Lehigh Valley Business recently sat down with Jane Nordell, major gift officer with Lehigh Valley Health Network about the complexities of achieving work/life balance, the importance of philanthropy, and her three desert island must-haves.

The growth of the baby boomer generation and the lack of available space at its Nazareth continuous care retirement community prompted one local not-for-profit to start construction on a new active adult community in May 2017. Now, two-and-a-half years later, Morningstar Living of Nazareth celebrated the completion of the first two phases of Heritage Village, an active adult community.

What can employers do to protect their employees from the effects of stress at work? Carolyn Lamparella, licensed professional counselor and program director for Preferred EAP with Lehigh Valley Health Network, advises employers to build a culture of well-being in their workplace, where talking about stress is OK, and stress management skills are reinforced.

St. Luke’s Nurse-Family Partnership has been awarded state funding to expand services for families throughout Lehigh and Northampton counties. St. Luke’s NFP connects mothers living in poverty to their own personal nurse for the first 1,000 days of a child's life.

Researchers and health care providers at Reading Hospital have found an important key to improving patient care. Cultural awareness. To address this need, the hospital developed and launched its Cultural Awareness Program this year with Alvernia University. The in-classroom course teaches Reading Hospital employees how to be more culturally sensitive to their patients.

Work is such a large part of our lives, yet it rarely gets a mention when we talk about “giving thanks.” For many, work is more than “just a job.” Aside from the obvious financial benefits, our careers can bring meaning and purpose to our lives. With the holiday upon us, LVB took this chance to reach out to you, the women of the work world, and find out what you are grateful for when it comes to your job.

Connie Challingsworth, a retired pharmaceutical sales rep, is now a life coach, a model for the QVC home shopping network, and a two-time runner up in the Ms Pennsylvania Senior America Pageant. Challingsworth wants other woman to know that its not too late to begin a new career over 60 and that our senior years can be our best years.

Nancy Werteen, a well known Lehigh Valley television journalist with WFMZ-TV, and Kim Howie, a health coach, are the women behind The Wisdom Coalition, a business born of the desire to help other women navigate the complex emotions and themes of modern day life.

Employees are the lifeblood of any company’s succession, so regular planning should take into account how to maintain and grow the talent pool to make sure jobs are filled. Well executed, an employee succession plan can help a company build a robust workforce that can handle, or transition to key positions, to accommodate the inevitable ...

Adrian Shanker, executive director of the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center in Allentown, has edited a new anthology of essays by LGBT activists which aims to inform the health care system and LGBT health care consumers on how to give and receive better care.