CEO ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital The global economic crisis has affected not only millions of individuals and countless businesses, but charitable institutions also are suffering from dramatically reduced donations. Yet the children of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are ably provided for by a man whose passionate commitment and insightful fund-raising strategies have increased public support during each of the four years of his leadership.Reports show a 29 percent increase in donor revenue since 2009, when Richard C. Shadyac Jr. became CEO of ALSAC, the fund-raising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.Even the weather-related cancellation of the 2013 St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend had a minimal impact on revenue, Shadyac said. “We had a record year and had raised about $8.2 million prior to the race, compared to $6.1 last year.  Since very few people took advantage of the registration rebate offer, the anticipated final figure — between $7.8 and $8 million — still represents a substantial increase over the previous year.”Shadyac credits St. Jude’s “amazing mission” — one that resonates with people around the world — and his “incredible team of ALSAC fund-raisers and marketers who make it happen.”But perhaps a large proportion of his success is a result of his family’s intimate connection with St. Jude’s early history.“I’ve been involved with St. Jude all my life,” Shadyac said. “My father was one who, back in the late 1950s, answered Danny Thomas’ call when he first asked people of Lebanese heritage to join him in creating St. Jude. My father was a Department of Justice lawyer in Washington, D.C., who just happened to be Lebanese; he met Danny Thomas and decided to sign up.”Richard Shadyac Sr. served on the ALSAC Board of Directors for nearly three decades before taking over as ALSAC CEO from 1992 through his retirement in 2005.Although Shadyac Jr. was too young to recall the actual opening of St. Jude in 1962, he has fond memories of being walked to church as a child by Danny Thomas, a family friend who visited them in Washington.“I have great memories of meeting Marlo Thomas for the first time,” Shadyac said.  “Our school at Falls Church, Virginia, was the leading fund-raiser, and the big award was a personal visit from Marlo Thomas. I got to brag to all my friends that we were responsible for bringing ‘That Girl’ to our junior high school, and that was cool.“As I was growing up, I was blessed to get to know Danny, and with the exception of my parents, I don’t think there is any person that has had more of an impression on me than Danny Thomas. I think of what a visionary he was and the courage that it took forhim, my father and that entire first generation to create St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.”In 1957 — the year American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC) was created — they committed to the mission of treating children without regard for race, creed, religion or ability to pay; to build the hospital in the South and insist that it be integrated; to insure that no family would pay St. Jude for anything even though their early funding was limited; and to promise that their research would be shared freely with the world.“These are concepts that would have been so foreign and so unique in the 1960s, yet their bravery, courage and vision have given us the premier pediatric cancer research hospital in the world,” Shadyac said.Although he is the youngest CEO to serve in his position, the ALSAC/St. Jude mission is in Shadyac’s blood; after 27 years of practicing law in the Washington area he chose to transition his career and relocated to Memphis to accept the role of CEO. He previously served as chairman and president of the ALSAC Board, which he joined in 2000, also serving on multiple committees.He is also active in the Memphis community on the boards of directors for the Greater Memphis Chamber, and Memphis Tomorrow.“I had two great parents that stressed the importance of giving back to your community and being a servant leader,” he said. “It was the right time for me to make a change in my life and happily give back.”Shadyac’s father passed away in 2009, shortly after learning that his son had been selected to follow in his footsteps as ALSAC/St. Jude CEO. “It meant a lot to him to know that,” Shadyac said.His goals and initiatives for St. Jude include creating a more robust marketing function at ALSAC. “We knew we had a good brand, but I wanted to create a great brand," he said, "an iconic brand on a par with Apple or Google in the not-for-profit world.”He also spoke of reaching out to growing demographic segments, including the African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American communities, and of his pride in the gratifying response they have already received. He describes a focus on amping up digital efforts and offering donors the opportunity for on-line transactions. He outlines plans for refining their messaging and their brand to make sure that people understand what St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital stands for. He stresses the expansion of their efforts internationally — relative not only to ALSAC fund-raising but to help more children and families worldwide benefit from the mission of St. Jude and the research it fosters.And he hints at an exciting new project that his celebrity brother, writer, film director and producer Tom Shadyac, is undertaking on behalf of St. Jude — to be unveiled soon. Like his brother, Tom has dedicated years of his life to giving back to the city of Memphis and to St. Jude. IIII think people would be surprised at how difficult it is to fund-raise in the economic climate that we are currently operating in,” Shadyac said. “It’s a very competitive space. Compared to 10-15 years ago, there’s been a doubling of the number of 501 (c) 3’s across the United States, so it’s becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate your charity in a very crowded space.”With more than 14,000 people touring St. Jude annually, however, clearly the mission conceived by Danny Thomas, and launched with support from Shadyac’s father more than 50 years ago, still fascinates and touches hearts.So Shadyac is justified in identifying his proudest accomplishment as two-fold: continuing to meet the needs of the hospital on a daily basis and being one of the few charities that has grown — and grown robustly — through the Great Recession.“There’s no greater mission on the planet than St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” he said. “I derive tremendous satisfaction from having the privilege of leading this organization. It has given me a great sense of direction, a great sense of satisfaction; there’s nothing better than coming to work every single morning at ALSAC and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, not only because you meet incredible patients and families and feel like you’re making a difference, but I also could not work with better people than I do at ALSAC and St. Jude.  They are truly remarkable folks that are dedicating their lives to giving back.”He encourages others to think seriously about careers in the not-for-profit world, where opportunities that are professionally robust also allow greater personal satisfaction by doing good.Married for 32 years to his college sweetheart who partners with him in his work at ALSAC/St. Jude, Shadyac has two grown children who also are involved with St. Jude.