Mr. Neil Goldfarb is President and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH, www.gpbch.org), which brings together employers in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Southern New Jersey who are committed to improving the health of their employees and the safety, quality and value delivered by the healthcare system. GPBCH represents over 1.5 million covered lives nationally. Before founding GPBCH in 2012, Mr. Goldfarb spent over 30 years in healthcare research, quality improvement, and management positions. As Associate Dean for Research in the Jefferson College of Population Health, he was responsible for leading the school’s research agenda, while concurrently serving as Director of Ambulatory Care Performance Improvement for Thomas Jefferson University’s faculty practice plan. His previous positions include Executive Director of a quality improvement consulting firm, and Vice President of Health Services for the Philadelphia region’s first Medicaid managed care plan. Mr. Goldfarb has authored over 60 articles in the peer-reviewed literature. Mr. Goldfarb is active in the governance of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, and founding co-Director of the College for Value-based Purchasing of Health Benefits.

Dr. Marleece Barber is Director of Health, Wellness and Employee Health and Life Insurance Benefits. She also serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the Lockheed Martin Corporation. She is responsible for designing, developing, and executing a health and productivity strategy that includes wellness and preventive care for over 100,000 employees.

Prior to joining Lockheed Martin, she was employed by Deere & Company where she created wellness programs and initiatives that emphasized the importance of risk factor reduction in the prevention of chronic disease. She was also the Director of Global Safety, ensuring that appropriate standards were met and programs deployed to prevent workplace injuries.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Dillard University; a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; and a Master of Science from Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Barber serves on the Board of Directors of the National Business Group on Health and is an inaugural member of the Institute of Medicine’s Public-Private Partnerships for Global Health and Safety Committee. She is also on the Board of Director’s for the Leapfrog Group.

The wife and mother of two children is also a talented singer and songwriter of inspirational music.

Dr. Wade Larson is on a personal mission to help individuals and companies overcome mediocrity and achieve their best. With a background in HR, leadership, wellness and talent development, Wade has worked with hundreds of organizations and thousands of individuals as a consultant and HR Executive to develop programs that help them do more, achieve more and be more. A recent article in Forbes highlighted his approach to continuous improvement as he shares in his recently published book titled Doing HR Better by encouraging HR leaders to find new ways to improve efficiency and effectiveness in core human resource processes. Dr. Larson is owner and principal of Larson Leadership Consulting which specializes in business consulting, employee surveys, training and development, and serves as the Chief Human Resources Officer for Wagstaff, Inc., a global manufacturing leader in the aluminum industry. He also serves as an executive board member for the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts of America and for Quest Oracle Community.

Sarah Bassler Millar counsels public, private and nonprofit companies and organizations on managing and administering health and welfare benefits, retirement plans and non-qualified plans. She is Chair of the firm’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group.

Sarah guides clients on the design, implementation and operation of benefit plans to ensure consistency with plan terms and compliance with ERISA and tax code requirements. She also advises on fiduciary governance matters, including current best practices and the implications of the prohibited transaction rules. When counseling clients, Sarah focuses on identifying solutions that not only effectively manage identified compliance issues, but also take into account the client’s employee recruitment and retention goals.

As leader of the practice group’s Health Care Reform Team, Sarah assists clients across industry sectors develop strategies related to compliance with the Affordable Care Act. Her leadership and extensive experience provide a framework for advising clients on overall administrative compliance, documentation, and implementation.

Among the issues that Sarah counsels on are assessing the impact of employer shared responsibility provisions and implementing effective and compliant wellness programs. Sarah is regularly invited by clients and other organizations to speak and present on health care reform as it relates to employee benefits.

Louis Gagnon is CEO of Total Brain, a mental health and fitness platform. Louis has 25 years of experience as a high-growth global digital business leader, most notably at Amazon’s subsidiary Audible where he served as Chief Product and Marketing Officer. He also was recently appointed Advisor to TPG Capital following a short CEO assignment to turn around portfolio company Ride.com. Other past notable roles include Chief Product and Marketing Officer at Yodle and Senior VP of Global Products at Monster Worldwide.

A graduate of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Dr. Batiste completed his residency in Internal Medicine and post-graduate training in Cardiology at the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. He subsequently received training in Interventional Cardiology at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine-Cardiovascular Disease and Interventional Cardiology.

Dr. Batiste has served as the Chief of the Department of Cardiology at the Riverside Medical Center since 2008. During his practice, he has performed numerous coronary interventions and pacemakers. His passion remains practicing preventive “holistic” Cardiology, in particular; plant-based nutrition, daily exercise, and stress reduction.

During Dr. Batiste’s tenure as Chief of Cardiology he was instrumental in developing the Integrative Cardiovascular Disease Program; a multi-disciplinary program that focuses on aggressive secondary prevention in cardiac patients. The program includes an accredited Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, a multi-disciplinary heart failure team that includes clinical pharmacists and nurses. Also included is monthly physician led lifestyle lectures and cooking demonstrations entitled the “CATH LAB” Cooking Alternative To Health.

Dr. Batiste successfully led a pilot to develop a technology based virtual cardiac rehab program at his local Riverside Medical Center and now serves as physician lead for the regional Kaiser Permanente Home Based Cardiac Rehab program.

Dr. Batiste also serves on several professional and community-based boards, including the 2018-2020 President of the Inland Empire Chapter of the American Heart Association, Health Director for the Kansas Avenue SDA Church, American College of Cardiology Nutrition Work Group, and Board Member of Oakwood University Alumni Association of Southern California. Dr. Batiste has received awards from the Riverside Medical Association Outstanding Contribution to the Community Award in 2018, KP Physician Exceptional Contribution Award in 2017, NAACP Community Leader in 2016, Derrell Thomas Foundation Health Professional of the Year in 2015, Kansas Avenue Eagle Award for Excellence in Medicine in 2013, and Oakwood University Alumnus of the Year in 2009.

Christine holds a Bachelors degree from California State University Los Angeles and a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. Her nursing career began in 1978 after graduating from the Los Angeles County Medical Center School of Nursing.

Prior to joining Kaiser she held a number of inpatient and ambulatory positions at Saint Luke’s in Pasadena, California and Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. At Cedar Sinai, she worked as a Cardiac Rehab nurse and also served as the Coordinator for the Department of Cardiology.

Christine served as a Department Administrator in Panorama City as her first role in Kaiser. She has moved through a number of roles of increasing responsibility at the regional level. These include business consulting, the formation of the business optimization team and oversite for a number of departments. In her current role as Associate Quality Administrator, Christine is responsible for the oversight and strategic direction of some key areas of the organization. This includes genetics, prenatal planning, the regional reference lab and the Center for Healthy Living. Her experience in organizational development and quality operations is extensive.

In 2017, Christine was asked to build a scaled version of Home Based Cardiac Rehab based on the results of a successful pilot at our Riverside location. She oversaw the development of standard protocols and workflow for all sites within the region in addition to hiring the nurse case managers tasked with executing the program. One of the key goals for the service was a consistent approach and quality application in all cardiology department sites. Kaiser launched the program in April 2017 in our San Diego location and deployed the program in 11 additional departments through November 2017. She continues to lead the strategy for the service from its inception into a mature service that will serve over 5,000 patients in 2019.

Christine also sits on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nurses.

Karen joined Raytheon in 2013 as the Senior Wellbeing Manager. In this role she is responsible for the Wellness, Work-life and EAP programs for Raytheon’s 60,000+ domestic and global employees. Karen has worked to build a large network of wellness leads and champions to bring the wellbeing message and resources to the employees.

Prior to joining Raytheon, Karen was the Director of Prevention and Wellness at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. She was responsible for leading a team of wellness consultants providing data driven and evidence based solutions to clients.

Karen has a BS is in Food Science and Dietetics from University of Rhode Island and a MBA with a concentration in Organizational Behavior from Suffolk University. In her work experience she has focused on the value of employee’s health and wellbeing to the bottom line to maximize her influence.

Mary Ryan RN, BSN is a Quality Management and Population Health (QMPH) RN Specialist at Quartz Health Solutions in Madison, Wisconsin. Mary has over 35 years of nursing experience as a manager, educator and clinician in Emergency Services and Primary Care. With a focus on improvement and innovation in the customer experience, Mary has garnered national recognition for her work.

Mary currently leads the Quartz MobileBackSM program managing program enhancements, outcome measurement, promotion and integration into Primary Care and Employer Wellness Programs.