About
Core purpose
To further the advancement and impact of women in the business of healthcare.
Mission
The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association is a global nonprofit organization comprised of individuals and organizations in healthcare committed to:
- achieving gender parity in leadership positions
- providing equitable practices that enable organizations to realize the full potential of women
- facilitating career and business connections to accelerate advancement
The HBA accomplishes its mission through strong business networks, education, research, advocacy, and recognition of individuals and companies.
Core values:
Relevance: Demonstrated by visionary leadership, forward-looking strategy and the perseverance to drive change; evidenced in achievement of measurable progress on gender-parity and member engagement.
Integrity: Demonstrated by honesty, transparency and accountability; evidenced in an earned reputation for professionalism, trustworthiness, and value.
Community: Demonstrated by mutual trust and respect, appreciation of the value of diverse perspectives and the power of inclusion; evidenced in a culture that values relationships and the power of a broad, collaborative business network.
Engagement: Demonstrated by personal involvement, supportive behavior, dedicated volunteers, and a collective commitment to actively helping other women succeed; evidenced in mutual support, active advocacy of a common cause, and personal initiative.
HBA history
The HBA is in its fourth decade and now has 11,000 individual members and nearly 170 Corporate Partners, the organization can look back with pride on decades of service to women in the healthcare industry. The HBA was formed in 1977 by five professional women in the Northeast area of the United States:
- Diane Anderson
- Peg Dougherty
- Millicent Gryczka
- Sheila Sinkking
- Ruth Smith, MD
These founders recognized the need for women in healthcare to come together to exchange industry and career information and resources. They began informally, but meetings quickly grew in number and led to the establishment of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association (HBA).
Upon establishment of the HBA in 1979 as a non-profit, events were held in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. As members relocated and wanted the networking and skill-building programs offered only by the HBA, the association expanded to meet the needs of industry women across the country and around the world.
In 2000, the first HBA chapter was launched in Atlanta, followed by the San Francisco/Bay Area and Boston Chapters in 2001. In 2004, the Metro Chapter and three affiliates—Chicago, Indiana and Mid-Atlantic—were inaugurated as chapters. Today there are more than 55 locations in the U.S., Europe and Canada.