Rise

Gaby Alcalá Founder and CEO

MAPA HealthCare

Gabrielena (Gaby) Alcala is a consultant with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She has worked with various organizations, from start-ups to large corporations. Her current focus is on helping organizations transition to value-based care. Gaby is passionate about assisting organizations in executing projects in an agile manner, improving processes, and making healthcare more patient-centered.

Gaby has worked with multiple organizations, including Iora Health, Community Care Cooperative (C3), CityBlock, Partners HealthCare (currently Mass General Brigham), BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting), and The World Bank. Her work has included Medicare Advantage risk adjustment strategic planning and implementation, new business and program development, and operational system redesign.

With a great ability to swiftly adapt, she excels in managing complex projects, collaborating with stakeholders, inspiring teams, and consistently delivering positive outcomes in challenging environments.
She has an MA in Economics from the University of Michigan and a BA in Economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela. Gaby is fluent in English and Spanish, with intermediate proficiency in French.

Hannah Austin MBA, CEO/Founder

SheShatters, LLC

Hannah Austin is a bestselling author, international podcast host, and the CEO of SheShatters. She specializes in the management and prevention of burnout for professionals. She has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News.

Before founding SheShatters, Hannah spent 20 years as an executive in the healthcare industry, a role in which she faced immense pressure and witnessed her colleagues suffering the effect of burnout en masse. She became determined to make a change that would impact not only her path in life but also the paths of the many inspiring professionals she knew and worked with. Hannah founded SheShatters in 2021 to help employees and managers with their mental health and find a balance between their personal and professional lives, and on a macro level, leading a movement away from corporate hustle culture.

Berthine Crèvecoeur West Westbridge Solutions

Head of Business Strategy Development| Certified Diversity Executive®

As a trailblazing force in the world of business strategy and executive consulting, Berthine Crèvecoeur West has emerged as a beacon of excellence and innovation. With a diverse skill set and a passion for fostering inclusive environments, Berthine is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE) ® who brings over two decades of experience to the table.

Berthine Crèvecoeur West’s remarkable journey as a business strategist and executive consultant is rooted in her data-driven approach to crafting successful business strategies, conducting comprehensive assessments, and performing insightful analyses. With an innate ability to drive innovation and a commitment to healthy progression, Berthine empowers organizations to thrive in the everchanging landscape, making her a visionary leader with a keen eye for transformational opportunities.

As the CEO and Head of Business Development and Operations, Berthine’s impactful contributions lie in helping businesses unlock the true value of diversity. Her impressive track record includes creating innovative diversity programs and fostering strong employee development, resulting in inclusive workspaces where creativity and collaboration flourish. Leveraging data-driven insights, she crafts DEI and employee engagement strategies that align with organizational goals, ensuring sustainable growth and success.

Berthine has an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business & Technology, an MA in Government & Politics from St. John's University, and coinciding certifications including a WOSB and EDWOSB. She is an Executive Board member of GUIDE, Inc., a member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce.

Berthine is also a Global Keynote Speaker, Best-Selling Author, Award-Nominated Podcast Host, and Editor-in-Chief of Global Fluency Magazine. Berthine has been featured in CBS, NBC, Fox, Voyage ATL, Shout Atlanta, 11 Alive News, the Tuff Talk Show and countless podcast interviews. She lives in Gwinnett County, GA with her family and enjoys spending her free time traveling and trying new foods and experiencing different cultures. 

Dr. Shannon Decker Principal

VBC One

Dr. Shannon Decker is principal at VBC One, a consulting firm assisting physician groups, health plans and vendors maximize the performance of their value based contracts and offerings.  Dr. Decker has more than 20 years experience in health care and most recently led teams in risk, quality, data and analytics, telehealth, COVID response and delegation compliance.  Of her more than 20 years of experience in healthcare--15 include working with risk adjustment, quality and Medicare. Dr. Decker has a PhD. in Interdisciplinary Studies, dual MBA degrees--in Finance and in Marketing, as well as an M.Ed. in Secondary Education and a M.Ed. in Administration and Leadership. Dr. Decker is on the faculty at Arizona State University and is also an associate professor of Higher Education & Adult Learning (HEAL) and chief methodologist for Walden and Capella Universities where she chairs and oversees the dissertations of doctoral students. An author of two books and several peer-reviewed articles, and a prolific national public speaker, her interests include the study of human behavior and how theories on motivation and learning may be brought to bear on population health management.

Dr. Heather Denninston

WELLFIT and FED

Dr. Denniston bridges the connection between personal well-being and professional success for elite leaders and their teams. 

She delivers custom solutions for burnout and stress and provides cohesive habit-training strategies that maximize vitality, productivity, and resilience.

Her Wellness Amplifier Performance Program is sourced from 25 years of private practice and working with companies from small start-ups to global giants like Microsoft. 

As a keynote speaker and coach, she motivates audiences covering topics from health and wellness to stress and resilience. She is the author of Three Day Reset and a regular contributor to several online wellness publications such as Thrive Global and Medium.

Colleen Gianatasio Director of Ambulatory CDQI  

Mount Sinai Health Partners  

Colleen Gianatasio CPC, CPCO, CRC, CDEO, CPC-P, CPMA, CPPM, CCS, CCDS-O, and AAPC Approved Instructor has over 20 years of experience in the health insurance field. She has experience in customer service, claims, quality, and coding. As Director, Clinical Documentation Integrity and Coding Compliance, Colleen’s primary responsibilities are provider engagement and clinical documentation improvement for accurate coding and reimbursement. Colleen specializes in developing innovative coding curriculum and instruction to support compliance with federal guidelines and appropriate reimbursement processes. She is a certified AAPC instructor and enjoys teaching a variety of coding, documentation, and auditing classes. Colleen serves as President of the AAPC National Advisory Board.

Savannah Gonsalves MHA, BSN, RN, Director of Quality Improvement 

Hometown Health

Savannah Gonsalves, RN, BSN, MHA is the Director of Quality for Hometown Health. Savannah specializes is regulatory quality programs, including MIPS, ACO, and HEDIS and has a passion for population health.  She has an extensive background in clinical informatics as well and uses this to integrate quality into clinician workflows effectively and efficiently. In her role at Hometown Health, she oversees the Stars and Accreditation Programs. She enjoys hiking and camping with her family in the paradise that is Lake Tahoe.  

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it” George Bernard Shaw.

Ana Handshuh Principal

CAT5 Strategies

Ana Handshuh, Principal at CAT5 Strategies, is a government programs executive with expertise in creating and implementing corporate programs for the healthcare industry. Her background includes Quality, Core Measures, Care Management, Benefit Design and Bid Submission, Accreditation, Regulatory Compliance, Revenue Management, Communications, Community-based Care Management Programs and Technology Integration. Ms. Handshuh currently serves on the Board of the Resource Initiative and Society for Education (RISE), the preeminent national professional association dedicated to managed and accountable care financing and delivery. She is a sought after speaker on the national healthcare circuit in the areas of Quality, Star Ratings, Care Management, Member and Provider Engagement, and Revenue Management. Her recent consultancy roles have included assisting organizations create programs to address the unmet care management needs in the highest risk strata of membership, document their processes and procedures, achieve accreditation status, design and submit government program bids, institute corporate-wide programs and create communications strategies and materials. She possesses sophisticated business acumen with the ability to build consensus with cross-functional groups to accomplish corporate goals. Ms. Handshuh served as the Vice President of Managed Care Services at Central Florida Inpatient Medicine (CFIM). In this role, she provided leadership and strategy on CFIM projects and collaborations with physicians, risk entities, hospital health care systems, and health plans. CFIM is the largest Hospitalist group in Central Florida, with 70 providers discharging over 50,000 patients annually from multiple hospitals across two health care delivery systems and 24 skilled nursing facilities. At CFIM Ms. Handshuh previously served as the Vice President of Operations. Prior to those assignments, she worked with Precision Healthcare Systems as their Vice President of Quality Improvement. In that capacity, she led the IPA’s Quality efforts and collaborated with payers on implementing programs to move the needle on Quality and Star Rating initiatives. Ms. Handshuh also served as the Director of Corporate Program Development at Physicians United Plan. In this role, she led the Quality Management and Corporate Communications departments and spearheaded the development of innovative integrated technology solutions to drive business excellence and Star Rating achievement initiatives. For the past fifteen years Ms. Handshuh has taken an active role in redefining and implementing changes that have led to improvements and greater efficiency within Government programs and healthcare delivery. Prior to joining Physicians United Plan Ms. Handshuh was the founder of I-Six Creative. Under Ms. Handshuh’s vision and leadership, I-Six Creative provided expertise in the areas of managed Medicare benefit design, MSO/IPA operations, provider network strategy, new market launches, technology integration, corporate communications and quality improvement.

Rose Kazoka, MD, MPH Senior Clinical Network Director, ChristianaCare Clinical Alliance Senior Medical Director, Delaware Medicaid Partners (Medicaid ACO) Senior Medical Director, eBright Health (Medicare ACO)

Christiana Care Health System

Rose Kakoza, MD, MPH, FACP is a board-certified practicing primary care internist at ChristianaCare where she serves as Senior Clinical Network Director for Population Health. In that role she oversees the clinical strategy for the ChristianaCare Clinical Alliance, the health system’s clinically integrated network. She also serves as the Senior Medical Director for the health system’s value-based care contract portfolio, including the Medicaid Accountable Care Organization (Delaware Medicaid Quality Partners) and Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO (eBrightHealth). With oversight over the clinical strategy across all value-based contracts for the network, Dr. Kakoza drives the design and scale of an effective models of care delivery and the development of innovative population health management programs and services to help drive quality, value and cost savings. Dr. Kakoza also oversees CareVio, Population Health’s case management subsidiary organization supporting approximately 160,000 risk lives across value-based lines of business. She brings extensive experience to her roles, including expertise in population health, clinical quality, health equity and improving care delivery in large health care systems with complex physician networks and community partnerships.

Dr. Kakoza is passionate about cultivating health equity and advocating for health policy that addresses structural barriers facing underserved populations. As a leader, Dr. Kakoza is dedicated to the growth and development of her teams, aligning employees to long-term strategic visions, and inspiring positive transformation.

Previously, Dr. Kakoza served as Assistant Medical Director for Medicaid at Mass General Brigham and as the Medical Director for the Medicaid ACO at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is highly regarded for her population health expertise and primary and specialty care-based innovations, which focus on medically complex patients, social determinants of health and complex behavioral health management. 

Dr. Kakoza holds an MPH from Harvard School of Public Health, an MD from Harvard Medical School and a BA in Sociology, cum laude, from Harvard College.

Stephanie McGrew MHA, Assistant Director, Diversity & Inclusion  

A.T. Still University

Dr. Christie McMullen CEO

AIM...Analyze, Improve, Move 

Dr. Christie McMullen is a seasoned educator turned entrepreneur, dedicated to infusing work with genuine fun. With 25 years of experience and expertise in educational leadership, she's impacted organizations like FAMP, ReMax, Aetna, Solaris, and RISE, enhancing human interactions.

With a master's and doctorate in Educational Leadership, Dr. McMullen connects with individuals across industries, from CEOs to educators to salespeople. As a coach, networking specialist, and keynote speaker, she offers transformative experiences, using her AIM approach: Analyze, Improve, Move towards extraordinary relationships.

Dr. McMullen's coaching is personalized, tailored to diverse needs, whether in the corporate world or personal relationships. She helps humans overcome mediocrity and unlock the potential for extraordinary connections.

Kelsey Stevens FSA, MAAA, MBA, Principal

Wakely Consulting Group

Kyra Valdez-Shipp, RN, MSN, CCM

Peak Performance Solutions Group

Kyra Valdez-Shipp stands out as an esteemed healthcare executive and is the Founder & Principal of Peak Performance Solutions Group. Her mission is straightforward: to Inspire, Motivate, and Elevate individuals and organizations to infinite potential. Boasting two decades of experience in healthcare across various products, Kyra assists health plans, providers, and healthcare technology vendors in achieving peak performance with a focus on member-centric strategies. Her deep passion lies in pioneering healthcare solutions that cater to the dynamic and varied needs of populations managed by healthcare professionals daily.