Prominent leaders in healthcare, finance, business, and philanthropy to guide new charitable organization to expand career opportunities and address Virginia’s healthcare workforce shortages
Claude Moore Opportunities, a new 501(c)3 nonprofit working to create healthcare career opportunities for Virginians and address the Commonwealth’s healthcare workforce shortage, today announced the healthcare, finance, business, and philanthropy leaders who will guide its statewide efforts and serve as the organization’s initial Board of Directors and senior staff.
According to a comprehensive 2023 study for the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority, 102 of Virginia’s 133 localities are federally designated “Health Professional Shortage Areas” and 93 localities are “Mental Healthcare Professional Shortage Areas,” meaning about 30% of Virginians live in a community without a sufficient number of primary and behavioral healthcare providers.
The George Mason University Center for Health Workforce has similarly identified current and future workforce shortages in critical positions, including:
- Registered nurses: a current need for 20,254, and a projected need for 42,259 over the next 10 years
- Dental Assistants: a current need for 9,330, and a projected need for 13,475 over the next 10 years
- Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists: a current need for 4,785, and a projected need for 5,960 over the next 10 years
- Pharmacy Technicians: a current need for 6,410, and a projected need for 7,800 over the next 10 years
- Respiratory Therapists: a current need for 2,225, and a projected need for 3,150 over the next 10 years
- Physical Therapists: a current need for 5,320, and a projected need for 6,910 over the next 10 years
Claude Moore Opportunities, launched in June, will raise and distribute charitable funds to create and support regional healthcare workforce development initiatives across Virginia that bring together stakeholders including local and state workforce agencies, private employers, public school systems, colleges and universities, and more.
This new statewide effort will build on Claude Moore Charitable Foundation’s 20-year record of supporting regional and collaborative healthcare workforce development efforts. In particular, Claude Moore Opportunities will leverage CMCF’s “Healthcare Highway” model, which emphasizes flexibility, regional needs, “stackable” credentials, and multiple points of entry and exposure to healthcare career opportunities from early elementary education, through K-12, into higher education, and even for mid-career workers.
“As a trustee of the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, I have seen firsthand the impact that a healthcare career can have on a family and that a strong healthcare workforce can have on a community,” said Karen G. Schaufeld, president of the board of Claude Moore Opportunities. “Claude Moore Opportunities is the perfect vehicle for expanding this important work across the Commonwealth and for sharing the expertise we have developed over 20 years in healthcare workforce development.”
“We believe that Claude Moore Opportunities’ approach to healthcare workforce development, which emphasizes flexibility and in-demand skills and credentials, is the most promising approach to create career opportunities and address the healthcare workforce shortage confronting communities across Virginia,” said Dr. William A. Hazel, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Claude Moore Opportunities. “We are excited to share our decades of knowledge and experience in healthcare workforce development with partner communities around the Commonwealth.”
While Claude Moore Opportunities is launching with a focus on healthcare, it also will work to create broadly applicable workforce development strategies and models that will create opportunity and a larger pool of skilled workers in any sector where a community and its employers have a need.
Claude Moore Opportunities’ statewide healthcare workforce development efforts will be guided by the following board members and senior staff, with additional directors from around the state expected to join the board in the coming months:
Dr. William A. Hazel, Jr., Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bill Hazel is a nationally renowned authority on healthcare workforce development and public health policy. He served for eight years as Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources under Governor Bob McDonnell and Governor Terry McAuliffe following a career as an orthopedic surgeon that included service as a team physician for the Washington Commanders and D.C. United. Dr. Hazel most recently served as Senior Deputy Executive Director of the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, where he worked to expand the Foundation’s work on healthcare workforce development and healthcare workforce data collection and analytics. He previously served as Senior Advisor for Innovation and Community Engagement at George Mason University’s Institute for Biohealth Innovation, as president of the Virginia Medical Society and a trustee of the American Medical Association.
Karen G. Schaufeld, President of the Board
Karen G. Schaufeld is a philanthropist, author, entrepreneur, and lawyer based in Loudoun County. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Government from Lehigh University and a juris doctor degree from George Washington University. Her business leadership roles include service as CEO and co-founder of Altor Locks, which creates innovative security products, and as CEO of SWaN Hill Top, which is redeveloping the Historic Hill Top House Hotel in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Ms. Schaufeld is a well-known leader in Virginia’s philanthropic community. She is a Founder and President of 100WomenStrong, Co-Founder of All Ages Read Together (AART), and Co-Chair of Wolf Trap’s Next Chapter Initiative. She also is a published author of four children’s books – “The Lollipop Tree,” “Larry and Bob,” “How to Eat a Peach,” and “Vultures, A Love Story.”
John H. Cook, Treasurer
John H. Cook, IV, is a Loudoun County native, Navy veteran, and an attorney with more than 30 years of practice in diverse areas including estate planning, probate, criminal defense, and catastrophic personal injury cases. He earned his undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University and his juris doctor degree from George Mason University. He is currently a partner at Glasheen, Valles, and Inderman, LLC, and has been recognized by Martindale-Hubble as a preeminent attorney with the highest ethics.
Lara Parker Major, Secretary
Lara Major is an established leader in Virginia’s education community. After earning a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University and master’s degree from the University of Virginia, she began a career in education as a classroom teacher and reading specialist in Northern Virginia. She later became a graduate school instructor at the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development before founding Major Consulting, a professional development, curriculum, and assessment consultancy to school divisions around the country. Ms. Major currently serves as a Director for All Ages Read Together (AART), a non-profit dedicated to educating children in need with free preschool programs in their communities. She also serves on the board of E3, a bi-partisan, statewide issue/advocacy organization for early education, and as Co-Chair of the Willowcroft Foundation, which funds public school STEM and World Language programs. Ms. Major is a past member of the James Madison University Board of Visitors, where she has served as the Chair of the Academic and Student Life Committee, Vice Rector, and Rector.
F. Kevin Reynolds, Director
F. Kevin Reynolds is an Executive Vice President and Regional President, Director of Sales for United Bank, which has more than $29 billion in assets and nearly 250 full-service banking offices in nine states. He is the former president and founding officer for Cardinal Bank, which he established in 1998 along with a group of fellow community bankers. Mr. Reynolds’ volunteer efforts, business expertise, and hands-on support have helped organizations throughout Virginia conduct strategic planning, fundraising, and awareness campaigns for their causes. His contributions have made a difference to organizations as diverse as the American Heart Association; The Economic Club of Washington, DC; Rotary International; The Gladney Center for Adoption; Children’s Science Center; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Special Olympics; Homestretch; and The Martin Luther King, Jr. Cultural Foundation. He is the former Chairman of the Foundation for Fairfax County Public Schools and a current board member of Marymount University. Mr. Reynolds’ contributions toward improving the quality of life in the region are widely recognized and reflect his years of service and dedication. A graduate of The College of William and Mary, he also earned his MBA in Finance/Business from George Washington University.
Laura T. Linn, Director of Development and Community Relations
Laura T. Linn is a collaborative, solutions-oriented professional who has engaged with state agencies and communities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia as a business development professional for 30+ years. She joins Claude Moore Opportunities after holding a similar role at the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation. She previously served as Dewberry’s Corporate Director of Business Development & Strategy, where she spent 25 years selling professional services and positioning the firm for growth. She also managed many of Dewberry’s public engagements, such as co-chairing the NOVA Chamber of Commerce’s Policy Committee. As a native Virginian and a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Ms. Linn’s passion is building new programs and enabling groups to prosper in the Commonwealth.
Shirley Bazdar, Program Manager
Shirley Bazdar has 30 years of experience in public education within the Commonwealth of Virginia with a focus on providing high school students with career pathways and opportunities to prepare them to be college and career ready. She previously served as an educational consultant to the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, and, beginning in 2021, served as Program Manager for Claude Moore Scholars, the Foundation’s signature healthcare workforce development program. Ms. Bazdar has served as a career and technical education teacher (marketing education), coach, high school administrator, and director of career and technical education. For the last 18 years, she has been an Adjunct Professor at Shenandoah University. Additional roles within her community include service on the Northern Virginia Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Board, liaison to the Loudoun Education Foundation and Loudoun School-Business partnership, and leadership roles with Our Health, a non-profit agency that assembles multiple services on a single campus for disadvantaged, under-served, and homeless citizens within the Winchester, Virginia area and the Winchester Area Temporary Thermals Shelter (WATTS) for her church in Winchester, VA.
About Claude Moore Opportunities
Launched in 2024, Claude Moore Opportunities is a new 501(c)3 public nonprofit organization that will raise and distribute philanthropic funds to support regional and collaborative efforts to expand Virginia’s healthcare workforce and create family-sustaining career opportunities. The independent organization is led by CEO Dr. Bill Hazel, Jr., former Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources under Governors Bob McDonnell and Terry McAuliffe, and governed by an executive board of notable civic, philanthropic, and healthcare leaders from around Virginia. Claude Moore Opportunities will build on the 20 years of healthcare workforce development efforts by the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, which has invested more than $24 million to enable thousands of Virginians to receive healthcare workforce training and credentials through strategic partnerships with public school systems around the state, the Virginia Community College System, George Mason University, INOVA Health System, the University of Virginia School of Medicine, and the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers, among others.
