Barbara Rutherford is a healthcare leader, educator, artist, and emerging consultant whose work brings together healthcare, creativity, and human-centered systems — living at the intersection of service and soul.

With over a decade of leadership experience at Kaiser Permanente Hospice, and close to 20 years of healthcare volunteer program management, she has built and led volunteer programs that support patients, families, and care teams across San Diego County. Her approach blends operational excellence with deep compassion, grounded in certifications in Bereavement Support Group Facilitation, Trauma-Informed Care, and Volunteer Administration.

Barbara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management and a Master of Business Administration, providing a strong foundation in leadership, strategy, and organizational development. In 2025, she co-authored the National Healthcare Volunteer Professionals Benchmarking Survey, in collaboration with peers from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Kaiser Permanente, Samaritan, and The Beryl Institute—bringing visibility and practical data to a field that is often under-recognized but deeply impactful.

Her leadership extends beyond healthcare into large-scale creative collaboration. In 2018, she co-designed and coordinated hundreds of volunteers in the creation of one of the longest murals in San Diego County at Fiesta Island—an ambitious project that brought together community, art, and shared purpose.

She is also a visual artist whose “Cities in Dust” series spans more than 60 cityscapes. Influenced by her travels, her work captures the feeling of place—how a city is experienced, remembered, and carried with you.

Whether she is building programs, painting cityscapes, or shaping conversations about the future of healthcare, Barbara is guided by a singular vision: That we can create lives, systems, and spaces that are both deeply human and beautifully designed.

She welcomes connection and collaboration—through consulting, art, and creating meaningful work at the intersection of care, creativity, and human experience.