Meet the speakers

Karen Hanlon is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Highmark Health, a $26 billion national, blended health organization that includes one of America’s largest Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers and a growing regional hospital and physician network. Based in Pittsburgh, Pa., Highmark Health’s 42,000 employees serve millions of customers nationwide through the nonprofit organization’s affiliated businesses including Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, HM Insurance Group, United Concordia Dental, enGen, and Helion.

Ms. Hanlon is a key leader, strategist and visionary for Highmark Health, helping to guide the organization’s mission to create remarkable health experiences that free people to be their best. She is responsible for overseeing the strategy and long-term operations of Highmark Health and Highmark Inc., as the organization focuses on bringing transformational care to its customers and disrupting traditional health care models, products and services. Ms. Hanlon also oversees the operations of Allegheny Health Network, Highmark Wholecare, the Highmark Health-Penn State Health partnership and enGen.

Ms. Hanlon began her career in public accounting at KPMG Peat Marwick prior to joining Highmark Inc. in 1997, where she held several positions within the finance division before becoming the chief financial officer and treasurer of Highmark Health in 2014, and the chief operating officer of Highmark Health in 2018.

In recognition of her achievements, Hanlon was named to the 2023 Power 100 list of the region’s most influential business leaders and as a 2018 CFO of the Year by The Pittsburgh Business Times. She was also recognized as a 2019 recipient of The Grove City College Alumni Association Jack Kennedy Memorial Alumni Achievement Award, which honors alumni who have made significant contributions in their field.

Ms. Hanlon is a strong advocate of supplier diversity and women in the workforce, serving as an executive sponsor for these important initiatives at Highmark Health. She believes in implementing best practices, innovation and community partnerships that encourage businesses to provide consistent opportunities for minority-owned and operated businesses in the supply chain.

John W. Boerstler was sworn-in on February 16, 2021, as the Chief Veterans Experience Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Prior to his current position, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Combined Arms, a collaborative backbone organization whose purpose was to unite collaborative methodology and technology in order to more effectively connect Veterans to thousands of government and non-profit services. As Chief Veterans Experience Officer, John will provide executive oversight of the many innovative projects and programs housed within the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) and work collaboratively within VA’s leadership to help achieve greater access and outcomes for Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.

John has a distinguished career as a leader in the Veteran services field as a recipient of both the Eisenhower and Marshall Memorial Fellowships, having travelled to the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Israel, Bosnia, Hungary and Ukraine to write comparative papers on their military transition systems. As the first Marshall Prize recipient, John recently completed a 3-year project in Ukraine to assist in the development of their Ministry of Veterans Affairs – the first of its kind in Europe. John was also honored to be selected in the inaugural cohort of Stand-To Scholars at the George W. Bush Institute’s Veteran Leadership Program in 2018.

John is a native Texan who served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1999-2007 as a non-commissioned officer and infantry unit leader, including one combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004-2005 and Operation Natural Fire in the Republic of Kenya in 2006. John has also served as the Executive Director of NextOp, a program manager with Wounded Warrior Project, the Mayor of Houston’s Office of Veterans Affairs, and as a policy and district staffer for a U.S. Representative. In 2009, John helped found the Lone Star Veterans Association which became the largest network of Post-9/11 Veterans in Texas and successfully merged with Combined Arms in March 2019.

Graham is the Co-Founder and CEO of Kyruus where he has led the development and commercialization of the company’s market-leading patient access platform that now serves over 300,000 providers across 700 hospitals and 80 million members across 60 health plans. Prior to Kyruus, Graham was a Venture Executive at Highland Capital Partners where he co-founded Generation Health, a genetic benefit management company that facilitates optimal utilization of genetic testing, and served as the company’s Chief Medical Officer through its acquisition by CVS Caremark. Graham completed his clinical training in internal medicine and cardiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, where he also served as Chief Medical Resident. Graham completed his BA and MD degrees at Brown University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. Outside of Kyruus, he serves as an advisor to the Innovation & Digital Health Accelerator at Boston Children’s Hospital and as a board member at The Food Project.

Mike Butler has over 30 years of experience across a range of senior executive roles in the healthcare industry. He was formerly President of Providence, where he helped to create the third-largest health system in the U.S., increasing revenue from $2 billion when he joined in 1998 to $25 billion today. Mike also served as Providence’s CFO and COO, with accountability for ambulatory and hospital operations, finance, strategy, technology, digital innovation, clinical institutes, population health and people development.

Tracy Saula is the Senior Vice President, Chief Product & Experience Officer for Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh-based national health and wellness organization and the second-largest integrated health care delivery and financing system in America. In this role, Tracy is responsible for leading the teams that develop health plan insurance products, revolutionize the digital experience, and design solutions aimed at optimizing the health care journey and experience for customers and clinicians.

A passionate health executive with a broad array of experiences and successes at the health plan, provider, and integrated level, Tracy has a proven track record of developing new strategies and leading efforts to bring those strategies to life.

David Hopkinson, an accomplished executive with more than 25 years of diverse sports industry experience, is Executive Vice President of Madison Square Garden Sports (MSG Sports) and President of Team Business Operations.

In his role, Mr. Hopkinson leads the commercial strategy for MSG Sports’ portfolio of assets, which includes: the New York Knicks (NBA) and New York Rangers (NHL); two development league teams – the Westchester Knicks (NBAGL) and Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL); and esports teams through Counter Logic Gaming, a North American esports organization, and Knicks Gaming, an NBA 2K League franchise.

Prior to MSG Sports, Dave had a multi-faceted career in the sports and entertainment industries. He served as Global Head of Partnerships for Real Madrid Club de Futbol, one of the world’s top revenue-generating football clubs, where he was responsible for all aspects of global partnerships. Prior to Real Madrid, Mr. Hopkinson spent over 20 years with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) in roles of increasing responsibility. In his last role with the Company, Mr. Hopkinson served as Chief Commercial Officer, where he was responsible for all revenue generation across MLSE’s portfolio of teams, which includes the Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL), Toronto Raptors (NBA) and Toronto FC (MLS), as well as ticket sales and services, global partnerships, food and beverage and retail operations. Mr. Hopkinson began his career in ticket sales, first with the Toronto Argonauts Football Club, followed by the Toronto Raptors.

Mr. Hopkinson has served on the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in addition to the Boards of the Canada Basketball, National Sport Governing Body and Canada’s Walk of Fame. In 2013, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of Service to Canada.

As enterprise technology and operations officer for Highmark Health, and CEO of enGen, Michael “Mick” Malec provides strategic oversight and operational leadership focusing on delivery and solutions for enGen’s partners and their members.

Since joining enGen as chief operating officer in November of 2018, Mick has proven himself time and time again to be a strong leader with an unwavering focus on meeting the needs of enGen partners. A strong advocate and influencer of a culture of transparency, accountability, and delivery, Mick brings a fresh perspective to how enGen operates their Enterprise Health Solution (EHS) Platform.

Previously serving as chief administrative officer and senior vice president of NASCO, a Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plan technology solution provider, Mick was responsible for end-to-end infrastructure, information technology, customer support, and multi-platform code delivery. A passionate driver of reducing complexity and creating clear lines of accountability, Mick has over 25 years of experience in information technology between NASCO and IBM.

He is an avid supporter of the Wounded Warriors organization. Mick holds a bachelor’s degree in management and information technology from Davenport University.

Humphrey is senior vice president of digital and fan experience for the Seattle Kraken.

Once a professional hockey player in Canada and the U.S., Humphrey joined NHL Seattle from LiquidPlanner, a leading provider of dynamic project management software, where he served as the company’s CEO since 2017.

He has spent much of his career leading and scaling technology businesses globally. In 2014, he co-founded and served as the chief commercial officer of League. He has worked previously in executive roles with technology organizations including Kobo, Inc. (acquired by Rakuten), Amazon.com and CleverSet (acquired by ATG).

Sukanya Lahiri Soderland is Chief Strategy Officer and Senior Vice President of Strategy, Innovation, Enterprise Data & Analytics and Business Performance and Process Improvement for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Prior to joining Blue Cross, she served as a senior Partner in their Health and Life Sciences Practice, co-founded the Oliver Wyman Health Innovation Center, and was the lead health care Partner in Oliver Wyman’s Digital, Technology, Operations & Analytics Practice.

She is a frequent speaker in national forums on healthcare transformation and serves on the boards of the Trustees of Reservations, Podimetrics, and the board of museum advisors for the Museum of Science.

Sukanya holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor of arts degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard College.

Michael Palmer is the founding chief executive officer of Exhale Advisors, focused on strategy, M&A, digital transformation and innovation commercialization. Prior to founding Exhale Advisors in 2017, Michael served Aetna as its Chief Innovation and Digital Officer for five years, driving clinical, technology and digital innovations into the healthcare ecosystem serving Aetna’s 37 million members. Prior to Aetna, Mr. Palmer was a Partner/MD at Accenture, where for nearly 20 years he served health clients in information technology strategy, post-merger integration, and global transformation programs.

Jigar Shah is senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan with $24 billion in annual revenue serving 4.8 million members in the state’s commercial, individual, and government markets. He leads the company’s brand, digital, marketing, member experience, and product departments.

Shah has more than 20 years of experience and a strong record of leadership across a variety of industries. He believes in delivering growth through world-class customer experiences and is known for being an outstanding communicator, an avid learner, and a consumer-centric leader dedicated to transforming health care.

Prior to joining Blue Shield in 2023, Shah was the founder and Chief Executive Officer for Trusana, a mental health care company launched by Providence. He led the vision, roadmap, and all aspects of building the Trusana product and team. Before leading the Trusana team, Shah was senior vice president, chief marketing officer for Providence. In this role, he drove and managed all aspects of the organization’s brand strategy, advertising, and marketing, in addition to leading Providence’s marketing and digital transformation.

Growing up in India, Shah attended The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda to pursue his bachelor’s in physics and South Gujarat University for his MBA. He then moved to the U.S. and attended The University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he obtained his master’s degree in information technology and management. Shah has been an active supporter for over a decade of Child Rights & You, a nonprofit organization that works to ensure healthcare and education rights for all children. When he is not trying to solve healthcare challenges, he enjoys spending time with his wife and 13-year-old son doing outdoor activities such as hiking, playing golf, and tinkering with gadgets.

At Google, Amy is an executive on the Global healthcare and life sciences solution strategy team, serving as the global solutions leader of their rapidly growing health plans business. She leads the vision, strategy, and execution of the industry product strategy. Amy drives business transformation innovation with emerging products leveraging Google’s industry leading interoperability, analytics and AI/ML capabilities. Amy works with leadership of global strategic clients, resources across Alphabet and partners in the cloud eco-system to create solutions improving end user experiences and value, operational efficiencies and positive social outcomes.

Amy serves as a featured speaker throughout the industry at organizations such as HIMSS, AHIP, Matter, HealthImpact. Recent speaking topics include delivering on the patient experience, leveraging technology to bridge healthcare inequities, women in tech, and meeting compliance and security requirements through use of cloud technology.

Prior to joining Google, Amy spent 20 years working with PwC in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, leading market growth strategies for emerging markets, new service lines and brands as well as leading in market “turn-around” situations. Afterwards, Amy became a partner at The Chartis Group, a healthcare advisory firm where she was focused on organic and inorganic strategic growth initiatives. Amy and her teams have been recipients of several awards including: 5 AVA gold awards for digital innovations, The Financial Communications Society’s “Differentiating a 21st Century Professional Services Firm” award and the Brandon Hall “Excellence in Learning” award. Amy has also been the recipient of the President’s Council on Service, the National Service to Youth Awards as well as several Innovation awards.

Amy has an undergrad degree from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA in technology and strategy from Loyola University of Chicago. She has served on the ULC and San Francisco Boys and Girls Club Boards, is on the National Make-a-Wish Board, the American Health Association Chicago Heart Ball Board and serves on the Advisory Board to the Dean at Loyola University of Chicago.

Mario Schlosser is the co-founder and President of Technology at Oscar Health. In this role, Mario leads product and engineering, with a focus on building Oscar’s technology platform for the future and continuing to set the strategy for +Oscar.

Previously, Mario served as CEO of Oscar, leading the company from inception to serving over 1M members across Individual & Family, Medicare Advantage, and Small Group health plans. Before co-founding Oscar, Mario also co-founded the largest social gaming company in Latin America, where he led the company’s analytics and game design practices. Prior to that, Mario was a Senior Investment Associate at Bridgewater Associates and worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company in Europe, the U.S. and Brazil.

Mario also spent time as a visiting scholar at Stanford University, where he wrote and co-authored 10 computer science publications, including one of the most-cited computer science papers published in the past decade, in which he developed the EigenTrust Algorithm to securely compute trust in randomized networks. In May 2019, Mario and his co-authors, Sepandar D. Kamvar (Mosaic Building Group Inc) and Héctor Garcia-Molina (Celo), received the prestigious Seoul Test of Time Award from the International World Wide Web Conference Committee (IW3C2) for this work.

Mario holds a degree in computer science with highest distinction from the University of Hannover in Germany and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Matt is a Managing Director in Deloitte’s Health Care Strategy & Innovation practice and leads Deloitte’s Digital Transformation offering in health care. Matt focuses on customer and digital strategy and engagement and serves clients across the health care ecosystem, including health plans, providers, retail pharmacies, and health care technology companies. Matt has 20 years of experience developing customer experience, analytics, and digital strategies, and designing the products, capabilities, and technologies required to execute them.