Sahar Malek is a long standing resident of the Hudson Valley and has been working in the region since 2012. In her current role, she serves as the Vice President of Operations at WMCHealth. She has a Master's in Healthcare Administration from the University of Scranton. Sahar has been an active member of ACHE since 2010 and has served on the HLNY Board for the last eight years. Being a member of HLNY has afforded her with numerous opportunities for professional development. She finds the educational and networking opportunities to be beyond measure. And, in her role as Board Member at Large, she aims to continue to support the mission of the HLNY Board and focus on further expanding the Board’s reach to professionals in the Hudson Valley.

Brittany Foster is the Administrator for the Department of Orthopedics at TJH Medical Services and NYU Langone Medical Center. TJH Medical Services is a physician group network that is affiliated with Jamaica Hospital Medical Center. She is in charge of overseeing 20 clinical and administrative personnel staff.

Brittany oversees all the key revenue cycle functions, including patient registration, surgical procedures and billing, and charge capture. She facilitates the progress of assigned Orthopedic Surgery projects and daily operations for all 3 Queens offices.

Brittany earned her undergraduate degree at Dowling College with a degree in Psychology. In 2017, she graduated from Hofstra University with a Master’s in Health Administration. Brittany has been an active HLNY member since 2015. She served as the Co-Chair for the Programs Committee from 2018-2020 and served as Chair for the Marketing Committee from 2020-2022.

Leonard Achan is a Healthcare Executive from New York with over 20 years of experience within a
variety of leadership roles spanning clinical, operational, communications, crisis management, digital
transformation, merger and acquisitions, branding, innovation, new ventures and commercialization and
turn-arounds. He is currently the President and CEO of LiveOnNY.
Achans diverse leadership experience has no boundaries, and he has served in several executive C-suite
roles. Prior to his recruitment to LiveOnNY, Achan served as President of the Innovation Institute at
Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). He has also served as a Chief Innovation Officer, Chief
Communications Officer, Chief Access Officer, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at HSS and
Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) respectively and as the Senior Associate Dean for Global
Communications, Branding and Reputation at the Icahn School of Medicine. Achan is a Registered Nurse
and Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and began his career as a Medical ICU Nurse at Mount Sinai
before moving into leadership roles.
He is also co-founder and chairman of Quality Reviews Inc., a digital health company serving tens of
millions of patients a year in the United States. Achan advises public and private companies and serves
as a board member of several nonprofit organizations, including appointments to the Board of Trustees of
Help USA, Adelphi University, Federation of Organizations, The Hagedorn Little Village School and
Healthcare Leaders of NY (HLNY). He has also been appointed to the American Hospital Association
(AHA) Center for Health Innovation Leadership Council. Achan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing
from Adelphi University, received his Master’s Degree and his Nurse Practitioner from New York
University, Post Master’s in Administration from Villanova University and is an alumni and Fellow of The
Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Achan has won awards for clinical excellence and executive leadership as well as community service,
including the William H Barfoot Award, the highest honor given by the New York State Troopers. He is the
recipient of the 2020 “Award of Distinction”, the highest honor given by the Healthcare Leaders of New
York of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). He has also been included in Crain’s
New York Business “Notable in Healthcare 2020” for work during the Covid Crisis in NYC and was
recognized as a civic hero in Crain's New York Business inaugural "Diversity and Inclusion Awards 2021"
In 2022, he was recognized by the Citadel Church of NY with the “Man of Distinction Award” for lifelong
community service, by Blue Cross Blue Shield as a 2022 “Empire Whole Health Hero” for innovative
leadership, and was also awarded the “2022 Corporate Healthcare Leadership Award” by Federation of
Organizations for service within the behavioral health sector. He was most recently recognized with the
“Award of Distinction” by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), NYC Chapter for his
community work and advancement to nursing as a profession.
He shares his wealth of knowledge locally and abroad. He has taught and lectured at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Adelphi University School of Business and Columbia
Business School. He has taught internationally as adjunct faculty at the City University of Hong Kong, the
University of Macau and the University of San Carlos. He is also an honorary senior naval professor in
the Philippines. Achan is a contributor to Forbes and Huffington Post. His unorthodox career trajectory
has been the subject of several books as well as publications including articles in Harvard Business
Review, Forbes, Inc. and Newsday. He has also been featured as a guest on Good Day New York, NY1,
ABC, NBC, CBS, Pix11, and written op-eds and quoted in hundreds of articles for advocacy work
including CNN, USA Today, NY Times, Daily News, US New and World Report and Newsweek to name a
few.
In his private life, he is a contemporary and street artist. He is married with two children and resides in
Nassau County, NY.

Calandra Y. Branch, MBA, FACHE is a Senior Director of Network Operations at the Mount Sinai Health System, where she is responsible for all Mount Sinai Doctors’ practices in Nassau County. In addition to her official role, she is a faculty member for the Leading From Within leadership development program, and member of the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Advisory Committee. An advocate for mentoring, she is part of several mentoring programs within the Mount Sinai System. She is also a member of Mount Sinai’s Black Women Leader’s Connect Employee Resource Group, helping to mentor and empower Black female colleagues and affect the advancement of diversity and inclusion initiatives. Most recently, she graduated from the inaugural cohort of Mount Sinai’s Black Executive Acceleration Program.

Calandra holds a Master of Business Administration from Adelphi University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Hofstra University, where she is the Immediate Past President of the Black/Hispanic Alumni Association, member of the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing Advisory Board, member of the School of Health Professions and Human Services Alumni Association, and member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is board certified in healthcare management as a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a Board Member-at-Large, All Territories of Healthcare Leaders of New York, and a member of the National Association of Health Service Executives.

A career mentor and public speaker on leadership, Calandra is a Certified John C. Maxwell leadership coach, trainer and speaker, and hosts the Lessons in Leadership podcast, which explores various topics around leadership development, mentoring and coaching. She has offered guest lectures at Cornell University, Pace University and her own alma mater, Hofstra University. She also served as an Adjunct Instructor of Leadership, Professionalism and Ethics in Healthcare for the Master of Health Administration program of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is a new member of the adjunct faculty in the Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies.

Raishme currently works as a Provider Engagement Manager with the Catholic Health Physician Partners IPA and ACO, the Population Health entity of Catholic Health. In this role, she has been able to bolster her passion for Health Equity and Population Health by working with interdisciplinary teams to identify Gaps in Care, Risk Adjustment Opportunities, and manage contracts for a cohort of practices, to meet overall Value Based Performance goals.

She has been an active member of the Healthcare Leaders of New York since she began her graduate studies in 2018; joining as a Student Associate and volunteer, becoming a Membership Committee Member post-grad, to now serving as the Co-Chair of the Programs Committee on the board. She is committed to fostering professional development opportunities, avenues for lifelong learning, and a strong, supportive community within our profession.

Raishme is a proud graduate of the Hofstra University Master of Health Administration Program Class of 2020. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University. Between her day job, and her work with HLNY, Raishme hopes to innovatively address the disparities that contribute to inequalities in healthcare; and one day live in a society where social and demographic factors do not limit the opportunity for health equity.

Saumya Mamgain is the Senior Specialist and Manger Strategic Analysis in the Department of Quality Management and Performance Improvement at Lenox Hill Hospital, Northwell Health. She plays a key role in the identification of opportunities for improvement of patient care and implementation of strategies to promote patient safety. She is a skilled process improvement specialist in a hospital based setting, who is also a part of the regulatory workgroup at Lenox hill. In this role she assumes the responsibility to help the hospital with maintaining and increasing CMS STAR rating as well as with advanced certifications for the hospital. She has a background in dental surgery and completed her Masters in Healthcare Administration from Hofstra University in 2018.

She has been a part of HLNY since 2017 and was a member of the Marketing Committee prior to her current roles as the Programs Committee Co-Chair.

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Halim Kaygisiz is the Business Manager for Stony Brook Medicine’s Heart Institute. Working with clinical and non-clinical leaders on the cardiology service line, Halim supports operations on various levels from budget management to workflow improvements. Starting as an outreach worker under federal grants with the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Halim moved into a Program Director position with a not-for-profit organization leading a large DSRIP initiative focused on improving access to healthcare and promoting wellness care visits among uninsured and under-insured residents of Suffolk County. Through these roles Halim gained experience in developing and managing population health programs.

Halim earned his Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a concentration in Human Services and a minor in Criminal Justice from Walden University and his Master’s in Health Administration from Stony Brook University. Halim is a current member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), participating with the local chapter, Healthcare Leaders of New York (HLNY) and has also served on the Board of Directors for iHealth NYS. Halim is a founding member of the SBU MHA Programs’ Student Advisory Council and also continues to serve as an alumni mentor with the MHA Program at Stony Brook University. Halim has been awarded multiple scholarships including the renowned Leonard Achan Sr. Health Equity Scholarship through HLNY.

Kevin Choi is the Assistant Director of Physician Practice Management Operations at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). In his current role, he is responsible for overseeing daily operations, project management, and data analytics for over 200 orthopedic physician practices that contribute to more than 445,000 outpatient visits and 36,000 surgeries annually. He also collaborates with regional, departmental, and service line leadership to spearhead innovative strategic growth + access initiatives.

After graduating from St. John’s University with a Bachelor of Science degree, Kevin started his career in healthcare as an Emergency Department Representative at North Shore University Hospital. He moved into the role of Administrative Assistant with North Shore University Hospital’s Division of Trauma where he provided project management and administrative support to help the hospital successfully re-verify as an American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) Level 1 Trauma Center. He then joined the Surgery Service Line and Trauma Institute at Northwell Health where he oversaw system level projects, data analytics and completed 4 additional ACS-COT verification visits. Prior to joining HSS, Kevin served as the Project Manager for Ambulatory Services at Mount Sinai Morningside where he was responsible for improving fiscal and operational performance of 15 Faculty Practices and 26 Article 28 Clinics.

Kevin joined HLNY as a student member in 2016 and graduated from Hofstra University’s Master of Health Administration program in 2017. He previously served as the Programs Committee Chair from 2017 through 2019 and looks forward to serving as the Chair of the Membership Committee for 2022.

Carla Sison currently serves as the Director of Operations, Office of Patient Centered Care, Nursing Administration at New York City Health + Hospitals. In her role, she supports the system’s Chief Nursing Executive in special projects and various system nursing initiatives. She actively participates in various nurse leader workgroups advocating for mentoring, professional development, continuing education, and retention programs. In addition, she works hand in hand with the Equity and Access council chair to set up the various workplace inclusion groups connecting employees around shared interest, race, ethnic, or identity.
Prior to joining NYC Health + Hospitals, Ms. Sison worked directly with the Chief Nursing Officer at Mount Sinai Morningside. As Project Manager, she was responsible for implementing various nursing led initiatives and rolling out special projects that impacts patient experience, patient safety and quality, and operational efficiencies. She was Co-chair of the Rewards, Recognition, and Retention Committee, and Co-Chair of the Asian American Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group at Mount Sinai Morningside.
Ms. Sison has been in leadership roles for over 20 years and has transitioned to healthcare from the financial industry with expertise in streamlining operations through strategic initiatives, project management, research, and timely execution. She was previously Vice President at Coleman Research Group, a leading expert network and brokerage of knowledge, facilitating short-term consulting engagements between management consultancies, mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity firms, and experts across all industries.
Ms. Sison holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from St. John’s University and certificates in Healthcare Executive Leadership and Strategic Planning and Initiatives at Cornell University.

Darren H.P. Deoraj was born and raised in Queens NY and continues to live and work in New York City. He has served in the healthcare industry for almost a decade starting his career at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai working in The Office of Academic Administration in the capacity of business operations for the Department of Medical Education. Mr. Deoraj joined NYC Health + Hospitals as the Assistant Director of Hospital Operations/Administrator on Duty (AOD) for NYC Health + Hospitals | Coney Island part-time towards the later of his time at Mount Sinai. As the AOD for Coney Island Hospital he was responsible for the afterhours operations of the 377 bed Hospital, all units, and staff, resolving all matters presented during the tour of duty. Mr. Deoraj later joined NYC Health + Hospitals full-time as the Assistant Director and Administrator for Ambulatory Care Services at NYC Health + Hospitals | Gotham Health, Gouverneur. During his tenure at Gotham Health Gouverneur, Mr. Deoraj has managed the operations of ambulatory care Adult Primary Care Medicine, Specialty Medicine, Surgical Services, Podiatric Services, and Neighborhood Health Centers. Mr. Deoraj returned to the Mount Sinai Health System as Director for The Department of Urology for Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai Downtown Union Square, and Mount Sinai Brooklyn. As the Director of Urology, Mr. Deoraj is responsible for the operations and finances for the service line at the Mount Sinai Downtown. Our services include outpatient, inpatient, ambulatory surgery procedures, general urology, pediatric urology, female urology, sexual function, male urology, infertility, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, kidney cancer/stone/disease, minimal invasive surgery, robotic surgery, telehealth, and home visits. Currently, Mr. Deoraj was promoted to become the System Director of Operations for The Department of Urology managing the operations of all urology services across the Mount Sinai Health System. In his new role, he is responsible in supporting the surgical/clinical service line growth, management, alignment, and staffing for programmatic success in all areas of urology. In conjunction with his role in at Mount Sinai, Mr. Deoraj serves as the Adjunct Professor and Advisory Board Member for The Master of Health Administration Program at Stony Brook University. Mr. Deoraj has dual degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Government from The University of Hartford along with a Master of Health Administration degree with honors from Hofstra University.
At Hofstra University, Mr. Deoraj currently serves as the Co-Chair of the Hofstra Alumni Affairs Career Development Committee. He is the former Immediate Past President, President, Inaugural Vice President of the Hofstra University Master of Health Administration Alumni Association. At The University of Hartford he services as the Chapter Advisor for the Connecticut Lambda Chapter of The Sigma Alpha Epsilon National Fraternity. Darren Deoraj is the former Secretary for Healthcare Leaders of NY, a former member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Healthcare Leaders of New York, the former Chair of the Healthcare Leaders of New York Membership Committee and is a proud member of HLNY, HEC, and ACHE. Mr. Deoraj has been a member of HLNY/ACHE since 2013 when he joined the professional organization as a student member during his graduate MHA career at Hofstra University. As a student member, HLNY and ACHE as a whole has provided indispensable resources, networks, education, and opportunity that continued to enable professional progress forward. Since 2013 he has attended many of the major events hosted, served on and lead committees and continues to advocate for the value HLNY and ACHE have on healthcare leaders.

Maija N. Williams, BA, MPH is the Chief Operating Officer at The Rockefeller University Hospital and Administrative Director for The Rockefeller Center for Clinical and Translational Science (RUCCTS). She has more than 22 years’ experience in healthcare management as a professional non-profit healthcare administrator. At Rockefeller Ms. Williams in conjunction with the center and hospital leadership is responsible for planning and executing the preparation of competing and non-competing grant applications, and compiling operational, financial, and clinical research data for the Center’s annual report to the institution and funding agencies. Ms. Williams reviews budgetary requirements to appropriately reflect program needs and provides oversight monitoring and analysis of university budget funding and National Institute of Health (NIH) grant funding. Ms. Williams is a member of the American Public Health Association , American College of Health Care Executives, Health Care Leaders of New York, and the National Association of Health Services Executives. Currently Ms. Williams serves as a member of the UMASS Center for Clinical and Translational Science external advisory board, Chair Healthcare Leaders of New York Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and member of the American Public Health Association nominations committee. Ms. Williams is the recipient of the 2021 ACHE regent award for Volunteer Executive, 2020 Excellence in Health Administration Award recipient from The American Public Health Association Health Administration section, and she currently serves as Governing Councilor of the Health Administration section. Ms. Williams holds a B.A. in Sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton, a master’s degree in Public Health from New York University, and certification in Health Care Executive Management from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Rachel Rudich is currently an associate director of Strategy Management at Mount Sinai Morningside. In this role she is responsible for program development and project management of strategic hospital initiatives with the goal of expanding key services lines, increasing volume and reducing leakage. She briefly worked in healthcare consulting on projects impacting a large national payer including implementation a new EHR platform. Prior to that she worked within Mount Sinai Health Partners working on initiatives focused on population health and reducing re-admission rates among the Medicaid population. One initiative was focused on partnering with payers to create and track goals for the population attributed to Mount Sinai. She also worked on the DSRIP initiative where she would work closely with high volume Medicaid ambulatory practices to help strategize ways for primary care providers to keep their patient populations from having re-admission to the ED. She has also worked at Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse, NY where she would connect the Medicaid population with breast and colorectal cancer screenings and follow-up care as needed, to help drive and educate this population about preventative care. Rachel also has a passion for health policy and has previously drafted and lobbied for tobacco related policies on behalf of the American Cancer Society. Rachel received her MPH in Healthcare Administration and Health Policy from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Jeena Velzen is a Associate Director in the Operational Excellence division at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC). In this role, she provides management oversight for a portfolio of projects within Inpatient, Outpatient, and Perioperative Services, and leads a professional team of process improvement engineers, project managers, and data analysts. She also serves as a master instructor within Operational Excellence’s training programs, teaching lean concepts and tools to build organizational capability for continuous improvement. Jeena’s passion is to unite clinicians, administrators, and frontline staff from across departments to collaboratively solve the most complex problems impacting system performance and the well-being of patients and staff. Jeena joined MSKCC in 2017, as a process improvement engineer and has led numerous projects focusing on early discharge, surgical pathway management, pre-surgical testing, mobile clinical communications, charge capture, simulation modeling, and installment of MSK’s Patient Flow Command Center. Jeena holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Calvin College, and received her M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Management from the University of Nottingham in 2012. She remained in the United Kingdom until 2017, after graduating with a Doctorate in Human Factors and Ergonomics. She conducted research within the National Health Service, challenging pervasive organizational and cultural factors impacting British anesthesia practice. Jeena has been a member of HLNY since 2019 and served on the Analytics Committee since 2020. She is grateful to have the opportunity to serve the HLNY Board as Analytics Committee Chair again for 2023 and work with her team to provide strategy driving insights through data analysis.

Zachary Almer currently serves as the Director of Strategic Project Management at LiveOnNY, a nonprofit organization committed to facilitating lifesaving organ and tissue donation for New Yorkers. In this role, he works closely with the executive leadership team to drive strategic planning, compliance, quality, and process improvement initiatives across the entire company.
Prior to joining LiveOnNY in 2023, Mr. Almer spent over 7 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He most recently served as the Manager of Resource Alignment & Integration, where he partnered with senior leadership, administrators, and clinicians to plan and implement critical resource initiatives for the hospital. Earlier in his career at MSKCC, he served as the Manager of the Surgical Education & Training Office, where he oversaw a team that coordinated academic activities for over 450 fellows, residents, and medical students.
Mr. Almer holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Baruch College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Delaware. He also holds a Project Management Professional credential from the Project Management Institute. Mr. Almer has presented as a panelist at the American College of Healthcare Executives Congress in addition to programs sponsored by Healthcare Leaders of New York and the Greater New York Hospital Association. He has served on the HLNY Board of Directors since 2020.

Ann Marie McDonald EdD, RN, FACHE, CPHQ is an accomplished and dynamic healthcare executive with extensive leadership experience in quality management, performance improvement and regulatory compliance. Ms. McDonald currently serves as Vice President, Quality and Performance Improvement at Hospital for Special Surgery. Prior to this role, Ms. McDonald held the position as the Executive Director of Regulatory Affairs for Mount Sinai Health System, providing leadership and oversight for the development and administration of system-wide regulatory compliance activities as well as oversight of The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai Queens, Quality and Regulatory Affairs Department.
Ms. McDonald has held progressive leadership positions in Nursing and Quality Management. Prior to joining Mount Sinai Health System in 2018, she served as Senior Vice President, Chief Quality Officer for SBH Health System, Bronx, NY. In this role, she was responsible for the overall strategy and performance targets for all aspects of quality management, regulatory compliance, patient safety and patient satisfaction.
Ms. McDonald is a Registered Nurse. She received her Master of Arts and Doctor of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University where she holds an adjunct faculty position in the Nurse Executive Program. She was inducted as a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine in 2015. Ms. McDonald is member of American College of Healthcare Executives and holds certification as a Fellow.

Michael J. Gatto is an accomplished health care industry leader with more than 30 years of experience achieving successful results through effective leadership, strategic alignment, and program integration. He is a progressive health services leader whose vision of healthcare transformation is strongly leveraged through System’s Transformation supporting the Integrated Delivery System. This vision largely defines his career in both the safety-net and not for profit health systems environments within the New York region.
Providing vision and strategic alignment to health leadership and key stakeholders, his success is defined in terms of the interdisciplinary management team’s approach. Currently, he is the President and Managing Director of Health Matrix Strategies, a health services transformation, transitions of care and population health management group.
Senior leadership appointments Michael has held include Vice President and Chief DSRIP Officer at Nassau University Medical Center, Associate Executive Director for Ambulatory Care and Community-based Medicine at Harlem Hospital Center, Vice President of the Ambulatory Care Network at Bronx Lebanon and Senior Administrator for Primary Care and the Ambulatory Care Network at Montefiore Medical Center. Michael holds a certification as a NYS Critical Care Technician from the Division of Emergency Medical Services.
Michael is a member of the American College of Health Care Executives (ACHE), Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) and participates in the early careerist mentorship program for the ACHE. He is the recipient of the ACHE’s Leadership and Education Award and is on faculty at Long Island University’s School of Health Management and Human Service and faculty advisor to the Future Health Leaders program.
Michael holds a Master of Public Administration in Health Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management/Economics from Long Island University, a Certificate in Business Development and Philanthropy from Long Island University and an Executive Certificate in Ambulatory Care Strategic and Financial Planning from Columbia University.