By Lori Baker, Communications Volunteer

Tucson native Courtney Slanaker’s passion for serving others drives her every day.

She is compassionate and an excellent communicator with a great sense of humor. She helps alleviate human suffering through community collaboration providing public health and safety services.

At just 26 years old in 2018, Courtney became the executive director of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Red Cross. She works with the chapter’s staff and 430 volunteers serving 1.4 million people over 33,000 square miles in seven counties.

Because of her remarkable leadership, Courtney, at age 33, was named a Southern Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce “40 Under 40” honoree and its Woman of the Year on Aug. 26. The award celebrates innovation, leadership and generosity among young professionals who go beyond personal success to drive progress and build a resilient, thriving Southern Arizona.

“Courtney embodies the leadership, dedication, and heart that define the American Red Cross in our region. Her efforts during extreme heat emergencies, mobilizing volunteers, distributing life-saving resources, and encouraging neighbors to look out for one another, are a powerful example of her commitment to community resilience,” said  Edgar R. Olivo, CEO of the Red Cross Arizona and New Mexico Region.

“From disaster response to building trusted partnerships, Courtney’s work continues to inspire, and we are incredibly proud of her achievements. This award is a well-earned recognition of the difference she makes every day to prevent and alleviate human suffering in Southern Arizona.”

In 2024 alone, the Southern Arizona Chapter volunteers collectively donated 42,000 hours providing emergency shelter, food and comfort for 850 individuals devastated by 148 local disasters. They made homes safer by installing 652 smoke alarms and equipping 550 people with disaster preparedness skills. They collected 46,500 units of donated blood for accident and burn victims, heart surgery and organ transplant patients, and those receiving treatment for leukemia, cancer or sickle cell disease.

Courtney empowers volunteers and the generosity of donors to carry out the mission of the American Red Cross. She helps nationally as well, and recently returned from a two-week deployment to Texas helping flood victims.

In February, she organized a three-day Regional Red Cross "Mobilizing Communities" Leadership Conference in Tucson for 140 Red Cross leaders from 13 states who learned about international and border relief services, engaging youth and community leaders, climate and Native American culture,  disaster preparedness and response, the Arizona/New Mexico Red Cross’s “Los Donantes” blood donor initiative, communications, collaboration and building community resiliency. All 140 attendees plus local staff and volunteers gave their time and talent in a " Day of Community Service" at 30 local agencies, including extreme heat safety training to arrange cooling and disaster centers coordination, blood drives, and services for veterans, disabled and disadvantaged populations.

”Courtney is a doer with ongoing education and real-world experience in public health issues. But most importantly, she is a listener, leader and master collaborator, bringing numerous sides to the table to develop important, strategic and meaningful results,” said Southern Arizona Chapter Board Chair Gayle Petrillo, a burn survivor and inspirational author.

As part of the Red Cross national initiative to raise awareness about Sickle Cell (SC), Courtney partnered with the Sickle Cell Foundation of Southern Arizona (SCFA) for a city-wide forum and chaired a SC Disease Forum featuring SCFA, Banner University Family Care and other agencies. The goal is to educate, promote awareness of the disease and increase blood donations from, most specifically, members of the Black community.

Her work led to her chapter’s recognition as “Community Partner of the Year” by the Tucson/Sierra Vista Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

“I am indebted to Courtney for all she does to save lives and to give SCFA the exposure and the added opportunity to serve Arizonans with Sickle Cell Disease,” said Moses Akpin, president and SCFA project director of SCFA.

With more than 600 heat-related deaths in Arizona in 2024, Courtney partners with health, safety and emergency management agencies to help the public respond to the dangers of extreme heat.  She, along with the  local chapter’s disaster, operations and health safety team leaders met with concerned regional climate and safety organizations, and businesses.

With her assistance, the Red Cross partnered with numerous agencies including the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University nursing students who canvassed vulnerable areas and surveyed residents about their summer heat experiences, needs, fears and problems. They provided Red Cross resource materials while creating partnerships with housing management.

This year, Courtney also facilitated disaster response work with the Medical Reserve Corps of Southern Arizona and was a member of the Mayor’s Heat Summit as a Plenary speaker. The summit brought area leaders together to prepare for another possible record heat summer.

She works closely with many community partners, including the City of Tucson Resilience Office, Pima County Health Department, Pima County Office of Emergency Management, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Casino Del Sol, Medical Reserve Corps of Southern Arizona, Arizona Achievers Foundation, The Force for Health and the Sickle Cell Foundation of Arizona.

Courtney said she prides herself on connecting the community to the Red Cross in a meaningful way.

“From our partnerships and from the trust that we've built, like with the city and the counties, we're not just here to deliver the Red Cross mission. We're here to support the community in a more holistic way,” she said.

Since childhood, Courtney has been a volunteer, director, member and contributor to numerous regional community organizations, committees and events.

In the eighth grade at Saints Peter & Paul School, Courtney earned the American Legion Award for character and citizenship. At Salpointe Catholic High School, she was co-chair of Youth Retreats with the American Cancer Society. She graduated in 2010, Summa cum laude. In 2023, Courtney became the youngest honoree to be inducted into the Salpointe  Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.

At the University of Arizona, Courtney volunteered at Banner/University Medical Center, participated in a humanitarian/education trip in Thailand and spent her junior year in Guatemala working in humanitarian and public health programs. She graduated from UA in 2014 with a bachelor of science degree in public health and a minor in Spanish.

Before joining the Red Cross, she was executive director for World Care, another humanitarian relief organization aiding disaster victims.

Away from work, Courtney and her husband are raising their two daughters, ages 2 and 4, to be kind, strong, informed, independent, non-judgmental and generous kids.