When the opportunity arose to apply to be the next executive director of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Iowa, Paige Moore knew it was a perfect fit. 

In addition to her previous career in health care administration, Moore had served on the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Iowa’s board for nearly eight years. “I had always kind of known when the former director decided to retire that it would be something I would be interested in pursuing,” Moore said. “It’s something that I am dedicated to and I’m very passionate about what we do here, so when the opportunity came up I was excited to pursue it.”

Moore began in her new role in June, and the Business Record caught up with her recently to learn more about her and her philosophy for leading the nonprofit that provides a home away from home for children who are receiving care at a Des Moines hospital. 

Her responses have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

How have your prior roles in health care administration prepared you to lead the Ronald McDonald House?

I think having the background in health care is a great background to have here because we’re providing the care outside of the hospital for the families and sometimes the kiddos, too, so knowing and having that experience seeing what they go through on that side of it translates really well over here. It gives you a unique perspective of where those families might be and what they’re dealing with when they come back to the house. And from a business perspective, the mission, vision and values of a nonprofit organization are very important to me, which is why I’ve served in nonprofit for the majority of my career. But bringing that business experience to a nonprofit is important because if we don’t have that kind of acumen and skills, the longevity of the nonprofit might be in jeopardy.

How many families can you serve at a time?

We have two houses. Our Blank House, which has 18 rooms. Most of the rooms have a capacity for four, but we do have two suites that can hold six. Then we have a house in MercyOne, which has 17 rooms. Most of those rooms are set up for four people, but we have a couple of larger ones there as well.

Describe your leadership style.

My leadership style is very open, innovative and collaborative. I love to meet with our team. I tell them I’m going to ask lots of questions, and I expect them to bring lots of ideas to the table. It’s fun because I get to hear from them and we get to bounce ideas off one another. I want their input. We’re very open and transparent with one another. I think we have to be very collaborative because we have different expertise and skills, and the only way to make it the best work environment possible is if we come together and do the work together.

What are some challenges and opportunities the Ronald McDonald House is facing?

A challenge for any nonprofit is longevity and stability and being able to continue to offer services on an ongoing basis, which is why we rely on our volunteers and our donors to help us sustain what we’re doing here. But that’s also a fun opportunity for us to engage people in the community who may not understand everything that we bring for families and how we support them. Another thing we’re focusing on is different ways to financially support the house. We have five events right now throughout the year, and that’s our primary source of funding along with our donors and our McDonald’s partnerships. We’re trying to look at different ways to engage donors in different types of charitable giving and learn more about those long-term strategies instead of just event to event.

What motivates you and excites you about doing this work?

The mission and vision of the organization are the biggest thing to me. I’ve been dedicated to the organization for a long time and it’s something I’m truly passionate about, and now I have the opportunity to do this full time as a job. I get to apply all my health care and business skills to this role. It’s super fun for me because I get to take my skills and apply it to something that I really love to do. So it’s not hard for me to get up and come in every day and be excited about what we’re doing. It’s also fun because our team has a lot of great ideas, and I love that energy and atmosphere and that’s how we continue to progress and move forward.

What do people need to know about the services the Ronald McDonald House provides?

I think the hidden gem for us is the wraparound care that we provide for families. Spending time on the health care side of things, that’s something you strive to provide for the families when they’re there, but when they leave the hospital it’s not like they leave all that behind. They take that with them, so we are here to help alleviate those burdens for them when they are outside the hospital, which is really important. I think a myth about us is that we’re fully funded by McDonald’s. We have a wonderful partnership with our owner-operators in the area, and they do a ton to support us with rounding up or Happy Meals or different promotions throughout the year, which is wonderful, but that only makes up about 20% or 25% of our operating budget. We’re very dependent on all our volunteers and donors and our partnerships in the community.

What is something you have read lately that you would recommend?

I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers. Joy Fielding is one of my favorite authors. They’re just fun books you can jump into, and all her books have a heroine, so I like the feminine aspect of it as well.

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At a glance

Age: 38

Hometown: Ankeny

Family: Married, 8-year-old daughter

Education: Bachelor’s degree in administration from Wartburg College, master’s in healthcare administration from the University of Iowa.

Activities: Traveling, bicycling and following daughter’s activities.

Contact: paige@rmhdesmoines.org