Team

Elizabeth Agre is a physical therapist, currently working at Johns Hopkins Health Systems. She graduated from Shenandoah University with a doctorate of physical therapy and certification in performing arts medicine. She has spent time providing services to underserved medical communities, and as a practitioner, hopes to foster the development of strong interdisciplinary teams that bridge gaps in care. Elizabeth served as a team leader with Shenandoah University's PCP chapter, working on cultivating interprofessionalism and community partnership, and is currently a trainer with Intend Health Strategies. She loves to travel, hike in the mountains, and try new foods.

Zafina Ahsan is currently a behavioral health consultant intern at Healthpoint Seatac, Washington. She is a doctoral student working on her dissertation for Kansas City University. She works with underserved communities and makes sure to treat everyone according to their diverse needs, while taking a team approach and using the most advanced treatment modalities and approaches. She serves as a team coach for Intend Health Strategies.

Victoria Boggiano is a chief resident at the University of North Carolina’s family medicine residency program. Victoria was active in Stanford University's Primary Care Progress team throughout medical school, and was one of the team's co-chairs during her second year. In January 2015, she helped to organize the first annual Bay Area Primary Care Progress Summit, together with other students and faculty at Stanford and UCSF, as well as staff from Intend Health. Before medical school, Victoria spent a year working at a community health center in Maryland through AmeriCorps, which is where she first discovered the importance of primary care. She took a year off of medical school to pursue a master of public health degree at the University of California, Berkeley. Victoria is a political junkie who also likes to watch reality television and devour Vietnamese food. She is a lead coach, team coach, and a national trainer at Intend Health.

John Brennan, founder and managing partner of JWB Advisory Partners, specializes in advising CEOs, CFOs, executives, and boards of directors in Fortune 1000 firms, private equity, and global brands across consumer, healthcare, and technology sectors. With more than 20 years of experience, John has a successful track record leading growth strategy, operations, transformation, innovation, and M&A engagements. John's M&A experience includes having advised, structured, and/or negotiated over $15B of transactions.

Since 2020, John has served as an advisor to Google’s Startups Accelerator. His past leadership roles include president and managing director as well as a member of the board of directors at Arthur D. Little, Inc., president and chief operating officer of Reason Edge Technologies, senior vice president of Protocare, Inc., and vice president and managing director of ABT Associates, Inc.

John earned a master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, an MBA from the D’Amore-McKim Graduate School at Northeastern University, and a bachelor of arts degree in English from the College of the Holy Cross.

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Krisda H. Chaiyachati, MD, MPH, MSHP, is a physician executive at Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. He is the physician lead for value-based care and innovation, leading initiatives to put health data into action using real-time, clinical, administrative, and financial data to drive changes which lower the cost of care by improving provider experience, the patient journey, and delivering more equitable care.

Prior to Verily, Dr. Chaiyachati held leadership roles at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine as the medical director for Penn Medicine OnDemand Virtual Care, the medical director for PennOpenPass, the inaugural director for the Leonard Davis Institute-Penn Medicine Research Laboratory, and a clinical innovation manager within the Center for Health Care Innovation. He has published extensively and is a prominent thought leader on how to design, implement, and evaluate strategies which improve equity, efficiency, and access to care through transformative digital health initiatives.

He earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan, received a master of public health degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a master of science in health policy from the University of Pennsylvania. He completed his internal medicine training within Yale’s Primary Care Program.

He is a practicing primary care, internal medicine physician for the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

David Choi is a clinical pharmacist currently working at University of Chicago Medicine as a gastroenterology pharmacist specializing in inflammatory bowel disease. He graduated from University of Colorado School of Pharmacy and completed his pharmacy residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has previously been involved with Intend Health Strategies in the PCP chapter at the University of Colorado and the development of a student-run free clinic. He continues to be involved as a facilitator and coach through Intend Health. He is passionate about the importance of access to care, caring for underserved patient populations.

Chloe Ciccariello is a primary care provider and assistant professor at Boston Medical Center. She specializes in working with patients with complex medical care and addiction. Prior to this she worked as a primary care provider at Oak Street Health in Chicago, Illinois. She attended Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City for medical school and then completed her internal medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco. She also completed a chief year based at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Chloe first became involved with Intend Health Strategies in 2014 as a PCP Innovation Fellow and now serves as a team coach.

For more than two decades Jane has worked at the intersection of individual and cultural transformation in the field of organizational and leadership development. As chief program officer at Intend Health Strategies (formerly Primary Care Progress), Jane oversees the creation and delivery of the nonprofit’s Relational Leadership (RL) curriculum designed to enhance team effectiveness, collaboration, and advocacy. She partners with medical students, faculty, clinicians, and health systems leaders to empower them with the mindset and tools to connect in their relationships. Jane is passionately committed to creating transformative experiences that initiate the relational spark between individuals and teams, knowing that improving the quality of interactions is the most important element in catalyzing positive change in healthcare. Prior to Intend Health, Jane was the senior director of learning and development at Iora Health, focused on co-designing their practice launch curriculum, and overseeing the orientation, leadership, and professional skills development for a diverse collection of primary care roles and locations. She has a bachelor of arts degree from Boston University, a master of science degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and resides on Cape Cod with her partner, four children, three dogs, and a variety of small creatures.

Devorah Donnell is a family medicine physician in Connecticut. She graduated from the University of Connecticut Combined BS/MD program, where she founded the UConn Pre-Medical Society and volunteered at the UConn Migrant Farm Worker Medical Clinics. She has been involved with Intend Health Strategies since 2013, when she co-founded and led the UConn PCP Team. Since then she has served as training and engagement fellow, trainer, Leadership Summit coach, team coach, and lead coach. While in Boston for her Tufts family medicine residency at Cambridge Health Alliance, she served as resident director on the MassAFP Board of Directors. In 2018, she returned to Connecticut to practice in the office where she did her medical school continuity experience. She is passionate about full-spectrum reproductive health, adolescent care, mental health, and lifestyle counseling. She enjoys traveling, HGTV, baking, and spending time with her family. She serves as a lead and team coach and trainer for Intend Health.

Having joined Intend Health Strategies in June 2020, Kate’s focus as director of operations is to manage critical initiatives, infrastructure, and processes supporting the organization’s programs, operations, and resource development. This work encompasses areas including strategy planning, finance, human resources, governance, team development and engagement, and other relevant special projects. Prior to joining Intend Health, Kate has dedicated 20 years to the nonprofit field. Through multiple organizations from private foundations to state-funded human service agencies, she has overseen programs and operations in service of important agency missions including Parkinson’s Disease research, public health insurance enrollment and family rewards, education, homeless shelters, and substance use disorder treatment programs. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from Syracuse University and a master of public administration degree focused on public and nonprofit management from the NYU Wagner School of Public Service.

Robin Hunter’s leadership in the healthcare industry encompasses more than 25 years of work with integrated delivery systems, hospitals, providers, health plans, philanthropic organizations, private investors, and biopharmaceutical companies. He brings his vision, insights, and expertise to Intend Health Strategies’ work of infusing Relational Leadership throughout the national healthcare workforce.

Prior to joining Intend Health, Robin served as strategic initiatives and special projects consultant to the chief medical officer of the not-for-profit health plan, Fallon Health, where he led business development and performance improvement efforts focused on the value-based Medicaid products. He collaborated extensively with Fallon’s integrated delivery system and provider group partners to improve outcomes for members and enhance financial sustainability of the products. Robin has also served in a broad range of industry roles, including leading national physician relationship development for Boston Children’s Hospital, as well as serving on the senior management team for Arthur D. Little’s Americas practice and its Global Healthcare and Biopharma industry group. Robin attended MIT as an undergraduate and holds a bachelor of arts degree in economics and engineering from Brown University.

As a senior instructional designer at Intend Health Strategies, Victoria aids in the creation and delivery of our Relational Leadership curriculum. She partners with medical students, faculty, clinicians, and health systems leaders to empower them with the mindset and tools to connect in their relationships. Prior to joining Intend, Victoria taught science in the South Bronx and Kentucky, and served as a STEM instructional designer. She has a bachelor of science degree in environmental engineering from Columbia University, a master of arts degree from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, and resides in Ohio with her partner, four cats, dog, and snake. In her free time Victoria enjoys hiking, running, knitting, and playing video games.

Akbar Khan is a pediatric dentist and chief resident at the University of Minnesota Pediatric Dentistry Residency Program at the Masonic Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine where he served as a coach with the Urban Service Track and joined Intend Health in 2018 as a PCP team leader and community liaison, and now serves as a team coach. He completed a general practice residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital before pursuing a pediatrics residency with UMN. In his free time he loves woodworking, cooking and baking, and takes care of his plants.

Ariela comes to Intend Health Strategies with a background in nonprofit development and a curiosity about ways to strengthen our healthcare system. Prior to Intend Health she worked for the Elizabeth Peabody House, a community-based organization in Somerville, Massachusetts that provides early childhood education and youth programming to low- and mid-income families. Ariela has a bachelor of arts degree in earth and environmental science from Wesleyan University and a certificate in nonprofit leadership and management from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice.

Matt Lewis, PhD, is an expert on the use of narrative as a tool for connection, teamwork, and leadership development. With more than a decade of experience in classrooms and clinics, he has taught public narrative, culture, and identity at Emory University, Harvard University, and as a visiting researcher at Syracuse University. An advocate for the use of storytelling to break down barriers and cultivate interpersonal communication, Matt serves as a strategic consultant for Intend Health Strategies. He also frequently writes, speaks, and advises organizations and individuals on ways to leverage personal stories for social good and systems change.

Kari Mader is a family physician in Denver, Colorado and her work focuses on achieving health equity through innovative health education, leadership and team development, and community-based health change. She is co-founder and chief operating officer of the DAWN interprofessional student-run free clinic, a founding project of the University of Colorado PCP Student Action Network chapter. She serves as director of clinical and education innovation for the Aurora Community Health Commons, a community-campus collaborative aimed at building community health and wealth through innovative partnerships and education. Kari is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and School of Public Health and fortunate to teach interprofessional health students and primary care residents. For Intend Health, she serves as an advisor and national trainer. In her free time, Kari loves backpacking, skiing, and hanging with her chocolate lab Oak.

Irshad Manji is founder of the Moral Courage Project, which trains and certifies people to teach the skills of communicating constructively across divides.

The recipient of Oprah's "Chutzpah Award" for boldness, Irshad is also a New York Times bestselling author. Her latest book is Don't Label Me: How to Do Diversity Without Inflaming the Culture Wars. (Fun fact: Chris Rock calls the book "genius." We don’t yet know what Will Smith thinks of it.)

A professor of leadership at New York University for many years, Irshad now teaches with Oxford University's Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights.

Michael Mattiucci is a pediatric hospitalist and primary care provider at Wyoming Medical Center and Children’s Hospital Colorado. He first got involved with Intend Health as a PCP Student Action Network team leader at the University of Rochester during medical school, and was a participant in the first year of the Cohort Program. He completed his pediatric residency at the University of Colorado and a master of public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is passionate about social determinants of health, community participation in health systems change, child health advocacy, and building effective teams. When he's not in the hospital you can find him exploring in the Rocky Mountains. He serves as a lead coach and facilitator for Intend Health.

Ellen brings extensive experience in digital marketing and content creation to Intend Health Strategies. She has spent over 20 years in healthcare education and publishing, with roles at Elsevier, Credo Reference, and Harvard Business Publishing. Most recently at NEJM Group, publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine, she managed institutional marketing for educational solutions for residents and students in clinical training programs. At Intend Health, Ellen is responsible for creating and disseminating content to support the reach and impact of our programs. Ellen has a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Andrew is a board-certified internal medicine physician, co-director of the Morris-Singer Foundation, and founder and chair of Intend Health Strategies. He is a member of the Global Health Department at Harvard Medical School and sits on the school’s Board of Fellows, and he is a faculty member at Oregon Health & Science University. Andrew lives in the Pacific Northwest with his husband and two sons.

As the programs assistant, Marquita Ochoa supports the team with all program and workshop offerings. Marquita comes to Intend Health with a background in marketing and communications in the wellness industry. Holding a bachelor of arts degree in journalism, she also has certifications in yoga, meditation, and holistic health and wellness. Before joining Intend Health, Marquita played a pivotal role in assisting entrepreneurs in the wellness sector, offering expertise in marketing, communications, retreat planning, and program management.

Originally from Chicago, Marquita now resides in Arizona with her husband and dog, Toro. In her free time she enjoys yoga, reading, traveling, cooking, hiking, exploring other cultures, and experimenting in the kitchen with natural wellness remedies.

Anthony Okolo is currently serving in his final year as a chief resident at Montefiore Department of Family and Social Medicine. Originally one of the founding members of the Primary Care Progress Student Team at Sophie Davis, he helped start a mentorship program that paired motivated classmates with amazing alumni that currently practice in a primary care setting in the New York City area. A Colin Powell Leadership fellow early in medical school, he used that platform to discuss and advocate for policies aimed at improving the relationship between the physician and the patient. Anthony loves to eat (anything!), spend time with family and friends, and play chess and lacrosse. He serves as a coach and trainer at Intend Health.

Daniel Okubo was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii and is a family medicine physician in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In medical school he helped found the University of Hawaii PCP chapter and was part of PCP's Student Action Network Cohort Program and Catalyst Project. Daniel is interested in homeless and addiction medicine, encouraging equity in health care, and finding opportunities to advocate for patients at various levels. He serves as a team coach at Intend Health Strategies.

Brendan Prast is family physician at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. He has been involved with Intend Health Strategies since 2015, first serving as a local team leader at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, a trainer and facilitator at PCP Leadership Summits, and most recently, a lead coach for PCP National and the faculty advisor for PCP Maine. He is passionate about reproductive justice and advocacy, and is the reproductive health access project liaison to the AAFP for the state of Maine. Outside of medicine, Brendan also loves to play music (a violinist at heart), play tabletop games, hike, and cook whatever comes to mind. He serves as a lead faculty coach and trainer for Intend Health.

Marianne Roy has spent 30 years working in organizational and leadership development in the healthcare industry. She previously served as a strategic advisor to Intend Health Strategies, where she developed the framework and initial programs that enabled the organization to create, deliver, and evaluate a range of Relational Leadership development offerings. Her most recent work focuses on clinician wellbeing, and she was part of a randomized controlled trial that demonstrated a positive psychology-based coaching intervention for primary care providers is effective in alleviating burnout and improving wellbeing. Her work in resilience and wellbeing was instrumental in Spectrum Health Partners being recognized by the AMA’s 2021 Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program.

Marianne holds a bachelor of business administration degree from Bishop’s University in Quebec, a master of education degree from Boston University, and a master of science degree from Southern New Hampshire University. She is a graduate of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland’s Organization and Systems Development program, and serves as a faculty member at the Gestalt International Study Center.

Les Schwab, MD, is a primary care physician with 40 years of experience in medical practice and healthcare organizational leadership. In his leadership roles Les has been responsible for clinical operations, quality and safety, practice design, leadership training and building the quality of the physician workforce. He has practiced and managed in the public sector, private practice and multispecialty group practice environments. Most recently he served as the chief medical officer at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, a 600-physician multispecialty practice in eastern Massachusetts.

Les has attained certification in coaching and operates a coaching and consulting practice focused on performance improvement and leadership development. As a coach, he has facilitated the ability of physicians to develop their capacities for successful medical practice: resilience to cope with burnout stress, organization and teamwork for efficient practice, skills for collaborative collegial relationships, and strategies for career development. For medical leaders, he provides a particular focus on developing relational skills for effective strategy deployment and performance management. He is a Harnisch Scholar at the Institute of Coaching in Boston, and served as principal investigator for a randomized controlled study of a coaching intervention demonstrating the decrease of physician burnout.

Sarah Smithson, MD, MPH, brings decades of clinical expertise to her role as vice president of partnerships, and has been a dedicated member of the Intend Health Strategies extended team for more than ten years.

Growing up professionally and clinically in the context of Relational Leadership, Sarah thrives in interprofessional collaborations that support leadership development and health systems innovation, communication, and team-based care delivery. At Intend Health, Sarah leads our case-building and sustainability activities, bringing a clinical voice and perspective to the team and this work.

Sarah’s work is supported by her experience as a primary care physician at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and as the assistant dean for clinical education at the UNC School of Medicine, where she was instrumental in building and championing the Relational Leadership community, RL @Carolina. Sarah earned degrees in medicine and public health from Emory University before completing her internal medicine residency training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Sherice brings extensive experience in program management and a talent for developing systems that scale, having worked in such diverse industries as higher education, technology, medical staffing compliance, and sales. Prior to joining Intend Health, Sherice managed the Mobile Outreach Clinic at the University of Florida where she was primarily responsible for managing the daily operations, training, grants process, compliance, and fundraising activities of the program. She earned one of the highest honors awarded to staff at the university, and served as a co-coordinator for the Mobile Health Association's Florida Coalition for over five years. Sherice joined Intend Health in 2021 as a senior program manager, and now, as associate director of innovation and process improvement, she oversees the development and implementation of new internal and external initiatives.

Kate Stitham is an education consultant working with Intend Health Strategies as a senior curriculum advisor. With expertise in organizational and leadership development, Kate advises on the assessment, design, and delivery of Intend Health's Relational Leadership curriculum and on capacity-building within Intend Health's Leadership Pathway. With an master of arts in international educational development from Columbia University and over 10 years of experience in program development and design, Kate has pursued a variety of disciplines in her career and favors the integration of multiple approaches and models in her work. Her primary focus is in social justice advocacy through capacity building and leadership development that encourages collaboration, understanding, and partnership in communities.

Mindy Storrie is the associate provost for student leadership at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Mindy offers more than 20 years of leadership innovation in corporate and higher education, directing the design of strategies to enhance employee and graduate/undergraduate professional development. She is an experienced change leader with the ability to work across boundaries and engage diverse opinions in collaborative processes to create competitive advantage.  

She holds an MBA from UNC and a bachelor of science degree from Ohio State University. Mindy received additional training at the Relational Leadership Institute, Racial Equity Institute, Center for Creative Leadership, and GE Corporate Training Center.

Mindy enjoys traveling with her husband and daughter to photograph people and places from around the world.

Jonathan R. Sugarman, MD, MPH, FAAFP, FACPM, was senior advisor of Global to Local, a Seattle-based nonprofit that develops programs and interventions to improve health and empower underserved communities across the country. For nearly 20 years he served as President and CEO of Qualis Health, guiding the organization to national recognition as a leader in improving population health. He held leadership roles in numerous local, state, and national associations, including the Washington Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the Physicians Consortium for Performance Improvement. Dr. Sugarman authored over 90 papers and book chapters on population health management, primary care practice transformation, health problems of vulnerable populations, and quality of care among Medicare beneficiaries. He served as clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Global Health at the University of Washington.

Hillary is an experienced program manager with a passion for social justice work. She has worked in both the private and nonprofit sectors, serving as a supplier integration specialist at Wayfair.com, onboarding new suppliers in a fast-paced startup. Prior to her role at Intend, she was a site director for Notre Dame Mission Volunteers, overseeing programming partnerships and AmeriCorps members at 11 partnering schools and programs in the Greater Boston area. As a senior program manager, Hillary manages planning, preparations, support, and evaluation of Intend Health’s existing programs including the Student Action Network and RLI. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Emmanuel College and resides in Chelsea, Massachusetts with her husband and daughter.

Shasta Tall Bull is a pharmacist and currently completing the master of public health program at the University of Colorado. She has been a member of DAWN Clinic, the PCP Student Action Network Colorado Team, since 2017. During that time she has led the Diabetes Education team, served on the Community Engagement team, and helped infuse Relational Leadership into the DAWN student volunteer process. DAWN consists of over 800 student volunteers with organized layers of leadership; the Relational Leadership model and PCP Leadership Summit experience have been critical to the success of PCP Colorado. Shasta's other leadership experience includes the Pharmacy Leadership Society, Colorado Pharmacist Society, and mentorship of pharmacy students. She serves as a facilitator and trainer for Intend Health Strategies.

Kyle Turner is an assistant professor (clinical) at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy and a clinical pharmacist in primary care at the University of Utah Health. He earned his doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Utah where he contributed to the establishment of a PCP Student Action Network team, and completed his residency training at the University of Minnesota. His scholarly interests center on fostering leadership, team-based practice development, healthcare innovation, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. He is the faculty chair for student hotspotting within the University of Utah’s Interprofessional Education Program. In partnership with Intend Health, he co-leads the University’s Relational Leadership Initiative and serves as a national trainer and coach. Outside of work, Kyle loves to spend time with his wife and three children and is an avid college football fan.

Alex Weiner currently works in his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts as a nurse practitioner at the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center. He is a graduate of Yale University School of Nursing and received his master of public health degree from the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University in Philadelphia. While at Yale, Alex led Yale’s PCP student team and also formed an interdisciplinary Hotspotting team based on the work of the Camden Coalition for Healthcare Providers. He also volunteered at HAVEN Free Clinic and co-developed a city-wide community health worker coordinator position with a local nonprofit. Alex is passionate about community health systems change. He serves as a team coach for Intend Health.

Michael Wolcott is the assistant dean for curriculum innovation and assessment at the High Point University School of Dental Medicine where he is responsible for designing and implementing the novel CARE curriculum to prepare graduates for the future of dental medicine. He graduated with his PharmD from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and completed his pharmacy residency at Duke University Hospital before pursuing his PhD in the learning sciences and psychological studies at the UNC School of Education. His research interests focus on creative problem solving/design thinking, diversity/equity/inclusion, and preparing preceptors and educators for optimal teaching and learning. He supports the UNC Relational Leadership Institute as a trainer and assists with the program evaluation efforts for Intend Health Strategies.

Pratiksha Yalakkishettar is a third-year family medicine resident at UMass Worcester in Massachusetts. She studied public health and linguistics at UMass Amherst before going to medical school at Hofstra University. It was there that Pratiksha was introduced to Intend Health Strategies as a first-year medical student at the PCP Summit. She enjoys the ability to both foster individual relationships with patients and work on larger-scale advocacy in the community, both of which serve as reminders for the reasons she went into primary care. Pratiksha is committed to anti-racism and social justice, and hopes to be involved with healthcare policy in her future career. At Intend Health, Pratiksha serves as a team coach.