Rise

Katie Adamson Vice President, Health Partnerships & Policy

YMCA of the USA

Item 7 CEO

Central Susquehanna Opportunities

Megan Bair is the Chief Executive Officer of Central Susquehanna Opportunities (CSO), a community action agency serving nine counties in Central Pennsylvania. With 25 years of dedication to CSO, Megan has led initiatives that empower individuals and strengthen communities through workforce development and economic opportunity programs. Under her leadership, CSO has forged impactful partnerships, including a collaboration with Geisinger Health to launch a mobile food pantry, bringing critical resources to underserved populations across the region. Megan holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from York College and is passionate about creating innovative solutions that promote equity, sustainability, and community growth.

Kelly Fernandez Senior Director, Managed Care & Value Based Contracting

RWJBarnabas Health

With over 15 years of experience across the health care industry, Kelly Fernandez has a proven track record of driving change through innovative value-based solutions. Kelly helped to launch and operationalize a first-of-its-kind strategic health care alliance during her tenure with New Jersey’s largest health insurance provider. She currently directs the negotiation of market-leading value-based contracts across commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Managed Medicaid (including pay-for-performance, MLR, shared savings/shared risk, bundles, and episodes of care) at RWJ Barnabas Health, New Jersey’s most comprehensive health care delivery system. Having built pioneering strategic partnerships from both the payer and provider sides, Kelly offers a unique and well-rounded perspective on the current and future state of health care.  

Ellen Fink-Samnick Wholistic Health Equity Strategist, Content Developer, Educator

EFS Supervision Strategies, LLC

Dr. Ellen Fink-Samnick is an award-winning industry entrepreneur who empowers healthcare's interprofessional workforce. She is a subject matter expert on Ethics, Health Equity, Integrated Care, Interprofessional Teams, Professional Case Management, Quality, and Trauma-informed Leadership. Dr. Fink-Samnick is the author of a number of professional titles including the recently published The Ethical Case Manager: Tools and Tactics, The Social Determinants of Health: Case Management’s Next Frontier and End of Life Care for Case Management. 

Dr. Fink-Samnick has a Doctorate in Behavioral Health with specialization in Health Equity, Integrated Care, Quality, Leadership, and Trauma-Informed Practice. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Board-certified Case Manager, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Dr. Fink-Samnick has been inducted as a Fellow in Case Management, as well as a member of the academic honor society, Delta Epsilon Tau. 

Dr. Fink-Samnick serves the industry through a variety of roles with academic appointments at Cummings Graduate Institute of Behavioral Health Studies, George Mason University’s College of Public Health, and the University of Buffalo School of Social Work. She is a clinical supervision trainer and instructor for the National Association of Social Workers of Virginia and Metro DC, moderator of Ellen’s Ethical Lens on LinkedIn, and author of the blog, Ellen’s Interprofessional Insights. She is also a consultant for the Case Management Institute and moderator of their Case Managers Community. Dr. Fink-Samnick is also Editor of the Heartbeat of Case Management Column for Wolters Kluwer’s Professional Case Management Journal. 

​Dr. Fink-Samnick is known for her fierce professional voice. Along with leadership and committee roles across credentialing entities and professional associations, she has shared her expertise with the Gravity Project, National Coalition for Social Work and Health, and RISE Association. She is a board consultant to the American Association of Doctors of Behavioral Health, and editorial board member for the Professional Case Management Journal, Further information is available on her LinkedIn Profile. 

Kim Prendergast VP, Policy & Strategy

Community Care Cooperative

Kim Prendergast is Vice President for Policy for Community Care Cooperative (C3). a Federally Qualified Health Center-led Accountable Care Organization (ACO). In this role, she leads the ACO’s strategic and policy initiatives to support FQHCs across six states and the District of Columbia to leverage value-based payments and address social drivers of health to improve health equity and health outcomes.  Kim joined the organization in 2019 and has been the architect of C3’s work to identify and address health-related social needs through partnerships across the healthcare and social services sectors. She designed and implemented C3’s $25M Medicaid-funded Flexible Services program in Massachusetts which improves health outcomes and reduces health care costs. Kim is passionate about sharing these successful approaches to value-based care, partnerships and social health programs to expand primary care to advance health equity.  

Prior to joining C3, Kim spent two decades addressing food insecurity and health with Feeding America through roles in public policy, nutrition programs, and healthcare partnership consulting. Kim is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a BS in Dietetics from Purdue University and has a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago.  She lives in the Boston area.  

Maria Welch Director of Community Health and Social Needs

Geisinger Steele Institute for Innovation

Maria Welch is a Director of Community Health and Social Needs with the Geisinger Steele Institute for Innovation. Maria has been with Geisinger for over 10 years and currently leads the clinical and health plan organization’s Social Determinants of Health strategy, that includes the identification of social needs, connection to local community resources and the creation of new programs to support members and patients. Additionally, Maria leads the Health Equity strategy for the Geisinger Health Plan. to A native of Pennsylvania, Maria earned her B.S. in Biology from Juniata College and her M.P.H. from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

Rick Whitted CEO

U.S. Hunger

Rick Whitted is the President & Chief Executive Officer at U.S. Hunger, a global nonprofit whose mission is feeding families today and uniting them to a healthier tomorrow. In total, U.S. Hunger (USH) has provided over 150 million meals to families in need. Before his appointment as CEO in March 2020, Rick served on USH’s board of directors. Rick has overseen the launch of several of the organization’s initiatives: expanding home delivery of fresh produce into its supply chain; aligning its Full Cart® program with the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health equity framework; and, developing a cloud based SaaS solution that uses A.I. and Machine Learning to identify root causes of food insecurity in the U.S. and provide real-time actionable intelligence on social determinants of health (SDOH). Rick is a graduate of Stetson University and Nova Southern University where he received a BA in Political Sciences/American Studies, and an MBA, Business Administration and Management, respectively. Prior to joining USH, he spent 27 multi-faceted years in banking; focusing on small business, government and non-profit banking. He is also an accomplished author and speaker with expertise in leadership, workplace culture and individual and team development.