Hi friends, 

Q1 certainly flew by. As the weather warms and summer Fridays tease the horizon, I’ve been sitting with two things that stood out to me about our year so far: devotion and the power of teamwork. The kind that shows up early, stays late and celebrates collective wins louder than individual ones. 

We saw it in the launch of Every 100th Heart – a passion project born from Partner and SVP, Scott Leezer, who lives with congenital heart disease himself and is now a proud founder of this new national coalition. We saw it with the Surge to Save Newborns campaign, beating the drum to ensure no family loses a child to a rare condition they could have treated early. We carried that same energy in serving two faithful clients we’ve worked with for over six years – traveling to New Orleans with the American College of Cardiology for their annual Scientific Sessions and to Capitol Hill with the PKD Foundation. And quietly, beautifully, our own team rebuilt our entire website from the ground up to better reflect who we are today, a decade into our journey.

Small-but-mighty goes beyond a phrase for us. It’s our operating system.  

And it's apparently a winning formula: We are celebrating our 10-year anniversary with a Charity Casino Night next week. We were also named one of Washington Business Journal’s Best Places to Work for the second year in a row. This award is due in large part to CURA’s employee number one, Thy-Ann Nguyen, Chief of Staff and Partner, who is also celebrating her 10-year anniversary with CURA. Happy CURAversary, Thy-Ann! Thank you for taking the leap with me! 

Thank you to our clients, partners and the CURA team who keep showing up, and for giving us so many wins to celebrate, big and small. This work never stops, but neither does our gratitude. 

Onward,
Anne

P.S. Have you explored our new digital home? Check out the new CURA hub. 

Connecting With the Recovery Community at the Chesterfield County Jail  

To better understand and connect with the marginalized communities we aim to serve, the CURA team toured the Chesterfield County Jail, where we learned about the Helping Addicts Recover Progressively (HARP) program. The program supports individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) in their recovery by addressing both the symptoms and underlying causes of SUD. The team left with a deeper understanding of the recovery journey and the important work of our clients in the addiction recovery space. 

Launching the Surge to Save Newborns Campaign With Travere

In an effort to support families affected by the gaps in RUSP-recommended newborn screening in their state, we worked with the ALD Alliance, Hunter's Hope and other disease patient groups to launch the Surge to Save Newborns campaign. This new coalition, funded initially by Travere Therapeutics, aims to save lives (and medical costs) by bringing together rare disease advocacy organizations and industry partners to call for a one-time surge of federal funding that will ensure every newborn in every state receives the same lifesaving screening for serious, rare and treatable conditions. 

Heart-Led Change Happens Here: Celebrating the Every 100th Heart Launch 💙

CURA celebrated the launch of Every 100th Heart in February. We are so proud to be a part of this national movement to bring together leaders in the congenital heart disease (CHD) community to improve the lives of the nearly one in 100 babies and millions of children and adults nationwide living with CHD. Special shoutout to the CURAgeous team members who made this launch possible.  

The Every 100th Heart team members, Patrick Meade, Scott Leezer, Emily Crouch and Maddie Helmus celebrate the launch in the office.  

At the Heart of Innovation: Attending ACC.26 in New Orleans 🫀🩺  

Hannah Melnick, Thy-Ann Nguyen and Juliet Thomas supported the American College of Cardiology team at the 2026 Annual Scientific Session and Expo in New Orleans. Additionally, Sarah Whitworth and Scott Leezer attended and hosted the Every 100th Heart Launch party.  

Powering Progress for the Parkinson’s Disease Community  

In March, CURA attended the Parkinson's Policy Forum 2026 in support of The Michael J. Fox Foundation. During the Forum, which unites advocates, members of the Parkinson's community and legislators to advance research and strategies to better address Parkinson's Disease, our own Scott Leezer led a session with Indiana advocates on how to conduct effective Hill meetings and turn advocacy into action. 

Patrick Meade, Maddie Helmus and Scott Leezer joined The Michael J. Fox Foundation at the Parkinson’s Policy Forum in Washington, D.C.  

Starting Strong: CURA Q1 Retreat ✨  

Cha-Ching! Join Us in Celebrating 10 Years ♦️ ♠️ 🎰

Feeling lucky? With gratitude for our 10-year anniversary, we invite you to our Charity Casino Night on May 7th in Arlington, VA. Expect a festive night featuring casino games, prizes, food, cocktails and live music — all while supporting causes close to our hearts. RSVP today, or you’ll have FOMO when you see the pictures in our next newsletter! 

We Welcomed Many New Faces in Q1! 

Time Flies! Celebrating Our Q1 CURAversaries

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