SPEAKER BIOS:

Luncheon Speakers

Timothy Carmack
Tim joined Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford in 2006 as its Chief Financial Officer. Before coming to Packard, he spent three years serving on several overseas mission projects while also engaged as a subcontracted healthcare consultant for The Camden Group in Los Angeles. Prior to Tim's overseas work, he was the Chief Financial Officer for Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, California, a 550-bed general acute care hospital and trauma center. Before his work at Huntington, Tim was the CFO for Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, a 408-bed tertiary referral medical center with extensive cardiac, neuro and high-risk obstetrics capabilities. Both hospitals have affiliations with the USC School of Medicine. Tim is a summa cum laude graduate of California State University Fullerton, and initially began his career as a CPA at Coopers & Lybrand.

Tom Carter
Tom Carter is Vice President of Sales and Advisor Relations for Kaiser Permanente. Tom joined the executive team leading Kaiser’s national workforce health engagement strategy for employer-sponsored markets. Tom also leads Kaiser’s HealthWorks Consultant/Customer Support group. He began his healthcare career in 1982 with Blue Cross of Northern California, and after seven years, accepted a position with US Behavioral Health as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, working with large commercial carriers and Fortune 500 companies. In 1992, Tom became the Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Lifeguard, a non-profit health plan, in San Jose where he increased revenue and membership by 300 percent. In 2001, Tom joined Health Net as Vice President, Sales and Account Management for Small Business.

Daniel Morissette
Dan is the Chief Financial Officer of Stanford Hospital and Clinics in Palo Alto, California. The entity is one of the nation's top rated health systems and has a $2 billion annual operating budget, $820 million in long term debt obligations and a $3.5 billion long range financial and capital plan. Prior to joining Stanford, Dan was Senior Vice President, Finance and Strategy at University of Toledo Medical Center and University of Toledo where he helped lead a turnaround of the health system and subsequently a successful growth strategy including a historic merger and business combination. Dan's previous healthcare and executive experience includes Senior Vice President at Chicago Medical School and service at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He serves on the audit and finance committee of University HealthSystem Consortium and has other Board experience. Dan has an M.B.A. from University of Chicago, a bachelor's degree from DePaul University and is a certified public accountant.

Daniel Rosenthal
Dan Rosenthal is the chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare (UHC) of Northern California, a position he has held since July 2010. In this role, Dan is responsible for all health plan operations in Northern California, including sales, customer service, network management and charitable giving. Dan brings to this role more than two decades of experience in the health care industry, including more than 10 years with UHC. Prior to his current role, Dan served as CEO for UHC of Florida, which was recognized as one of the nation’s top performing health plans. Dan’s industry experience spans network management and health care consulting, with previous stints at Baptist Health Systems, The Douglass Group of Deloitte & Touche, and Price Waterhouse. In addition, Dan currently sits on the board for the Swim with Mike Foundation and is active with USA Water Polo. He is a local sponsor for the UHC Children’s Foundation, and he recently partnered with La Clinica and the Monument Community Partnership to build a community garden in Concord, CA. Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Southern California, where he was an All-American swimmer. He also holds a masters degree in health services administration from George Washington University.

Elizabeth Vilardo
Lizz is president of the Camino Region of Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), her region has multiple sites, and over 300 physicians in over 20 specialties. She received her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of California, San Francisco, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. Her thesis project was a strategic analysis and plan for the affiliation of Camino Medical Group and the not-for-profit Palo Alto Medical Foundation. Active in the community, Lizz currently serves on the Sutter Health Board of Directors, and the PAMF board of directors. Previously, she served for 14 years as a member of the Camino Medical Group Board of Directors—chairing the board for seven years. Lizz was also a board member for the Sunnyvale Medical Clinic (which became Camino Medical Group), Chief of Medicine at El Camino Hospital and Chief of Medicine at Camino Medical Group.

Peter Welch
An established health care executive with more than 25 years of experience, Peter brings a strong background in health care management to his position as President and General Manager for Cigna HealthCare of California. Before joining Cigna HealthCare, Peter served in a variety of management positions for United HealthCare and Uniprise. In addition, Peter spent 10 years with The Travelers Insurance Company. Peter is a past member of the Board of Directors for Buckelew Programs, a community-based non-profit organization that provides low-income housing for those suffering from mental illness. He is currently a Board Member of the California Association of Health Plans (CAHP), a trade association representing the largest California Health Plans, and an active Board Member of the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), a coalition of Health Plans, Hospitals, Physician Organizations and key thought leaders promoting cost effective, quality health care for Californians. Peter is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside and resides in the Bay Area.

Program Speakers

Allison Barrett-Smith
With first-hand knowledge from her previous 8-year career in Human Resources and 7-year career on the benefits brokerage side, Allison brings in-depth benefits knowledge to her presentations. While in HR, Allison focused on Benefit Administration for mid to large sized companies (500+ employees) and Leave of Absence Management. Allison's current focus is on creating and managing strong benefit platforms for her clients including, but certainly not limited to: plan marketing, selection, implementation, compliance, and ongoing plan administration. Allison graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in June 1998 with a degree in Business Administration, concentrating in Human Resource Management.

Amy Byrne
Amy graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.A. in English in 1994. Amy has served her employee benefit clients in many roles over the years. Amy has 16 years of hands on employee benefits experience. Amy assists clients in every facet of implementing an effective employee benefits plan from marketing to ongoing communication and daily administration and troubleshooting. She has also earned the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) designation. Amy has served on the board of directors of the Peninsula Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, most recently as President of that organization. During her tenure the group won the Silver Association Achievement Award.

Anna Mendoza
Anna focuses her extraordinary attention to detail on all facets of the Employee Benefits process as a Benefits Account Manager. She works closely with her clients handling plan marketing and selection, implementation and compliance, and ongoing plan administration. With extensive hands-on experience in the daily administration of employee benefit plans, Anna brings a unique perspective to her role. More importantly, she truly enjoys helping employers navigate and streamline their benefits administration process. In addition to group business clients, Anna also assists in the management of individual clients and serves as a Project Coordinator. Anna graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Communications and a B.A. in English.

Jeanine DeBacker
As Chair of Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel's Employment Law practice, Jeanine uses her courtroom experience to help employers prevent lawsuits through well-crafted policies, staff trainings and informal dispute resolution. Her practice focuses on representing employers in all areas of employment and benefits law, including wage and hour claims, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, collective bargaining issues, trade secrets and other employment-related claims. She also advises clients in regards to ERISA. Jeanine speaks throughout California and teaches Legal Aspects of Human Resource Management at SFSU College of Extended Learning. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and Santa Clara University School of Law.

Jayne Drake
Jayne has over a decade of experience administering COBRA and has built an extensive knowledge and expertise in all aspects of the COBRA law. Jayne is regularly consulted by other benefit professionals to decipher the complexities of the federal COBRA regulations. She works directly with a large client base to ensure full compliance of the regulations. Jayne prides herself on providing a high standard of client service and she developed these skills from her prior employment as a Team Leader at a large energy company in the United Kingdom. Jayne is a graduate of Manchester University, England with a B.A. and B.P.L. in Urban Planning.

Stephen C. Gerrish
Steve joined the Palo Alto law firm of Thoits, Love, Hershberger and McLean in 1974 upon graduation from Willamette University College of Law. His practice emphasizes strategic counseling on employment, business, and real estate transactions and litigation, alternative dispute resolution and appeals. He has been a lecturer for the Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) in civil procedure, employment, and wrongful termination, and has been a contributing author to the CEB on employment law and wrongful termination. Stephen has been active in both professional and community organizations, including serving as President of the Palo Alto Area Bar Association, Chairman of the Board of the YMCA of the Mid-Peninsula, and a community mediator for the Los Altos Mediation Program, and a member of the board of the Los Altos Educational Foundation.

Ken Goth
Ken's twenty-eight year career in financial services has encompassed brokering, investment banking and management in the world's major financial centers: New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Ken started his career with the Astley & Pearce Group, a UK based inter-dealer broker. He subsequently ran the joint venture broking businesses of MAI, Plc in Japan. Ken dealt with private and publicly listed corporations' investment banking needs including acquisitions, rights issues and stock-listings. Ken currently focuses on the investment arrays and analysis of fund performance for 401(k) clients. Ken holds a degree in International Relations focused on East Asian studies from Stanford University and is fluent in Japanese and French.

Karl Hansen
Karl is uniquely qualified in the employee benefits world and has over 30 years experience in developing practical solutions to employee benefit challenges. He has served in the prestigious role of founding President of the National Association of Health Insurance Advisors. Karl was honored as the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the California Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors. This award is bestowed on one insurance professional annually to honor outstanding dedication and service in the industry. Additionally, Karl has represented agents and brokers throughout the nation in providing health care testimony to the United States Congress on four occasions. The subjects of his expert testimony included Small Group Reform, IRC Section 89 and COBRA compliance.

Jeff Hockenbrock
Jeff Hockenbrock, Vice President, Verisight, Inc. has over a decade of experience in the financial services and retirement planning industry. He works with employers of all sizes assisting with their ERISA compliance and fiduciary responsibilities. Jeff is a frequent speaker at retirement plan industry conferences and events and holds a number of industry designations. He is a graduate of Yale University with a degree in economics. Verisight is a national corporation that offers comprehensive retirement plan services and consulting solutions for a wide range of clients, including employers, plan sponsors, advisors, financial intermediaries and HR administrators.

Jonathan Hicks
Jonathan is an Associate in the Employment and Litigation groups with Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel. Jonathan represents businesses and executives to resolve employment matters involving wage and hour issues, employee agreements, breach of contract, fraud, responding to government complaints, and general business litigation overseeing the processing of complex claims and researching and providing guidance on compliance issues. He regularly speaks about a variety of employment topics, including an annual employment law update, wage and hour matters, leave issues, and harassment concerns. Jonathan earned his J.D. at the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law and graduated with a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley.

Jason Lombardi
Jason is an Account Executive and provides full service employee benefit plan marketing, selection, implementation, compliance and management, as well as strategies on cost containment and benefit plan design, to a large client base across market industries. He is a member of several professional organizations and is relied upon for his COBRA expertise by many employee benefit brokerage firms in the industry. Jason believes in exceeding expectations of his clients. Previously, Jason was a Senior Associate in the Legal Transfers department at Franklin Templeton where he was NASD licensed. He holds an MBA in Human Resources from Notre Dame de Namur University and a B.S. in Management from Santa Clara University. Jason has also earned a CEBS and Health Insurance Associate (HIA) designation.

Joan C. McDonagh
Joan is Senior Director, National Regulatory Policy at Great West Retirement Services®. She received a J.D. from American University, Washington College of Law, and subsequently practiced law in the employee benefits area. She has worked with Great-West Retirement Services® since 2004 and with its wholly owned subsidiary, EMJAY Corporation, since 1988. Joan’s areas of expertise include ERISA compliance, with an emphasis on fiduciary requirements. Joan is a member of the Wisconsin Bar Association. She is on the Government Relations Committee of the Society of Professional Asset-Managers and Record Keepers (SPARK) and on the Public Policy Committee of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA). She is a member and past Vice-President of Wisconsin Retirement Plan Professionals, Ltd. She has written numerous articles and presented a variety of seminars on retirement plan issues. She is a co-author of the 401(k) Answer Book in the Aspen Publishers Answer Book Series.

Trevor Olsen
Trevor is an Account Manager specializing in IRC Section 125 benefits administration and on-going plan compliance issues. He currently manages a Flexible Spending Account department and works closely with clients of all sizes to develop and deliver strategic benefit plans to meet the needs of the client. Prior to specializing in employee benefits administration, Trevor developed a breadth of HR knowledge working for a Fortune 500 semiconductor company in the Silicon Valley, focusing on issues of organization development, employee engagement, staffing and recruiting, employee retention and training. Trevor graduated from San Diego State University with a degree in Psychology and subsequently earned a Masters degree from San Jose State University in Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology.

Rae Lee Olson
Rae Lee is uniquely well-qualified in the employee benefits world, with over 25 years experience in developing practical solutions to complex employee benefits challenges. Under her leadership, the Vita team has developed comprehensive compliance solutions in all benefit areas including ERISA, COBRA FSA, and HIPAA Privacy and Security. She has recently developed and rolled out a complete wellness platform for Vita clients. Rae Lee works with companies from the smallest dynamic start-ups to the largest employers in the nation, including a gig with Wal-Mart! Rae Lee received her B.A. from Stanford University.

Mariko Ryon
Mariko specializes in federal COBRA administration. She has an extensive knowledge of federal COBRA regulations and works with clients to resolve complex COBRA issues. Mariko ensures federal COBRA compliance with a diverse range of employers, from 10-10,000 employees, and other benefits professionals. As a former manager from the airline industry, Mariko continues to dedicate herself to providing outstanding service. Mariko graduated from the University of California Berkeley, with a B.A. in Molecular Biology.

Ellen Schortgen
Ellen entered the employee benefits consulting arena in 1987, employing her eclectic background of marketing communication, technical writing and event coordination skills. As a senior level consultant, she is responsible for a broad range of employer group clients, helping them with every aspect of employee benefit plan selection and maintenance, from initial research to plan installation and day to day administration. Ellen has earned the professional designation of HIA and is working toward CEBS. This background makes her a very effective problem solver and negotiator.