Renee DeSilva
Chief Executive Officer

Renee DeSilva is the Chief Executive Officer of The Health Management Academy. As CEO, she is responsible for strategy, business operations, growth, and talent management.

In Renee’s most recent role, she served as Chief Talent Officer of EAB, a leading provider of research, technology, and services to 1,300 educational institutions. At EAB, Renee was responsible for all talent- related functions, including recruiting, diversity and inclusion, employee experience, learning and development, and benefits.

Prior to EAB, Renee spent more than 15 years at The Advisory Board Company, a global healthcare firm that serves 165,000+ leaders and 4,100+ hospitals and healthcare systems. At The Advisory Board Company, Renee’s most recent role was Senior Vice President of Organizational Performance, where she led the company’s organizational design and change management initiatives. She has also held a variety of executive leadership positions in commercial and operational functions. Throughout her career, Renee’s passion for innovation, member service, and professional development has animated her work.

Renee holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She lives in Virginia with her husband and three children.

Patrick Lanier
President

Patrick Lanier is the President of The Health Management Academy. Initially, he will have responsibility for launching for three major workstreams: launching the Office of Strategic Partnerships, developing a multi-year Strategic Growth Plan, and refreshing a number of The Academy’s programs.

Patrick comes to the Academy after an 18-year run at the Advisory Board Company. Across his tenure at the Advisory Board, he held several executive roles, including leading the firm’s Strategy and New Product Development group. In that capacity, he was responsible for the company’s growth efforts and data-driven and member-oriented methodology development for diligence, incubation and launching new business concepts at scale. His team was tasked with both the investment decisions and the build/partner/acquire workstreams leading to partnerships with MedeAnalytics, Verisk Health, Millman, and Recondo as well as acquisitions of Crimson, Southwind and Clinnovations. Later, he held operational responsibility for many of the firm’s acquired companies, managing them through a 3-year average revenue CAGR of 143% by scaling processes, talent, and go-to market strategy. Patrick most recently served as Head of Revenue for Health Care with responsibility for $600M of annual revenue and spearheaded the transition from a transactional commercial model to a consultative, expert, and relationship-driven model.

Prior to joining the Advisory Board in 2000, Patrick’s previous professional experience included clinical research at Duke University Health System’s neuroscience department in Durham, North Carolina.

Patrick has a bachelor’s degree from Duke University. A native of Paris, France, he lives in Chevy Chase, MD with his wife Jenna and three children, Benjamin, Anya, and James. They love to travel and spend time outdoors hiking, skiing, biking and cheering on the French National soccer team.

Gary E. Bisbee Jr., Ph.D., M.B.A.
Co-founder & Executive Chairman

Dr. Gary Bisbee is an experienced healthcare policy and financing executive. His leadership positions have spanned Wall Street, academia, health policy, and entrepreneurial ventures in the leadership development, information technology and medical device industries.

He co-founded The Health Management Academy (The Academy) in 1998. The Academy is a knowledge-based company exclusively for executives of the 100 largest health systems and prominent health- related corporations. Services offered by The Academy include: executive forums, best practices research, fellowship programs, learning collaboratives, and health policy development and analysis.

Gary was Chairman and CEO of APACHE Medical Systems, Inc., a venture funded company that conducted an IPO and was acquired. He was Chairman and CEO of ReGen Biologics, Inc., a venture funded company that was merged into a public company shell and whose assets were sold. He was Chairman and CEO of Sequel Corporation, a venture funded company that was public and became Hanger Orthopedic Group, a roll-up of orthopedic practices. He was Founder and Director of the Corporate Finance Healthcare Group of Kidder Peabody & Co.

Gary was President of the Health Research and Educational Trust, the research and educational affiliate of the American Hospital Association. He holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in chronic disease epidemiology from Yale University, where his dissertation was part of the development of DRGs. His undergraduate degree is from North Central College.

He is published in the healthcare finance and healthcare services areas. He most recently co- authored, n=1: How the Uniqueness of Each Individual is Transforming Healthcare. He has been on the faculty at Yale University and taught courses in the business schools of Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

Gary is a member of the board of directors of Cerner Corporation and The Health Management Academy.

Sherrie Jones
Co-founder & Ambassador

Sherrie Jones co-founded The Health Management Academy in 1998, along with Gerald E. Bisbee, Jr., Ph.D. The Academy is a knowledge- based company and provides educational and information services to a membership of over 500 senior executives from leading health systems and prominent health-related corporations.

Sherrie has spent her career in marketing and business development, with particular emphasis on healthcare and information systems. She has specialized in directing and managing joint ventures and strategic partnerships among large corporations. During her tenure at Datapoint Corporation, she was responsible for major accounts and the Federal Integrated Systems Corporation (FISC), the joint venture between Datapoint and EDS, created to market and sell software and hardware products to the Federal government, and to provide follow- up training and education.

Sherrie was the Vice President of Marketing and Sales at APACHE Medical Systems, Inc. In this position, she directed APACHE’s marketing and sales activities, as well as relations with APACHE’s industry partners. She was also responsible for the APACHE User Group, which provided ongoing education and training to physician and nurse users. APACHE has the preeminent outcomes information systems for high-cost, high-risk patients, and it was sold to Cerner Corporation.

Sherrie received her B.S. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin, and she is a member of the Board of Directors of The Health Management Academy.

Corey Aferiat, M.P.H.
Executive Director, Content and Communication

Corey Aferiat is the Executive Director of Content and Communication for The Health Management Academy. He is the author of The Academy’s flagship newsletter, Academy360, the producer of The Academy’s executive interview series, and responsible for the company’s internal and external communications strategy. In 2014, Corey began his career at The Academy as the Financial Forum Director, responsible for CFO and Treasurer Forum program management and development.

Prior to The Academy, Corey performed project work for large health systems while earning his master’s degree in public health. During his master’s program, he served as a summer administrative resident at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, leading a feasibility study on the formation of a centralized clinical support services department. Corey later completed his Health Management Practicum in the Corporate Finance Office at Yale New Haven Hospital, focused on outpatient managed care contract model analysis.

Corey received his B.A. in Political Science from Muhlenberg College and his M.P.H. from the Yale School of Public Health, with a concentration in Health Policy and Administration.

Caroline Allen
SVP, Education Services

As Senior Vice President, Educational Services, Caroline oversees The Academy’s 14 Executive Forums, The Academy GE Fellows Program, Physician Leadership Program and CEO and Trustee Summits. Caroline started her career with The Academy in 2006 as Director of Member Services. In this role she managed The Academy’s Chief Medical Officers Forum semi-annual conferences. She was also responsible for The Academy GE Fellows Program since it was formed in 2006.

Prior to The Academy, Caroline held positions in the various portfolio companies of DGB Enterprises. Positions included, Syndicated Research & Marketing at The Advisory Board Company, Publisher’s office/Atlantic LIVE, The Atlantic Media Company (The Atlantic Monthly & National Journal). She also served as a Legislative Correspondent for Representative Joe Knollenberg, R-MI.

Caroline earned her B.B.A., with a concentration in Global Business from Roanoke College in Salem, VA. Caroline is a co-chair of Starlight Meadows Barn Bash, an annual fundraiser to cure cystic fibrosis.

Rebecca Armstrong
Senior Staff Accountant

Rebecca Armstrong is the Senior Staff Accountant at The Academy. As Senior Staff Accountant, Rebecca works with all aspects of the company, as well as outside vendors and customers to provide exceptional financial customer service.Rebecca has 17+ years of experience in the Accounting Field, including audit, tax, cost accounting, non-profit & for-profit accounting. She also has 5 years of Human Resources experience and has taught and consulted in the accounting field.Rebecca received a B.A. in Accounting from University at Mount Olive and a Masters in Accounting from Colorado Technical University.

Anastasia Beletsky, M.P.H.
Senior Director, The Academy GE Fellows Program

Anastasia Beletsky is Sr. Director of The Academy GE Fellows Program at The Health Management Academy.

Prior to joining The Academy in July of 2016, Anastasia taught secondary STEM courses at Achievement First Amistad High School in New Haven, CT, focusing on human biology and the biochemistry of disease. Anastasia has taught and developed curricula for secondary education subjects including cell biology, biopsychology, improvement science, pharmacology and engineering. She also worked as an assistant program coordinator for Helen Keller International’s domestic program, ChildSight CT.

Anastasia completed pre-medical studies and received her B.A. in History from Georgetown University, and received her M.P.H in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the Yale School of Public Health.

Tim Best, M.B.A.
VP, Health System Relations

As VP, Health System Relations and Business Development at the Health Management Academy, Tim Best works with corporate executives of the Top 100 Health Systems creating industry-leading peer-to-peer learning and leadership development programming. Tim is focused on supporting these executives and their organizations as they face the many challenges and opportunities of a rapidly transforming healthcare marketplace. He interfaces directly with these leaders to understand their organizations’ current and future needs while working internally to develop nationally recognized programming in the areas of population health, cybersecurity, data analytics, payment reform, and leadership development, on both the corporate and local levels.

Prior to joining the Health Management Academy, Tim spent 20 years at Pfizer, a Fortune 50 company and leading global bio--pharmaceutical firm. At Pfizer he was responsible for leading the development of a new go-to-market strategy to address the consolidation of health care providers into integrated delivery systems. Tim received his B.S. in Marketing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Anthony Casini
Senior Graphic Designer

Anthony is the Graphic Designer at The Health Management Academy where he works to design all of the customer-facing brochures, reports, marketing collateral, and website visuals. With a strong eye for detail and design, Anthony creates a visually appealing customer experience while enhancing The Academy brand.

Prior to moving to Virginia and joining The Academy, Anthony worked as a Graphic Designer for Eaton’s Lighting Controls Division in Peachtree City, Georgia, designing marketing collateral to aid in the sale of commercial lighting controls products. Additionally, he began his career in 2011 as Graphic Designer and Marketing Coordinator at SANY America, a China-based heavy construction equipment manufacturer.

Anthony received his Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Valdosta State University in December of 2010.

Caroline Praske
Office Manager & Events Coordinator

Caroline Praske is the Meeting Coordinator and Office Manager at The Academy. As Meeting Coordinator, Caroline works with Meeting Services to organize and coordinate Academy meetings and events. In the Office Manager side of the role, Caroline serves as the office’s primary receptionist, oversees supply orders, facilities maintenance and operations.

Prior to joining The Academy in October 2016, Caroline worked as a Sales Representative at Trunk Club and as an independent contractor for various event companies in the Washington, D.C. area. Caroline’s experience in sales and events gave her insight into the value of first-class support services and great customer service.

Caroline received a B.A. in Spanish from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida

James Cheung
Associate, Research & Advisory

James Cheung is an Associate within the Research & Advisory division of The Academy. He is responsible for leading the creation of Quick-H¬itting surveys and conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses using health system and health services data.

Prior to joining The Academy, James spent two years working in Human Resources research at Gartner. While there, he worked with heads of HR from Fortune 500 companies to produce research focused on HR’s role in organizational digital transformation. He also analyzed earnings call data to uncover trends in mentions of “Organizational Culture” over the past five years.

James holds a B.A. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Cornell University.

Jonathan Cronin
Chief Financial Officer

James Cheung is an Associate within the Research & Advisory division of The Academy. He is responsible for leading the creation of Quick-H¬itting surveys and conducting qualitative and quantitative analyses using health system and health services data.

Prior to joining The Academy, James spent two years working in Human Resources research at Gartner. While there, he worked with heads of HR from Fortune 500 companies to produce research focused on HR’s role in organizational digital transformation. He also analyzed earnings call data to uncover trends in mentions of “Organizational Culture” over the past five years.

James holds a B.A. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Cornell University.

Mallory de la Rosa
Director, Meeting Services

Mallory de la Rosa is a Director of Meeting Services at The Academy. As Director, Mallory works on logistics & registration for The Academy’s Regional CEO & CHRO Forums, the Population Health Collaborative and the Physician Leadership Program. She also is also an Industry Member liaison and assists with other Forums and programs hosted by The Academy.

Prior to joining The Academy in April 2018, Mallory spent four years planning conferences for professional associations and three years in pharmaceutical meeting planning. She brings to The Academy a variety of experiences including a high level of logistical acumen and white glove customer service.

Mallory holds a B.A. from Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana where she studied Journalism and Dance.

Matt Devino
Senior Analyst, Research & Advisory

Matt Devino is a Senior Analyst within the Research & Advisory division of The Academy. He is responsible for conducting both quantitative and qualitative analyses for The Academy’s ongoing research projects, focusing on strategic insights and key trends among large health systems.

Prior to joining The Academy, Matt spent four years working in the healthcare technology industry. Most recently, he led the Client Success team at the NYC-based startup SkyMD, a telehealth platform built for dermatologists and their patients. Previously, Matt worked with Oscar Health and the Exeter Group where he gained experience in payer operations, state and federal program eligibility, and state health insurance exchange implementation under the Affordable Care Act.

Matt holds an M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management from the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health and a B.A. in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology from Harvard University.

Anthony Ernst
Digital Media & Production Specialist

Anthony is the Digital Media & Production Specialist at The Health Management Academy where he works to create, manage, and design all digital facing media. With a marketing background and wealth of technological experience, Anthony manages and creates all content on AcademyNet including Academy360, and View From the Top-100 videos.

Before joining The Academy team in October 2016, Anthony was a Marketing Coordinator in sunny Naples, FL where he primarily focused on digital marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media management. In 2014, Anthony moved to Savannah, GA to accept to work as a Search Engine Optimization Specialist. During his time in Savannah he fine tuned his SEO skills and started learning the in's and out's of Google Analytics and Google Adwords. In early 2015, Anthony moved to Washington, D.C. to work for Aston Technologies, a technology consulting firm. Anthony was a Full Stack Developer at Aston Technologies, and worked on various contracts in the area. After his stint at Aston Technologies, Anthony worked as a Senior Web Content Developer with The U.S. Department of Labor, creating and developing the web content for the OSHA division.

Anthony is a candidate to recieve an M.S. in Leadership Information Technology at LaSalle University, and received his Bachelor’s degrees in Marketing and Business Management from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2013.

Julia Fiorio
Director, Healthcare Programs

Julia Fiorio is the Director of The Academy’s Population Health, Government Payer, and Pharmacy Growth Collaboratives.

Prior to joining The Academy, Julia was a Manager at Grant Thornton, LLP where she worked as a healthcare consultant. During her time at Grant Thornton, Julia managed several projects at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and various health insurance companies where she conducted financial and programmatic reviews, completed compliance and risk assessments, and identified business process improvements.

Julia received her BS in Public Policy and Administration as well as her BA in Modern Foreign Languages (Italian) from James Madison University. She is currently working on her Master of Science in Health Policy at George Mason University.

Emily Forehand
Senior Director, Meeting Services

Emily is the Senior Director of Meeting Services at The Academy. Currently, she manages the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Forum and assists with several other Forum meetings throughout the year. She has been with The Academy since June 2014.

Prior to joining The Academy, Emily worked at Inova Health Foundation as the Development Specialist in the Special Events Department. She was responsible for overseeing system-wide fundraising events including event logistics, committee management, and corporate sponsorship. The most notable event was a three-day thought leadership summit for Inova’s top donors and supporters. Guests also included government officials, leaders of the DC area’s top companies, and Inova’s executive leadership and physicians. Emily was also the Campaign Coordinator for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s National Capital Area Chapter. Emily was responsible for event logistics, volunteer management and fundraising for the Light The Night® campaign. The National Capital Area hosted three fundraising walks: Washington, DC, Reston, Virginia and Rockville, Maryland.

Emily graduated with a B.S. in Communication Studies with a concentration in Public Relations from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Emily is a member of Alpha Phi Sorority and was actively involved with other university organizations such as James Madison University Honor Council and PRSSA.

James Garcia, M.B.A.
VP, IT Forums and Collaboratives

James Garcia is the Vice President of Technology Groups at The Health Management Academy. James is responsible for the Chief Information Officer, Chief Medical Information Officer, and Chief Nursing Information Officer Forums. His responsibilities also include the management of the Cybersecurity Collaborative, as well as the oversight of the Advanced Analytics Collaborative. Throughout his tenure with The Academy, James served as the company’s Chief Information Officer, Marketing Director, and has created and managed the technology groups within his portfolio. James joined The Academy in 2008.

Prior to joining The Academy, James was the General Manager of Monte Paraiso, a luxury, 120 unit, golf resort in Marbella, Spain. There he was responsible for managing day-to-day operations, expansion of the resort, and creating both the company’s brand strategy and long-term strategic plan. James started his professional career at The Advisory Board Company where he worked in Member Services and later transitioned into the Information Technology Department as Manager of Desktop Operations.

He received his M.B.A. in Global Brand Management from Thunderbird, School of Global Management and has spent extensive time abroad (France, Spain, and Switzerland). He graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in Marketing and International Business.

Cory Gordon, M.P.H.
Senior Director, Chief Legal Executive and Philanthropy Forums

Cory Gordon is the Senior Director of The Health Management Academy’s Financial Forums. Cory is responsible for the management of the Chief Financial Officer, Finance Executive, and Philanthropy peer groups and their corresponding Forums, which are role-based gatherings of C-suite executives at the nation’s 100 largest health systems. As Senior Director, he develops interactive content on strategic financial issues in the healthcare industry and assists in the development of survey research benchmarking performance and practices at large health systems.

Before joining The Academy team in June of 2016, Cory was a Regulatory Analyst at DuPont E. I. de Nemours and Company in the Industrial Biosciences division. In that role, he designed metrics to improve global process efficiency across DuPont facilities in China, Brazil, the U.K., and the Netherlands. Additionally, Cory evaluated the degree of coordination between differing national chemical regulatory regimes and worked on a team towards harmonizing DuPont global processes.

Cory received a B.S. in Human Physiology and in Psychology from the University of Oregon, where he became certified as an Emergency Medical Technician. He received his M.P.H in Health Policy and Management with a specialization in Regulatory Affairs from the Yale School of Public Health. During his Masters work, he focused on pharmaceutical regulation, behavioral economics and incentives in the healthcare industry, and is still trying to answer the question of why some regulations fail when others succeed. In his spare time, Cory served as an Executive Editor of the Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics.

Jeremy Gottlich, M.B.A.
Senior Director, Financial & Cardiovascular Forums, Consumer Consortium

Jeremy joined the Academy as the Senior Director of the CFO and Finance Executive Forums and the Consumer Consortium. Jeremy will also support The Academy’s efforts to launch programs within the cardiovascular service line.

Prior to The Academy, Jeremy worked at the Ignyte Group, where he led the content marketing strategy for a telemedicine client and supported the roll-out of an enterprise software solution at Washington DC’s public transportation organization. He spent a year working with the employed medical group research team at The Advisory Board Company. He also worked at NCQA, where he managed the development of performance measures related to behavioral health and geriatrics.

Jeremy received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon, where he concentrated on Organizational Behavior, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. At CMU, he worked on consulting engagements with Allegheny Health Network, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, and Alcoa. Jeremy received his BA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University

Kevin Harris, M.P.A.
Senior IT Specialist

Kevin M. Harris serves as the Senior IT Specialist for The Health Management Academy. Kevin is responsible for the support and maintenance of The Academy’s applications, network infrastructure and AV logistics. He works closely with internal stakeholders to analyze, identify and implement approved solutions in accordance with The Academy’s goals and mission.

Prior to joining The Academy, Kevin’s career started as a Sr. IT Analyst for the Education Management Corporation where he managed the helpdesk and network operations for over 800 students, 40 faculty, and 30 staff members.

Kevin holds a Master of Public Administration in Information Systems & Technology from South University and a Bachelor of Arts in Audio Production from The Art Institute of Washington. He is also an HDI-Certified Desktop Support Technician and a member of the National Technical Honor Society.

Patti Haugen
Director, Financial and Administrative Services

As Director of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), Patti handles meeting contracts and budget management for assigned forums or special initiatives. The DAFS is also responsible for the organization and execution of contracts and meeting budget preparation. Patti provides support to the CFO in evaluating the financial and operational effectiveness of The Academy. Patti also supports the quarterly financial expense reporting and analyses, and development and monitoring of meetings related budgets and non-meetings expenses (travel, IT, market research, AcademyNet, etc.)

Patti has been with The Academy since September 1998. Prior to her current position, Patti served as Senior Manager, Member Services and managed the CEO Forum. Prior to being Senior Manager, Member Services, Patti served as Forum Manager for several forums.

Prior to joining The Academy team, Patti managed a retail/interior design shop from 1990-1998. She graduated from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 1996 and received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology.

Patti works remotely from her home in San Antonio, Texas. She has been married 17 years and has three children.

Sanjula Jain, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Research & Advisory

Sanjula Jain leads the development of The Academy’s research and thought leadership agenda as the Executive Director of Research and Advisory Services. Her research, which is largely focused on delivery systems, has been published in prominent journals such as Health Affairs and JAMA. She also contributes to readiness assessments and provider evaluations focused on regulatory and legislative payment reforms affecting large health systems.

Previously, Sanjula served as the Director of The Academy’s Chief Executive Officer Forum and Trustee Institute. She was also as an evaluation expert for the Office of Quality and Risk at Emory Healthcare. She has experience teaching courses in health policy and applied health economics at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control, as well as leading workshops on Medicare payment programs for international audiences. Prior to joining The Academy, Sanjula completed fellowships in medical human factors and disease prevention at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and Harvard Medical School.

Sanjula holds a B.A. in Psychology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Rice University and a Ph.D. in Health Services Research & Health Policy, with a concentration in Economics, from Emory University.

Emily Kindt
Manager, HS Member Relations & Success

Emily Kindt is the Sales Coordinator for Health Systems at The Academy. As Sales Coordinator, Emily works directly with the VPs of Health System Member Relations and the Forum Directors to provide sales and services administrative support.

Prior to joining The Academy in August 2016, Emily worked as a Sales Representative at Trunk Club, where she was responsible for interacting and maintaining relationships with established clients, while developing and effectively implementing business development plans targeted towards prospective customers.

Emily received a B.S. in Business; Cum Laude from The University of Pittsburgh where she majored in Marketing and minored in Economics.

Emily Kindt
Manager, HS Member Relations & Success

Emily Kindt is the Sales Coordinator for Health Systems at The Academy. As Sales Coordinator, Emily works directly with the VPs of Health System Member Relations and the Forum Directors to provide sales and services administrative support.

Prior to joining The Academy in August 2016, Emily worked as a Sales Representative at Trunk Club, where she was responsible for interacting and maintaining relationships with established clients, while developing and effectively implementing business development plans targeted towards prospective customers.

Emily received a B.S. in Business; Cum Laude from The University of Pittsburgh where she majored in Marketing and minored in Economics.

Jarrett Lewis, M.B.A.
Executive Director, The Academy Advisors

Jarrett Lewis is Executive Director of The Academy Advisors, where he manages all health policy related activities for Academy Advisor member health systems. Jarrett previously served as Research Director and Executive Director of Consumer Analytics for The Health Management Academy, where he worked closely with health systems to conduct extensive survey research in areas of business development, marketing, budgeting and health policy. Additionally, Jarrett oversaw a quarterly healthcare survey of 1,500 consumers, published by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

Jarrett previously served as an in-house strategist to the Romney for President Campaign from 2011-2012, where he provided in-depth analysis of internal survey research data to senior campaign officials, including over 400 surveys and 200 focus groups. He began his career at Public Opinion Strategies, providing survey research analysis to federal and state campaigns during the 2008 election cycle and then joined the Academy Advisors, as a strategist providing health policy analysis to Academy members.

Jarrett has an MBA the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a B.A. in Political Science from Clemson University, where he was a member of the men’s varsity soccer team and a participant in the 2005 Men’s College Soccer Final Four.

Conor McGuinness
Industry Relations & Business Development

Conor McGuinness is responsible for growing and managing relationships with the Academy’s current industry members, as well as identifying and executing strategic opportunities for new industry members. Conor has also served as a leader on the digital team—helping to transform AcademyNet into a valuable tool for healthcare executives. Conor first joined The Academy in 2013, and returned in 2015 to his current role.

Previously, Conor worked for Ernst & Young out of their Dublin, Ireland office. There, he trained as an accountant and worked as an auditor in the funds industry. Prior to that, Conor worked in a variety of marketing and sales roles for small companies across Ireland.

Conor graduated with a BBS from Trinity College Dublin, with a focus on Strategy & Finance.

Usha Murugesan
Associate Director, Forums

Usha is Associate Forum Director of the CNO, Cardio and Oncology Forums. She also supports the Physician Leadership Program.

Prior to The Academy, Usha served as Project Manager at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where she supervised the implementation of Baltimore Children’s HealthWatch, a multi-site project that assess maternal hardships on childhood development. Also in that role, she served as clinic coordinator at the Growth & Nutrition Clinic where she served as a liaison among multidisciplinary healthcare teams. Prior to her project management role, she served George Washington’s School of Public Health, where she assisted the implementation of a smoking clinical trial among vulnerable populations of D.C.

Usha received her B.S. in Biological Sciences with a concentration in Physiology & Neurobiology from University of Maryland College Park. She later received a M.S. in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University.

Aleesha Newell
Assistant Manager, Meeting Services

Aleesha Newell joined The Academy as Assistant Manager, Meeting Services in July 2018. Currently, Aleesha manages the logistics for the Government Relations Officer forum and assists with several other forum meetings throughout the year.

Prior to joining The Academy, Aleesha planned meetings for Management Concepts where she contracted meeting space and catering, coordinated logistics and meeting materials, and booked travel for 200+ organization travelers. Before Management Concepts Aleesha worked for the Leigh Speakers Bureau near Princeton, New Jersey contracting keynote speaking engagements, coordinating travel, pre-event communications, and presentation materials.

Aleesha holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Huy Nguyen
VP, IT Systems

Huy Nguyen is the Vice President of IT Systems at the Health Management Academy. Huy is a seasoned IT professional with over 19 years of experience in network infrastructure, database, web development, Cloud technologies, and system integration. At the Academy, Huy oversees the IT department and technical components of the AcademyNet website.

Prior to joining the Academy, Huy was the Director of IT and Operations at the Center for Applied Linguistics for over 14 years. As part of the leadership team, he was responsible for setting future direction for the IT department and overseeing the Facilities/Operations department and staff.

Huy graduated from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute with a B.S. in Information System, Decision Support Systems.

Scott Nodolf, M.B.A.
SVP & Chief Customer Officer

Scott Nodolf is the SVP and Chief Customer Officer of The Health Management Academy. He is responsible for the overall leadership of sales, marketing, proposals, pricing and customer support. Scott is a customer-focused commercial leader with an eighteen-year track record of success within the life sciences industry.

Previously, Scott was Executive Director Business Development at ICON Clinical Research, a global Clinical Research Organization delivering research and development services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In this position, he supported strategic partnerships while managing, coaching, and developing high-performing business development teams, receiving multiple promotions and awards.

Scott has focused on understanding customer needs and ensuring those needs are met to create sustainable, mutual successful relationships. Building upon the strong membership base and thought leadership of The Academy and its members, Scott will continue working to improve the value brought to health systems and industry partners as they take on the evolving challenges and opportunities of healthcare.

Scott received his B.S. in Biology from Lake Forest College, his M.B.A. from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, and his Certificate in International Business Management from University College Dublin (UCD) Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Scott lives in downtown Chicago with his family.

Judy Massey
Director, Special Events

As Director of Special Events, Judy W. Massey is responsible for The Academy’s member social activities, menus, spouse programs and staff clothing. Additionally, Judy developed and leads The Academy’s BLAST Wellness Program, designed to build employee comradery, health and wellness. Judy has been on The Academy’s team since October 1998.

Prior to joining The Health Management Academy, Judy was an elementary school teacher for 15 years with a specialization in Special Education and children with learning disabilities.

Judy received her B.S. in Elementary Education/Special Education from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She has current fitness instructor certifications through the American Council of Exercise, Aerobics and Fitness Association of America and a Group Power certification through Body Training Systems.

Leigh Patrick
Manager, Meeting Services

Leigh Patrick is a Meeting Services Manager at The Academy. Leigh works on logistics and registration for The Academy’s Physician Leadership Program, Medical Group Forum, Philanthropy Forum, and Government Payer Collaborative. She also assists with other Forums and programs hosted by the Academy.

Prior to joining The Academy in July 2018, Leigh spent three years as a meeting planner for a non-profit association of physical medicine and rehabilitation specialists. She joined The Academy with experience in educational programming, marketing, photography, and event planning.

Leigh holds a B.S. from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA, where she studied Communications and Public Relations.

Tammy Ramsey
Controller

Tammy Ramsey is the Controller at The Academy. As Controller, Tammy provides finance and administration support for all activities and programs of the Academy.

Prior to joining The Academy in July 2018, Tammy was the Controller at the Center for Innovative Technology for 2 years after being in public accounting for 16 years. She is a CPA and brings to The Academy a variety of experiences including a high level of financial reporting, systems integration and process and control establishment.

Tammy holds a B.S. from West Liberty University in West Virginia, where she studied accounting and graduated cum laude from the University’s Honors Program. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Jackie Risco, M.P.H.
Associate Director, Research & Advisory

Jackie is an Associate Director within the Research and Advisory Services division at The Academy. Within this role, Jackie conducts health services research and market analyses to inform educational content, publications, workshop content, and strategic recommendations for key healthcare executives.

Prior to joining The Academy, Jackie spent five years at Avalere Health, a strategic advisory firm that delivers actionable insights, business intelligence (BI) tools, and custom analytics to leaders in healthcare business and policy. At Avalere, Jackie led strategic planning, development, and implementation for three BI products. During this time, Jackie provided analytic and strategic support to post-acute and long-term care providers using Medicare data analysis and policy expertise. She also provided pharmaceutical and medical device companies with subject matter expertise and strategic support around evidence-based medicine and comparative effectiveness research. Prior to joining Avalere, Jackie served as a Research Assistant at the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission and interned with the National Academy of Social Insurance.

Jackie holds a M.P.H. in Public Health Management and Policy and a Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Florida.

Ashley Satz
Managing Director, Member Development

Ashley Satz is a Managing Director of Member Development responsible for growing and managing relationships with the Academy’s west coast industry and health system members.

Ashley comes to the Academy after a 10 year run at the Advisory Board Company. Across her tenure she served as a commercial leader working with health systems to support their engagement survey businesses. In this capacity she was focused on helping hospitals to improve their patient satisfaction scores, reduce staff turnover, improve quality scores, and increase revenues by targeting the top engagement drivers for their staff and physicians.

Ashley earned her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and her Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Maryland. A native of New Jersey, Ashley now lives in San Diego, California with her husband Kevin and enjoys traveling and being outdoors.

Rachael Schindler
Member Development Associate

Rachael is a Member Development Associate at The Academy. She works to provide a wide range of support to the Member Development team by conducting background market research to monitor evolving industry trends, maintaining the prospective membership pool, and by building existing member relationship efforts.

Before joining the Academy, Rachael worked in a behavioral health services role with Credible Behavioral Health, Inc., an Electronic Health Record (EHR) software company that strives to improve quality of care, by improving providers efficiencies, processes, and assessments through a regulated, configurable EHR platform. There she played a crucial role in building and supporting the member success team. Additionally, she worked to construct and implement the company’s Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program, that aims to address the complications of medication noncompliance.

Rachael holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Health: Science, Society, and Policy from Brandeis University with a focus in Biology and a minor in Theater Arts.

Maggie Schnog, M.P.H.
Executive Director, Physician Leadership Program; Senior Director, CMO and MG Forums

Maggie joined The Academy as The Academy’s Director of the Chief Medical Officer Forum and National Physician Leadership Program. Since then, Maggie’s role has expanded in scope to include Medical Group Forum and newly created On-Site Physician Leadership Programs.

Prior to The Academy, Maggie chaired the Yale Healthcare Conference where she was responsible for overseeing content development and logistics. Maggie has teaching experience ranging from high school, through Teach for American, to the graduate level in areas including biology, nutrition, and health policy.

Maggie received her B.S. in Nutritional Science from Cornell University and her M.P.H. with a concentration in Healthcare Management from the Yale School of Public Health, in conjunction with the Yale School of Management.

Claire Shields
Director, Meeting Services

Claire Shields is a Director of Meeting Services at The Academy. As Director, Claire works on logistics & registration for The Academy’s CNO, CNIO, & CSO Forums, and the Consumer Consortium. She also is also an Industry Member liaison and assists with other Forums and programs hosted by the Academy.

Prior to joining The Academy in July of 2017, Claire spent five years planning meetings and special events with several different hotel companies, including the Ritz-Carlton, and two years planning corporate and association functions. Claire is a native of Northern Virginia. She is a mother of two beautiful children, Kira and Benjamin, and loves to spend her free time with them and her husband, Kevin.

Claire holds a B.S. from George Mason University in Virginia where she studied Marketing, and Tourism and Special Events.

Casey Skapek
Health Services Fellow

Casey Skapek is the Health Services Fellow and Executive Assistant to the CEO at the Health Management Academy. She is responsible for internal administrative functioning and provides support for various health system, industry, and public affairs engagements. She also assists Academy members in projects related to health systems research, health care leadership, and health policy.

Prior to joining The Academy, Casey worked as a research assistant in the Armbruster laboratory at Georgetown University, where she investigated evolutionary genetics of the mosquito species, Aedes albopictus, and its effect on range expansion of the species. She also spent time in the Swanson laboratory at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, a neuropharmacology lab studying the physiological properties of receptor proteins in the mammalian brain, and worked as a programs and advocacy intern at the Center for Civic Innovation, a nonprofit in Atlanta, GA, dedicated to driving change through the support of innovative social enterprises and community participation in the public sector.

Casey holds a B.S. in Biology with a concentration in Global Health from Georgetown University, where she served as Chair of the Undergraduate Research Committee, senior class representative on the College Academic Council, a peer advisor to incoming students, and President of the Women’s Club Ultimate Frisbee team.

Donya Smith, M.S.
Director, Health System Relations

Donya Smith is currently a Director of Account Management for The Academy. She supports the Vice President of Health System and Business Development and the Sales team. Her main focus is ensuring execution of multi-year contracts and meeting participation, collecting nominations and team members for The Academy’s leadership programs, and collaborating with internal staff to ensure the success of meetings throughout the year. Donya joined the sales team in August of 2014.

Donya is a service professional with eight years of experience in the Hospitality industry. She immediately began her career in corporate sales with Marriott International, selling meeting space and hotel rooms for company conferences. After several successful years with Marriott, she transitioned to office management and subsequently human resources. After making the transition, she quickly realized how much she enjoyed sales and accepted a role in The Academy’s health system relations department.

Donya holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Hospitality Management from Howard University in Washington, D.C. and a Master’s of Science in Management degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Melissa Stahl
Senior Manager, Research & Advisory

Melissa (Mel) Stahl is a Senior Manager within the Research and Advisory Services division at The Academy. Mel leads the execution of The Academy’s major research projects providing insights into the most impactful topics and trends in healthcare. Mel’s research primarily focuses on the provider landscape, identifying the strategic priorities and decision-making processes of the nation’s largest health systems. Mel also oversees The Academy’s Quick-Hitting surveys and advisory initiatives.

Since joining The Academy in 2015, Mel has spearheaded research initiatives covering a variety of strategic issues including technology integration, partnerships, and clinical and quality improvement, among others. Mel also leads an ongoing quarterly research project, tracking health system strategies around themes such as consolidation, movement to value-based care, market share, physician alignment, and health policy, among other topics.

Mel graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in Energy Studies, where she also conducted research in biometrics.

Amila Tola
Chief of Staff, Office of CEO & President

Amila is the Chief of Staff to the Office of CEO and President at The Academy. She works closely, reports to and provides a wide range of support to the President and CEO regarding the coordination of activities Executive Management develops with internal and external stakeholders, advise on administrative issues, and deliver operational, logistical, and content driven assistance.

Prior to joining The Academy in October of 2018, Amila spent a year abroad in Dublin, Ireland working for the country’s leading lender bank, Bank of Ireland, as a Communications Coordinator for the organization’s Corporate Social Responsibility & Reporting sector. There she played a crucial role in expanding and promoting the bank’s main charity initiative throughout ROI & the UK and worked intensively with the internal/external communications and press teams. Upon her return to the US, she spent two years on Capitol Hill working as the Operations Manager/Communications Specialist to the Chief Financial Officer at the Republican National Committee and served under a US Congressman as his Director of Operations in the United States House of Representatives before transitioning back into the private sector.

Amila holds a B.A. from Virginia Tech where she double majored in International Relations and Multimedia Journalism, along with completing a minor in French Literature.

Allison Wachter, CEM
VP, Meeting Services

Allison Wachter, CEM, joined The Academy at the beginning of 2018 as the Vice President of Meeting Services. Allison manages a team of six meeting planners and the office manager whose job it is to execute over 50 meetings a year. She is also the co-chair of the Data Infrastructure Team that is working to establish data standards, policies, and procedures for The Academy’s future growth.

Prior to joining The Academy, Allison spent 15 years orchestrating the planning the production of small to large scare events across North America and Asia for the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). She managed and motivated a team while controlling budgets up to $12 million, and oversaw site selection, logistics, exhibition management, registration, contracts and vendor negotiations, marketing, and system integrations. Allison also lead a two-year launch of ASAE’s newest event, The Xperience Design Project, steering from scratch ideation and strategy design, technology development, total experience planning and a robust communications and media campaign.

Allison is a graduate of Salisbury University where she studied Public Relations and Business Administration. She has also received many awards and honors in the Meeting Industry including being named one of the ‘Top 25 Influential Women in Meetings’ by Smart Meetings Magazine, April 2016.

Anita Wang
Data Analyst, Research & Advisory

Anita Wang is the Data Analyst within The Academy’s Research and Advisory Services division. She is responsible for building a national hospital and health system database, developing health system statistics report and interactive data visualizations, and modeling quantitative data.

Previously, Anita served as Analytics Fellow for Bully Pulpit Interactive where she built tools and dashboards to enhance and distribute campaign performance data to internal and external stakeholders. She has also worked with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the World Bank, assisting with database management, decision analysis, data visualization, and predictive modeling. Anita began her career at HSBC China where she used data analytics to communicate strategic insights and recommendations related to talent needs, HR business processes, and systems functionality.

Anita holds an M.S. in Business Analytics from the George Washington University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Intelligent Control from Shanghai Maritime University.