Reflections and Visions of FACT After My First Year of Service: Commentary from FACT Chief Executive Officer, David Schmahl
Greetings from America’s upper Midwest, where I reside, and where spring is valiantly attempting to ‘break through.’ The sprouting and growth of past planting efforts is a helpful reminder that many good things (spring blooms) take forward-looking actions (fall planting) and time to materialize. I’ll come back to this metaphor.
A year has passed since my Board appointment to lead FACT’s Headquarters (HQ) Team – a privilege and honor I deeply respect. The majority of my career has been in service of individual volunteer leaders, headquarter staff members, and missions of non-profit healthcare and scientific organizations. I never take for granted the passion and importance of those I serve, and FACT has proven, as I fully expected, to be an exemplary example. I’m both humbled and energized.
I extend many thanks to all the FACT Directors, committee chairs and volunteers, and HQ Team colleagues who have made time to help me navigate the first year. All stakeholders and beneficiaries of FACT’s offerings and services, like me, have a debt of gratitude to these passionate, skilled, and knowledgeable leaders.
2026 will mark thirty years of FACT’s service to quality-driven and safe administration of cellular therapy! The vision and efforts of founding leaders – Drs. Elizabeth Shpall, Richard Champlin, Nancy Collins, Allen Eaves, Adrian Gee, Fred LeMaistre, Richard O’Reilly, Scott Rowley, Keith Sullivan, William Vaughan, and Phyllis Warkentin – continue under incredibly capable hands of current leaders, including Dr. Catherine Bollard (FACT President) and Dr. Navneet Majhail (FACT Vice President), among many others.
Today, we’re successfully and steadily executing upon FACT’s strategic plan, developed in early 2023. I’m thrilled for an in-person Board retreat this June for a thorough assessment of FACT’s progress against our goals, the field of cellular therapy (current and future), and strategic thinking that will lead to an updated plan.
Against this backdrop of strategic thinking and action-taking, I highlight here some efforts, outcomes, and data points:
- At FACT HQ, now numbering 28 dedicated and highly talented professionals, we are accelerating efforts that solidify our people and processes foundation. This remains critically important as we advance fully independent from our historical HQ partner, the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Our “FACT HQ: Engage, Develop, and Perform” framework is the feature of a HQ retreat this June.
- We are investing in our Accreditation Services line of work with additional leadership, additional coordinators, and continued development of enhancements to our Accreditation Portal launched in 2023. These investments look to the future and are proving prescient, as 2024 saw 27 organizations seeking initial accreditation (a record number, which has since climbed to 48 to date). FACT currently administers accreditation of 314 organizations, spanning 26 countries.
- FACT’s educational/learning activities continue to grow. In 2024, we hosted 12 in-person events, 12 virtual events, and offered 32 on-demand sessions. Our in-person courses are being curated in our Learning Management System and generating steadily growing demand.
- FACT Consulting Services, LLC (governed and managed independently of our Accreditation Services) managed record-level numbers of ‘Custom Solution’ client engagements in 2024. Plus, we’re building a new solution to address a large, unmet need in our industry, to be unveiled later this year. Please stay tuned.
My arrival at FACT provided an ideal opportunity for FACT to ‘re-introduce’ itself to all the various stakeholders who benefit from and engage in our offerings and services. I made the most of it, conducting a six-month “listening tour” with fellow HQ Team colleagues, volunteer leaders, and many new friends in the ecosystem of cellular therapy. To these many new friends, I offer heartfelt appreciation for the time you’ve made, the introductions you’ve fostered, and the invitations you’ve extended. I value each of you and all of these.
The processing of this listening tour leads me to frequently say: “consistent in principle; novel in practice” about things we’re now doing at FACT.
One example (of several) with large impact for physicians, patients, and other stakeholders is the convening of the ‘Community CAR T Working Group,’ announced just last week. For more, please visit https://factglobal.org/education-and-resources/general/press-releases/car-t-working-group/.
FACT is engaging in the right conversations with the right stakeholders.
FACT is listening and taking leadership actions.
FACT is investing in HQ Team staff and solutions.
FACT is investing to remain on pace or ahead of the pace of change of cellular therapy.
I have full confidence in, and unwavering commitment and energy to, seeing these ‘plantings’ lead to future ‘sprouts’ and ‘blooms.’ As always, I invite and value ALL opportunities to listen and learn. Don’t hesitate to contact me at david.schmahl@factglobal.org.
Respectfully and gratefully,
David
