$20 million gift from Jeff Yabuki helps greater expansion of mental and behavioral health services
Children’s Wisconsin announced the establishment of the Craig Yabuki Mental Health Center on Thursday, Aug. 1.
The center is an expansion of mental and behavioral health services following a $20 million gift from The Yabuki Family Foundation, serving as a comprehensive designation for all mental health services at Children’s Wisconsin, including psychiatry, counseling and psychology.
It operates across various locations, including Milwaukee and Kenosha.
Peggy Troy, president and CEO of Children’s Wisconsin, emphasized the importance of addressing mental health challenges faced by children in Wisconsin, saying, “I am proud to say that we are helping reshape how mental health care is provided to kids in Wisconsin, and I know that with continued support we can be a model for how to improve mental health across the country.”
This initiative aims to integrate mental health care into primary and urgent care visits, with over 180,000 children screened since July 2021.
The center honors Craig Yabuki, the late brother of Jeff Yabuki, former CEO of Fiserv.
Jeffery “Jeff” W. Yabuki is an American businessman and Chairman of Motive Partners. He previously served as the CEO of Fiserv, a Fortune 500 Company, from 2005-2020 and the Executive Vice President and COO of H&R Block. In 2019, Yabuki was named among the top 30 most innovative leaders in America by Forbes.
Yabuki is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Nasdaq and the Royal Bank of Canada, and serves as Chairman of Sportradar. In 2021, he was elected as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Milwaukee Art Museum, and, in 2023, he joined the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In 2023, Yabuki was also appointed to the Board of Directors for Project Healthy Minds, a mental health tech non-profit.
In September 2022, Yabuki was named Executive-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Sheldon B. Lubar College of Business, where he teaches courses on fintech and business strategy and serves as a mentor to students.
Yabuki founded The Yabuki Family Foundation in 1999, which supports initiatives with a focus on mental and emotional health, family, education, arts, and social justice.
Recently, the foundation jointly announced a $20 million gift to Children’s Wisconsin, the largest single gift in the history of the institution, to integrate mental and behavioral healthcare services in primary and urgent care locations. The gift also launched the “Change the Checkup Challenge” – a $5 million match campaign that served as a call-to-action for others to help transform the response to the growing pediatric mental health crisis.
The money raised adds at least 36 full-time, master’s-trained mental health therapists at every Children’s Wisconsin primary care office and urgent care location – an effort that has the potential to benefit more than 175,000 kids, roughly a third of the pediatric population in southeastern Wisconsin. The funds also created two endowed mental health research chairs – one focused on studying pediatric mental health and another focused on reducing the rising rate of suicide among children and adolescents.
The gift to Children’s Wisconsin was made in honor of Jeff’s late brother Craig, who died by suicide in 2017 after a lifelong battle with depression. A mental health walk-in clinic was also opened in Craig’s name in March 2022, offering help to children and adolescents who are experiencing mental health problems.
In 2021, the short documentary “A Brother’s Journey” was produced and released to tell the story behind the foundation’s record-setting gift and underscore the importance of transformational solutions for kids’ mental health.
Much of the film is delivered from Yabuki’s perspective, as he describes his family’s journey and their vision to ensure every child has access to the care they need. The documentary won a Midwest Emmy in the category of “Outstanding Achievement for Human Interest – Short Form” at the 64th Annual Chicago / Midwest Emmy Awards held in Chicago.
The Yabuki Family Foundation has also supported a number of institutions including the Milwaukee Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Milwaukee Film, American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee.