Dr. Christine Cannon, Executive Director of the Arsht-Cannon Fund at the Delaware Community Foundation, works to improve the quality of life for all Delawareans by managing grantmaking that supports educational opportunities, access to healthcare, and advocacy for Hispanic Delawareans. With careers in nursing and education, non-profit board leadership, and experience in grant-writing and program development, Christine partners with grantees to achieve the most effective program outcomes and impacts.  She continues to serve on a number of health-related boards and committees including Christiana Care Health System, the Visiting Nurses Association, Philanthropy Delaware, and UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza), the largest advocacy non-profit for Latinos in the United States.

As a nursing professor at the University of Delaware (1990 -2009), Christine taught undergraduate and graduate courses in nursing science, research and the family impacts of chronic illness. Her funded research and related publications/presentations focused on family caregiving and marital stress and coping in asthma, chronic lung disease, and breast cancer in young couples. She completed her PhD in Family Studies at the University of Delaware in 1997, concentrating her studies on the impact of chronic illness on family systems. Prior to her faculty appointment at UD, Christine coordinated patient and family education at Christiana Care Health System (1978-1990) after completing an MSN at the University of Pennsylvania and several years of clinical nursing practice.  She lives with her husband, Eric, in Hockessin and has three children and four grandchildren.