$20 million gift from Emilia Fazzalari transforms women’s healthcare at hospital

In a gesture of rare vision and lasting consequence, Emilia Fazzalari has made a $20 million gift to NewYork-Presbyterian, setting in motion a transformative reimagining of how women experience healthcare across the arc of their lives.

The gift establishes the Emilia Fazzalari Women’s Health Center of Excellence and the Emilia Fazzalari Women’s Health Program—together known as Fazzalari Women’s Health—an ambitious, integrated model designed to deliver coordinated, lifelong, and deeply personalized care for women, with a particular focus on the historically underserved stages of perimenopause and menopause.

For Fazzalari, this commitment is both visionary and profoundly personal. A trailblazing business leader whose career has spanned finance, luxury spirits, and entertainment, she has long combined commercial excellence with a moral clarity about where meaningful impact truly lies.

As co-founder and Executive Chairperson of Cincoro Tequila, launched alongside legendary figures including Michael Jordan, she helped build an award-winning brand defined by precision, craftsmanship, and bold ambition. Yet those who know her work best understand that her greatest legacy has never been confined to boardrooms or balance sheets.

Recognized as one of its “50 Over 50” most accomplished women in 2022, Fazzalari has consistently redirected success toward service, advancing causes that elevate health, opportunity, justice, and the lives of women.

Her $20 million gift reflects a deep conviction that women’s health deserves not only attention but reinvention.

For decades, critical phases of women’s lives—especially the hormonal, cardiovascular, cognitive, and emotional transitions of midlife—have been fragmented across specialties or marginalized altogether.

Fazzalari saw an opportunity to change that reality by insisting on a model that treats women not as a series of disconnected symptoms but as whole people, supported continuously by an integrated team of experts. In her words, the program represents a fundamental rethinking of care delivery, setting a new standard for what women should expect from modern medicine.

At the heart of Fazzalari Women’s Health is a seamless, multidisciplinary approach anchored by each patient’s obstetrician-gynecologist, with specialists working in concert rather than in isolation.

Cardiovascular medicine, mental health, neurocognitive care, gastrointestinal and sexual health, nutrition, exercise science, genetics, and gynecologic expertise are woven into a single, coordinated experience.

The program is especially notable for offering comprehensive menopause management—still a rarity even in elite medical centers—designed to address immediate symptoms while safeguarding long-term vitality, longevity, and quality of life.

This bold vision is being brought to life by leaders at the very forefront of women’s medicine, including Dr. Mary Rosser, director of Fazzalari Women’s Health, and Dr. Mary D’Alton, obstetrician and gynecologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Their work is amplified by the unmatched academic and clinical strength of NewYork-Presbyterian and its close partnership with Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, institutions whose combined histories include some of the most important advances in modern medicine.

With a legacy spanning more than two and a half centuries, NewYork-Presbyterian has repeatedly redefined standards of care, and Fazzalari’s gift ensures that women’s health will stand at the center of its next chapter.

Care through the program will be delivered at two state-of-the-art locations—NewYork-Presbyterian The One in Westchester and a Manhattan site on West 51st Street—extending this elevated standard of care to women across Manhattan and Westchester.

Yet the true reach of Fazzalari’s philanthropy extends far beyond geography. By modeling what coordinated, respectful, and forward-looking women’s healthcare can be, the initiative sets a benchmark that will influence institutions nationwide.

What ultimately distinguishes Emilia Fazzalari’s gift is not only its scale but also its spirit. It reflects a leader who listens closely to unmet needs, who challenges entrenched systems, and who believes that excellence in healthcare is a matter of dignity as much as science.

Her philanthropy does not merely fund programs; it reshapes priorities. In championing women at every stage of life—especially those long overlooked—Fazzalari affirms that progress is measured not only by innovation but by whom it serves.

This initiative stands as a testament to the power of visionary giving and to a philanthropist whose legacy is defined by empowerment, empathy, and enduring impact.

Through Fazzalari Women’s Health, Emilia Fazzalari has ensured that countless women will be seen, supported, and cared for in a way that honors the fullness of their lives—today, and for generations to come.