A Conversation With the McCarton Foundation’s Whitney Loy

Burton Goldfield: Hello and welcome to another episode of All That Matters.

Today, I want to talk about a topic that touches many of our friends and family and the innovative approach one organization is taking to create positive outcomes. According to the CDC, approximately one in 54 children in the United States is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, or ASD. The prevalence of autism has been increasing steadily over the past few decades, with some estimates suggesting that the number of children on the spectrum has tripled over the past 20 years. For these children, early diagnosis and early intervention are crucial in improving communication and social skills, as well as access to the education they need to succeed.

That is why I am pleased to be joined today by Whitney Loy, CEO of McCarton Foundation, a TriNet customer. The McCarton Foundation, based here in New York City, has changed the course of many lives by providing exceptional treatment, therapy and education to children with autism.

I am pleased to have you here today. Welcome.

Whitney Loy: Thank you.

Burton: I think people would love to hear about the formation of the foundation. Can you tell us about it?

Whitney: Absolutely. So a little over 20 years ago, Dr. Cecilia McCarton, who was a leading researcher and developmental pediatrician—she was at Albert Einstein Medical College—she launched the McCarton Foundation to be the fundraising and governing arm of these non-profits that she wanted to start for these schools and centers. And what she really set out to do is try to create the best clinical and educational programs in the world for children with special needs. And she did it.

Burton: So where did the idea come from to focus on the underserved community?

Whitney: That was always something that was important to us. And, you know, Dr. McCarton’s first step was creating the methodology.

Burton: Sure.

Whitney: How do we create this treatment approach that's going to be the most effective? And then it was about how do we bring it to the largest number of people that we possibly can? I think the greatest challenge there was finding a way to fit that clinical methodology within the parameters of the publicly funded program. But we did it, and we're doing it very successfully.

Burton: Well, congratulations.

Whitney: Thank you.

Burton: So you come out of financial services, how do you get involved with this organization that's doing such great work?

Whitney: Yeah. Well, I met Dr. McCarton through the investment bank where I was working. The McCarton Foundation was our charity partner. And I saw this person who was doing just this incredible work. And actually I went to this event called The Genius of Autism that she used to host. And this was at Carnegie Hall. And she brought in all of these artists and dancers and musicians and singers and all of these young people who are wildly talented, who were on the spectrum. And the purpose of that event was to show not that they were able to accomplish these great things in spite of their autism diagnosis, but because of their, you know, their neuro-diversity, because of their mental difference. They're able to achieve these extraordinary things.

And so you saw this or I saw this person. I saw this person who was so inspired and touched and believed so much in these children. And it moved me. And so with the blessing, thank goodness of the chairman of the investment bank, I went and started volunteering and then started working for Dr. McCarton and then became the CEO. And it was when I became CEO that we really took that turn towards underserved communities.

Burton: Fantastic. So talk to us a little bit about the challenges in a nonprofit versus the challenges you faced in the for-profit world.

Whitney: Yeah, the biggest challenge was how do we take this extraordinary clinical, educational methodology that was at these private programs and fit it within the parameters of this publicly funded program? And that was very hard because, you know, we had all the resources we needed to deliver whatever we needed. How do we make that work in the world of E.I.? But we've been able to do it.

And it's figuring out how we can utilize these same professionals, the speech and language and OT and ABA and really integrate those methodologies but in a different way that works than in the early intervention program.

Burton: So things were going well. And next thing that happens is COVID.

**Whitney: **Yeah.

Burton: What did you do then?

Whitney: Well, COVID was tough because we had just hit capacity. We had just crossed this threshold, but we were able to sustain ourselves off of earned revenue from the city and state, who funds our early intervention center. And we had reached this vital point. And then COVID shut us down. So what we actually had to do is we had to call every single one of our employees and furlough them and then figure it out. But we moved quickly. We knew that all these children still needed our help.

So we figured out how are we going to help them? And we knew that we were going to be authorized to be able to deliver teleservices at some point. So we began preparing for that process, and as soon as the state authorized us to be able to do that, we were the first on it. And we started delivering services to the children via teletherapy. And that had its own challenges, of course, because we're we're working with these low-income families who are in shelters, who are in projects and who don't have access to the internet.

So we had to find ways to get them internet and get them the technology they needed. But we did it.

Burton: So this is far more than diagnosing and solving the problem. You had to find internet capabilities. Laptops, I assume and things like that.

Whitney: And, you know, it was remarkable to us to just learn about the challenges that the people in these communities face. Like you would think, I would think government housing, a project they're going to have internet. They don't.

Burton: Oh, interesting.

Whitney: So here you have these people who are still struggling just to, you know, put food on the table and then they're trying to provide service for their child and they don't have internet. So there were a lot of, we saw a lot of tough things during the pandemic, but we were able to get them, you know, mobile Wi-Fi devices or tablets with data plans or, you know, lots of different creative solutions we found to help these families and children get the service they needed.

Burton: So what was your biggest learning during the pandemic?

Whitney: What struck me most about the pandemic was how much it actually brought people together.

Burton: Right.

Whitney: It moved me how much our people were willing to drive out to these projects, to these shelters, to these, you know, kind of dangerous areas sometimes to deliver toys, to deliver technology, to bring these families what they need. We had so many staff members who called wanting to volunteer. And this is at the height of the pandemic when in the Bronx it was the epicenter nationally, maybe internationally for that matter, at one point. It was terrible.

And yet you have these people who are calling saying, how can we help? We know that we don't have the center right now. We know how vital this is for these children. What can we do? Because we have a staff that's really motivated by their hearts, by their belief in our mission and they see the incredible impact of the work we do.

Burton: That is amazing. And you able to bring all the folks back at some point. When did that happen?

Whitney: So we were closed completely for seven months, but we tried to employ them and come up with creative ways to engage them in any way we could. Many of them we're doing tele therapy, but even for those who weren't necessarily licensed clinicians, we had people who were we were paying to help go into the home to facilitate it with parents.

And then once the center reopened, we started bringing people back. But it was only open at half capacity for many, many months after. So we brought them back and tried to find new roles sometimes. And then over these past several months have been able to grow back to our full capacity.

Burton: That's amazing. Amazing story. Well, TriNet is proud to consider you a customer. Can you talk specifically during the pandemic where we played a role?

Whitney: Sure. I mean, TriNet has been an incredible partner from day one. They helped us grow from two employees when we first decided to pivot and start this mission of bringing our methodology to an underserved community, to then now over 250 employees. So it's been very difficult.

You've taught us a lot of lessons, but during the pandemic, it was really when we received, I think, the most incredible support. And everything from, you know, when we had to furlough all of our staff, being able to continue to keep them on benefits, explaining to us all of the ways we can support them, providing mental health resources, providing, you know, the company portal that has all sorts of resources available to these individuals at home. And I think that was very, very reassuring to them.

And then maybe the thing that was most impactful to us is helping us navigate the public funding that was available. And you know, that funding that you all helped us secure has been a lifeline, has kept our organization alive. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for TriNet.

Burton: Well, you have made over 3,000 TriNet employees happy today.

Whitney: Thank you.

Burton: We are so proud to be associated with your organization. But I know organizations like yours survive on donations. The folks who are listening out there today, how can they help? How can they donate and how can they help you continue this amazing mission?

Whitney: We'd love for you to learn more and visit our website at www.mccarton.org.

Burton: Well, thank you so much. I appreciate you being on the show and we look forward to continuing to serve you.

Whitney: Thank you so much.