Generous Banner employees give back to support patients, community, and each other
8/1/2025
Inside Banner’s many facilities and corporate spaces, our thousands of employees follow the call of their hearts each year by giving back to support programs and services that benefit our patients, communities, and one another through Better Together, Banner’s annual employee giving campaign that takes place every September. Last year, employees broke all previous records by giving a collective $2.5 million to support Banner programs and services as well as community programs through their local United Way. Since the Better Together campaign began in 2009, employees at all levels of the organization have given more than $20 million collectively.
Better Together offers employees a wide range of options for where to direct their gift, including donating to an area of care close to their heart, a particular program that serves patients or the community, or to one of several scholarship funds and workforce development initiatives that help Banner employees obtain education and training to advance their skills and areas of practice.
Kasandra: From foster home to Banner transporter to pharmacy technician
“One of our transporters, Kasandra, lived at Sunshine Acres Children’s Home with nine of her younger siblings for several years,” explains Banner Baywood Medical Center Patient Transport Supervisor Teri Majkowski. Located in Mesa, AZ, Sunshine Acres is a home for children who are not up for adoption. “Kasandra met a Banner Health employee while volunteering at the home, who brought Kasandra to my attention, and she was hired to be one of our dispatchers.” Eventually, Kasandra chose to pursue more for herself through training, with the full support of Banner. In July 2025, Kasandra was promoted to pharmacy technician. “This has changed the trajectory of Kasandra’s life and she truly has a career path now. She has expressed over and over again how coming to Banner Health has improved her life beyond her wildest dreams,” said Teri.
Thanks to educational scholarships and a variety of other career development programs funded through the Better Together campaign and by generous community members, today, former patient transporters, culinary, housekeeping and janitorial team members are working as registered nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit, on Banner’s medical flight team and in Emergency Departments, as x-ray technicians, Child Life Specialists, clinical and molecular lab technicians, phlebotomists, and behavioral health specialists.
“The best part of my year was last week,” says Brian Kellar, Chief Executive Officer of Banner Baywood Medical Center, Banner Goldfield Medical Center, Banner Heart Hospital and Banner Ironwood Medical Center. “I had the gift of signing 212 scholarship certificates for our incredible colleagues who are pursuing continuing education, associates, bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and certifications of all types. In 2024, we gave out 149 scholarships and our first year, in 2023, we awarded 119. The growth of this program is incredibly exciting; seeing our healthcare heroes of all backgrounds accelerate from job to dream career is an honor I wish everyone could experience.”
To help empower the medical professionals in your local Banner Health facility, make a gift to one of several workforce development initiatives.