intelligently engineered
An unparalleled team of domain experts, with the vision and drive for such an important undertaking.
Team
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.
Board of Directors
Doug Band
Director and Co-Founder
Doug was founding partner and former President of Teneo, a multinational C-suite advisory firm and investment bank. Prior to Teneo, Doug was a primary advisor to President Bill Clinton for over 15 years and a key architect of the Clinton post-presidency through the creation of the Clinton Global Initiative. Doug is a successful advisor to and investor in numerous enterprises with disruptive business models.
Todd Meister
Director and Co-Founder
Cofounder and General Partner of multiple hedge funds, as well as venture capital and private equity funds, including First Spark Ventures, Priderock, J Net Ventures and Rhone Group. Former President and Board member of AG&P and owner of PLCN, both Asia-based energy infrastructure companies.
Patrick Haynes III
Director
Pat is the CEO and Founder of Thurston Group. He 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. Currently, Pat serves on the Board of Directors for Smiles Dental, U.S. Oral Surgery Management, South Georgia Dental Management, and U.S. Endodontics Partners.
Robert Galvin, M.D.
Director
Bob is 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, Bob was Executive Director of Health Services and Chief Medical Officer for General Electric. He is a nationally recognized leader in market-based health policy and financing, quality measurement and payment reform and helped to found the Leapfrog Group and Catalyst for Payment Reform. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Allan Tessler
Investor & Director
Accomplished business executive with deep management and turnaround expertise. Served as CEO, Director and Chairman of private and publicly held corporations including TD Ameritrade, L Brands, Great Dane Holdings, Teton Financial, Interactive Data Corp and several others. Trustee Emeritus at Cornell University.
Jay Hass
Observer
Jay is CFO & General Partner at AlleyCorp, responsible for business operations and strategic initiatives, as well as sourcing and supporting new business incubations and portfolio investments. Jay joined AlleyCorp from RRE Ventures, where he served as a partner and remains a strategic advisor. Jay was formerly a Managing Director at Brown Brothers Harriman and previously spent several years in national political campaign management.