Today, we continue the conversation with the award winning founder of Miracle Babies Foundation. Learning how to run a charity from scratch when she had 3 premature babies, Melinda Cruz began local, then brought the foundation national and now global. She has raised more than $10M since the foundations inception in 2005 to improve the lives of thousands of preterm and sick babies & families.
Inducted into the Busines Women’s Hall of Fame, she was also voted NSW Women of the Year – Premiers Award Finalist, while also being a trusted consumer expert to medical professionals serving on multiple Advisory Boards including co-authoring 10 medical publications.
She does everything from run the NYC Marathon to raise $230,000 for the Foundation to helping the Australian Red Cross Blood Service Milk Bank Advisory Committee establish the first ever national Human Breastmilk Bank. She is relentless in her quest to improve the conditions for premature newborns and their families.
Melinda, I am so happy to get the chance to sit down and discuss the journey that has allowed so many families and babies to live a better life bc of what you have created…
The Goods on Melinda:
Showing that you can overcome adversity to impact change, Melinda Cruz is the award winning founder of Miracle Babies Foundation. She is a published researcher, influencer and expert international speaker on topics such as not for profit start up and social entrepreneurship, health and consumer advocacy, and how being resilient can help to live a life of inspired action.
Starting the Foundation in 2005 after her own experience of having three premature babies, the incredible difference Melinda has made to thousands along with her impact as a successful entrepreneur has seen her win numerous awards including the 2011 EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year and be a regular guest on radio, TV, podcasts and speaker at national and international conferences. In 2013 she was inducted into the Australian Businesswomens Hall of Fame and was a 2015 NSW Woman of the Year - Premiers Award finalist.
Since the Foundation’s inception, more than $10 million has been raised to improve the lives of thousands of preterm and sick babies and their families.
Melinda is a trusted consumer expert to medical professionals seeking to improve treatments and understanding of premature and sick babies and the impact a birth has on the family unit. In 2012, she was awarded the title of Honorary Research Associate by the University of Sydney, Medical School and was the first parent to be invited as an Associate Investigator (2012) and a Chief Investigator (2019) on a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded neonatal trial.
In 2015, she joined the Australian Red Cross Blood Service Milk Bank Advisory Committee helping to establish the first national Human Breastmilk Bank.
To date, Melinda has co-authored 10 medical publications and is a contributor to THRIVE Global.
Having never run before and taking on a challenge from the then CEO of Bankwest, Melinda ran the New York City Marathon with him and 17 others raising more than $230,000 for Miracle Babies.
Contact Melinda:
Website: https://www.melindacruz.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/melinda_cruz?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melindacruz_/?hl=en:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melinda-cruz/
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