Fern Stone Set to Retire from The Inn This July

The Inn’s Chief Philanthropy and Communications Officer will remain in a part-time role

Fern Stone, who for the last 18 years has served as the Chief Philanthropy and Communications Officer at The Children’s Inn at NIH, is announcing her retirement. Stone will continue to serve in her role until July, at which point she will transition to a part-time role as Special Advisor to the Capital Campaign.

“So much of what we do at The Inn would not be possible if not for Fern,” said The Inn’s CEO Jennie Lucca. “Her relentless dedication has driven our mission forward for nearly two decades. She has embraced every opportunity and challenge with persistence, immense compassion, and a tireless commitment to the families we serve.”

In recent years, Stone has been the sparkplug behind the first Capital Campaign in the 36-year history of The Inn. Known as Building Extraordinary, the campaign has been underway since 2022 and remains on schedule with its goal of raising $55 million to fund the ambitious Inn of Tomorrow expansion and renovation project.

Through the development efforts spearheaded by Stone, Building Extraordinary has raised over $41 million. In the 2025 fiscal year alone, Stone’s team raised more than $14.2 million, exceeding the annual goal by 16%. Construction got underway on schedule early in 2025, and the first phase was completed in the spring of 2026. The Inn is on target to open fully in 2027.

One of Stone’s first initiatives upon arriving at The Inn was the development and evolution of the organization’s annual black tie fundraising gala, bringing leaders from the Washington, D.C. business, medical, and NIH community together to celebrate and raise funds for The Inn. Under her leadership, it became known as An Evening for Hope, and went from raising $307,000 in Stone’s first year at The Inn to $1.9 million in 2025. Although it was put on pause for two years during the pandemic, Stone continued to maintain the relationships that were pivotal to the gala and the operating capabilities of The Inn, bringing the event back in 2022.

Prior to coming to The Inn, Stone served as the Vice President of Development and Public Relations at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington. There, she managed a six-person staff leading the development and communications efforts for one of the nation’s top community hospitals. A key member of Sibley’s Executive Leadership team, she dealt with issues from patient care, public relations, and fundraising performance. She developed, launched, and managed the hospital’s first endowment, raising $16 million. She also built a comprehensive program to cultivate and solicit major donors and corporations, and oversaw all aspects of communication. Under her leadership, Sibley’s development program grew from a one-person office raising $500,000 to a full office raising more than $5 million annually by the time she left.

“My time here at The Children’s Inn at NIH has been the most rewarding professional experience of my life,” said Stone as she reflected on her tenure. “It is a privilege to serve these incredible families on a daily basis, and to play a role in the transformative changes taking place as we look ahead to The Inn of Tomorrow. So much here at The Inn has changed over the last 18 years, but what has not changed is the dedication of our community to ensuring that these families have a place like home here at The Inn. I am forever indebted to all my colleagues at The Inn, our supporters, many of whom I am proud to call my friends, and I am just as much in awe of these families as I was when I first arrived here so many years ago.”