Foundation is expanding its team. Lois Gabin-Legato, JD, an experienced philanthropic professional in the Philadelphia region, recently joined The Cooper Foundation as vice president of advancement for major gifts and planned giving.

Gabin-Legato comes to Cooper from the Philadelphia Foundation where she served as vice president of institutional advancement and chief advancement officer since 2016. She is one of several executive team member additions to The Cooper Foundation over the coming weeks to support Cooper’s current growth and 10-year strategic plan.

“The Cooper Foundation plays an important role in furthering Cooper’s mission to serve, heal, and educate the residents of our region,” said Philip A. Norcross, Esq., chairman of The Cooper Foundation Board of Trustees. “As we expand Camden’s Health Sciences campus to serve more residents, we are happy to add a professional fundraiser of Lois’ caliber to our team.”

Gabin-Legato has nearly 20 years of leadership experience in major gift fundraising, grants, and asset development with leading public charities and institutions of higher education. Prior to her work at the Philadelphia Foundation, she served in a number of executive leadership roles at Drexel University’s Office of Institutional Advancement. Previously, she was senior director of development at Temple University’s Office of Institutional Advancement.

“We are excited to welcome Lois to The Cooper Foundation. Her track-record as a consummate fundraising professional and her experience in cultivating major gifts will help The Cooper Foundation as we support the health system’s growth now and into the future,” said Robert A. Ortiz Jr., JD, senior vice president and chief philanthropy officer of The Cooper Foundation.

A graduate of Queens College, C.U.N.Y., Gabin-Legato received her Juris Doctor degree from Temple University. She is a member of the Barnes Foundation Professional Advisors Council, the Sunday Breakfast Club, Impact100 South Jersey, a region women’s collective on philanthropic giving, and a volunteer with The Alice Paul Institute and other community involvement.

About the Cooper Foundation

The Cooper Foundation is the philanthropic, community outreach, and community development arm of Cooper University Health Care. Its overarching purpose is to raise and steward charitable funds to advance Cooper’s mission to serve, to heal, to educate. The Foundation fulfills this purpose through a wide range of initiatives – all focused on improving the patient experience and making the communities we serve healthier places to live, work and play.

About Cooper University Health Care

Cooper University Health Care is a leading academic health system with more 8,900 employees including 1600 nurses, and more than 850 employed physicians. Cooper University Hospital is the only Level 1 Trauma Center in South Jersey and the busiest in the region.  Annually, nearly two million patients are served at Cooper’s 635-bed flagship hospital, outpatient surgery center, three urgent care centers, and more than 105 ambulatory offices throughout the community. Cooper has been named as one of America’s Best Employers by Forbes for two consecutive years and was recognized as one of the top hospitals in New Jersey and as a top-performing hospital nationally in numerous specialty services by U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 Best Hospitals annual survey. Additionally, Cooper has earned the Healthgrades Patient Safety Excellence Award^TM for four consecutive years, placing Cooper among the top 5% of all short-term acute care hospitals.

The Cooper Health Sciences campus is home to Cooper University Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper, Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper, and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Visit CooperHealth.org to learn more.