At the Museum of Tolerance’s Peltz Theater on May 28, 40 nurses from around the Los Angeles area were each honored with a $10,000 award. It was part of the Off the Chart initiative — an annual recognition created by the Simms/Mann Family Foundation to show appreciation for nurses.
Since 2023, the Simms/Mann Family Foundation has honored 120 nurses from four major Los Angeles-area health systems: Cedars-Sinai, City of Hope, UCLA Health and Keck Medicine of USC. “Our partnership with the health systems goes beyond selection of the honorees,” Victoria Mann Simms said. “The Off The Chart campaign will continue to tell the stories of the nurses as we seek to motivate others to invest in nurses and nursing. Our goal is to move nurses from invisible to invaluable.”
The recipients do not apply, and in many cases, are unaware of the award’s existence. They are identified through a confidential nomination and selection process conducted within each of the four health systems. The foundation says that at least 50 staff members from across the spectrum of hospital roles help identify nurses who reflect Off The Chart qualities — including action, originality and leadership potential. The $10,000 comes with no strings attached — the nurses can do what they want with it.
The impetus for the Off the Chart awards began during the COVID-19 pandemic, after co-founder Victoria Mann Simms visited hospitals and was struck by the emotional and professional toll on nurses. She made a phone call to nurse economist Shawna Butler and asked, “Can’t we do something?” The Simms/Mann Family Foundation, established nearly 30 years ago by Mann Simms and her husband Ronald A. Simms, is focused on relationship-building across the healthcare landscape.
“Nurses are not receiving the massive investments needed to address the shortage of nursing care,” Mann Simms said. “We also hope to encourage nurses to grow in the profession and their careers by empowering them to recognize their unique and individual strengths and exceptional work, advocate for themselves and each other, and become leaders.”
A panel discussion featured Mann Simms, foundation Executive Director Rachel Barchie, UCLA Health President Johnese Spisso and Butler. They discussed how the industry has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic and projected shortages of nurses.
Spisso spoke about how, during the pandemic, even well-intentioned wellness programs frequently languished because exhausted staff simply couldn’t participate. “We were trying to do additional things for wellness and we were offering yoga and meditation,” Spisso said. “And people were like, I just need to go home and rest. We don’t have time to do the wellness thing.”
Simms cited data from the International Council of Nurses projecting that by 2027, nearly 900,000 registered nurses will leave the workforce — almost one-fifth of the current 4.5 million. Over a third of nurses are planning to leave the profession in the next five years.
The Journal spoke with one of the recipients of the inaugural awards in 2023, Lindsay Brant, a nurse working in pediatric hematology and oncology at UCLA Health. Brant didn’t become a nurse until age 40, pivoting from working as a sculptor after her mother was severely injured in an accident.
“I witnessed my mom being taken care of by nurses — it was just like one person after the next, one nurse after the next was more intelligent, more compassionate, more interesting than the next. And I was like, ‘oh, I can do that.’” Brant added that it’s “really special to know that you made enough of an impact on someone’s life,” and that “staff took the time to write a nomination for you.”
Rachelle Levy, an Israeli-American and 2025 recipient of the award, said that it feels more like a gift than anything else. “I was in complete shock when I found out,” Levy told The Journal. “We have absolutely no idea who nominated us, it’s just people that recognize the work that we do, which is really incredible and moving.” Levy works as a pediatric acute care nurse practitioner in hematology and oncology at City of Hope.
Levy also told The Journal how much it meant to be Jewish and to be honored at the Museum of Tolerance — out of all the available theaters and stages in Los Angeles. “I just got chills, it’s absolutely huge,” Levy said, holding back tears, with both of her parents in attendance. “With the awards being at the Museum of Tolerance, it speaks volumes. There are a lot of levels and connections between what us nurses do and what the museum stands for — which is ultimately seeing vulnerable individuals, and giving complete full care with equality across the board.”
In lieu of naming each recipient of the award, the night concluded with an energetic nursing-themed performance by poet Sekou Andrews. From A to Z, he recited a list of healthcare specialties and invited recipients in those fields to stand up and be recognized. As they stood, Andrews launched into a series of alliterative salutes.
When Andrews got to the letter D, he told specialists in dermatology, data, and disaster planning to stand up. With Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop The Feeling” playing on the PA, Andrews called them “diligent, devoted self-directed leaders dedicated to helping us deal during devastation and desperation … describe their caregiving? Dope! Now hit me with the E’s!”
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