As her VCU roots deepen, so does her fundraising for pediatric care
Payton Hardinge went from student to staff in 2011, and her work at Children’s Hospital Foundation is funding advances in muscular dystrophy research, family support and other areas.
February 24, 2026
Payton Hardinge, an alum and grad student at VCU, has embraced the critical importance of fundraising to health care in her position as senior director of development for Children’s Hospital Foundation. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)
By Joan Tupponce
Payton Hardinge jokes that she came to Virginia Commonwealth University only for college but never left.
“I am a VCU lifer,” she says with a smile.
And in her current phase of professional life – senior director of development for Children’s Hospital Foundation – Hardinge is helping the independent nonprofit maximize philanthropic impact at VCU’s renowned pediatric care facility.
Hardinge transitioned from VCU student to employee in 2011, just months after graduating with a degree in political science from the College of Humanities and Sciences. Though she had considered a career in law, “it was a terrible economic time to be an attorney,” she said. But a longtime friend – a board member at what is now VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center – alerted her to a development role there.
Hardinge quickly embraced a connection to philanthropy at Massey, where she handled fundraising events and major gifts.
“I liked hearing people’s stories and connecting them to a cause,” she said. “That was inspiring to me as a young professional. I fell in love with research, development work and fundraising. It was a sweet spot for me.”
In 2017, Hardinge took a position with VCU Health — associate director for strategic initiatives in community building – which included directing an internship program through which she taught community leaders to walk in “our team member’s shoes,” she said. “They got to see everything.”
Hardinge ran the program until the pandemic derailed it, and she also handled fundraising for capital projects. The work gave her a solid understanding of health care as an enterprise, but she never stopped taking the personal approach, talking with people about their experiences as patients.
“Some people have a lot of gratitude, but they don’t know how to direct it,” she said. “I explain that philanthropy is a good outlet. For some, giving back is cathartic.”
Supporting VCU’s global impact
In her role at Children’s Hospital Foundation, which she began in 2022, Hardinge oversees its pediatric neurology fundraising for VCU’s Center for Inherited Myology Research, which is partnering with the University of Albany to establish a Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center. Her work supports the fundraising efforts of School of Medicine neurologist and center director Nicholas Johnson, M.D.
Among her accomplishments, Hardinge secured a $2 million gift to establish an endowed chair for the VCU center, attracting a donor that was new to the organization.
“There is a lot of great work being done there, primarily with muscular dystrophy,” she said, noting the center helps an international population. “We work with families from 16 countries right now.”
In other projects, Hardinge helped the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU launch the Family Resource Center for families with needs related to transportation, food and housing.
“Patients and their families are seen in clinic, and they can get help that day,” she said.
Payton Hardinge (center), senior director of development for Children’s Hospital Foundation, with Stephanie Allan (left), vice president of corporate partnerships, and Carrie Bickford, vice president for development, at the Association for Healthcare Philanthrophy’s 40 Under 40 Awards in October, when Hardinge was among the honorees. (Contributed image)Hardinge also raises funds for the clinical genetics education program, which helps build research protocols for genetic testing through the hospital and educates clinical geneticists and genetic counselors. As she noted in relation to muscular dystrophy, “we are a cat’s whisker away from developing gene therapy that determines whether a child becomes ambulatory or ends up in a wheelchair.”
Her work hasn’t gone unnoticed. In October, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy recognized Hardinge at its annual conference in Boulder, Colorado, as a 40 Under 40 honoree – only the third ever from Virginia. She travels internationally for fundraising, but she arranged to stay on home soil to attend.
“While I was winning the award, my clinical team was traveling to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates,” she said. “I wish I could clone myself and be in both places.”
Local roots and expansive hopes
Born and raised in New Kent County not far from Richmond, Hardinge was an inquisitive child and avid reader. At age 4, she started horseback riding and continues the sport today.
“It has definitely provided me with some good life lessons that I have been able to apply in school and professionally,” she said. “I wouldn’t have had [them] in my wheelhouse if it weren’t for horses.”
When it was time for college, Hardinge looked at only a handful of schools.
“I wanted something in state with an urban campus,” she said, adding that her late mother, Gail, was a VCU alum. “I loved the urban campus and the diversity of class offerings. At VCU, I got to sample a little of everything and decide where I wanted to go with my career.”
Her career – and her ongoing education – have remained rooted at VCU. Hardinge, who will graduate in May with her master’s in health administration from the College of Health Professions, looks forward to exploring venture philanthropy to help propel early research and pharmaceutical development.
“I never thought I would be doing this,” she said. “But now I see that as the next area of career growth for myself in Richmond. I think we are uniquely primed to highlight programs of excellence. I also want to grow our international fundraising footprint further. That’s next on the horizon.”
