2017 Speaking Faculty

Kenneth An is the Director of the Boston Area Office of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). At the EEOC, Kenneth has conducted outreach with the Asian-American community and eliminated discriminatory job advertisements in Chinese newspapers that were circulated nationally. Kenneth has sat on several Boards, such as the New England Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, and he co-chair the Asian Pacific American Heritage celebration at the JFK Federal Building. Kenneth is a co-founder of Quincy Asian Resources, a not-for-profit organization in Quincy, Massachusetts, and has chaired several fundraisers that helped raise more than a quarter million dollars for community and youth-based programs. Kenneth served on the Massachusetts Asian-American Commission and was a member of the White House AAPI Interagency Workgroup for Region One.

At the EEOC, Kenneth conducts training for new investigators for field offices on topics that include: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender rights; the Genetic Non-Discrimination Information Act; Fact-Finding Conferences; Pre-Determination Interviews; and, Human Trafficking and how to better serve the Asian-American Pacific Islander. Kenneth has received awards for his professional and personal accomplishments, including an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Federal Asian Pacific American Coalition; EEOC District Director’s Awards; EEOC Chair’s Organizational/Core Awards; and, an Unsung Hero Award from the National Organization of Chinese-Americans.

Kenneth received his Bachelor’s Degree from Boston University and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.

Kenneth immigrated to the United States from Taiwan and also speaks Mandarin and Cantonese.

Ellen Beckjord, PhD, MPH: Dr. Beckjord did her training in clinical psychology at the University of Vermont, where she worked with more than one hundred cancer survivors and their families delivering evidence-based behavioral medicine interventions from time of diagnosis through end-of-life care. After completing her internship at the Vanderbilt-VA internship consortium, she entered the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program and spent her first year of fellowship getting a Masters in Public Health focused on Epidemiology and Biostatistics. At the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Beckjord did her post-doctoral research in the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch within the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. From NCI, Dr. Beckjord spent three years in research consulting with RAND Corporation before spending nearly five years in academic medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and Hillman Cancer Center, where she received a Career Development Award to develop and test a context-aware mobile application for smoking cessation. In February 2015, she left the University of Pittsburgh to join the UPMC Health Plan as Director of Population Health Program Design and Engagement Optimization. Her current work is focused on behavioral informatics and population health; specifically, the use of mobile technology to promote health, wellness, and health behavior change. She is particularly interested in the role of consumer generated health data in an informatics-enabled learning health care system.

Michael started his healthcare career as a biostatistician building predictive models. He’s moved beyond these machine learning models that at their core just predict risk, to developing advanced analytics that identify the subset of high-risk members who are impactable. Michael’s done this because he is keenly interested in utilizing technology and analytics that couple analytics with actions. He had held senior leadership positions at both health plans and provider service organizations; these include Anthem, Health Dialog, Optum, Cigna, and Evolent.

Erik is a director in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer responsible for local and national partnerships with non-profit, business, government and academic institutions that contribute to the health of the communities Humana serves. Erik also oversees internal and external communications related to Humana's 2020 goal and population health activities in key markets; as well as the discovery and integration of consumer and community organization insights into key market population health priorities and activities. In his 16 years at Humana, Erik has led Humana’s Group Segment Consumer Experience Practice, the start¬up of Humana’s European commissioning subsidiary Humana Europe, consulted with Virgin, Samsung, and England’s Department of Health, and led numerous Innovation, international business development and digital health initiatives. Erik received his MHA and BSPH from the University of North Carolina at¬ Chapel Hill's School of Public Health and served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines.

Mary Rose is a Senior Wellness Consultant with Health Plans, Inc. a subsidiary of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She has been with Health Plans for ten years. Her responsibilities include working with new clients to develop and implement wellness programs to meet employees and their families where they are in their journey to wellness.

Mary Rose is a Registered Nurse with extensive background in Wellness Program development and administration, as well as special training through TrestleTree® and WellCoaches® as a Certified Health and Wellness Coach. Mary Rose is deepening her practice of mindfulness and focusing on her goal of teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction by attending programs at the UMass Medical School Center for Mindfulness.

Her expertise in all phases of Health and Wellness program management is enhanced by her nursing practice, affording her opportunities to interact with people across the lifespan. Prior to joining Health Plans, Mary Rose worked in the areas of medical-surgical, maternity, geriatric, and school nursing. She also served as Executive Director of a faith based non-profit organization promoting the practice of faith community nursing in central MA. Mary Rose has experience as a disease management and case management nurse, which further prepared her for her current role consulting with diverse employer groups to create and support worksite wellness programs for their employee populations.

Jennifer A. Grana is the director of wellness in the Clinical Services area of Highmark Inc. The wellness team is the driving force behind the development, operations and evaluation of wellness strategies tailored to meet the needs of Highmark customers, with the focus on keeping members well and preventing risk and cost from increasing.

Ms. Grana and her team are charged with operationalizing wellness initiatives and programs that address all aspects of the full health continuum, with emphasis on prevention and modifiable risk factors. She is also a registered dietitian and has served as a frequent spokesperson for Highmark on nutrition-related topics.

Before assuming her current position at Highmark, Ms. Grana served as a clinical dietitian at hospitals in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and her clinical nutrition and dietetics degree from the University of Pittsburgh

Cathy Hartman is Vice President of Prevention and Wellness at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA). In that capacity, Cathy is responsible for the strategic direction and delivery of Total Population Health and Wellbeing solutions to employer customers and members in all market segments. She also leads efforts to design innovative engagement strategies, behavior change programs, and measurement and analytics. Cathy manage a team of Wellness Consultants and Engagement Strategists who work directly with employers to design and execute their health engagement and incentive programs.

Prior to joining BCBSMA in 2013, Cathy was co-founder of Healthrageous, digital health company that spun out of Partner’s Center for Connected Health. Cathy also held a number of other diverse positions including co-founder of Crimson Health Solutions and Vice President of Health and Wellness at Health Dialog, a global care management company. Early in her career, Cathy served as Assistant Director of the Center for Community-Based Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard School of Public Health.

Thomas James, III, MD, is corporate medical director for Medical Management and Quality for Highmark, Inc. In this capacity he provides the clinical oversight to Highmark’s Quality and Wellness Departments. He maintains his connections with national physician societies and provider organizations for greater alignment of goals for the coordination of care for Highmark’s membership in Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia. He also continues his active involvement with organizations working to improve the quality of health care including the National Quality Forum and the AAAHC.

Prior to joining Highmark, Inc., Dr. James has served as senior medical director for such organizations as Baptist Health in Kentucky, AmeriHealth Caritas, Humana, Anthem, Traveler’s Health Network, Sentara and HealthAmerica. Dr. James has gained experience with Commercial, Medicare and Medicaid health plans through his career.

Dr. James is board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics. He received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky and served his residencies at Temple University Hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Angie Kalousek Ebrahimi joined Blue Shield in 2010 to oversee Blue Shield’s external wellness offerings and to serve as a consultative resource for employer groups, brokers and internal account management. In her role, Angie has directed the planning and execution of wellness programs for several of Blue Shields groups such as CalPERS, UC and CAPE. Angie and her team now work with group customers as well as the individual lines of business to drive engagement in clinically proven lifestyle medicine interventions under the Wellvolution brand. Angie is strategically working to forward Blue Shield of California’s position as an industry leader by integrating lifestyle medicine offerings into product offerings.

Prior to joining Blue Shield, Angie worked as the Wellness Program Manager at Visa, Inc. where she created and implemented a new suite of global wellness programs for Visa employees. Part of her role at Visa was to incorporate Visa wellness programming with health plan offerings so that employees had a seamless experience. Prior to her time at Visa, Angie served as the Fitness Director at the Sports Club LA in San Francisco where she oversaw a staff of 60 trainers, nutritionists, and sports coordinators. In her role there, she also managed new member fitness programs, trainer education and direct private training sales.

Angie holds an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University, a B.S. in Business from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a Certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach.

Dr. Claire Levesque is Chief Medical Officer for Commercial Products at Tufts Health Plan and is responsible for clinical leadership, medical management, and medical cost containment. She is committed to forming strong partnerships with providers to develop programs that are member-centric and that promote the high quality and innovation that is integral to Tufts Health Plan.

Dr. Levesque is a board certified neurologist who received her MD from the University of Vermont and completed both her residency and a fellowship at the University of Virginia. Dr. Levesque specialized in the care of patients with dementia, intellectual disabilities and behavioral issues. Before starting at Tufts Health Plan eight years ago, she was assistant professor of neurology at Boston University, founding and managing partner of a practice in the Boston area, president of the medical staff at a long-term acute care facility and chief of neurology at a community hospital. Dr. Levesque has also published journal articles, book chapters and short stories.

Ms. Julie Maneen is the Senior Director of Wellness and Disease Management Programs with CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the largest health care insurer in the Mid-Atlantic region serving 3.2 million members. Ms. Maneen is responsible for the development and ongoing management of a portfolio of cost effective population health programs that are delivered directly to members and employer groups through various distribution channels on behalf of CareFirst. In addition to overseeing the operations of the programs, Ms. Maneen manages a team of Wellness Consultants who support their clients in developing and executing workplace wellness engagement strategies and incentive program design that leverage best practices.

A native of Western New York, Ms. Maneen has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Services Administration from Ithaca College and a Master of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Medical Management, from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. Ms. Maneen currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband and two children.

David Pauer is Director of Wellness for the Employee Health Plan (EHP) of Cleveland Clinic*. EHP covers healthcare and wellness expenses for 90,000 Cleveland Clinic Caregivers and their family members.

David has been with Cleveland Clinic for 11 years, first as a manager in the Employee Wellness department and since 2010 with the EHP.

David has dedicated his career to nonprofit health organizations. He previously was the executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland, and the executive vice president of the American Diabetes Association, Ohio Affiliate.

David earned a Master of Nonprofit Organizations degree, specializing in healthcare organizations, from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education from The Ohio State University. David spent a year studying Spanish language, culture, and public health in Madrid, Spain in a program through Bowling Green State University.

*Founded in 1921, Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education at multiple local, national and international sites.

Audra is a results driven leader with 18 years’ experience in the Health Insurance Industry. She has a strong interest in Case, Chronic Condition and Wellness Programs aimed at maximizing member outcomes. She is dedicated to process improvement and identifying strategic opportunities to better health outcomes for members and constituents and contribute to a healthier world.

She has been with Aetna for 9 years in various leadership roles within Care Management. In her current role as Director of Strategy and Product Management with Aetna, she has responsibility over the entire wellness product portfolio including but not limited to: lifestyle and chronic condition programs, biometrics, discount offerings, fitness reimbursement, grocery rewards, incentives, and mindfulness offerings.

Within this role she is responsible for strategic portfolio growth, market differentiation, product oversight, innovation and enhancement all aimed to bring the best wellness solutions and experiences forward to members and constituents.

On behalf of Aetna, she accepted the 2012 Triple Tree Award for Innovation in collaboration with Silverlink Communications, on a Diabetes texting pilot aimed at determining the most effective outreach modalities for increasing member engagement. She also presented “Reaching the Hard to Engage” along with Silverlink Communications at the 2011 Care Continuum Alliance.

She holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification through the Project Management Institute (PMI). She also is licensed as a Registered Nurse. She earned her Master’s Degree in Nursing from Villanova University and her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing from York College of Pennsylvania.

Kelly brings over eight years of experience in wellness, population health, and quality improvement. In her current role as Director of Wellness Services with Fred C. Church, she both manages the internal health and wellness program for Fred C. Church and works with a wide variety of employers from various industries consulting with them on strategic wellness solutions that fit their unique needs. She is a former board member of the Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts where she also served as the Programs Committee Chair. In her previous role with the Cambridge Health Alliance, she was responsible for implementing and managing the wellness program for over 3,000 employees. She also managed state-wide initiatives at the Hospital Association of New York (HANYS), including the HANYS Diabetes Campaign Collaborative. She is a Certified Wellness Program Manager through the Chapman Institute and is Certified in Public Health (CPH). She earned her Master of Public Health from the University at Albany and her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Elizabethtown College. She has served as an examiner for Partners in Performance Excellence, using the Malcolm Baldridge excellence principles to strategically evaluate regional organizations. She is a certified indoor cycling instructor and enjoys both taking and teaching cycling classes in her spare time.

Joel J. Reich is a Chief Medical Officer who served as Eastern Connecticut Health Network’s Chief Medical Officer and Chair of Emergency & Ambulatory Care/Medical Director of EMS. In addition to traditional CMO responsibilities, Dr. Reich led the health system’s clinically integrated network, which included a physician-led governance organization and post-acute care services with a home telehealth program. Under his leadership, a community-based primary care medical school/graduate medical education program was established.

Dr. Reich is a Clinical Associate Professor at The University of New England College of Medicine and Assistant Clinical Professor at the Frank H. Netter School of Medicine. He received his B.A. from Brandeis University, M.D. from SUNY at Buffalo, M.S. (Technology & Human Affairs: Telemedicine) from Sever Institute of Technology (Washington University), M.M.M. from Heinz School of Public Policy and Management (Carnegie Mellon University), and M.S. in Health and Medical Informatics from Brandeis University.

Hillary Saputski is the Director of Wellness for the New Jersey/New York Middle Market segment of Aetna. She has worked in the industry for over 5 years. During this time she has successfully implemented multiyear wellness strategies and designed incentive plans and programs targeted to increase employee engagement and improve health behaviors.

Hillary earned a Master of Public Health degree from the University Of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Allegheny College and is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). She is also a certified Barre instructor and enjoys both taking and teaching Barre classes in her spare time.

Neal is recognized nationally for almost 40 years of innovation in population-based and corporate health management/engagement, and organizational change.

During his career, Neal commercialized the first and now largest telephonic coaching programs in the United States, Free & Clear (now called Quit for Life) and many of the early health related social networking platforms including the American Cancer Society's Cancer Survivors Network. He is a noted author and speaker and continues to be acknowledged as one of the true innovators in the world of health behavior change. Neal is currently the Director of Member Engagement at Premera Blue Cross where he is responsible for development strategies to engage the 2.2 million members of Premera in reaching their optimal health. He is focused on creating and implementing a model focused on personalized tailored messaging, rewards, and choice architecture based on creating segments of one.

Prior to Premera, Neal was the Director of Behavioral Interventions for Resolution Health after its acquisition of the NewSof Group of which Neal was the co-founder and CEO. The NewSof Group was a consulting and new media development company focused on scalable health change, learning, coaching, sharing, and support.

During his tenure at Group Health Cooperative, Neal served as Director of Innovation, Manager of Worksite and Community Programs, and General Manager of Health At Work, the Northwest's first worksite health promotion company in 1983. He designed health and productivity management services for regional and national employers incorporating health promotion, disease management, onsite primary care, and time loss management strategies.

He is a well-known author and speaker in the field of health management, humor and health, and the role of personalization and social networking. Neal holds a master's degree in public health from the University of Missouri School Of Medicine. He is also a working potter/sculpture and has done stand-up comedy in a vaudeville show.

Andrew Sorenson is the Director of Decision Support and Population Health Analytics at Intermountain Healthcare. He began his career 8 years ago as a Financial Analyst in Intermountain’s Revenue Cycle Organization. In 2011, Andrew moved to Intermountain’s corporate office where he was tapped to collaborate in the creation of a specialized, multidisciplinary analytics team within the Corporate Decision Support department. More recently, as Intermountain formally created a Population Health Department to assist with the transition to value-based care, Andrew was given the opportunity to build out the Population Health Analytics department which he now also leads.

Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Brigham Young University and recently received a master’s degree in health care delivery science from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Susan Zbikowski is Humana’s Chief Behavioral Scientist and oversees the Wellness Science and Analytics team. She is an experienced entrepreneur, leader, and behavioral scientist. Her expertise is in building and running research organizations that align to business needs and advance the wellness field. Dr. Zbikowski's research areas include: Behavioral and technology supported interventions to reduce health risk behaviors such as tobacco use, unhealthy eating, and sedentary lifestyles among individuals across the lifespan, the role of social, personal, and environmental factors on lifestyle risk factors and wellness engagement, and provider training to promote behavior change. She has been an investigator on nearly 20 grants funded the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, states and private foundations. She has published nearly 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and frequently speaks at national conferences. Dr. Zbikowski completed her M.S. and Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Memphis and received her B.A. in Psychobiology at Wellesley College.