For months, Amanda Mohammed-Strait, MD, would show up for her monthly Walk with a Doc events and find 15 to 18 people at the Bath House Cultural Center alongside the east shore of White Rock Lake in Dallas. As word of mouth spread, so did the crowds. The walk last July attracted about 500 people. Turns out, that was nothing. Last September, her event drew about 1,000.
The Dallas family medicine physician opened the event with a talk on heart health, the benefits of regular exercise, and reading food labels carefully. Wheels of Giving, a local nonprofit, pitched in to help, too. Her monthly program usually features a 15-minute talk about medically related topics followed by a 20- to 25-minute low-impact walk to and from the lake’s boat houses.
Excitement keeps building. Now, people can’t wait for Dr. Mohammed-Strait’s walks and talks, which are among nearly 70 monthly physician-led events offered at no cost across Texas, thanks to funding of Walk with a Doc Texas by the Texas Medical Association Foundation (TMAF), now charging into its 60th year.
“It was very meaningful to come out, meet new people, take a walk, get to talk to ‘Dr. Mo,’ as people call me,” she told Texas Medicine. “They can see me outside the four walls of a clinic and get to know people who may be going through something similar.”
In October, William W. Hooks Jr., MD, and Milan Sekulic, MD, were busy in Mount Pleasant, ginning up all kinds of social media buzz in rural East Texas. Supported by a grant from the Vaccines Defend What Matters program – another key initiative funded by TMAF – the Titus Regional Medical Foundation delivered 130 flu vaccinations along with lab screenings, cardiovascular risk assessments, and personalized health education at the Tennison Methodist Health Fair.
The event “strengthened community relationships, highlighted the value of bilingual outreach, and provided clear insights to improve participation and health equity in future events,” according to the event’s final report prepped by the Titus Regional Medical Foundation.
These two community events embody the mission of TMAF: to fund initiatives with the power to help physicians create a healthier future for all Texans. With an ambitious vision for 2026, foundation leaders seek to expand its philanthropy by growing its donor base through a comprehensive communication plan, developing personal outreach with individual and institutional donors, and growing the major donor base for the future.
This year, TMAF leadership also has prioritized finding a dedicated sponsor for the Texas BookShare program. It could be an organization, institution or company that, like physicians, have an interest in a healthier Texas.
A better state of health
TMAF was founded in 1966. In the early ’90s, the foundation began focusing its efforts on philanthropy and fundraising in support of its shared vision with TMA of improving the health of all Texans.
For decades now, TMAF has funded programs that don’t always make headlines but change lives every day, says TMAF President Clifford Moy, MD. By connecting communities to doctors and supporting the next generation of physicians, TMAF aims to unite the charitable concerns of physicians with the people of Texas.
TMAF works directly with physician members, county medical societies, TMA Alliance chapters, and medical student chapters to fund programs in their communities. The foundation also provides funding for select programs, including medical student scholarships and the TMA Ernest and Sarah Butler Awards for Excellence in Science Teaching.
“We have our practices which, of course, greatly benefit our patients and bring them to a better state of health, hopefully,” Dr. Moy told Texas Medicine. “We still need to find joy in our practices, in our everyday lives. I do believe all physicians find joy in contributing to their communities.”
TMAF has evolved into a powerful force for community health improvement across the Lone Star State. And by nearly every measure, 2025 was one of its finest years.
The numbers tell a compelling story. In 2025, TMAF raised just over $1 million, which surpassed its fundraising goal by 24%. That’s not a rounding error; it’s a testament to the deep trust that physicians, medical families, and the community place in the foundation’s work, says TMAF Vice President Stuart Pickell, MD.
Those funds came from 1,380 individual and institutional donors, a notable increase from the 1,335 donors who contributed in 2024. TMAF saw a 16% increase in new individual donors and a 13% overall rise in new contributors. The pipeline of support is widening, which bodes well for the foundation’s long-term sustainability, Dr. Pickell says.
“It says something about the generosity of Texas physicians that they’re willing to contribute to the cause of improving the lives of Texans,” the Fort Worth internist and pediatrician told Texas Medicine.
The centerpiece of the year’s fundraising was the 32nd annual TMAF Gala, held in conjunction with TMA’s 2025 TexMed conference in San Antonio. Sponsorships and onsite fundraising activities, including live and silent auctions, generated record-setting results that pushed the gala well beyond its fundraising goal.
Interestingly, the foundation is seeing a meaningful shift in how donors give, TMAF leaders say. More physicians are utilizing donor-advised funds, IRA charitable rollovers, and gifts of stock.
“There are creative ways to contribute,” Dr. Pickell said. These alternatives to cash donations signal both financial sophistication among donors and growing long-term commitment to the foundation’s mission.
“Gifts are important, and we are good stewards of those gifts,” Dr. Moy said. “The purpose of those gifts is to enhance the health of all Texans and to hopefully bring joy to the physician members and medical students who are participating in the programs that we fund.”
Investing in the future
Fundraising totals are only meaningful if the money gets put to work. In 2025, TMAF’s Board of Directors approved nearly $500,000 in grants supporting 38 programs across a wide spectrum of health improvement, science and medical education, and quality-of-care initiatives.
Five flagship programs representing the foundation’s core health promotion priorities, including vaccine advocacy, scientific advancement, and public health, received grant support for 2026 programming.
Beyond these flagship programs, TMAF awarded grants across a rich array of community initiatives. TMA medical student chapters at institutions from Baylor College of Medicine to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley received leadership grants for community health fairs, refugee health clinics, and border health programs. The student-led organizations are designed to promote networking, community service, and professional development. TMA has a medical student chapter at all 16 Texas medical schools.
With financial support from TMAF, county medical societies funded asthma intervention programs, physician wellness initiatives, and community access-to-care programs. TMAF funding also enabled 14 medical student scholarships, ranging from $1,500 to $5,000, along with five nursing scholarships.
“We can’t discount the fact that what the foundation supports absolutely gives physicians greater positive visibility around the state and in the community, where these programs are taking place,” said Lisa Stark Walsh, TMAF executive director.
None of this happens without the loyalty and generosity of TMAF’s major donor community, she adds. In 2025, 15 individuals became new or upgraded TMAF Major Donors, bringing the total number to 307, nine more than qualified in 2024.
The breadth of the major donor list, which spans physicians from across Texas, their spouses, and allied health professionals, speaks to the culture of philanthropy that TMAF has cultivated over nearly 60 years. For many donors, giving to TMAF is not just a charitable act. It’s an expression of professional identity and commitment to the communities they serve.
As it approaches its 60th anniversary, TMAF stands as proof that organized medicine’s commitment to community health extends far beyond the clinic, Dr. Moy says. For those with broad vision, the foundation wants to hear new ideas, too.
“Contact your county medical society, see the programs that they have started, and if you have an idea for a new program, work with them and develop the program and apply for a grant,” Dr. Moy said. “We have a fantastic board that is tuned into TMA’s membership and the things that they would like to do.”
TMA’s Vaccines Defend What Matters is funded in 2026 by the TMA Foundation thanks to major support from H-E-B, TMF Health Quality Institute, and gifts from other institutions, physicians and their families.
TMA’s Hard Hats for Little Heads is funded in 2026 by the TMA Foundation with major support from an anonymous TMA/TMAA member donor couple’s matching grant and Lee Ann Pearse, MD, Kimberly E. Monday, MD, the McCallum Family Foundation, and gifts from physicians and their families.
TMA’s Walk with a Doc Texas is funded in 2026 by the TMA Foundation with generous support from TMA Insurance Trust and gifts from other institutions, physicians, and their families.
TMA and TMA Alliance’s Texas BookShare is funded in 2026 by TMA Foundation with generous support from donors to the TMAA Holiday Sharing Card.
TMA’s 2026 Diversity in Medicine Scholarship Program is funded by the TMA Foundation with generous support from its Bayardo Trust and Patrick Y. Leung, MD, Endowment and annual gifts from H-E-B and TMA county medical societies and gifts from physicians and their families.
The TMA Ernest and Sarah Butler Awards for Excellence in Science Teaching are funded by the TMA Foundation, the philanthropic arm of TMA, thanks to an endowment established by Dr. and Mrs. Ernest C. Butler of Austin.