Alabama Children’s Hospital Foundation CDO Coke S. Matthews, III to Retire; Chandler Bibb Named Chief Development Officer

BIRMINGHAM (January 26, 2023) —Children’s of Alabama CEO Tom Shufflebarger has announced the retirement of Senior Vice President and Chief Development Officer Coke S. Matthews, III in March.

Chandler Bibb has been appointed by The Children’s of Alabama Board of Trustees to succeed Matthews as Chief Development Officer (CDO). Bibb joined Children’s in 2013, serving most recently as director of development. She came to Children’s from Birmingham’s McWane Science Center where she was Vice President of Marketing and Development.  

Bibb is a graduate of the University of Georgia where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication. She received a Master of Management in Health Care from the Owen School of Management at Vanderbilt University and completed the Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership program at the Harvard Kennedy School. She has also received several other professional designations and honors, including the 2020 Association of Healthcare Philanthropy’s 40 Under 40 winner, a graduate of the 2014 class of Leadership UAB, and the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) designation.

“We are fortunate to have Chandler to lead the Foundation. Its success is critical to the mission of Children’s of Alabama and she is well prepared for the role, as well as the challenges of a rapidly changing environment,” said Shufflebarger.

Matthews, who has served as CDO at Children’s since July 2002, expanded the size and scope of the Foundation, building on the development, fundraising and community outreach programs in place at Children’s.

Matthews led the successful $100 million Keeping Promises Capital Campaign to support major expansion at Children’s. In May 2009, the hospital broke ground on a medical facility that would become the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children. The 12-story building was designed to accommodate projected growth in patient volume, anticipated medical technology needs and the planned consolidation of pediatric services including cardiovascular surgery and comprehensive solid organ transplant care. The facility opened to patients in August 2012.

Under Matthews’ leadership, the development program at Children’s helped to provide funding support not only for the transformation of the downtown Russell Campus, but also for the expansion of many pediatric clinical programs, as well as myriad family-centered care services for patients and their families.