Samantha Weber
Samantha Weber is a goal-oriented and results-driven professional whose work bridges healthcare advocacy, nonprofit leadership, and financial operations. Based in Scottsdale, she combines her background in finance and healthcare management with deeply personal lived experience to advocate for medically complex children and their families. Samantha earned her Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a concentration in Digital Audiences from Arizona State University and later completed her MBA in Healthcare Management through Southern New Hampshire University while balancing career responsibilities and caregiving challenges. Her professional path reflects resilience, analytical thinking, and a passion for improving systems that directly impact vulnerable populations.
Driven by her experiences as the mother of a child diagnosed with a rare leukodystrophy, Samantha founded Pediatric Care Advocates, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting families navigating complex pediatric healthcare and insurance systems. Through her advocacy work, she helps parents understand insurance appeals, hospital billing practices, patient rights, and healthcare processes while also championing reforms focused on transparency, accountability, and equitable care. Her organization emphasizes practical tools, education, and emotional support for caregivers facing overwhelming medical challenges. Samantha has also become a voice within the rare disease community, sharing her family’s journey and speaking at the ALD Alliance Standard of Care Conference to promote awareness and systemic change in pediatric healthcare.
Before transitioning into nonprofit leadership and advocacy, Samantha spent several years building a strong foundation in higher education finance and compliance. She worked in financial services and account management roles at both Arizona State University and Southern New Hampshire University, where she specialized in audits, regulatory compliance, financial aid operations, and resolving complex student account issues. Known for her integrity, organization, and strategic mindset, she has consistently approached her work with a commitment to ethical practice and helping others navigate difficult systems with confidence. Through every stage of her career, Samantha has remained dedicated to empowering families, improving healthcare experiences, and creating meaningful impact through advocacy and education.
• Arizona Saleserson License
• Arizona State University- B.S.
• Southern New Hampshire University- M.B.A.
• Founder of Pediatric Care Advocates
What do you attribute your success to?
I have a firm belief that everything happens for the greater good. I've been through a significant amount of hardship throughout my life, including childhood challenges and abusive relationships, but I've always held this belief that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason isn't about you - sometimes it's about other people, and it happens for the greater good. This belief has really pushed me through difficult times and kept me moving forward. It might sound cliche, but it's been the foundation that's carried me through everything I've accomplished.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Be the squeaky wheel. One of my very first bosses, Roy Briley, told me that about 15 years ago when I was working as a maintenance coordinator and manager for his property management team. He's a very successful businessman who owns several different businesses. That advice has stuck with me because everything I have done has taken a lot longer than I feel like it should have, but at my core, I just keep going and being the squeaky wheel, because most people aren't going to persist, and if you keep at it, you're going to eventually get through.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
You deserve to be there. I know that might sound aggressive or too much, but women especially need to hear this. As a woman myself who went through abusive relationships and other challenges, you carry baggage, and a lot of women do. You think that you don't deserve the success, and I really had to get through that and work through that myself. So my advice is: you deserve to be there, and the success is yours. You just gotta work for it.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges are fragmented care, poor patient technology, patient overwhelm, insurance barriers, and lack of regulations holding big insurance companies and hospitals accountable. These are the problems I'm trying to solve through Pediatric Care Advocates. As for opportunities, I think boosting mental health is huge - mental health will always improve with good care, and as someone who has struggled with mental health in different seasons of my life, that's always going to be in the front of my mind. Other opportunities include developing easier insurance pathways, new policies for newborn screening patients, sibling support programs, youth ambassador programs, and medical timeline tools and resources to help families stay organized and navigate the system more effectively.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My professional and personal values really overlap - transparency, honesty, and being ethical are most important to me. This really stands out in healthcare because hospitals and insurance companies have to be compliant, and if they're not, that crosses the boundary into being dishonest. That's where my passion really gets fiery, because I feel it at my core. If anything feels unjust, that's when I jump into action and get really worked up about it. I'm deeply affected by anything that's unjust, and I think that comes from being a child who didn't have support or someone backing me, so as a mom, I make sure I'm that for my children, and then I have to be that for everybody else too.