Nebeyou Abebe SVP, Social Determinants of Health

Highmark Health

Doug Adair President

Nashville Diaper Connection

Doug Adair is the president of Nashville Diaper Connection, whose mission is to leave "No Child Wet Behind" in Tennessee. Doug founded Nashville Diaper Connection eight years ago after learning that one in three families in Nashville struggle to afford diapers. Doug is a graduate of the University of Memphis.

Nicole Archer Director of Population Health

Primary Partners

Lauren Barca Vice President for Clinical Services, Population Health & Quality

UnitedHealthcare

Lauren Barca serves as the Vice President for Integrated Clinical Services, Population Health, & Quality at UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Tennessee. Lauren has dedicated 18 years to the health care industry and managed care and is passionate about ensuring the quality of care for economically disadvantaged and medically underserved populations. Over last eight years with UnitedHealthcare, she has been accountable for national and state clinical programs. Prior to UnitedHealthcare, Lauren spent four years at the State of Tennessee Division of Medicaid as the Director of Managed Care Evaluation and Strategic Planning. Lauren has earned her master’s in Healthcare Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and has written and spoken on topics pertaining to healthcare performance, improvement, and quality.

Alexander Billioux VP, Social Determinants of Health

UnitedHealthcare

Dr. Alex Billioux is the Vice President for Social Determinants of Health at UnitedHealthcare where he leads the national strategy addressing individual health-related social needs and community social determinants of health. He is an internal medicine primary care doctor focused on improving individual and community health through innovative cross-sector population health strategies, primary-care driven health care delivery models, and sharing data to foster coordinated, learning health systems. Dr. Billioux was formerly the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Public Health at the Louisiana Department of Health where he led the state’s public health agency. In that role he negotiated the nation’s first modified subscription model for hepatitis C treatment and established a five-year hepatitis C elimination plan, launched the Community HealthWays program to address individual health-related social needs and community health factors, and led the state’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Previously, Dr. Billioux served as Senior Advisor to the Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and directed the Division of Population Health Incentives and Infrastructure. In that role, he led the Accountable Health Communities and Integrated Care for Kids models, both care delivery models aimed at improving health by integrating health care and social care systems around individual and community needs. Dr. Billioux was a 2015-2016 White House Fellow, serving at the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell. He holds a part-time appointment in the Department of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he trained and served as Assistant Chief of Service of the Osler Medical Service. Dr. Billioux has worked internationally on HIV, tuberculosis, and other diseases of poverty in Guatemala, Haiti, India, South Africa, and Uganda.

Dr. Billioux received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University and his D.Phil. in clinical medicine from the University of Oxford. He holds a B.A. from the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University in Louisiana.

Lisbeth Briones-Roberts Chief Togetherness Officer

SCAN Health Plan

Lisbeth Briones-Roberts is Chief Togetherness Officer. She works cross-functionally with community-based organizations and departments within SCAN to develop and scale peer-to-peer programs that address isolation and loneliness among plan members and seniors within the communities that SCAN serves.  Lisbeth has worked in the aging services field for more than 20 years and has been with SCAN since 2014. She previously served as manager of marketing outreach, leading SCAN’s Senior Advocate and Peer Advocate teams of older and disabled adults who are both SCAN members and employees. Prior to SCAN, Lisbeth held a management position within the Council on Aging-Orange County now known as the Council Aging-Southern California.  Lisbeth holds an B.A. in History from University of California, Los Angeles and is currently enrolled in the Master of Science in Gerontology program at the California State University, Fullerton 

R.J. Briscione Senior Director, Social Determinants of Health Strategy and Execution

CVS Health/Aetna

R.J. Briscione leads the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) team for CVS Health, scaling SDoH Strategy across the CVS Health Enterprise for all lines of CVS and Aetna Businesses in support of the company’s “Destination: Health” platform to focus on community health and address social determinant gaps. Prior to this role, R.J. led Medicaid Business Development for Aetna’s East Region, leading teams in all stages of proposal response for multiyear, Medicaid managed care contracts. He joined Aetna in 2016, bringing more than 10 years of experience in healthcare services for government programs as well as large scale management of political campaigns. Prior to joining Aetna, R.J. served as director of Medicaid and Duals Operations in multiple states for Anthem Inc. Prior to working in healthcare, R.J. worked for the Georgia House of Representatives, and spent 10 years with Delta Air Lines in various operational roles. He holds a BS in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Elaine Bruner, RN, MSN, CMGT-BC Nurse Case Manager, Active Duty/Wounded, Ill & Injured

US Navy Special Warfare

Elaine is an experienced nurse, case manager and educator. She completed her undergraduate studies with the State University of New York at Platttsburgh, followed by her graduate work with the University of Virginia. Prior to entering case management practice, Elaine worked in diverse settings including oncology, nutrition support, home health, and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation. Case management offered Elaine opportunities to join transdisciplinary teams in cardiology, critical care, and ambulatory care.

Since 2008, she has been associated with American Nurses Credentialing Commission, contributing to the Nursing Case Management (NCM) certification review products. She co-authored the 4th edition of the NCM Review and Resource Manual, with Peggy Leonard, and was the faculty for live workshops and webinar presentations. Elaine embraces her educator role, authoring manuscripts in CMSAToday, offering continuing education presentations, and coaching case managers to certification success.

Elaine’s interest in SDoH is strongly related to her volunteer activities with the local community. Caring for underserved, marginalized populations as a hospital and outpatient case manager with regional healthcare systems in Texas and Virginia, only strengthened her belief that a zip code was the most important number in a patient’s record.

Currently, Elaine's case manager role is with the US Navy which offers daily challenges, keeps her skills sharp plus offers a smooth transition to retirement.

Stuart Butler Senior Fellow

Brookings Institute

Stuart Butler is a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution. Prior to joining Brookings, Butler spent 35 years at The Heritage Foundation, as Director of the Center for Policy Innovation and earlier as Vice-President for Domestic and Economic Policy Studies.  He is also a Visiting Fellow at the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution. He is a member of the editorial board of Health Affairs and the board of Mary's Center, a group of Washington DC-area community health centers.

Butler also serves on several advisory councils, including for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, the Aspen Institute's Family Prosperity Innovation Community, and the March of Dimes. He is also a member of the Advisory Group for the National Academy's Culture of Health Program.

Previously he was a member of the Board on Health Care Services of the National Academy of Medicine, and served on the panel of health advisers for the Congressional Budget Office. For over 10 years he taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy and in 2002 he was an Institute of Politics Fellow at Harvard University. In 1990, he served as a member of Housing Secretary Jack Kemp's Advisory Commission on Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing.

Most recently, Butler has played a prominent role in the debate over health care and reform, arguing for solutions based on individual choice, state innovation, market competition, and social determinants of health. He has also been working on a wide range of other issues, including budget process reform, the future of higher education, economic mobility, and federal entitlement reform.

Stuart Butler was born in Shrewsbury, England and emigrated to the United States in 1975. He was educated at St. Andrews University in Scotland, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and mathematics in 1968, a Master of Arts degree in economics and history in 1971, and a Ph.D. in American economic history in 1978.

Jennifer Callahan Former Vice President of Medicare Product and Implementation

Aetna

Jennifer Callahan is the former Vice President of Aetna’s Medicare Product and Implementation team. For the past 17 years, Jennifer has established herself as a trusted thought leader and helped shape the industry with her innovative ideas and expertise.  An Aetna team member for nearly 10 years, Jennifer has received numerous accolades including the 2021 Profiles in Diversity Women Worth Watching® Award, and the CEO Award from CVS Health in both 2018 and 2020.

Currently, Jennifer manages the product development and implementation designs of over 600 Individual Medicare plans and over 500 Employer Group Waiver Plans (EGWPs), contributing over $40 billion to Aetna’s revenue. She leads national product development initiatives which support aggressive growth targets and balance margin optimization.  Jennifer supports 17 Chief Medicare Officers and many EGWP account executives ensuring product positioning, cost-share compliance, and benefit innovations are aligned each bid and renewal cycle.  She also manages a team of approximately 100 individuals that are responsible for product and material development and implementation. 

Jennifer holds a Master of Business Administration degree from North Carolina State University with a concentration in marketing and certificate in leadership. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University with a focus in Computer Science. Jennifer currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with her family and proudly serves on the Board of Directors for Girls on the Run.

Mike Cangi Co-Founder

United by Blue

Mike Cangi is the Co-Founder & Brand Director at United By Blue, a sustainable lifestyle brand.

For every product purchased, United By Blue removes 1 pound of trash from oceans and waterways. We fulfill our mission through company organized and hosted cleanups; to date, we have removed over 3,500,000 pounds of trash from waterways in 48 states alongside over 15,000 volunteers.

United By Blue designs and sells a line of apparel, bags and accessories to over 2,000 retail stores worldwide.
The company has also created experiential retail stores in Philadelphia which combine food, coffee, retail, and community under one roof.

In 2020 United By Blue used their local, sustainable food experience to begin delivering groceries to Medicare Advantage members in the greater-Philadelphia area with Independence Blue Cross.

Melissa E. Clarke, MD, MPH Senior Medical Director, Healthcare Transformation and Health Equity

3M Health Information Systems

Melissa E. Clarke, MD, CMQ, has extensive private sector experience in clinical transformation and population health working with health plans, third party payers, and clinical organizations. Within healthcare delivery transformation, Melissa has focused extensively on patient engagement, team-based care and quality outcomes.

Currently, Melissa is Senior Medical Director, Health Care Transformation and Health Equity, with 3M Health Information Systems (HIS), where she develops transformation roadmaps for a variety of health plan, payer and clinical system partners. In this role she collaborates with client clinical leadership and provides subject matter expertise to catalyze the clinical transformation process within clinical organizations for rapid, quantifiable and sustainable results.

Kevin M. Coleman Empowerment Coach and Trainer

KMC EMPOWERMENT LLC

Kevin M. Coleman is the Founder of KMC Empowerment, LLC where he provides executive coaching, empowering speeches, and professional development training to make individuals and organizations successful.  This is done through inspiring leaders to define clear vision, mission, and value systems that leads to exponential personal, professional, and business growth.  Kevin has been leading training for Entrepreneurs, Executives, Division Chiefs, Branch Chiefs, Mid-Level Managers, Supervisors, Team Leads, and Journeymen for over 33 years.  Kevin has experience speaking for all levels of audiences from three (3) to three thousand (3,000). Kevin served his country in the military for over 9 years and is a disabled veteran.  Kevin has been recognized as a winner of the BIG Region XI President Leadership Award and was awarded the Virginia Professional Leadership Award.  KMC Empowerment has helped individuals, groups, and organization reach exponential growth through coaching, training, team building, and strategic planning.  

Kelly Cronin Deputy Administrator, Center for Innovation and Partnership

Administration for Community Living

Kelly Cronin serves as Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Innovation and Partnership at HHS’ Administration for Community Living. She has been with the HHS since 2001, in a variety of roles at the FDA, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, which she helped establish as its first employee. For several years, she coordinated health IT programs and policies with health care payment and delivery system reform. In her current role, she oversees programs to support Medicare beneficiaries access to low income subsidies, health insurance counseling on their benefit options, as well State No Wrong Door systems to enable access to long-term services and supports and the state efforts to enable access to assistive technologies. Her Center also leads efforts to develop and integrate networks of community based organizations into health care delivery to address social determinants of health. She holds a master of public health with a concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics and a master of science in health policy from the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University.

Adria Crutchfield Executive Director

Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership

Adria Crutchfield is an affordable housing and community development leader with public service experience that spans federal, state, and local government legislative and executive branches. Since February 2019, she has served as the Executive Director of the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership, dedicated to helping families escape poverty through access to high-quality housing in areas with strong schools, low crime, and ample job opportunities

Immediately prior to joining BRHP, Adria served as Chief of Staff at the New York City Department of Buildings where she advised the Commissioner on the administration and execution of agency priorities including organizational restructuring, improving the safety of construction sites, and the Mayor’s goals to develop affordable housing; support small businesses; and build a more sustainable, and equitable City.

Previously, Adria worked as the Senior Advisor to the Executive Vice President for Capital Projects at the New York City Housing Authority, the largest public housing authority in the country. In this capacity, she supported the day-to-day operations and management of 400 employees responsible for planning, designing, and delivering a $2 billion, five-year construction program.
She has held roles in external affairs, issue advocacy, and coalition building focused on improving the quality of life of vulnerable populations and creating vibrant cities. Adria serves on the board of directors of the Maryland Association of Housing and Redevelopment Agencies (MAHRA).

Adria is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where she studied architecture
and American University where she earned her master’s in public policy. She is a proud alum of Coro Leadership New York.

Sarah J. Dash, MPH President and CEO

Alliance for Health Policy

Sarah Dash, MPH, is the president and chief executive officer at the Alliance for Health Policy. She drives the mission and vision of the Alliance, as well as advances and maintains the reputation of the organization as the leading nonpartisan resource for policymakers and health leaders in an evolving health policy environment. Sarah joined the Alliance in 2014 as the vice president for policy and became president and CEO in May 2017. Sarah has long been an influential force in shaping health policy, having served as a senior aide on Capitol Hill and as a member of the research faculty at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. Sarah holds a master’s degree in public health from the Yale School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and literature from MIT. Sarah also holds an executive certificate in nonprofit management from Georgetown University.

Kristen Daugherty, LCSW-S, LISW-S, MBA Chief Executive Officer

Emergence Health Network

Kristi Daugherty, CEO for Emergence Health Network, has over fifteen years of experience in the behavioral health arena.  As chief executive for El Paso County’s Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities Authority for El Paso County, Ms. Daugherty is responsible for all clinical and oversight services delegated through performance contracts with Texas Health & Human Services.

Previously, Ms. Daugherty served as Chief Clinical Officer for Emergence and as Director for Sun City Behavioral Health Care, Emergence’s non-profit subsidiary.  She also has extensive experience in the private behavioral health sector, serving as Director of Clinical Services University Behavioral Health in El Paso and Director of Outpatient Services Mesilla Valley Hospital in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Ms. Daugherty is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of Texas and a Licensed Independent Social Worker in the State of New Mexico.  She has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from New Mexico State University and is a graduate of the Executive MBA Program at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Dr. Shannon Decker, M.Ed., MBA, PhD. Vice President, Clinical Performance

Brown & Toland Physicians

Dr. Shannon Decker is Vice President of Clinical Performance at Brown and Toland where she leads a department responsible for Clinical Quality Documentation (Risk Adjustment); Clinical Quality, Patient Experience & Population Health; Clinical Compliance, including Appeals & Grievance; and Clinical Data Management, including Encounter Data Management. She also serves as Brown & Toland's COVID-19 Taskforce leader. Dr. Decker has more than 20 years of experience in healthcare--15 of which include working with risk adjustment and Medicare. Dr. Decker has a PhD. in Interdisciplinary Studies, dual MBA degrees--in Finance and in Marketing, as well as an M.Ed. in Secondary Education and a M.Ed. in Administration and Leadership. Dr. Decker is on the faculty at Arizona State University and is also an associate professor of Higher Education & Adult Learning (HEAL) and chief methodologist for Walden and Capella Universities where she chairs and oversees the dissertations of doctoral students. An author of two books and several peer-reviewed articles, she consults in both the fields of healthcare and education. Her interests include the study of human behavior and how theories on motivation and learning may be brought to bear on population health management. 

Amy Dellwo, MA, BS Vice President, Public Policy

Nuway

Amy Dellwo is the Vice President of Public Policy for NUWAY. Dellwo is responsible for NUWAY’s short- and long-term goals related health plan arrangements, state and federal agencies relationships and policy development, and work with legislative and congressional leaders.  She is the President-Elect of the Minnesota Association of Resources for Recovery and Chemical Health, the Board of Governor for Region 10 and the Government Affairs Committee co-chair.  She is also a board member of Twin Cities Recovery Project, which is a recovery community organization specializing in services for African American people. A majority of Dellwo’s career prior to NUWAY was spent at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) where she worked for 20 years with the most recent roles chief of staff and director government and external affairs. DHS is the state’s largest agency, serving well over 1 million people with an annual budget of $11 billion and more than 6,500 employees throughout the state. Dellwo has a bachelor’s degree in community health education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and master’s degree in public affairs at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.

Joshua Elder, MD, MPH, MHS Telehealth Medical Director

UC Davis Health

Dr. Joshua W. Elder, MD, MPH, is a Physician-Scientist with the Department of Emergency Medicine at UC Davis Health. He is the co-founder and Medical Director of Express Care - California's largest academic direct-to-consumer telemedicine program. Express Care has created a diverse integrated health care workforce that is propelling access, patient experience, and coordination of care. He also serves as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserves and is a combat veteran. 

Kathleen Ellmore Managing Director  

Engagys

Kathleen is a pioneer in bringing the best of consumer marketing and data-driven methodologies to healthcare to motivate better health decisions. As Co-Founder and Managing Director of Engagys, Kathleen leverages the best of behavioral economics, the latest in evidence-based communications combined with the insights from over a billion consumer interactions in health to help healthcare organizations close the last mile of consumer engagement. She consults on all topics related to consumer engagement and experience for the top healthcare organizations in the country.

Kathleen has been recently named as a consultant to the first ever FDA Patient Engagement Advisory Committee (PEAC). She received Stevie awards for highlighting opportunities for improving the lives of people with chronic conditions. She speaks regularly on the national stage on many topics including: driving consumer health engagement, creating better consumer experience in healthcare, and using data to drive consumer behavior.

Kathleen also participates in various healthcare advisory boards, including HealthComp’s Consumer Experience Advisory Board, Linkwell Health’s Marketing Advisory Board and RISE’s Consumer Engagement Advisory Board

Kathleen spent the first twenty years of her career in brand marketing at leading consumer marketing organizations, including General Mills and P&G. Additionally, she was a Vice President at Digitas, one of the leading direct marketing firms in the country. Kathleen has an undergraduate degree from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern.

Dave Etling Senior Vice President & General Manager

InComm Healthcare

Dave is a recognized visionary within the prepaid industry, having established first to market multi-billion dollar categories in retail, including InComm’s digital content and gaming vertical. He was InComm’s fortieth employee and has held various positions, including executive management, business development, sales, product development and merchant services. Dave uses his broad knowledge of InComm’s technologies and services to establish deep and mutually beneficial business relationships with our customers. He has been a key asset to InComm’s growth over the past 20 years in improving product partner acquisition and successful retail launches of products for major industry leaders such as Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Sony. Dave was previously the general manager of the InComm InCentives division and now InComm Healthcare. 

Ellen Fink-Samnick Chair

RISE SDoH Community

Ellen Fink-Samnick is an award-winning industry thought leader who empowers healthcare's transdisciplinary workforce. Known and highly respected as 'The Ethical Compass of Professional Case Management', she is a sought out professional speaker and author with hundreds of offerings and publications to her credit.

Ellen's work has achieved global acclaim. She is a national expert on the Social Determinants of Health and Mental Health, Workplace Bullying and Violence, Professional Ethics, Professional Case Management Practice, and Wholistic Case Management™. Her latest books include, The Essential Guide to Interprofessional Ethics for Healthcare Case Management, The Social Determinants of Health: Case Management's Next Frontier, End of Life Care for Case Management, and upcoming Social Determinants of Mental Health: Advancing Wholistic Practice Excellence. Ellen is a panelist for Monitor Mondays, plus contributor to RAC Monitor and ICD 10 Monitor. She also serves as moderator of Ellen’s Ethical Lens^TM on LinkedIn, consultant for the Case Management Institute and moderator of their Case Managers Community. She is also the Lead for Rise Association’s Social Determinants of Health Community.

Ellen is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Board-certified Case Manager, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Certified Mental Health Integrative Medicine Provider, and Certified Rehabilitation Provider. Her academic affiliations include roles as subject matter expert for Western Governors University, and adjunct faculty for the University of Buffalo’s School of Social Work, and George Mason University’s Department of Social Work. She is also a Doctor in Behavioral Health candidate at Cummings Graduate Institute of Behavioral Health Studies.

Ellen's passion is evident across her varied roles as professional speaker, industry consultant, educator, continuing education content developer, accreditation specialist, clinical social work supervisor and professional mentor to the case management community. Her contributions transverse the industry’s professional associations and credentialing organizations. A past commissioner for the Commission for Case Manager Certification, and Chair of their Ethics and Professional Conduct Committee, member of the Board of Directors for the Case Management Society of America, Ellen serves on the editorial boards for the Professional Case Management Journal, Case Management Monthly, and RAC Monitor. More detailed information is available on her LinkedIn Profile.

Eliot Fishman Senior Director of Policy

Families USA

Merrill Friedman RVP, Inclusive Policy and Advocacy

Anthem, Inc.

Merrill leads the execution and advocacy strategy for Anthem.  She works collaboratively with consumers, advocates and stakeholders to ensure diverse interests and preferences of various communities e.g., disability, aging, LGBTQA+, and Foster Care inform Anthem’s health benefits approaches and healthcare programs. Ms. Friedman advances the integration of the independent living philosophy and the National Advisory Board (NAB) on Improving Healthcare Services for Older Adults and People with Disabilities six foundational principles throughout programs, individual interactions, and business practices. In addition, she leads strategic partnerships with national and local organizations to advance the development of inclusive public policy relating to healthcare equity and access.  

Previously, Ms. Friedman was interim director at a nonprofit foster care agency serving children and adolescents who experienced severe neglect and abuse. She also served as president and chief executive officer of a private organization that owned and operated residential treatment facilities, group homes and home and community-based services in several states for adolescents with mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Ms. Friedman has served on numerous national boards and commissions.  She was appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities and by Governor Jennifer Granholm to the MI Statewide Independent Living Council where she served as Board Chair.  Currently, Ms. Friedman serves on the board of directors for Rebuilding Together, the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), the Institute for Exceptional Care (IEC), and the American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF), and is a member of ADvancing States MLTSS Institute Advisory Board. 

Andrea Green, R.N. Manager, Healthcare Strategy SDOH

LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Andrea Green, R.N. currently assists in strategic planning and sales enablement for the Social Determinants of Health Product suite at LexisNexis® Risk Solutions. As a licensed registered nurse with a background in Clinical Informatics, she provides subject matter expertise on insights, implementation and use of SDoH data. Prior to joining LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Ms. Green worked as a Chief Nursing Informatics Officer at Trinity Health Of New England, and holds an MBA in Healthcare Administration.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreagreen-rn-mba/

Ana Handshuh Principal

CAT5 Strategies

Chair
RISE Revenue & Quality Community

Ana Handshuh, Principal at CAT5 Strategies, is a government programs executive with expertise in creating and implementing corporate programs for the healthcare industry. Her background includes Quality, Core Measures, Care Management, Benefit Design and Bid Submission, Accreditation, Regulatory Compliance, Revenue Management, Communications, Community-based Care Management Programs and Technology Integration. Ms. Handshuh currently serves on the Board of the Resource Initiative and Society for Education (RISE), the preeminent national professional association dedicated to managed and accountable care financing and delivery. She is a sought after speaker on the national healthcare circuit in the areas of Quality, Star Ratings, Care Management, Member and Provider Engagement, and Revenue Management. Her recent consultancy roles have included assisting organizations create programs to address the unmet care management needs in the highest risk strata of membership, document their processes and procedures, achieve accreditation status, design and submit government program bids, institute corporate-wide programs and create communications strategies and materials. She possesses sophisticated business acumen with the ability to build consensus with cross-functional groups to accomplish corporate goals. Ms. Handshuh served as the Vice President of Managed Care Services at Central Florida Inpatient Medicine (CFIM). In this role, she provided leadership and strategy on CFIM projects and collaborations with physicians, risk entities, hospital health care systems, and health plans. CFIM is the largest Hospitalist group in Central Florida, with 70 providers discharging over 50,000 patients annually from multiple hospitals across two health care delivery systems and 24 skilled nursing facilities. At CFIM Ms. Handshuh previously served as the Vice President of Operations. Prior to those assignments, she worked with Precision Healthcare Systems as their Vice President of Quality Improvement. In that capacity, she led the IPA’s Quality efforts and collaborated with payers on implementing programs to move the needle on Quality and Star Rating initiatives. Ms. Handshuh also served as the Director of Corporate Program Development at Physicians United Plan. In this role, she led the Quality Management and Corporate Communications departments and spearheaded the development of innovative integrated technology solutions to drive business excellence and Star Rating achievement initiatives. For the past fifteen years Ms. Handshuh has taken an active role in redefining and implementing changes that have led to improvements and greater efficiency within Government programs and healthcare delivery. Prior to joining Physicians United Plan Ms. Handshuh was the founder of I-Six Creative. Under Ms. Handshuh’s vision and leadership, I-Six Creative provided expertise in the areas of managed Medicare benefit design, MSO/IPA operations, provider network strategy, new market launches, technology integration, corporate communications and quality improvement.

James E.K. Hildreth, Phd, MD President & CEO

Meharry Medical College

Founder
Consortium of Black Medical Schools
Member
Biden-Harris Administration COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force
Member
FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC)

Dr. James E.K. Hildreth is the President and CEO of Meharry Medical College, the nation’s largest private, independent historically black academic health sciences center. He is also the founder of the Consortium of Black Medical Schools, and an appointed member to both the FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the Biden-Harris Administration COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force. As the COVID-19 pandemic reached Tennessee, the Metro Nashville Mayor’s Office tapped Dr. Hildreth’s expertise as an infectious disease expert at the city’s daily press briefings. Working with local leadership, he elevated equity concerns and social determinants of health to the forefront of the city’s pandemic response. He has received numerous recognitions over his career, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Arkansas, a National Institute of Health Director’s Pioneer Award, election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and induction into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame and the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars. Dr. Hildreth continues to lead Meharry College’s efforts to ensure that disadvantaged communities have access to COVID-19 testing and vaccines; He is working to expand this mission nationwide as a member of the Biden-Harris COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, which will enable him to have a lasting impact on health policy for the underserved.

Alex Jahangir, MD, MMHC Chair

Metro Nashville COVID-19 Task Force

Member

Metro Nashville Board of Health

Director

Division of Orthopaedic Trauma

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Dr. Alex Jahangir is the Chair of the Metro Nashville COVID-19 Task Force, Member of the Metro Nashville Board of Health, and Director of the Division of Orthopaedic Trauma at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. From the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Jahangir established a leadership platform of transparent, informative communications between different levels of government, private enterprise, and the people of Davidson County. Guided by his experiences as a surgeon and immigrant, Dr. Jahangir, who fled war-torn Iran with his family at age six, is focused on solidifying equity as a central pillar in 21st century healthcare. He has been lauded for his community service, having received the Nashville Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of the Region Award, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation Francis S. Guess Connector Award, the Nashville Public Education Foundation Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s 5 Pillar Award. He also was recognized as a Nashville Business Journal Power 100. A sought-after speaker, Dr. Jahangir is the author of an upcoming book chronicling his and the Nashville Coronavirus Task Force’s efforts to protect the city and its people throughout the pandemic. It is scheduled for publication by Vanderbilt University Press in 2022.

Joneigh S. Khaldun, MD, MPH, FACEP Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer

CVS Health

Steve King Superintendent

Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District

Superintendent, Steve King, served for two years as the Assistant Superintendent of Cottonwood Oak Creek School District prior to becoming the Superintendent. This is Superintendent King’s 26th year in education as a homegrown Arizona educator. COCSD is a central Arizona, rural district that embodies the principals of Classroom Instruction That Works, Accelerated Learning for All, and Balanced Leadership. As a Breakthrough Coach trained Superintendent, he has been empowered to put the “focus on the focus” for ensuring that strong classroom instructional strategies are being implemented with fidelity by spending time in classrooms, coaching teachers and building positive relationships with students.  Steve enjoys working collaboratively with his school teams to provide students with conditions for positive outcomes.   He set a precedent in his district modeling mentoring of young people through Big Brothers & Big Sisters by becoming a big himself.  Steve has a passion for creating educational environments that support the whole child with a strong focus on providing social-emotional supports for children with traumatic backgrounds and intrinsic special needs so that they too may find success in the educational environment.  By providing supports for students with the most significant needs, it allows all students the ability to learn, grow and thrive in the classroom.

Brian Li Program Manager

CommonSpirit Health

Brian Li is a Community Health Strategic Initiatives Program Manager at CommonSpirit Health implementing the Pathway Community HUB model in a few service areas. Prior to CommonSpirit, Brian worked as the COO and Compliance Officer of a FQHC in Los Angeles. Brian holds a MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Sean Libby President

BeneLynk

Sean has worked at the intersection of managed care and government benefit programs for the past 19 years. He is responsible for Benelynk’s product development, new business acquisition, and strategic growth initiatives. Prior to BeneLynk, Sean served as the President of Freedom Disability and Alpha Disability, one of the nation’s largest Social Security Disability and Veterans Advocacy companies. Before that, Sean served as Vice President, Sales for SSC Disability, providing government program benefit services for Managed Care Organizations.

He is recognized by the Social Security Administration as a non-attorney representative (EDPNA) and has personally represented claimants in hearings for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income throughout the country.

Sean is an expert on a wide variety of government benefit programs and has been quoted in Bloomberg, Business Week, and other national publications. He regularly publishes articles on managed care and government benefits for BeneLynk’s blog.

Sean is a graduate of Middlebury College and has a master’s degree from Yale University.

Eric Marcus, JD Director, Social Determinants Programs

Health Choice Arizona

President

Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Governing Board

Eric Marcus is the executive responsible for social determinants of health programs at Health Choice Arizona, a regional health plan organization and the northern Arizona Regional Behavioral Health Authority. Prior to his current position, he served as The NARBHA Institute’s chief administrative officer where his responsibilities included leading the Sustainable Economic Development Initiative (SEDI), their economic development subsidiary, and Well North Communities, their permanently-supported housing subsidiary.

As chief technology and chief information officer for Commerce Clearing House, Inc., Eric led a global organization with 1300 employees and a budget of $187 million managing the turnaround of a highly publicized business crisis in its Australian subsidiary. As senior vice president at Hudson IT Solutions, he led a $25 million global information technology consulting business focusing on systems integration in the manufacturing sector. Eric is the author of “The Digital Alchemist,” an award-winning business strategy book. He has a JD from Loyola Law School and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Occidental College. Eric serves as president of the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Governing Board, served as a member of city council in Racine, Wisconsin, has been a member of the State Bar of California for over 38 years, and served as a Municipal Court judge pro tem in Los Angeles. He received the 2015 and 2019 Arizona Forward Leadership Awards.

Sherie Martinez Director, Behavioral Health Policy

Cook’s County Sheriff’s Office

Aida Martinez Program Manager

Trenton Health Team

Aida Martinez leads the Capital City Diabetes Collaborative (CCDC), an initiative that addresses major issues identified with the treatment of diabetes in Trenton, New Jersey. This initiative uses the Social Determinants of Health framework for programming to assist with the improvement of Trenton resident’s diabetes management.     Prior to joining the Trenton Health Team, Aida coordinated and oversaw the national screening program at the American Kidney Fund. She focused on raising community awareness about the risk factors of kidney disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure by organizing free health screenings and administering kidney health education presentations in cities throughout the United States.    She worked alongside many nursing students and health professionals to empower communities to take charge of their health and promote lifestyle changes. Community outreach and preventative education are something that Aida values in her public health work. She is passionate about bridging the gap between underserved communities and the health services and education that they deserve in order to live a long healthy life.    Aida received her Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health from the University of Maryland, College Park, and is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Health Communications for Social Change from CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. 

Michael McKnight Senior Vice President of National Programs

Green & Healthy Homes Initiative

Michael McKnight is GHHI’s Senior Vice President of National Programs, heading up advocacy, policy analysis, and work on innovative financing and partnerships. He leads projects around the country that are collaborations that include healthy homes and energy efficiency providers, healthcare payers, and healthcare providers, utilizing the impact that housing has on health outcomes as a new funding source for home repair services. He has focused on reimbursement for healthy homes interventions from Medicaid and other healthcare payers and the return on investment of education and environmental control in combatting asthma and home-based injuries. He also takes the lessons learned on the ground and formulates policy recommendations or identifies best practices to take to scale. His portfolio includes over thirty projects advancing innovative partnerships with housing and healthcare entities, including some of the first housing programs to be directly funded by a Medicaid managed care organization.

Brian McLane Senior Director, Marketing Intelligence and Digital Products

Priority Health

Brian McLane is the Senior Director for Market Intelligence, Market Analytics and Digital Products at Priority Health. Brian’s teams provide the organization with corporate and line of business intelligence and measurement. His teams also lead efforts related to Priority Health’s member portals and transparency tools.

In his work, Brian’s goal is to simplify the complex world of health care through the use of data and analytics to engage members in their health care decisions.

Brian has more than 15 years of experience in health care and 30 years of experience in management roles. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Northwood University and a Bachelor of History from Michigan State University.

Bill Miller Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

WellSky

DeAnna L. Minus-Vincent, MPA Executive Vice President, Chief Social Justice & Accountability Officer

RWJBarnabas Health

Melissa Monbouquette, MPA Deputy Director

BUILD Health Challenge

R. Lawrence Moss, MD, FACS, FAAP President and CEO

Nemours Children’s Health

A renowned pediatric surgeon, biomedical researcher, educator, and health system executive, Dr. R. Lawrence Moss is internationally recognized for his leadership in healthcare delivery, quality, and safety. In more than 25 years as a surgeon, Dr. Moss used innovative techniques to provide expert care to save the lives of children facing everything from gunshot wounds in adolescents to major congenital anomalies in newborns. While his surgical expertise grew, he came to realize that his impact on the future of children's health could be amplified by more broadly addressing the underlying determinants of children's health. He joined Nemours as president and CEO in 2018, bringing passion and clarity in focusing on children's overall health beyond merely treating illness. In 2021, he led the implementation of a name change and a rebranding that reflects Nemours' commitment to redefine children's health beyond medicine—to care for the whole child and create the healthiest generations of children. Guiding this transformation is a new five-year strategic plan linking the enterprise vision to clinical, operational, and financial goals. Nemours' new strategy will increase investments in key initiatives, including enhancing its whole child health model of care, moving to value, creating and advocating for a national strategy for children's health, innovating health delivery system research, and leveraging clinical expertise.

Ruth Ann Norton President & CEO

Green & Healthy Homes Initiative

Barbara Otto CEO

Smart Policy Works LLC

Ashley Perry, MPH Chief Solutions Officer

Socially Determined

Ashley serves as Socially Determined’s Chief Solutions Officer. She manages a multidisciplinary team that translates Social Risk Intelligence™ into quantifiable business results and community impact. As a public health practitioner, researcher, and management consultant, she has bridged healthcare and public health. Prior to Socially Determined, she built and scaled successful consulting practices for the Premier Healthcare Alliance and Kaufman Hall. Ashley also previously led research and programmatic initiatives for organizations ranging from an academic research center to a network of federally qualified health centers. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Duke University, a Master’s degree in Public Health from Columbia University and is a certified Public Health professional. In 2020, Ashley was recognized by Modern Healthcare as a Top 25 Emerging Leader and "one of the most impressive leaders driving change across the industry."

Andi Phillips Managing Partner

Maycomb Capital

Andi Phillips is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Maycomb Capital, a new impact investing platform. At Maycomb Capital, Phillips leads one of the firm’s two flagship funds, the Community Outcomes Fund, which is the largest outcomes financing fund in the United States. Outcomes financing projects are next-generation public private partnerships that scale high-quality human service programs for low-income communities. For policymakers, outcomes financing is a tool that enables increased accountability and transparency in the contracting for and delivery of human services. For communities, outcomes financing can help drive better outcomes for individuals and families. Phillips has over 25 years of experience leading, designing and implementing large scale, public private partnerships that leverage private investment to address pressing social challenges.  Previously, Phillips launched and managed the Goldman Sachs Social Impact Fund and led signature “Social Impact Bond” investments for the firm including the investment in the Rikers Island Social Impact Bond, the first such transaction ever executed by a financial institution and in the U.S. market.  Phillips has been the principal investment professional, leading the investment for four of the first eight outcomes financing transactions in the U.S. market, including transactions that financed early childhood education in Utah and Chicago.  Previously, Phillips was president of Seedco Financial, a Community Development Financing Institution, which provided affordable capital to small businesses and nonprofits in disadvantaged communities. At Seedco, Phillips also served as Chief Program Officer, where among other responsibilities she managed performance-based contracts in workforce development, totaling over $100 million.

Phillips holds a BA from Tufts University and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Phillips lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and three sons.

Melissa Quick Co-Chair

Aligning for Health

Melissa has a decade of experience in health care regulatory policy and implementation at both the federal and state levels. Melissa is a Vice President at Sirona Strategies, where she focuses on healthcare policy and regulatory analysis and strategy development related to healthcare financing, benefits and coverage, Health IT, drug pricing, public health, and other issue areas. Additionally, Melissa is the Co-Chair of Aligning for Health, a social determinants advocacy organization focused on advancing policy solutions to improve wellbeing and health equity. In this role, she works closely with payers, providers, health systems, non-healthcare organizations, state and local governments, the federal government, and Congress, in developing and promoting cross-sector, coordinated solutions to address health and social needs. Prior to joining Sirona Strategies, Melissa spent five years at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight working on a range of Affordable Care Act implementation activities. She also has experience in issues related to Medicaid eligibility, verification, and pharmaceutical policy from her time in the Office of the Governor of Alabama, and advising the Massachusetts Medicaid program as part of her Master’s Practicum. Melissa holds a BS from Cornell University and an MPP from the Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Destiny-Simone Ramjohn, Ph.D. Vice President of Community Health & Social Impact

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield

Destiny-Simone Ramjohn, Ph.D., is the Vice President of Community Health & Social Impact of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the largest healthcare insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region. Dr. Ramjohn leads philanthropic giving and authentic community engagement strategies where people live, learn, work, play and seek care to drive measurable health improvements. This intentional alignment of business, social and health impact, with an eye toward equity, enables CareFirst to enhance members' lives and the communities it serves.

Creating conditions that promote health equity is at the core of Dr. Ramjohn's personal and professional mission. Her work examines the role of anchor institutions, like universities and health systems, in generating economic and health impacts that minimize inequities, especially jobs, added years of life from better health, reduced use of emergency departments for primary care, and more. Dr. Ramjohn is a strategic disruptor and innovative change agent, enthusiastically implementing new ideas to ensure that large health systems' policies, programs and practices align with an equity agenda.

Her research and work are guided by a strong desire to advance health equity using authentically inclusive, empowering, and evidence-based techniques to bring our nation's most vulnerable from the margins of our society to the center of dialogue, advocacy, and power.

Want to connect with Dr. Ramjohn?

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DSimonePhD

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destinysimoneramjohn777

Coiel Ricks-Stephen, MPH, MHL Director, Population Health

Trenton Health Team

Coiel Ricks-Stephen, MPH, MHL, currently leads a variety of programs, initiatives, and projects focused on improving the health and well-being of Trenton residents, through increased access to care, early detection of addressable disease states and social determinants challenges, and effective and efficient collaboration between stakeholders in the health ecosystem (e.g., hospitals, physician practices, community-based organizations, government entities, insurers, researchers, etc.).  She has over 20 years of experience working in the public health sector in both New York City and New Jersey, focusing on improving the health outcomes of underserved and marginalized populations and addressing social determinants of health.  Coiel has keen interest in tobacco control, HIV treatment and prevention, harm reduction, diabetes, in addition to maternal and child health.    Coiel has a Bachelor and Master degree in public health from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.  She also has a Master in Healthcare Leadership from Brown University. 

Linda Riddell, MS Epidemiologist & Founder

Health Economy, LLC

Linda Riddell, MS created the game, Gettin’ By, to give people a first-hand experience of how poverty changes the brain.  After years of specializing in population health and poverty, she saw the gap between conventional wisdom and the reality of low-income families in the United States.    The game reflects Riddell’s simple writing style, expertise in social economic factors, and knowledge of the psychology of scarcity.   She has a master’s degree in Health Policy and Management from the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Cincinnati.    Riddell is also an experienced and passionate public speaker. She speaks at regional and national conferences regularly. As an epidemiologist speaking to lay audiences, her specialty is making complex topics easy to understand.

Amy Riegel Senior Director, Housing

CareSource

Amy Riegel is the Senior Director of Housing at CareSource, where she designs strategies which address the Social Determinants of Health, specifically focused on innovative and sustainable approaches to integrating health and housing.  She is focused on building collaborative partnerships to address affordable housing through development, financing, and policy with an emphasis on improved health outcomes. She initiated and lead the deployment of $50M strategic investments in affordable housing across multiple states with more than a dozen CDFIs. She oversees CareSource’s role as a strategic leader, funder, and implementation partner in Healthy Beginnings at Home, a nationally recognized research study looking at the relationship between housing stability and healthy birth outcomes. Previously she was the Director of JobConnect Ohio at CareSource, leading the effort to assist Medicaid members in removing barriers to high quality employment opportunities.

Prior to joining CareSource, Amy worked as a community developer with non-profits and government agencies. She provided policy leadership and designed programs in the areas of housing development, asset based community development, community engagement, education, and homelessness. She serves on numerous Boards within Ohio and nationally that are focused on poverty elimination, affordable housing, and neighborhood revitalization. 

Kenneth L. Roberts, MPS, LADC, LPCC Chief Clinical Officer

Nuway

Kenneth L. Roberts is the Chief Clinical Officer for the NUWAY non-profit program in Minneapolis, MN. He has worked for over 12 years as a clinician, clinical supervisor and administrator in various levels of co-occurring care treating substance use and mental health disorders. He is certified in Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) for treatment of PTSD.  A graduate of the University of Minnesota with a Master’s Degree in Professional Studies (Co-Occurring Disorders) he serves as an adjunct faculty member to both the University of Minnesota and Metro State University. Mr. Roberts works in his current role synthesizing a R.I.S.E. (Recovery In Supportive Environments) Model of care with community based resources to support improved clinical outcomes in  trauma informed care settings.

Jason Rose CEO

AdhereHealth

Jason Z. Rose, MHSA, is Chief Executive Officer of AdhereHealth, a healthcare technology company addressing the estimated $500 billion of unnecessary annual medical costs due to medication adherence issues. A 25-year healthcare technology industry veteran, Jason previously served as the Chief Strategic Development Officer and Executive Vice President at Inovalon, where he led the development, launch, and expansion of the company’s product and technology presence across the healthcare marketplace.

Jan L. Ruma, BS, MEd, CFRE President & CEO

Pathways Community HUB Institute

As the vice president of the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio, Jan Ruma focuses on facilitating outcome-oriented community partnerships to reduce health disparities, including implementing the first nationally certified Pathways HUB in Ohio. The Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB utilizes community partnerships and innovative financing to develop a community health worker workforce to help low income residents address their health and social needs and improve health outcomes.  A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Jan holds a certificate in Nonprofit Executive Leadership from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University; A master’s degree in training and development and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, both from Bowling Green State University. Jan currently serves as the chairperson for the Pathways Community HUB Institute (PCHI) Board of Directors to further the Pathway Community HUB Model.   

Eric Schwartz, MD, MBA, FACP Vice President of Community Health & Transformation and Executive Director

Institute for Urban Care at Capital Health

Eric Schwartz is the Vice President of Community Health & Transformation of Capital Health as well as the Executive Director of Capital Health's Institute for Urban Care.  The Institute's mission is to coalesce, grow and align the services with community and other partners to advance the health and well-being of the residents of Trenton.  Dr. Schwartz is project director for the For My Baby and Me program, a community collaborative providing integrated care for women and their infants impacted by opioid use disorder.   He is also the principal investigator for the Capital City Diabetes Collaborative, a five-year program funded by the Merck Foundation addressing the social, clinical and environmental determinants of health related to diabetes within Trenton.

Dr. Schwartz is a board certified internist with sub-specialty training in gastroenterology. He earned his MBA in Health Care Management from the Fox School of Business and received a certificate in Managing Health Care Delivery from the Harvard Business School. With more than 20 years of experience as a physician leader in international, public, private, and academic settings, he has played a major role in transforming hospitals and physician groups to optimize quality outcomes, patient experience, and organizational value. 

Before joining Capital Health, Dr. Schwartz led the 400-clinician Medical Group of the Christiana Care Health System.  He also served as the Chief Medical Officer of the Henry J. Austin Health Center, a federally qualified health center, in Trenton, NJ.  He is a former member of Robin Hood Ventures, one of the region's largest angel investing groups.

Dr. Schwartz received his medical degree from the Sackler School of Medicine in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was trained in internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York and completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Tamara Scott, MS Innovation Program Manager

UC Davis Health

Tamara Scott is the Program Manager of UC Davis Health’s Ambulatory Practice Innovation division.  Her role focuses on transforming healthcare through the integration of digital and telehealth within the clinical practice.  Prior to this role, Tamara managed clinical operations at UC Davis Health and UCSF Health in the Departments of Surgery, Neurology, Radiology, and Internal Medicine. 

Jessica Scruton, BSN, RN, CCM Vice President Clinical Transformation

Lightbeam Health Solutions

Jessica Scruton, BSN, RN, CCM is the Vice President of Clinical Transformation at Lightbeam Health Solutions, where she helps organizations thrive in the transition from volume- to value-based care. With over 20 years’ experience as a Registered Nurse, she is a passionate, results-driven leader with expertise in care management, clinical workflows, and population health strategy.

Ester Sefilyan Vice President, Network Services

Partners in Care Foundation

Ester Sefilyan has been with the Partners in Care Foundation (Partners) since 2008. She has a Masters’ in Gerontology from the University of Southern California (USC). As Vice President of Network Services at Partners, Ester oversees startup and operations of multiple contracts and programs with hospitals, health plans, and medical providers in providing an array of services to ensure successful outcomes around readmission reductions and total cost of care. Ester is responsible for sales, implementation, contract management and infrastructure to support the Engagement Center and state-wide Community Integrated Network of CBO agencies who provide specialty services and regional coverage.  She manages all functions of a Network Lead Entity and over 20 short-term care management/care transitions contracts focused on identifying Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health and putting safeguards in place to close those identified gaps.  She has extensive experience with Long Term Services and Supports and is fully knowledgeable of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and commercial lines of business. These lines of business have grown significantly during Ester’s tenure. With her experience, she brings innovation, passion, and dedication to the Partners team.

John Seigenthaler Former Anchor and Correspondent

NBC Nightly News

John Showalter, MD, MSIS Chief Product Officer

Jvion

Dr. Showalter brings visionary thought leadership on the application of advanced information technology to improving outcomes for patients. His unique education in biomedical engineering, physiology, clinical informatics and internal medicine has allowed him to work at the intersection of those fields to positively impact patient care and health system efficiency. His work has been recognized with cross-industry awards including ComputerWorld's Premier 100 IT Leaders and health IT awards such as the CHIME Collaboration Award. In 2020, Modern Healthcare named Dr. Showalter a Top 25 Innovator in Population Health for his work in creating Jvion’s COVID Community Vulnerability Map, a resource that Fast Company also recognized with an honorable mention in their World Changing Ideas Awards. Dr. Showalter is dedicated to using his passion and knowledge to ensure that Jvion's AI CORE™ has the maximum positive impact for patients.

Monica Simmonds, MSPH Director Advisory Services, SDoH

LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Monica Simmonds provides clients valuable insights as a Director Advisory SDOH within LexisNexis® Risk Solutions. She leverages her expertise in public health and background in analytics to help provide valuable client support and thought leadership. In addition, Monica draws upon her experience in program implementation, managed care, evaluation/research, and technical proficiency with using healthcare services, operations, administrative claims, SDOH and prior authorization data to drive value. She holds a B.S. degree in Health Education with a specialization in Community Health and a minor in Communication Studies from the University of Florida and an MSPH with a specialization in Behavioral Health from the University of South Florida, School of Public Health.

Jane Simon Chief Advancement Officer

Alliance for Community Health

Gary Sing, PhD Director of Delivery System Investment and Social Services Integration, Office of Payment and Care Delivery Innovation

MassHealth

Jennifer Sousa, MPH Deputy Chief, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention

FL Department of Health

Jennifer Sousa, MPH, is a highly accomplished Public Health professional currently serving as the Deputy Bureau Chief within the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention at the Department of Health.  She has over ten years of experience working in health promotion and disease management and prevention programs ranging from Maternal and Child Health to Medicaid Manager Care Services and CDC funded disease management initiatives. She has been recognized for program leadership, projects, and program management, monitoring and evaluation, data analysis, performance improvement, budget management and operational expertise that has fostered meaningful population health change at the national, state, and local level. Jennifer has received several awards including Leon County Government Innovator Award  for exemplary demonstration of  health and human services administration and the Department of Health ICARE award for collaboration in public health programing across sectors.  Jennifer current works directly to implement health systems change through programs pertaining to chronic disease prevention, management, and education.

Daniel Stein, MS, MA, PMP Telehealth Supervisor

UC Davis Health

Daniel Stein is the Telehealth Supervisor for Epic Applications in UC Davis Health’s Information Technology division.  His position is responsible for the enhancement and support of EMR integrated telehealth workflows.  Prior to this role, Daniel led EMR implementation and innovation initiatives at several organizations, including Sutter Health, Wellington Regional Hospital, and Stanford Children’s Health. 

James Stowe Director, Aging & Adult Services

Mid-America Regional Council

James leads the Department of Aging and Adult Services at the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), a voluntary council of governments in the bi-state Kansas City metropolitan region. His department is a designated Area Agency on Aging, and he also leads a community-integrated health network, for which MARC serves as the network lead entity. He has sought to support MARC’s aging services to excel in innovation that directly improves the lives of the region’s adults. This innovation helps to craft system and community capacity to adapt to what older people want and need, now and in the future. He is particularly interested in the role of social factors in health and function.

James previously worked as research faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, including volunteer statewide advocacy work to enhance older driver safety. He has served two terms as the board president for the Missouri Association of Area Agencies on Aging and serves on the strategic advisory board of a hospital quality improvement initiative under the University of Missouri – Kansas City’s Healthcare Institute for Innovations in Quality.

His work has been supported through a variety of grants and he has published a dozen peer-reviewed articles on aging and human development. He was a member of the final cohort of the John A. Hartford Foundation’s Practice Change Leaders for Aging and Health.

Mikal Sutton Managing Director, Medicaid Policy

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

Praveen Thadani, MS, MPH President

Priority Health

Praveen Thadani is the President of Priority Health, a $4 billion health plan that is nationally recognized for improving the health and lives of the people it serves. Priority Health is the second-largest health plan in Michigan and the third-largest provider-sponsored health plan in the country and serves more than a million members annually.

Thadani is a transformative health care leader with more than 25 years of industry experience. His extensive background includes roles managing consumer, commercial and government health plan products. Throughout his career, Thadani has championed services and programs that manage medical cost, the development of value-based provider programs, new product development, plan innovation and unique market programs. Early in his career, Thadani helped develop a patented insurance platform—Interactive Health Insurance System—that was designed to activate consumer decision-making at the point of service.

Prior to joining Priority Health, Thadani held a variety of senior leadership positions with national health plans including both Humana and UnitedHealth. In these roles, Thadani led strategic planning for multiple Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and Commercial plans and was responsible for driving strategy, growth, operations and integrations.

Rachel L. Thornton, MD Associate Professor; Board Member

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health; Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership

Cheryl A. Towns, RN, BSN Director, Community Care

Trenton Health Team

Cheryl Towns joined Trenton Health Team in 2018 as Nurse Case Manager and now serves as Director of Community Care.  As Director, Cheryl supervises the Care Management Team, connecting more than one hundred Trenton residents with essential health services and providing direct care services when necessary. Through her CMT leadership, Cheryl helps fulfill THT’s strategic priority to provide direct interventions with priority populations to fill gaps in care and services.  Prior to joining THT, Cheryl worked for Oaks Integrated Care as a Program Supervisor in Supportive Housing for Burlington and Camden Counties.  She worked closely with those suffering from behavioral and mental health issues, functioning as a hospital liaison, performing outreach, engagement and providing comprehensive rehabilitation needs assessments.  A native of Trenton, Cheryl has been improving the lives of Trenton residents for nearly three decades.  She holds an Associate Degree in nursing from Mercer County College, and Bachelor’s degree in Science in Nursing from LaSalle University. She is currently pursuing a Master in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from La Salle University.    

Lori Tremmel Freeman, MBA CEO

National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)

Ashley Tyrner Founder and CEO

FarmboxRx

Ashley Tyrner is the founder and CEO of FarmboxRx and Farmbox Direct. Ashley has gone from being a single mom on food stamps to the CEO of a national brand that aims to break down the social barriers of access to nutritious food. With a clear conviction that everyone deserves the right to eat healthy, Ashley works tirelessly to disrupt the food policy and healthcare space.

Seema Verma Former Administrator and Health Policy Expert

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

A national health policy expert, Seema Verma was the longest-serving Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator in modern history. Confirmed by the Senate in 2017, she oversaw health insurance programs for over 140 million Americans; oversaw a budget of $1.3 trillion, almost a third of the federal budget; and over 6,000 employees. Verma was the architect of CMS’s strategic vision, implementing over sixteen tactical initiatives aimed at transforming the American healthcare system to lower costs, improve quality, and increase access. During her tenure, Verma led federal government efforts to infuse market competition, empower patients, and unleash innovation producing historic reforms. She also drove efforts to require price and quality transparency while ensuring patients have ownership over their portable medical records. Seema Verma’s historic “Patients Over Paperwork” initiative reduced regulatory burden and saved the healthcare system billions of dollars. Verma also worked to accelerate value-based care transformation and address the social determinants of health by advancing new payment models throughout CMS programs, including models for drug pricing that resulted in lower insulin prices. Under her leadership, premiums dropped in Medicare Advantage, Part D, and the insurance exchanges.
Verma also served on the White House COVID-19 Task Force where she led efforts to drive telehealth and remote care across the healthcare system while creating flexibility for health providers to augment the health care workforce, expand services and testing, and ensure access to vaccines and therapeutics.

Prior to CMS, Verma was the founder and CEO of a health policy consulting firm helping states and private industry on a range of healthcare issues. Verma has written extensively about a range of issues, publishing in the Wall Street Journal, Health Affairs, The Washington Post, and a variety of other publications. She has also made guest appearances on several news shows including Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, CBS, CNBC, and ABC.

Seema Verma attended undergrad at the University of Maryland, graduating with a B.S. in Life Sciences and going on to pursue a master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University. Modern Healthcare ranked her as the “Most Influential Person in Healthcare” in 2019 and one of the nation’s Top 25 Women Leaders.

John W. Vick, Ph.D. Evaluation and Assessment Director

TN Department of Health

Julia Weatherly Lead Program Analyst, Government Markets

Independence Blue Cross

Daniel Weaver Product Operations and Stars Strategy

NationsBenefits

Daniel Weaver is the Executive Vice President of Product Operations and Stars Strategy at NationsBenefits, with nearly 25 years of experience in Operations and Star Ratings strategy. Daniel most recently served as VP, Government Quality Programs at Gateway Health, where he led the company to its first 4.5 Star Rating and an improved Medicaid NCQA Accreditation rating. In his career, Dan has overseen the development and implementation of many analytics-driven and customer-focused programs, and he advocates for continuous improvement and operational excellence philosophies for sustained success. In his new role with NationsBenefits, Daniel will drive strategic planning, facilitate execution, oversee product financial performance, manage operational performance across all products, and ensure strong internal controls are in place to enable efficiency in the growth of the business. Daniel will also help drive prospective and retrospective investigation into quality outcomes and customer engagement across the company’s distinct benefit management programs while continuing to innovate new solutions for health plan partners focused on growth and strong quality performance.

Stephanie Wilkinson, MPH Director of Policy, Community Integration

UnitedHealthcare Community & State