Our Team

Kathleen M. Gibson

President | CEO

Kathleen Gibson became President & CEO of Southwestern Medical Foundation in 2012. Prior to that, she worked in financial services at Citibank, as President of Texas and Central US Commercial. Gibson spent 25 preceding years that at Bank of America in various roles including Head of Asset Management Risk, President of Southwest US Private Banking, Head of Southwest Corporate Banking, and President of Bank of America Dallas.

Gibson is the 10th President in Southwestern Medical Foundation’s more than eighty-year history and the first woman to be asked to lead the organization.

Under her leadership, the Foundation has established key priorities for growth and long-term sustenance. She is responsible for new efforts to engage a broad community of advocates and contributors, while overseeing the business, endowment, and core programs driving engagement, affinity, and impact.

Gibson is responsible for all aspects of the Foundation, engaging a broad coalition of advocates and contributors, stewarding a diverse asset base approaching $1 billion, and leading efforts to optimize operational excellence and impact. With an outstanding team, Gibson is directing the mission of Southwestern Medical Foundation forward, providing resources needed to help assure the highest quality of medicine through scientific discoveries, medical training, and patient care. During her tenure as President and CEO, the Foundation celebrated its 75th year of service – an opportunity to showcase the critical role the Foundation played in building quality health care in the southwestern U.S. and to re-engage community leadership in advancing the progress essential in health care today.

Born in Texas, Gibson lived several early years in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University and attended school at SMU in Oxford and SMU in Russia. Kathleen and her husband, Robert, have two daughters, Catherine and Sarah.

Kay Schlankey, CPA

Senior Vice President | CFO

Kay Schlankey is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with nearly 30 years of professional experience in public accounting, with the last 12 years focused primarily on non-profit and tax. Following a decade of dedicated client service at a Dallas regional public accounting firm, she broke out to run her own public accounting and consulting practice.

She holds a Master of Science degree in Management and Administrative Services with a concentration in Accounting from The University of Texas at Dallas, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising/Public Relations from Texas Tech University. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of CPAs, actively serving on the Members in Government and Industry Nonprofit Study Group committee which focuses on accounting for non-profit entities. She holds various professional training certifications, including the Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Governance.

Kay began working with Southwestern Medical Foundation in 2006 as a consultant to assist in the accounting system transition and audit preparation work. Shortly thereafter, the Foundation became her most significant workspace and she has been leading the accounting and finance operations for the Foundation ever since. As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Kay’s responsibilities go beyond overseeing the Accounting and Finance team, touching all areas of the Foundation, including risk management, governance, compliance, technology, and continuity.

A native Texan, Kay spent many years moving around the state before returning to Arlington for her high school years. She met and married the love of her life James, more than 40 years ago while they were both attending Texas Tech University (TTU). Kay, James, and their two large dogs, Abbie and Cocoa, now call Far North Dallas home. They enjoy traveling, mostly to beautiful beaches where they can scuba, snorkel, and relax, while spending time in quest of the perfect retirement spot.

Roxane Barry, CPA

Director of Accounting

Roxane Barry is the Director of Accounting at Southwestern Medical Foundation where she has served since May 2015. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and earned a Master of Business Association (MBA) from The University of Texas at Dallas. Roxane has more than 30 years of experience as a highly accomplished investor relations professional with a strong finance and accounting background.

Roxane’s responsibilities at the Foundation are far more encompassing than just overseeing the day-to-day accounting. She manages all the financial statement preparation, including presentations for the Board committees, serves as lead in managing the annual financial audit and completion of the Foundation’s tax returns, and preparing the annual budget.

Born in Iowa, Roxane moved to Texas in the early ‘80s. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degree at The University of Texas at Dallas. She lives with her husband, Stephen, and cat, Sammie, in Plano, Texas. They have one married daughter, Alexa, who works in the health care field as a PA and lives in Fort Worth.

Kari Bird

Data Administrator

Kari Bird joined Southwestern Medical Foundation in November 2018 in the new role of Data Administrator. Prior to joining the Foundation, Kari spent three years as an active parent volunteer in a K-12 environment.

Kari reports to the Director of Fund and Gift Administration and serves as a dedicated resource to help manage the Foundation’s donor database (Raiser’s Edge) and facilitates donor data reporting for the Foundation team. Kari’s new role expands upon Foundation duties related to data entry, integrity, security, and reporting in Raiser’s Edge. She records the Foundation’s gifts and coordinates gift acknowledgments.

Now a 10-year resident of Dallas, Kari was born and raised in Calgary, Canada. She graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce, specializing in Management Information Systems, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Kari and her husband, Richard, are enjoying the rigors of raising their two teenagers, Isaac and Avery. Kari and her family are travel enthusiasts and avid sports fans.

Emily Davis

Director of Gift and Fund Administration | Corporate Secretary

Emily Davis became the Director of Gift and Fund Administration and Corporate Secretary in July 2018. She brings more than 10 years of fundraising experience in education and healthcare to her role at the Foundation.

In her role at the Foundation, Emily oversees gift and fund administration, which includes managing gift records, supervising gift processing, and making detailed decisions to assess donor intent and properly steward donor gifts.

Emily grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Texas A&M University. Having relocated to Dallas from Houston last year, Emily and her husband Sonny love exploring their new city.

Rephael Foster

Senior Financial Analyst

Rephael Foster has served as Senior Financial Analyst at Southwestern Medical Foundation since January 2017. Prior to joining the Foundation team, he worked at Trimont Real Estate Advisors as Associate Director of Asset Management, where he led the team managing a special situations fund.

As Senior Financial Analyst, Rephael supports the Finance and Accounting Team by maintaining the investment and consulting relationships of the portfolio, working with our custodial bank to manage the monthly closings of the investment portfolio, and meeting with current and prospective fund managers.

Rephael is a native Texan, born in Grand Prairie to a large family of seven other siblings. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from The University of Texas at Arlington. Rephael lives in Waxahachie with his wife Holly, and two young children, Felicity and Everett. Free time is mostly spent tending to the family garden, matching wits with Holly in a nightly chess game, and the occasional fly fishing excursion to the neighborhood pond.

Megan Jenkins

Communications Manager

Megan began working for Southwestern Medical Foundation as an intern in 2017. Her experience in communications draws from a wide variety of industries, from aviation to software.

As Communications Manager, she leads several initiatives to elevate the Foundation’s messaging around the important mission to continue inspiring progress in medicine. She is involved in the management and development of social media content, print publications, email campaigns, and event collateral.

Megan is a native Texan who grew up in Humble, Texas. She received her B.A. in Emerging Media and Communications from The University of Texas at Dallas. While attending UTD, she met her now-fiancé, Duncan, and they live together in North Dallas. In her spare time, Megan enjoys reading and crossing off more destinations from her travel bucket list.

Blake Johnston

Manager of Donor Relations

Blake’s nonprofit career began at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, where she served in an administrative capacity supporting Evaluation and Research, as well as Institute Operations. She has since worked for MoneyGram and the MoneyGram Foundation and UTD’s Center for BrainHealth. Most recently she served as a program coordinator for Cicero’s Social Impact team.

Blake joins the Foundation in 2020 to serve as Donor Relations Manager. She works closely with the Director of Donor Relations to strategically organize a plan to provide stewardship for current and prospective donors.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Blake moved to Dallas to attend Southern Methodist University. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Marketing and minors in French and Psychology. Blake serves on the Executive Committee for the 43Club, and she loves traveling, painting, spending time with her dog, Pippa, and cheering on the New Orleans Saints.

Brittany Lebling

Director of Communications

Brittany Lebling joined Southwestern Medical Foundation in 2017. Prior to that, she led change management for global operational initiatives at CBRE and consulted executives on change and communications plans.

Lebling joined the Foundation with the charge to tell its story more broadly through strategic marketing and communications. Leading omnichannel strategies across print, web, email, and social media, she is responsible for connecting the Foundation team, donors, and advocates to the impact of the Foundation’s history and the potential that lies ahead.

Born in Maryland, Lebling has also lived in Houston, Texas, and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Media Arts and Design from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Brittany is a lover of music and travel, and enjoys sharing both with her two children, Sebastian and Vivian.

Paget Paul

Assistant to the President and CEO

Paget devoted the first 26+ years of her career as a legal assistant, primarily at Winstead PC, a well-respected Dallas law firm. The attorneys she supported predominantly represented landowners, developers, and builders in major zoning, land use, and complex litigation matters. Paget shifted occupational gears in 2017 to pursue her Texas real estate license, ultimately succeeding as a local Realtor^® with Ebby Halliday for a few years.

Paget joined the Foundation in November 2020 to provide high-level administrative support to the President and CEO.  Her primary responsibilities include calendar management, special events, and program planning. Of utmost importance to her are building and maintaining relationships and upholding the Foundation’s exceptional reputation and building standards.

Although Paget was born in Pennsylvania, she considers herself a Texan since moving to the Dallas area at a young age. Paget and her husband, Blaine, enjoy traveling, especially taking annual family beach vacations with their boys, Colton, Josh, and Walker. Pilates reformer classes, reading, gardening, and home improvement projects are among her current but often evolving hobbies and interests.

Katie Schlieve

Donor Relations Director

Katie’s non-profit career began in 2007 at the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center as a Development Associate, followed by Children’s Medical Center Foundation as their Special Events and Memberships Coordinator, and UTD’s Donor Relations Officer at the Center for BrainHealth before joining Southwestern Medical Foundation in Donor Relations during January of 2017.

As Director of Donor Relations and a member of the senior management team, Katie is responsible for the comprehensive stewardship of our Foundation donors, including identifying stewardship opportunities and strategies, maintaining strong personal relationships with existing and prospective donors, recognition and cultivation events, gift impact and other communications with donors, and leadership and programming for the Heritage Society and The Cary Council donor affinity groups.

Katie is a 2006 graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Recreation, Park, Tourism Sciences. Over anything else, Katie enjoys spending quality family time with her husband, Max, and her children, Hadley, Hannah, and Harrison. Her hobbies include anything that can tap into her creative and/or planning side such as cooking, traveling, and providing recommendations to people.

Emma Stewart

Staff Accountant

Emma Stewart began her internship as a Finance and Accounting Intern in May 2019. She made the transition to a full-time employee in December 2019, joining the team as the Staff Accountant.

She carries out a variety of tasks on the Finance and Accounting team, including entering invoices for accounts payable, creating journal entries, preparing bank reconciliations, and assisting with the audit of SWMF Properties. She is tackling various long-term projects including digitizing the donor restricted fund files to document the establishment of the funds, updating investment records in the digital file cabinet on the Northern Trust custody site, and converting the accounting system for Properties to Financial Edge.

Emma graduated Cum Laude from Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. She was on the Newman soccer team for all four years and received both an academic and athletic scholarship. She has returned home to Carrollton, Texas, and is excited to start her career and see where life takes her.

Stephanie Vidikan

Director of Project Management

Stephanie Vidikan joined the Foundation in 2015 upon moving to Dallas from Washington, D.C. Prior to working at the Foundation, she oversaw operations for 1776, a global incubator and co-working space for startups in healthcare, transportation, education, and financial services.

Stephanie oversees project management for the Foundation, collaborating with the leadership team and external partners to drive progress toward each of the Foundation’s key objectives. She is focused on developing, driving execution, and measuring the impact of the Foundation’s strategic goals.

Stephanie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies from Centre College in Danville, KY, and studied in Mexico, Western Europe, and Morocco. She enjoys spending time with her husband, Michael, and her son, Akiva.

Sena Williams

Executive Assistant

Sena Williams has served as Executive Assistant at Southwestern Medical Foundation since April 2019. Prior to joining the team, she worked for eight years in the financial services industry at Behringer Investments in Dallas.

In addition to providing direct support to members of the leadership team, Sena provides guidance, assistance, and project administration. She supports operational processes and serves as the Foundation’s committed expert on administrative procedures.

Sena earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from the University of North Texas. A life-long resident of North Texas, Sena and her fiancé, Josh, call Dallas home. In her spare time, you can find Sena enjoying the company of her loved ones, painting, or learning about wine.