Meet Your Trusted Partners at Meriter Foundation
Every day, patients and their loved ones turn to UnityPoint Health - Meriter, seeking comfort and healing. At Meriter Foundation, we are deeply honored to join hands with you to ensure exceptional care and support remains close to home and is available when patients need it most.
We invite you to meet your dedicated partners in giving: the members of the Meriter Foundation team and the Meriter Foundation Board of Directors. We look forward to working with you to explore meaningful ways to support the causes close to your heart, bringing hope and healing to patients and families.
Our work begins with our vision:
A healthy community for everyone.
This vision fuels our mission:
Improve the health of the people and communities we serve through inspired giving.
UnityPoint Health – Meriter Foundation partners with donors like you to ensure access to high-quality health care for patients and families who rely on the compassion and expertise of UnityPoint Health – Meriter, a not-for-profit health care organization. Your generosity supports a standard of excellence in care, innovation and comfort that would not be possible without you.
Our rich history dates back more than a century when Meriter’s predecessor hospitals (Methodist Hospital and Madison General Hospital) were founded by a group of caring, committed philanthropists dedicated to providing comprehensive and affordable health care to a growing community. Today, the dedicated team at Meriter Foundation continues this legacy of impactful philanthropy, ensuring that every gift creates a lasting impact where it's needed most.
All funds raised through Meriter Foundation support various programs at Meriter. We do not provide direct grants to external organizations. Meriter Foundation operates as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization and serves as the charitable arm of UnityPoint Health – Meriter.
Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the not-for-profit organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:
- To be informed of the organization's mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
- To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization's governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
- To have access to the organization's most recent financial statements.
- To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
- To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition.
- To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
- To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
- To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
- To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
- To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.
Adopted 1964, Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Copyright AFP, all rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Your generosity gives hope and healing to patients and families. Discover how your giving makes a difference.
Meet Our Team
Our team is here to help you find ways of giving through Meriter Foundation that are unique and meaningful to you. We're eager to connect with you, hear your story, and discuss opportunities to partner in supporting patients, families, caregivers, and our community. Click the arrows below to learn more about each of our team members!
Rebecca Madson
Foundation President
I joined UnityPoint Health – Meriter in December 2019 and I love working here! As a career fundraising leader, the role itself was familiar, but it was my first time working in the healthcare field. Just weeks into my new job, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and the all-hands-on-deck environment required the Meriter Foundation team to pivot overnight to launch a supplemental supply chain operation, managing the 24/7 acquisition of supplies through volunteer and donated sources. I will forever remember this as one of the most impactful, humbling and rewarding career seasons of my life. I was so proud of our team and our hospital for coming together with such grit and grace.
Every day, I am extremely proud of the donor-centered work that I am fortunate to do alongside my team and board members for patients, healthcare teams and the community. We create meaningful philanthropy-powered impact every day, and I love seeing the look on donors’ faces when they see what they’ve made possible.
On the personal side, I live in a small rural town south of Madison with my husband, John, and our three sweet dogs: a Labrador, a Golden Retriever and a Beagle. We have four grown children who live close by. In my free time, I love to write and perform folk music locally under my stage name, Becky Wiles.
Colleen Altenbernd
Associate Director of Philanthropy
Leadership Annual Giving, Corporate Giving, Grateful Patients
Philanthropy is at the heart of my core values. I’ve always had a passion for volunteering and fundraising for local nonprofits. As an undergraduate at Drake University, I volunteered at UnityPoint Health – Des Moines Foundation where my experience was influential in solidifying my plans to pursue a career in philanthropy.
I joined Meriter Foundation in 2022 and am incredibly grateful to have found the perfect intersection of my passions. Getting to work in a field that brings me joy, while helping others create a meaningful impact on our community is a great honor. I love meeting our donors, learning what they’re passionate about and connecting them with the causes and programs closest to their heart. It means the world that I get to play even a small role in the inspiring work happening here at Meriter.
I enjoy spending my free time with my amazing family exploring all that Madison has to offer. Whether it’s going to the Farmer’s Market, attending a concert or trying a new restaurant, I’m so thankful to call this community home!
I’d be delighted to treat you to coffee to share my heartfelt thanks for the impact you’ve made, hear your story and talk about how you’d like to stay connected to your gift through Meriter Foundation.
Hannah Freeland
Development Specialist
My passion for philanthropy took root in college when I began taking sociology classes as part of my minor. It then grew when I had the privilege of being accepted as a member of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. As part of a team, I traveled across the Southeast, working on community service projects like disaster response and building homes for those experiencing housing insecurity.
Since then, I’ve devoted my career to the nonprofit sector and have experience in fundraising, volunteer management and event planning. I’m proud to be part of the team at UnityPoint Health – Meriter Foundation, where I have the opportunity to help ensure that everyone in our community has access to compassionate healthcare, regardless of their circumstances.
On a personal note, I’m originally from Atlanta, GA and became a Midwesterner in January 2020. I live with my husband, Icle, and our two guinea pigs, Kavious and Dibby. In my free time, you’ll catch me cooking new recipes, going on long walks, finding a new binge-worthy Netflix serie, and playing flute with the Madison Flute Club.
Lindsey Giese
Director of Philanthropy
Major Gifts, Planned Giving
I’m driven by a profound desire to enact positive change in our world. I believe the best way to do that is through connection and fostering unity, which is one of UnityPoint Health – Meriter’s core values.
As you can imagine, I was grateful for the opportunity to join Meriter Foundation team in 2023. While it has been a powerful and humbling experience to learn more about the struggles our community is facing, I am deeply moved by the generosity, love and support I see every day through inspired giving.
I’d love to learn more about you. What are you most proud of? What worries you? What brings you joy? I’m here to help connect you to the causes closest to your heart in a meaningful way so that your impact is felt today and for generations to come.
Let’s grab coffee or lunch and dream about the ways we can make the world a better place together.
Cristie Jacobs
Executive Assistant
Executive Assistant to Rebecca Madson & Meriter Foundation Board of Directors
Caring for our team, our Board members, our donors, and UnityPoint Health – Meriter with kindness and gratitude.
Ryanne Mobry
Operations Coordinator
I started my time with Meriter Foundation in 2021, and I have discovered this is the work I was meant to do. I specialize in database optimization and keeping all information up to date within the system. I am a support person to all foundation staff and assist with events, prospect research, list pulls and more to make sure all donors can have the best experience possible.
Outside of work, I enjoy running, camping, and spending time with my family by the lake. My husband and I have three boys, three dogs, and a cat that keep us very busy outside of business hours.
This has been wonderful journey learning all I can about the power of philanthropy, and I am very excited to continue to learn and make a difference in our community.
Bri Yanke
Senior Director of Philanthropy
Transformational Gifts, Major Gifts, Grateful Patients
My lifelong love of philanthropy began at the age of seven, when I watched my mother plan a grassroots community run to raise money in honor of her best friend’s son, who was born with cerebral palsy. I understood the impact of philanthropy early on seeing her organize these fundraising events with grit, compassion, and dedication. It is what inspired me to pursue a career in philanthropy focused on keeping kids healthy.
Each day, I learn about the profound and unexpected ways healthcare touches your life. It brings me joy to listen and understand why you are passionate about creating a healthy community. It is fulfilling to build a lasting connection with you: moments made up of talking together, showing a genuine interest in your life, opinions and experiences and remembering those intricate details in thoughtful ways. Let’s work together to make your philanthropic giving a meaningful, memorable and joyful experience.
I am a small-town Wisconsin girl married to the love of my life of over 20 years, Andy, and blessed with our sweet little girl. My happiest days are spent with them exploring the Midwest’s parks, hiking trails, and mini-golf courses. My idea of heaven is a leisurely afternoon people watching at a café or in the library reading a latest best-seller.