The Healthcare Council lists local speakers with expertise in a variety of disciplines to assist our membership with educational needs.
Whether you are planning a professional development event for your staff or a retreat for your Board, the speaker’s bureau, is provided to help you identify local speakers that can assist you with your event. If you are looking for local speakers that can assist with your educational programs check the list of potential subjects and presentations.
Local speakers for specific disciplines are listed for member’s educational needs. The bureau is a work in progress and will continue to expand as potential speakers are recommended.
Ajay K Gupta, CISSP, MBA
Over a near 30-year career in cybersecurity and information technology, Ajay has seen companies create true competitive advantage from successful management of security and technology initiatives. At the same time, healthcare is burdened with outdated technology infrastructure and inefficiencies – which are often measured in human lives. Ajay decided to take his understanding of technology and implementation to disrupt and innovate healthcare.
In launching HSR.health, Ajay leverages the best of tech to transform American healthcare into a system that innovates healthcare delivery achieving improved quality, lower costs, and health equity. Under Ajay’s leadership, HSR.health pivoted to support COVID response in the US and globally. And through its lessons learned has developed insights into how health risks impact broader markets. The company is developing a digital Pandemic Early Warning and Response Platform to identify and mitigate impact of future pandemics.
In addition to his work at HSR.health, Ajay Chairs the Health Domain Working Group for the Open Geospatial Consortium, the global standards setting body for all things Geo; serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Holy Cross Health, a multi-hospital social safety net health system in Montgomery County, MD and the Flagship System for Trinity Health, a $20+ Billion health system with 101 hospitals across 26 U.S. States; is a Commissioner on the newly formed Commission on Nurse Reimbursement; serves as the Co-Lead for the Healthcare Infrastructure work group of the UN-chartered Group on Earth Observation (GEO) Health Community of Practice (CoP); and is a member of the College Board of Visitors for Wake Forest University.
If he isn’t using the HSR.health geospatial platform to map disease rates against social factors to identify solutions to population health challenges, such as the opioid epidemic or maternal mortality, you can find him at sporting events or behind the mic bursting eardrums while belting out his favorite pop tunes from U2, Sting, George Michael, or Imagine Dragons.
- Healthcare Innovator | Patented Inventor | Invited Speaker | Published Author.
- Chairman of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Health Domain Working Group (DWG).
- Chairman of the Board of Directors, Holy Cross Health, a multi-hospital social safety net healthcare system & flagship of Trinity Health.
- Chairs the Executive Governance Committee and the Nomination Committee. Also Serves on the Board’s Finance, Quality & Patient Safety Committees.
- Commissioner, Commission on Nurse Reimbursement.
- Observer, United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management.
- Co-Chair of the UN-chartered Group on Earth Observation (GEO) Healthcare Infrastructure work group.
- Member, College Board of Visitors, Wake Forest University.
- Board of Governors, University of Maryland Alumni Association, and Chair of the Board’s Revenue Committee (Past).
- Member, HIMSS Education Committee, Reviewer, Moderator, and Speaker Mentor for HIMSS Annual Conference.
- Member, HIMSS Social Determinants of Health Task Force (Past).
- Recognized with the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award by Molo-9, in 2021.
- Author of Top Paper at IEEE BHI 2017 entitled, Geospatial Health Applications for Social Determinant of Health Analysis.
- Judge, Webby Awards.
- Recognized cybersecurity expert | Expert witness on cybersecurity issues for criminal & civil court cases.
- Toastmasters Competent Leader & Advanced Communicator Bronze.
- Named inventor on HSR.health patents and patent filings.
Ajay K Gupta, CISSP, MBA, Founder & CEO, HSR.health | www.HSR.health | agupta@healthsolutionsresearch.org
Kenneth Cohen
Dr. Cohen has been recognized for leading several respected national research studies involving “Best Practices in Healthcare Leadership.” He has conducted many seminars on effective leadership, recruitment, selection, executive development, and retention strategies for many respected healthcare organizations including the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Center for Healthcare Governance, and several State Hospital Associations, taught at both the graduate and undergraduate level and he has written, been published and/or interviewed in professional journals and publications including: “Board Room Press,” “Contemporary Long Term Care,” “Healthcare Executive,” “Healthcare Informatics,” “Hospitals and Health Networks,” “Nursing Homes,” “The Wall Street Journal,” and “Trustee.” He earned his Masters and PhD as a Psychologist with Distinction Honors at Temple University and his Bachelors in Psychology at Dickinson College.
Kenneth R. Cohen, PhD, President & CEO, The Synergy Organization
215-638-9777 Ext. 101 | 267-983-6503 (Direct) | www.synergyorg.com | ken@synergyorg.com
David Eilers
David Eilers is the Founder of INext90 Advisors, specializing in transformational innovation and strategic growth across the continuum of healthcare. Skilled in a number of human-centered design methods, INext90 Advisors has helped dozens of health and wellness institutions develop new models of patient engagement, care coordination, efficient discharge procedures, population health, integrated care for children—all within a ninety-day cycle. Mr. Eilers has held a variety of management positions in large multi-national biotech companies, including one which launched the first video endoscopy platform.
He often speaks to academic communities, medical societies and industry panels interested in design thinking, technology adoption and rapid transformation. David is also an Adjunct Faculty member of Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management with an emphasis on Corporate Entrepreneurship.
David Eilers, INext90 Advisors, LLC
315-374-3561 | djeilers@syr.edu
Traci Kodeck
Traci Kodeck has been with HCAM since 2000, originally serving as an Ombudsman/Perinatal Liaison helping pregnant and postpartum women navigate the complex Medicaid system. Traci came on board as interim CEO in December 2015 and was unanimously appointed by the Board of Directors after a national search. HealthCare Access Maryland, a nonprofit based in Baltimore serves over 80,000 Marylanders annually with a mission of connecting individuals and families to health insurance coverage, navigating the health care system and addressing social determinants of health with a focus on health disparities among marginalized communities. Our mission: We are making Maryland healthier by connecting residents to insurance and care, educating the community about healthier living, and advocating a more equitable health care system. HCAM addresses the social determinants of health such as food access, transportation, accessible and affordable housing, mental health and substance use treatment and individualized goals for each family. We focus on addressing care transitions while removing barriers to allow those individuals to successfully access all services necessary for improved health outcomes.
Over the past 20 years, she served as Director of Maternal and Child Health Programs and then Chief of Program Operations before being promoted to Vice President of Programs in January 2011. Traci served for two years in the United States Peace Corps in the Eastern Caribbean as a community development worker, educating parents and teachers in a local pre-school. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Community and Family Studies from the University of Delaware. She completed her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, where she focused on Health Education/Promotion with a concentration in Maternal and Child Health. In 2018, Traci received the University of Arizona Alumna of the year award from the School of Public Health and in 2019 and 2021 was named one of The Daily Record’s Top 100 Women. Traci’s areas of interest include:
- Health insurance coverage
- System navigation including addressing social determinants of health
- Removing barriers to address silos of care transitions
- Role of the CHW in care transitions
Traci is a Towson resident and lives with her young daughter and partner, Dr. Rob Atlas.
Traci Kodeck, Healthcare Access Maryland
One North Charles Street, Suite 900 Baltimore, Maryland 21201
410-649-0521 | www.healthcareaccessmaryland.org | tkodeck@hcamaryland.org
Kristin G. McGurn
Ms. McGurn is a partner in Seyfarth’s Boston office practicing in the area of labor and employment litigation and counseling, specializing in wage and hour compliance and litigation. Ms. McGurn is an experienced litigator, whose expertise spans federal employment law and analogous state common law and statutory claims, including Title VII, ADEA, FMLA, ADA, FLSA, civil and equal rights, fair employment practices and wage payment claims. Ms. McGurn counsels and defends scores of employers in many business sectors, with an emphasis on issues affecting the health care industry.
Ms. McGurn’s practice focuses on assisting private and public businesses in retail, hospitality, and financial services, and not-for-profit employers in health care, to negotiate and draft employment contracts and covenants, as well as separation and severance agreements. She prosecutes and defends a wide variety of business and employment-related disputes including discrimination, harassment and retaliation, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, non-competition, non-solicitation unfair competition, and whistle-blower claims. Her experience also includes defending ERISA claims in court and before the United States Department of Labor, and defending employers before the Massachusetts Division of Unemployment Assistance in connection with Fair Share Employer Contribution assessments and appeals.
Kristin G. McGurn
Boston Office
617-946-4858 | www.seyfarth.com | kmcgurn@seyfarth.com
James Pisano
Jim helps improve individual and organizational effectiveness and facilitates change using three disciplines: Psychological Type, Influence, and Conscious Modeling. Jim maintains a laser focus on facilitating actual behavioral change through a focus on the underlying perceptions and attitudes that drive behavior.
Jim’s unique style and approach to Psychological Type, developed by C.G. Jung, Ph.D., focuses on making Type actually work for people by driving lasting behavioral change that supports increases in productivity, improvements in decision-making, better morale, and greater individual and team effectiveness in the workplace. Jim is a certified administrator of the Myers/Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
Through Influence, a discipline that looks at how to affect others in a way that creates lasting, targeted behavioral change, Jim empowers business leaders to increase their ability to get buy-in from management, colleagues, employees, and other business partners. This approach draws from a range of influences, including years of sales experience and The Harvard Negotiation Project.
Conscious Modeling is an intensive, proprietary, coaching doctrine and methodology Jim has developed, that can be used personally and professionally, to increase one’s practical ability to create satisfying outcomes in all areas of life, including the ability for business leaders to display “enlightened” leadership. Jim draws from myriad sources for this effort, including: particle physics, Taoism, cosmology, Type, Temperament, meditation, and IChing.
James Pisano
410.961.8851 | jamesapisano@yahoo.com
Kacey Troyer
Kacey Troyer leads a Health Care Advisory Firm specializing in Senior Living. His group is known for measuring Risk and Growth in markets with a reporting style that is visual and easy to understand and use. He is a national speaker at major conferences on the following topics; strategic targeted marketing, econometric mapping, quantifying goodwill and intangible asset value, transaction risk and valuation issues during mergers and acquisitions, alternative and highest and best use studies, appealing real estate taxes, time management, team empowerment and strategy creation.
Kacey Troyer, Troyer Advisors LLC
360 Cumberland Parkway, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
717-215-6915 (Cell) | www.troyeradvisors.com | ktroyer@troyeradvisors.com
