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.

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.

Natasha Elie Louissaint is a Queens, New Yorker native. She pursued a Bachelor in Health Administration from SUNY at Stony Brook, a Master in Health Administration from Hofstra University, and a Bachelor of Nursing from the University of Rhode Island. She continued her attainments by earning the credential LNHA – Licensed Nursing Home Administrator and Registered Nurse. She is currently pursuing her Doctoral in Health Care Leadership with a focus on advance care planning.
In her past roles, she played an integral role in the management of $50-75m business portfolios. She has been successful in implementing programs and transitions that assisted in patient care as well as satisfaction. She has had great success in revenue enhancement, leading capital projects, and submission of certificate of need applications for engineering, facilities as well as patient care services. She has managed the construction of ambulatory/wound care clinics, outpatient rehabilitation, transitional care departments, and Senior Housing Apartments.
She has earned many accolades in her career for reducing costs, while increasing revenue as well as satisfaction scores by targeting direct opportunities. As a nurse, she has been able to empathize the needs of the clinical team while meeting the necessities of the operational team. She wrote and submitted a New York State transformation grant that was awarded for clinical non-invasive monitoring. The clinical non-invasive monitoring assisted the clinicians with the early detection of changes in the condition of a patient, which has directly impacted the reduction in readmissions to the hospital.
Natasha is a Fellow of the American College Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society. Additionally, she continues to be active in the New York Community by assisting with local health fairs, health care awareness, mentoring young health care leaders and she is an active Girl Scouts Leader for young girls in her community. Natasha is married to Kervens and they are raising three children to be future leaders.

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.

Serving his second term as Marketing and Communications Chair, 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.

Recently graduating with a dual master's degree in Business Administration and Public Health, with a concentration in health policy and management from Stony Brook University, Mmutaka brings a wealth of knowledge and dedication to her work in Healthcare Administration. Mmutaka also holds a Bachelor's degree in Public Health from the State University of New York Albany, laying a strong foundation for her endeavors.

Mmutaka's dedication to academic excellence and commitment to public health has been recognized through several scholarships, including the Stony Brook Program in Public Health's Ann Tempone Award, the New York Regional Chapter of the National Association of Health Services Executives 2023 Scholarship Award, and the HLNY 2023 Achievement Award of Distinction Scholarship.

Since 2021, Mmutaka has been an active member of HLNY, initially joining as a student member and then volunteering within the DEI committee before now serving as the Co-Chair of the Marketing Committee.

Post-graduation, Mmutaka will join Northwell Health as an Administrative Fellow. This role will provide her with a unique opportunity for executive development, encompassing departmental rotations, problem-solving projects, and participation in managerial functions across various organizational settings within Northwell Health.

Beyond her professional pursuits, Mmutaka finds balance in her life through activities such as going to the gym, exploring all things beauty related, and spending time with family and friends.

Jeena Velzen is an Associate Director for the Transformation Management Office at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) specializing in Enterprise Continuous Improvement. In this role, she oversees a professional team of process improvement engineers, project managers, and data analysts in service of strategic initiatives. 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, clinical communications, charge capture, simulation modeling, installment of MSK’s Patient Flow Command Center, and supporting implementation of a new EHR. 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 -as Committee Chair for the last two years. This year, she will provide her lens of data insights to better understand HLNY’s membership to create strategies for further growth and retention.

Ramya Geddam is the Hospital Services Manager for LiveOnNY, a nonprofit organization committed to helping New York live on through organ and tissue donation. In this role, she utilizes data analytics to prepare and present at multidisciplinary meetings with executive leadership teams of hospitals throughout the greater NYC area and its neighboring counties. She also coordinates the strategic development and implementation of programs to achieve the metrics set forth. She is a clinically strong, foreign-trained physician motivated to integrate clinical knowledge into the administrative side. Ramya also has experience being a health ambassador and a content manager to promote safe community events and deliver National Public Health Week events to the students at Hofstra University.
Ramya holds her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Science from NRI Medical College. Ramya also graduated as part of the Upsilon Phi Delta Honor Society while completing her Master of Health Administration from Hofstra University. During her time at Hofstra, she was proud to serve as the President of Future Healthcare Leaders, bringing the student body together by hosting educational workshops that also presented as networking opportunities. Ramya has been part of HLNY, attending events and volunteering, since 2021, and is grateful to now serve on the HLNY Board as the Co-Chair of the Gala Committee.

Trisha Tagle is the Senior Project Manager for Strategic System Initiatives in the Department of Neurology at Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) specializing in operational improvement and process implementation. In this role she partners with department leadership to translate strategies into initiative proposals and action plans. She also oversees a project management team working closely with them to ensure they have the necessary support to drive projects to delivery. Her participation in supporting large scale system level strategic change and continuous improvement is a major contributor driving her passion of improving patient care delivery through operational improvement. Most of her recent projects are driven by both department and system leadership, making them interdepartmental efforts. This includes the roll out of the FDA approved Alzheimer’s medication, Lecanemab. It is one of the first medications targeted to treat Alzheimer’s itself. Her connection to Mount Sinai goes back 11 years, with the last 7 of those being in healthcare administration and project management. She uses her past experiences to find opportunities for continuous improvement within the department and facilitates the maturing of ideas into initiative proposals.

Ms. Tagle graduated from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai with a Master of Health Administration (MHA) in 2022. She was presented with the MHA Outstanding Capstone Award and inducted into the Upsilon Phi Delta Healthcare Administration Honors Society. She continues her relationship with the graduate school by participating as a mentor in the MHA Mentorship Program, offering guidance to MHA students based on her own development in healthcare leadership.

She has been an active member of Healthcare Leaders of New York (HLNY) since 2017 and held prior roles as member of the Marketing Committee and Gala Committee. This year she will continue to utilize her skills though now as Co-Chair of the Gala Committee.

Divya Kurup is the Administrative Manager of System Operations within the Department of Urology at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. Leveraging her expertise in healthcare administration, she plays a role in ensuring the seamless operation of administrative functions within the department.

Originally hailing from Houston, Texas, Divya completed her undergraduate studies in Public Health at the University of Houston. Building on her passion for improving healthcare delivery, she pursued a Master's degree in Health Administration from Rutgers University, where she honed her leadership and management skills.

Within her career Divya has established herself as a growing leader in healthcare administration. She has spearheaded numerous initiatives aimed at optimizing processes and enhancing patient care, earning recognition for her dedication to excellence.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Divya is an active member of the New York City community, volunteering her time and expertise to various charitable organizations. She finds fulfillment in giving back and making a positive impact on the lives of others.

Driven by her commitment to advancing healthcare and improving patient outcomes, Divya Kurup continues to lead with integrity and innovation at the forefront of the Mount Sinai Health System.

Danielle Edwards PT, DPT is a Director in the Rehabilitation and Performance Department at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). She acts as a liaison between Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Administration, Medical Staff, Nursing Staff, and the community. Her role allows her to oversee clinical and administrative staff and create an environment that ensures professional growth for personnel and quality care for patients.
Danielle has worked as a member of the HSS’s Rehabilitation and Performance acute care team for more than a decade and has held leadership roles in informatics and quality. She is passionate about research and using technology to improve communication throughout perioperative care.
Her research interests include optimizing technology for efficiency across the surgical episode of care, the effect of pre-operative physical therapy education and patient reported outcome measures. Her research is published in the peer reviewed HSS journal. She is also a presenter at international and national conferences, including the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty Annual Congress, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual meeting, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Global Health Conference, Epic Expert Group Meeting, Epic User Group Meeting and American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections.
Dr. Edwards earned her Master of Science in Physical Therapy and graduated Magna Cum Laude with her Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. She was a Coordinator at HSS for the Northeastern’s Cooperative Education Program for more than a decade.

Nancy Gonzalez joins us as Diversity, Health Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Program Manager for the Mount
Sinai Health System (MSHS) Department of Medicine. Ms. Gonzalez works with the Vice Chair for DEI
and other administrative leaders in the Department to plan, implement and evaluate programming
initiatives that promote equity inclusive excellence for faculty, trainees, staff and patients. Ms. Gonzalez
has held several previous positions with the Department of Medicine including Residency Program
Coordinator for the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Mount Sinai Hospital, Education Program
Manager for the Nephrology Fellowship and the Mount Sinai Morningside/West Internal Medicine
Residency and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion coordinator.
Ms. Gonzalez is a graduate of Berkeley College where she completed a Bachelor of Business
Administration in Management and postgraduate of Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
at New York University Master of Health Administration program.

Alex Puma is a healthcare manager at Huron Consulting Group, where he works alongside clients to implement operating model transformation (acute care at home) and performance improvement (LOS reduction, surgical efficiency) at hospitals and multi-facility health systems. Outside of consulting, he has functional experience in hospital operations leadership, high reliability organizing, medical education and research, project management, and process implementation and improvement.
Prior to HLNY, Alex served as board president of the American College of Healthcare Executives of New Jersey (ACHE-NJ). During his tenure, ACHE-NJ won the ACHE’s awards of chapter merit and distinction, providing more hours of event programming per member than any other chapter in the country and establishing itself as a national leader in both education and advancement. Alex’s work documenting these efforts has been presented at the ACHE’s Chapter Leaders Conference in Chicago, Illinois and featured in Healthcare Executive, the ACHE’s #1 Healthcare Magazine.
Alex is credentialed as a Project Management Professional, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner, Disciplined Agile Coach, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Certified ScrumMaster, and Certified Scrum Product Owner. He earned his BA from Villanova University and is today pursuing an MBA with specializations in finance, management, and strategy from the Stern School of Business at NYU.

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.

Benoit Grandmougin is a board-certified Healthcare Executive with over 25 years of provider and payor experience. Mr. Grandmougin is an Executive Director at Equidis Health, a value-based solutions organization based in New York City. Prior to Equidis Health, Mr. Grandmougin was the Executive Director at UnitedHealth Group (UHG) for Medicare Operations in Downstate New York. He was responsible for defining and executing the overall market strategy for plan performance including, quality, coding, clinical affordability and member experience. In addition, he executed Medicare & Retirement national functions in the local market specific to network and product development, sales, marketing, and finance. Prior to UHG, Mr. Grandmougin was a Provider Engagement Executive at Humana, responsible for value-based contract performance in New York City and Long Island. Additional experience includes managed care leadership roles at Northwell Health and Mt. Sinai Health System and Emory Healthcare, where he oversaw contracting and business development strategies, payer relations and contract negotiations, health care economics and analytics, and value-based contracting.

Mr. Grandmougin previously served a two-year term as HLNY Board Member-at-Large for the Long Island territory. Additionally, he volunteers with the New York City Medical Reserve Corps.

Mr. Grandmougin earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Administration from St. John’s University, a Master in Public Health from the University of Tennessee, and a Master in Healthcare Administration from Hofstra University. He is currently a Ph.D. student in Health Sciences at Seton Hall University.

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.