Dr. Eric S. Weaver is nationally-recognized for his work in primary care transformation and value-based care. Most recently, he was a corporate vice president for Innovista Health Solutions, a population health management services organization, where he oversaw enterprise capital investment strategy and technology adoption. Prior to his work at Innovista, he was the President and CEO of the Austin, Texas-based Integrated ACO – one of the most successful physician-led Accountable Care Organizations in the country.

Dr. Weaver is a committed health care executive with Fellow designations from the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Medical Group Management Association and the Health Information and Management Systems Society. He received his Master of Healthcare Administration degree from Texas State University and his Doctorate of Healthcare Administration degree from the Medical University of South Carolina.

He was the recipient of the Robert S. Hudgens Award for Young Healthcare Executive of the Year and the Modern Healthcare “Up & Comers” Award in 2016.  In addition, he was named to Becker’s Hospital Review list of “Rising Stars: 25 Healthcare Leaders Under 40” in 2015, and awarded the Young Alumni Rising Award from Texas State University.

In addition to his work as a healthcare executive, Dr. Weaver serves on various Boards such as the Texas State Development Foundation, the Half Helen Foundation, and the Dell Medical School Society for Health & Business.  In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling with his wife and daughter.

Dora Lynn Hughes, MD, MPH, is chief medical officer at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (the Innovation Center) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She leads the Innovation Center’s work on health equity, provides clinical input on models, liaises with stakeholder groups, and directs the Innovation Center’s clinician community.

Hoangmai (Mai) H. Pham, MD MPh, is a general internist and national health policy leader. She was Vice President, Provider Alignment Solutions at Anthem, Inc., responsible for value-based care initiatives at the country’s second largest health insurance company. Prior to Anthem, Dr. Pham served as Chief Innovation Officer at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, where she was a founding official, and the architect of Medicare’s foundational programs on accountable care organizations and primary care. She was Co-Director of Research at the Center for Studying Health System Change and has published extensively in the medical literature on provider payment policy and its intersection with health disparities, care coordination, quality performance, provider behavior, and market trends. Dr. Pham serves on numerous advisory bodies, including the National Advisory Council for the Agency on Healthcare Research and Quality, the Maryland Primary Care Program, and the National Business Group on Health, and was a member of the Board Executive Committee at the Health Care Transformation Task Force. She is an Adjunct Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics of the University of Pennsylvania, and Faculty at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Dr. Pham earned her A.B. from Harvard University, her M.D. from Temple University, and her M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University where she was also a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. 

Dr. Lerla Joseph is a 1970 graduate of J. T. Barber High School. She attended Winston Salem State University (WSSU) and was awarded a full scholarship where she was a Reynolds Scholar. At the beginning of her junior year, she and 2 other students were invited to apply and begin medical school at the end of their junior year. They spent the entire time boning up on subjects not available at WSSU at the time. Their medical school career began the summer of 1973, preparatory to give them a head start. She graduated from WSSU May 1974, having completed her first year of medical school. While at WSSU, she became a member of the Gamma Phi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc.

In May 1977, she graduated from Bowman Gray School of Medicine, now Wake Forest Univ. Medical School. From there, she went on to Howard University Medical School to complete her internship and residency. Upon completion of her first year internship, she was awarded the “Daniel Hale Williams Intern of the Year Award”. This was very special to her as it looked at all the specialties interning at Howard University Hospital at the time. During her third year, she was named Chief Resident of Internal Medicine. She later moved to Detroit to complete a National Health Service Corp obligation. After 3 years, she relocated to Richmond, where she has been in private practice since 1983 joining two colleagues who were in residency with her at Howard. In 1987, she opened her own practice and has been in practice since that time.

Community service has always been important to her. She was the first female president of the Richmond Medical Society and subsequently the first female president of the Old Dominion Medical Society, which is the state organization. While president, she helped raise more than $60,000 to support African American medical students in Virginia. She has advocated for improved access to health care during and after her tenure. At that time, she was invited by then First Lady Hilary Clinton at the National unveiling of her health care plan in Washington, DC with many other doctors. Her advocacy for healthcare resulted in receiving the “Outstanding Woman of the Year in Health/Science, 1996” presented by the YWCA of Richmond. During the fight for the Affordable Care Act, she served on panels with Congressman Bobby Scott and numerous town hall meetings. At its passing by both houses of Congress, she was 1 of the 100 doctors, President Barack Obama invited to the Rose Garden.

In February 2005, while attending the movie, “Hotel Rwanda” and seeing the self-less sacrifices of Paul Rusesabagina, she committed in her heart to do more to help others in crises. Upon returning home from the movie, there was an email requesting doctors to join a local Christian mission team heading to Haiti in April. She joined the team initially as the first medical doctor on the team and became the lead physician with a team of one other retired physician, a fourth-year medical student, nurses, EMT’s and her 15 year -old son. It was her first medical mission trip. Despite growing up in the south, visiting migrant labor camps in North Carolina and seeing poor public health care in rural Alabama, she had never witnessed such poverty, destitution, and lack of medical care. In one week, the team saw more than 900 men, women and children PAGE – 2any of whom had never seen a physician. The Haitian founder of the mission asked why more African Americans had not come to Haiti to volunteer, her response was, “they don’t know, when they hear the story they will come”. In 2006, the team could not return due to civil unrest in Haiti, however, in 2007 Dr. Joseph returned with her niece, a pediatrician and the two friends who saw “Hotel Rwanda” with her; their daughter and granddaughter. Since that time, she and her niece have led mission trips to Haiti annually with more than 200 African American physicians, nurse practitioners, dentist, nurses, psychologists, ministers, social workers, and lay persons serving in medical mission and vacation bible school.

As an outgrowth of the Affordable Care Act, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Medicare Shared Savings Program for Accountable Care Organizations (MSSP ACO). She was inspired at a medical continuing education meeting to look into organizing an ACO for African American physicians. She began learning about the organizations in 2011 and submitted the first application in 2012 when the program was launched. CVCHIP, founded by Dr. Joseph was not awarded until 2015, a 3- year contract to provide care to a cohort of beneficiaries. That organization has successfully fulfilled the Triple Aim of healthcare by improving the individual patient experience, improving population health, and lowering the rate in rise of health care expenditures. As a result, it has saved the American economy more than $15 million dollars. It is one of only 30% of the 560 Medicare ACO’s in the country to achieve the Triple Aim, shared savings and has done this successfully for 3.5 years, consecutively. CVCHIP is one of only 3 African American led and owned ACO’s in the USA. CVCHIP is now a member of a collaborative ACO, Emergent.

Over her professional career, she has received many awards, including “Outstanding Humanitarian of the Commonwealth of Virginia “, presented by then Gov. Jim Gilmore; “Community Sponsor Award”, Nov. 4,2004 by Chi ETA Phi Sorority, nursing sorority; “Community Service Award” by the Baptist General Convention of VA, June 27, 2017; “Excellence in Community Service” by the Eastern Division of the Links, Inc., April 2017. She has been recognized by the City of New Bern with a Proclamation by Former Mayor Bayliss and by the New Bernians as “One of Our Own”. She is a past Board member of Richmond Community Hospital, Bon Secours Richmond Health Systems, J.Sargent Reynolds Community College, Richmond Renaissance, and the Richmond Free Press. She presently serves as President and Chair of CVCHIP, LLC and is a Board member of Community Transformers Foundation and Honoring Choices of Virginia. Dr. Joseph is active in her church as a Deacon, adult Sunday School Teacher, and former Chair of the Christian Education Ministry for more than 20 years. She has delighted in leading a traveling Black History Program for the Sunday School Union of Chesterfield and Vicinity for more than 10 years, visiting historic African American sites in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC during the month of February.

She is the mother of two sons, Akere and Earl and the grandmother of 3 darling grandchildren ( Braylin, Mala, and Akenji) who are her joy.

Mandy Cohen, MD is Aledade’s Executive Vice President and the Chief Executive Officer of Aledade Care Solutions, the company’s new health services unit. Dr. Cohen was most recently the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, where she led the state’s COVID response and transformation of North Carolina’s Medicaid program, focusing on whole-person care and the non-medical drivers of health. Dr. Cohen also served as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, helping to implement the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges and innovative new payment models. Dr. Cohen has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine and is an adjunct professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Dr. Cohen received her MD from Yale University School of Medicine and her Master’s in Public Health from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. 

Phillomin “Philly” Laptiste is the Chief People Officer (CPO) at Community Care Cooperative (C3), is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Accountable Care Organization (ACO) governed by Federally Quality Health Centers (FQHCs). C3 is a fast-growing organization founded in 2016 serving hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries who receive primary care at health centers and independent practices across Massachusetts. A second-generation Bowdoin-Geneva resident, Ms. Laptiste graduated from Boston Latin School, received her bachelor’s degree in management and organizational communications from Emerson College, and completed a master’s degree in health care administration at Suffolk University. In June 2015 she graduated with a certificate from the Massachusetts Institute for Community Health Leadership, one of only 19 professionals in the state to participate in this program. She is also currently enrolled in the Executive MBA program at Suffolk University. Ms. Laptiste joined C3 in the Summer of 2021 to develop and lead the organization’s human resources, member operations and compliance departments as well as the organization’s diversity, equity and racial justice efforts.

Prior to joining C3, Philly served as the Executive Director of Bowdoin Street Health Center (BSHC), a community health center in the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood of Dorchester that operates under the licensure of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Philly began her career at BSHC in 2008 as the Manager of Community Health, where she was responsible for developing and implementing community health programs and serving as a liaison to the community. She then went on to become an Operations Manager for Practice and Community Health at BSHC and continued to take on increased levels of responsibility while ascending to her role as Associate Director. In her role, Ms. Laptiste oversaw health center operations and developed, implemented, and evaluated health center programs in response to changing community and patient needs. She supervised BSHC’s administrative staff, medical staff, and nursing management, and managed all external relationships and marketing efforts. Ms. Laptiste also played an integral role in the establishment of the Wellness Center at BSHC and under her leadership, BSHC received the Mayoral Prize Award for Innovations in Primary Care.

Ms. Laptiste has committed her time to numerous community building and neighborhood improvement events. She is passionate about improving the well-being of her neighborhood and serving the people who live within it. In addition to being the co-chair of both the Bowdoin Geneva Alliance and Friends of Geneva Cliffs, she has participated in numerous community events and constantly instills the importance of giving back to the community in her colleagues and her family. Ms. Laptiste ran the Boston Marathon for Team BIDMC in 2017 and again in 2018. In 2018, she was recognized by BIDMC as a YMCA Achiever for her accomplishments and dedication to community service.

Ms. Laptiste is one of seven Commissioners to the Board of Health for the city of Boston. In this role, Ms. Laptiste works on a broader scale to impact change and ensure equity in health outcomes for residents throughout the City of Boston. Ms. Laptiste served as an adjunct professor for the Suffolk University Healthcare Administration Program and is also a member of the program’s Advisory Board. Ms. Laptiste served on the Transition and Discharge Integrity Teams for Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins. She also currently serves on the board for Boston Uncornered.

Ashley Humienny, Director of Healthcare Innovation at Benefits Data Trust, oversees the organization’s healthcare business. She is responsible for setting and driving BDT’s healthcare strategy, including current project success, partnership development, and evolving offerings. Her expertise includes healthcare technology, non-traditional care models, and market strategy. 

Ashley rejoined BDT three years ago as the “founding member” of the Healthcare Innovation department. Her passion for the intersection of healthcare technology and social impact was heavily influenced by her first role at BDT as the organization’s Strategic Initiatives Coordinator in the early 2010s. She left BDT to pursue an MBA, going on to guide Cardinal Health’s payer strategy development as a Senior Consultant. She then joined Candescent Health, a radiology technology start-up recently acquired by Envision Health, in a client management and business development role, before rejoining BDT. 

Ashley earned her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. 

Dr. Foti is a founding physician of AbsoluteCare’s delivery model. AbsoluteCare is a risk-based care model that delivers concierge care to the most vulnerable, complex and highest utilizing populations leveraging a multidisciplinary integrated care team including medical, social, behavioral health, substance use disorders, complex care management and community-based solutions. Before joining AbsoluteCare, Dr. Foti served as Senior Medical Director for Bravo Health, Healthspring and Cigna. He also served as the Physician Advisor and Chair of Utilization Management at Summit Health System in Pennsylvania. He earned his MD from AUC School of Medicine – his clinicals completed with the Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland clinical programs. He is Board Certified in Family Medicine.

Biography: Dallas Ducar is the Chief Executive Officer of Transhealth Northampton. Dallas is on faculty at Northeastern University, University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Nursing, Columbia University, and the MGH Institute for Health Professions. She serves as the Co-Chair of the Primary Care Alliance, is on the LGBTQI Federal Policy Roundtable, and advocates for gender-affirming care nationally. She serves on the Board of Directors for GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), Healing Our Community Collaborative (HOCC), the University of Virginia Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA) Fund, and on the Health Advisory Council for Western Governors University. As a public servant, she also serves on the Northampton Board of Health. She has advised international research groups on best practices and has carried out community-based participatory action research programs. Dallas seeks to revolutionize healthcare, building novel systems to provide holistic, empowering, gender-affirming care. 

Passions: Dallas finds meaning and passion in her life by spending time hiking with her dogs, exploring the outdoors, and spending time with her loving family and friends. She is actively working to demedicalize healthcare by empowering patients, creating more ethical systems, and restoring a community focus back to clinical care. 

Kistein Monkhouse, M.P.A., is a public health expert and patient advocate advocating for health equity. She is the CEO and founder of Patient Orator, a digital health solution powering meaningful communication between individuals and their health teams to improve health outcomes. Kistein is a 2022 Aspen Ideas fellow, a 2021 Vital Voices fellow, a speaker, and the producer of the award-winning films Humanizing Health Care and Hearing Cancer. She serves as a board member of various not-for-profit organizations and is involved with patient advocacy at the local and national levels championing efforts to combat healthcare disparities through shared decision-making between individuals and their care teams.

• Twitter: @KisteinM
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kisteinmonk45/

Estela Mata is the President and co-founder of Looms for Lupus, a non-profit organization that provides lupus, fibromyalgia and mental health awareness, advocacy, and support to those living with these conditions, their loved ones, and caregivers. Estela is also an ambassador of hope and co-founder of Mata Advocacy and Support (MAS) an advocacy consulting firm dedicated to improving the lives of those in need, where her 30 years of healthcare experience as well as her personal experience as a patient and caregiver help bridge the connection and continuous engagement between all stakeholders; industry and patient. As a community leader and healthcare advocate she partners & works on initiatives in collaboration with local, national, and global organizations including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Minority Health and Health to increase awareness on the need for diversity in lupus clinical trials. She is a Virtual Advisor Team member for both the All of us Research Program and the Scripps Research Digital Trials Center and participant in the Congresswoman Grace Napolitano’s Mental Health Consortium. Estela is an exceptional community engagement liaison for both English and Spanish speakers.

Teresa Wright-Johnson is a Congenital Heart Disease Survivor and a Multiple Sclerosis Warrior. She is also an advocate, writer, inspirational speaker and poet. Teresa knows there is a calling on her life and she fully embraces that. She uses her illnesses and experiences as opportunities to further rely on her faith, walk in her truth, raise awareness, educate and empower others. Her divine mission is to be a light that shines in dark places. Diversity, inclusion and health equity matter to Teresa and her advocacy efforts solidify her commitment to amplifying the patient voice and for racial and social justice.

Teresa is a graduate of Rutgers University with a background in Criminal Justice, Social Services and Supervision. She is a retired Senior Parole Officer.

Teresa is a columnist, contributor and guest writer for multiple patient advocacy sites. She is a patient consultant and serves on the Board of Directors as Vice President for US Heart Valve Voice, Board of Directors member for the Lehigh Valley American Heart Association and Iconquer MS Engagement Committee member and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee Co-Chair. In addition, Teresa is a member of the inaugural HealtheVoices DEAI Task Force, Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) African American Advisory Board and a Lyfebulb Ambassador. Teresa is also a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated. 

“I am the face of a Survivor. I am all of my pain and glory. Not always picture perfect, yet I am alive to tell my story.” (A Survivor’s Anthem -TWJ)

Juana Mata is a Children’s Social Worker. Juana is also one of the co-founders of Looms for Lupus a nonprofit organization that provides support for Lupus survivors, their families and caregivers. She dedicated to raising awareness, self-advocacy and advocating for lupus, fibromyalgia and mental health. Juana advocates with local, state and national government officials.  Juana is also an ambassador of hope and co-founder of Mata Advocacy and Support (MAS) an advocacy consulting firm dedicated to improving the lives of those in need. 

Juana has been interviewed by Telemundo on her Lupus journey, shared her story with the California Chronic Care Coalition, My Patient Rights. She is the National Ambassador for the NIH All Of us Research Program as well as a Virtual Advisor Team member for both the All of us Research Program and the Scripps Research Digital Trials Center. She has been featured as a Lupus Hero by Lupus LA, written blogs for Lupus Research Alliance and was part of the AdvocacyLobbying efforts in Washington DC on March 2018 through 2022. Also in March of 2018, Juana was honored as the 48th Assembly District Woman of the Year by Assemblywoman Blanca E. Rubio in the annual event at the Capitol. Juana was the 2019 Lupus Patient Advisor for Patients Like Me, the world’s largest personalized patient platform. In 2018 and 2019 Juana was a consumer advocate for the scientific peer review of Department of Defense. Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs’ Lupus Research Program. Juana also advocates for Fibromyalgia and Mental Health; she attended the first Fibromyalgia DC advocacy day in 2019. 

Dr. Nwando Olayiwola is the inaugural Chief Health Equity Officer and Senior Vice President of Humana, Inc., a role she commenced in April 2021. In this role, she is responsible for setting a health equity agenda and strategy to promote health equity across all Humana lines of business, including its care delivery assets. She is also responsible for defining enterprise-wide measures for equity, designing a health equity lens for improvement, and coordinating efforts to achieve true health equity for millions of patients and members across the nation. At Humana, Dr. Olayiwola is leading the development and implementation of the health equity strategic plan and coordinating the integration of health equity into multiple business components. She has been a national leader in technology-enabled AI and empowered primary care. She also serves as a Board-certified practicing family physician Heart of Ohio Community Health Center, serving a largely medically underserved patient population.