Intelligently Engineered
An unparalleled team of domain experts, with the vision and drive for such an important undertaking.
Team
Swati Mathai
Co-Founder & CEO
Steven LaPointe
Information Technology
Matthew Fujisawa
Finance
Howard Kraft
Market Engagement
Salem Shunnarah
Commercial
Niki Panich, M.D.
Clinical
Jeri Medrea
People
Francois de Brantes
Payment Innovation & Performance
Lauryssa Humm
Network Development & Operations
Richard Schneider
Product & Data Intelligence
Jeremy Berk
Risk Solutions
Teri Pung
Operations & Payment Integrity
Tariq R. Chaudhri
Infrastructure & Support
Caroline Ritter
Project Management Office
Melissa Ehresman
Experience
Advisors
Ken Goulet
Executive Advisor
Ken is a senior-level healthcare executive with 35+ years of proven experience in growing and leading large health plan organizations. Most recently, he served as executive vice president of Elevance Health (formerly Anthem Inc.), and president of the company’s Commercial and Specialty Business Division. Ken is an investor in XO Health and serves as an advisor and industry expert for the Board.
Seth Friedman
Strategic Advisor
Seth provides design and capabilities diligence support for the XO Health pharmacy solution. He currently leads pharmacy practice for Gallagher and has an extensive background working with new pharmacy disruptors.
Annette Guarisco Fildes
Strategic Advisor
Annette is a strategic public policy and political counselor with over 30 years of experience in corporate and government sectors. She has served as counsel to Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott, practiced law at the Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel, oversaw public policy and compliance at General Motors, and most recently served as CEO of The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), leading the association’s public policy advocacy mission.
Erik Sossa
Strategic Advisor
Erik is an experienced benefits professional committed to advancing access to quality healthcare. He is bringing this energy and passion into the design of XO Health by representing a holistic view of employer needs. Erik is currently an advisor to multiple digital health companies, including Sword Health, meQuilibrium and apree health. He also remains active in the health care policy and regulatory environment as director emeritus for the ERISA Industry Committee. Most recently, Erik led Global Benefits for PepsiCo and was previously an actuary in Mercer’s retirement practice.
Hassan Azar
Strategic Advisor
Hassan is a thought leader and innovator in employer health plans solutions and is ensuring the employer perspective is built into all aspects of the XO Health solution. He has led employee benefits programs at multiple Fortune 500 companies, including JLL, US Foods, Kraft, Mondelez, and Ford Motor Company. Hassan provides product, commercial and marketing consulting to numerous healthcare startups. He also serves as an advisor to the Employer Health Innovation Roundtable and is a member of the Health Affairs Council on Health Care Spending and Value.
Kevin Kickhaefer
Strategic Advisor
Kevin serves as an advisor to XO Health. He is currently the President and Chief Growth Officer for Gravie, a startup health plan for small employers. He is the former CEO of Consumer Medical (now an Alight company). Kevin also served as Chief Growth Officer for Bloom Health, and is a former executive at Cigna.
Amy Cheslock
Strategic Advisor
Amy supports XO Health’s primary care strategy and approach. She is currently the COO of Element3Health, a wellbeing solution. She formerly led the southeast region for Privia Health, a national physician platform transforming the healthcare delivery experience. Amy also served as the network and payment innovation leader for Elevance Health (formerly Anthem Inc.).
Lawrence Azerrad
Strategic Advisor
Lawrence is supporting XO Health in creating a brand and voice that can span and connect across its many stakeholders. He is a two-time Grammy Award-winning creative director, author and curator and known across the design industry for leading enterprises, musicians, educational and cultural institutions in the development of globally successful brand programs. His first book, Supersonic published by Prestel, was Amazon’s 2018 Arts & Photography selection of the year and is in the permanent collection of the V&A Museum in London.
Eric Grossman
Strategic Advisor
Eric is a seasoned health strategy consultant and FSA who has tirelessly advocated for transforming healthcare. He brings strategic and financial expertise to ensuring that XO’s approach is both fiscally prudent and practicable while delivering on the outcomes most important to our clients. Eric currently serves as an independent consultant and advisor. Previously, in his 35-year career with Mercer, he drove significant growth and innovation for large employers, spearheading several pioneering initiatives including Care Focused Purchasing, leading Mercer Marketplace, and running Mercer’s East Coast healthcare business.
Board of Directors
Doug Band
Director and Co-Founder
Doug is a successful advisor to and investor in numerous enterprises with disruptive business models. He served as a primary advisor to President Bill Clinton for over 15 years and was a key architect of the Clinton post-presidency through the creation of the Clinton Global Initiative. Doug then went on to be a founding partner and former President of Teneo, a multinational C-suite advisory firm and investment bank.
Todd Meister
Director and Co-Founder
Todd is an active and successful private capital investor and Founding General Partner of First Spark Ventures. He began his career in the investment banking group at Lazard Freres, and then went on to be cofounder and General Partner of multiple hedge funds, as well as venture capital and private equity funds, including Priderock, J Net Ventures and Rhone Group. He is the former President and Board member of AG&P and owner of PLCN, both Asia-based energy infrastructure companies.
Patrick Haynes III
Co-Chairman of the Board
Pat is a proactive investor who has repeatedly helped management teams accelerate organic growth, improve profitability, and execute acquisitions. He has over 40 years of experience in analyzing investment opportunities, arranging capital structures, negotiating debt financings, and advising the Boards of Directors for portfolio companies. Pat is the Founder and current CEO of Thurston Group, and serves on the Board of Directors for Smiles Dental, U.S. Oral Surgery Management, South Georgia Dental Management, and U.S. Endodontics.
Allan Tessler
Co-Chairman of the Board
Allan is an accomplished attorney and business executive with deep management and turnaround expertise. He has previously served as CEO, Director and Chairman of multiple private and publicly held corporations including TD Ameritrade, L Brands, J Net Enterprises, Teton Financial, Interactive Data Corp, Enhance Financial Services Group and several others. He was also the cofounder of CBS MarketWatch.com and principal shareholder of Great Dane Holdings. He is one of two Life Members of the Law School Advisory Council and Trustee Emeritus of Cornell University.
Averell H. Mortimer
Director
Averell has extensive experience across a variety of finance and investment fields, including banking, venture, and investment management. Currently, Averell is Managing Member of Arden Advisors LLC, where he oversees capital allocation across a diverse range of investment avenues, including equities, credit, private equity, and venture capital. Previously, Averell was CEO and founder of alternative asset management firm Arden Asset Management LLC, growing the firm to $15B in AUM before it was sold to Aberdeen Standard. Averell is the current Chair of the Investment Committee to The Boys Club of NY and serves on the boards of the Mary and Kathleen Harriman Foundation and St. John’s Church of Arden, New York.
Robert Galvin, M.D.
Director
Bob is a nationally recognized leader in market-based health policy and financing, quality measurement, and payment reform. He helped to found the Leapfrog Group and Catalyst for Payment Reform. He serves as an Executive Advisor to Blackstone and Professor Adjunct at the Yale School of Medicine. Previously, he was CEO of Equity Healthcare, a health management company, and an Operating Partner at Blackstone. Prior to Blackstone, he was Executive Director of Health Services and Chief Medical Officer for General Electric. Bob is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
James DeNaut
Director
Jim has advised numerous M&A, Capital Markets, and Asset Management clients over the course of his career. Currently, he serves as Managing Partner of Sea Court Capital. Prior to Sea Court, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer, Head of International Investment Banking, as well as a member of the Board of Directors at Nomura Holding America, Inc. Prior to Nomura, he served as Head of Global Banking and Head of Corporate and Investment Banking for the Americas at Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. Jim also serves as a Trustee of Northwestern University, a Board Member of Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) and is the Chairman of Youth About Business (YAB).
Jay Hass
Observer
Jay is responsible for business operations and strategic initiatives, as well as sourcing and supporting new business incubations and portfolio investments as the CFO & General Partner at AlleyCorp. Prior to AlleyCorp, he served as a partner at RRE Ventures and currently remains as strategic advisor. Jay was formerly a Managing Director at Brown Brothers Harriman and previously spent several years in national political campaign management.