Speaker Bios
Michael Strahan
Emmy Winner
Super Bowl Champion
Emmy winner and Super Bowl Champion Michael Strahan is the co-host of top-rated entertainment talk show “LIVE with Kelly and Michael.” He also serves as special co-host for leading morning program, “Good Morning America,” and as an Emmy-nominated analyst for “Fox NFL Sunday.”
Prior to joining the ranks of the top sports broadcasters in the country, Strahan’s entire 15-year football career was typified by the charisma and sportsmanship that made him a seven-time Pro-Bowler and one of only four players ever to lead the NFL in sacks for two seasons. His spectacular NFL career resulted in Strahan being named to the 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame class, the sport’s highest honor.
Strahan lead the New York Giants to a dramatic Super Bowl victory over the previously undefeated New England Patriots in 2007. In 2001, Strahan completed what is widely considered to be one of the greatest seasons ever for a defensive player, breaking the 18-year-old NFL single season sack record with 22.5 sacks. His record still stands today. The charismatic leader of the New York Giants was named the NFL’s 2001 Player of the Year by Sports Illustrated and the 2001 Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press, making him the first New York Giant to win the award since Lawrence Taylor.
Strahan and co-host Kelly Ripa were the co-winners of the 2015 Daytime Emmy for “Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host.” In addition, Strahan was nominated for a 2014 Sports Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Sports Personality – Studio Analyst.”
This October, Strahan will release his upcoming book “Wake Up Happy: The Dream Big, Win Big Guide to Transforming Your Life,” which will include personal stories and motivational advice to inspire readers to turn up the heat and go from good to great in pursuit of their personal ambitions.
With a natural affinity for people and an effortless ease in front of the camera, Strahan’s previous hosting duties include “Pros v. Joes,” which pitted amateur contestants against professional athletes in a series of athletic feats. Strahan co-hosted the family cable show “Backyard Stadiums” on DIY Network and built outdoor recreational projects with his co-host. In addition, he participated in the kid-friendly show “Giants on Deck” and the YES Network show “Sack and Renovate,” in which he led a guided tour inside his 100-year-old home. Strahan also tackled the world of scripted network primetime television as the star of “Brothers,” a 30-minute sitcom on Fox from Sony Pictures Television. This summer, Strahan made a cameo appearance in the hit film “Magic Mike XXL.”
Dedicated to many charitable works, Strahan donates his hands and heart to numerous charities including St. Jude Children’s hospital, The USO and Cedar Sinai’s Sports Spectacular.
Strahan was a vocal and visible leader among the athletic community in the aftermath of the World Trade Center tragedy. As the player representative for the Giants, Strahan led the charge in calling for the league to cancel its games following the event.
Born in Houston, Texas, Strahan spent most of his youth in Germany, where his father Gene was stationed in the U.S. Army. Strahan returned to the U.S. for a portion of high school and soon was recruited to play football at Texas Southern University. As a senior at Texas Southern, Strahan was selected first team All-America by the Associated Press when he recorded a school-record 19 sacks and 62 tackles, 32 of which cost opposing teams 142 yards in combined losses.
Now partnered with longtime friend Constance Schwartz to form SMAC Entertainment, Strahan brings his skills, determination, leadership, experience and humor to the multi-dimensional talent management, branding, and production company. In addition to representing dynamic and globally recognized talent, SMAC Entertainment produces strong and diversified content, and has a multitude of projects setup with primetime cable and broadcast networks, including HBO, AMC, ABC, E!, USA Network, A&E and FYI, as well as Amazon’s streaming video service. In 2015, the company produced the highly rated and critically acclaimed inaugural Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards for the second year in a row. In addition, the SMAC team produced the innovative HBO documentary series “State of Play: Happiness,” which explores athletes’ retirement transition in relation to larger society. Their latest project, “Play It Forward,” a documentary about famed football tight end Tony Gonzales and his brother, premiered as the opener of the 2015 Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival.
Frank Luntz
Political Consultant and Pollster
Frank Luntz is one of the most honored communication professionals in America today. “The Nostradamus of pollsters,” (according to Sir David Frost), Time magazine named him one of “50 of America’s most promising leaders aged 40 and under” and he is the “hottest pollster” in America according to the Boston Globe.
Frank was named one of the four “Top Research Minds” by Business Week and was a winner of the coveted Washington Post Crystal Ball award for being the most accurate pundit. His focus groups have become so influential that presidential candidate Barack Obama had this to say following the PBS presidential debate, “When Frank Luntz invites you to talk to his focus group, you talk to his focus group.”
Manju T. Beier, PharmD, CGP, FASCP
President and founder, Geriatric Consultant Resources
Manju Beier is President and founder of Geriatric Consultant Resources, a company specializing in the field of geriatric pharmacotherapy and clinical pharmacology to geriatrics professional organizations, managed care organizations, healthcare plans, and the pharmaceutical industry. She also holds an academic appointment as Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. In 2009, Dr. Beier obtained her board certification in geriatrics and is currently a Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (CGP). She received her BS in Pharmacy and Doctor of Pharmacy degrees from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She also holds a BS degree in Foods and Nutrition from Lady Irwin College, New Delhi, India. Dr. Beier has held several different positions in academia, industry, hospital, retail, and consultant pharmacy. She has given numerous seminars and workshops addressing geriatric pharmacotherapy, and the unique medication related problems of older adults on a local, state, national, and international level. She has many publications to her credit and currently serves on the editorial advisory board of several journals related to geriatrics and aging.
Representative Joseph Crowley
U.S. Representative (D – NY)
A native of Woodside, Queens, and a lifelong New Yorker, Joseph Crowley has served the people of the Bronx and Queens in Congress since 1998. Before being elected to Congress, he received a bachelor’s degree from Queens College, ran a successful small business for nearly a decade, and represented the 30th Assembly District in the New York State Legislature. Throughout his career in public service, he has been driven by a desire to protect New York’s middle class.
As Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, the fifth-highest ranking position in House Democratic Leadership, his efforts in Congress are focused on building strong communities, creating jobs, increasing access to healthcare and housing, protecting seniors’ hard-earned benefits, and opening up educational opportunities for working families. His seat on the prestigious Committee on Ways and Means allows him to work directly on issues of importance to the residents of the 14th District—keeping Medicare and Social Security strong, improving healthcare for all Americans, and creating a fair and equitable tax code for American families and small businesses.
The 14th Congressional District is one of the most diverse areas in the country. Through his work with a range of local organizations, Crowley has enriched his understanding of international affairs and become a leading voice in efforts to promote democracy and human rights around the world.
Like most New Yorkers, his life was profoundly changed on September 11, 2001. Tragically, his cousin, Fire Department Battalion Chief John Moran, was among the brave first responders who died that day in World Trade Center Tower 2. To make sure we never forget the sacrifices made that day, he spearheaded an initiative to honor the first responders who lost their lives trying to help their fellow New Yorkers with a Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor. And, to ensure that New York and the nation are better prepared for future threats, Crowley led efforts to create the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), which targets homeland security funding for at-risk urban centers, such as New York City. He was also instrumental in passing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act to provide 9/11 first responders and workers with health monitoring and care.
Both local and national media have recognized Joe Crowley for his impressive record of leadership in Congress. In 2010, National Journal magazine named him “a rising star” in the Democratic Caucus and The New York Times has noted that his peers consider him to be a “hard working representative” who is “an impassioned advocate for his district.”
Joseph Crowley has been married to his wife, Kasey, for over a decade. They have three young children.
Hannah Dubin
Han Ban Can Consulting
Hannah has been referred to as the “Swiss army knife of facilitation” —no matter what the situation, she’s got the perfect activity ready to help move a group forward. With over 15 years of experience working as a facilitator, trainer, and consultant in the social enterprise, nonprofits and education space, Hannah’s people-centered approach to problem-solving has helped teams and organizations meet their goals to better serve their stakeholders.
Hannah has a Masters of Art in Leisure Studies form the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation Management from Acadia University. In her research, she focused on studying optimal learning environments, program evaluation, transfer of training, positive youth development, and productive organizations.
Earlier in Hannah’s career, she served as the Director of Leadership at Me to We, a social enterprise focused on leadership programs (like camp, international service-learning travel, conferences, workshops) to empower youth to make difference in the world around the social issues that they care about. At Free The Children, Hannah facilitated philanthropic initiative workshops to increase corporate employee engagement programs around local and global social issues.
For a number of years, Hannah has been running her own consulting company offering services in facilitation, training and organizational development. Recent client work has focused on training organizations on facilitation skills capacity, implementing innovation, and design-thinking methods and developing the millennial workforce in how to be effective people and team managers. She has designed and delivered dozens of practice labs and professional development workshops focused on group facilitation skills including, planning and preparation for collaboration, managing challenging personalities, active listening, and positive team dynamics. Her clients have included The Design Gym, General Assembly, Dozens of Youth Development organizations and camps, Start-Ups in Health Care, Food Justice, Affordable Housing in New York City, and Educational Travel.
Janet Hoffmann
President, HR Aligned Design
Janet Hoffmann is President of HR Aligned Design, a consulting practice in organizational effectiveness, leadership and team development, group facilitation and human resources strategy. She works with companies, gaining an understanding of their organization, developing practical solutions and facilitating change to align their people performance with business results.
Prior to founding HR Aligned Design, Janet was the Chief People Officer at B.R. Guest Hospitality, V.P. of Human Resources and Organizational Development at Morton’s – The Steakhouse and Capital Restaurant Concepts. Janet began her career in operations with Houlihan’s Restaurant Group where she was an Executive General Manager for fifteen years before joining their Management Development team.
Janet earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, holds a Trainer Certification from Georgetown University, her Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) certifications. She is certified in the MBTI, the EverythingDISC behavior assessment and Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team. Janet is a member of the Society of Human Resource Management and the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers of which she is a past president. She is currently Co-President for the New York City SHRM Chapter.
Janet is an experienced coach, facilitator and presenter. In addition to her clients, audiences have included the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers, New York, Maryland and Florida State, Houston and Dallas Annual SHRM Conferences, the National Restaurant Association Show, FSTech, HR in Hospitality, The Grocerant Summit and the International Restaurant and Food Service Show of New York. More information about Janet and consulting services can be found at www.hraligneddesign.com.
Peter Levinson
Principal & Creative Director, LevinsonBlock
Peter Levinson is Principal and Creative Director of LevinsonBlock, a Brooklyn-based firm that specializes in marketing for healthcare organizations.
Since its founding in 1984, LevinsonBlock has helped clients elevate their game through brand and marketing strategy. Peter has transformed websites and created marketing and content-driven campaigns. Clients include the Lighthouse Guild, PSCH, Primary Care Development Corporation, Healthix, and others.
Since 1991, he has been a speaker at Baruch College, where he has presented workshops that help improve participants’ branding and websites. In addition, he has published over 100 issues of Brandscape, a twice-monthly newsletter with a focus on healthcare marketing.
Peter has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and an American Graphic Design Award. He has also been featured in Designing for the Greater Good, an annual of great marketing for nonprofits. His agency’s work has been selected for the Logo Lounge II Annual, Print Regional Design Annuals, and Print’s Best Logos and Symbols.
Peter lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Lynnae Mahaney, BSPharm, MBA, FASHP
Executive Director of the Center for Pharmacy Practice Accreditation
Lynnae Mahaney is the Executive Director of the Center for Pharmacy Practice Accreditation (CPPA), a partnership between the American Pharmacists Association, National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). The CPPA develops and implements comprehensive pharmacy practice site accreditation programs, including principles, policies and standards. As Executive Director, Lynnae leads the Center’s strategic direction, operations, and the management and delivery of pharmacy practice accreditation programs.
Her past experience includes serving as Chief of Pharmacy at the William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, and as Director of Pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin Medical Foundation. Over the course of her career she has been recognized for her innovative and energetic leadership in inpatient and ambulatory pharmacy services in community as well as governmental healthcare systems.
As a past president and fellow of the ASHP, she gained a national as well as an international reputation for the advancement of pharmacist practices. She is a sought-after speaker and has consistently contributed to the professional literature.
Her awards include the 2012 Citation of Merit from the University of Wisconsin, School of Pharmacy, and she was named 2004 Pharmacist of the Year by the Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin.
Jeanne Marrin
Founder & President, HR on the Move
After 20 years of working as a human resources generalist, Jeanne Marrin founded HR on the Move, a consortium of business and management consultants, in 2006. Her background includes a wide range of business consulting experience, including organizational development, change management, organization assessments, executive development, employee relations, workplace investigations, employee benefits and compensation, training and development, staffing, process improvement, and project management.
Jeanne was a Business Partner at Montefiore Medical Center, the largest employer in the Bronx, New York. At Montefiore, she directed the compensation, benefits, labor, employee relations, training and development, HRIS, and recruitment and staffing functions of the Medicine Care Center. Her projects included developing a written orientation policy for JCAHO standards, creating e-learning modules for the entire healthcare system for Cultural Diversity and Recognition of the Impaired Medical Professional, and designing team-building retreats for entire departments.
Prior to her work at Montefiore, Jeanne was Director of Human Resources at St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Bayside, NY. For six years, she worked at YAI National Institute for People with Disabilities as Senior HR Manager and Assistant Director of Human Resources, where she oversaw the HR Operations Department for their seven companies.
Jeanne received her BA in Business from the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, NY. She also received an MBA in HR Management from Iona College Hagan School of Business in New Rochelle, NY. She is certified through the HR Certification Institute as a Senior Professional in Human Resources and recently achieved Senior Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resource Management. Jeanne teaches graduate level Strategic HR Management at St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn.
She currently serves as the Immediate Past Director of the New York State Society for Human Resource Management. She is also a recent Past President of the Human Resources Association of New York, the largest human resources chapter in the world and the New York tri-state area’s largest association of human resources practitioners. She is a member of the Business Advisory Council of the College of Mount Saint Vincent and sits on the advisory board of St. Joseph’s College School of Business. Jeanne serves as a guest lecturer and facilitator for a variety of venues and is a member of the John Maxwell Team of consultants.
Martha Polovich, PhD, RN, AOCN
Assistant Professor, Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions, Georgia State University
Martha Polovich is an Assistant Professor and Director of the PhD program for the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions at Georgia State University. An oncology nurse since 1980 and Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist from 1987-2012, Dr. Polovich has cared for oncology patients in inpatient, outpatient, and home hospice settings. She has also provided education for oncology nurses and evaluated nurses’ chemotherapy administration competency. She has a research interest in occupational hazardous drug exposure of nurses and other healthcare workers and has published extensively on this topic as well as serving as the editor of Safe Handling of Hazardous Drugs and Chemotherapy And Biotherapy Guidelines and Recommendations For Practice published by the Oncology Nursing Society.
Dr. Polovich has served as a member of the Expert Panel on Hazardous Drugs for the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) and the Technical Expert Panel for the Outpatient Chemotherapy Standards for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. She continues to serve as a member of the ASCO/ONS Chemotherapy Safety Standards Steering Committee and the NIOSH Hazardous Drug Review Panel.
Steven M. Safyer, M.D.
President and CEO, Montefiore Medicine
Steven M. Safyer, MD, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Montefiore Medicine, one of New York’s premiere academic health systems. An accomplished clinician, physician leader, and educator, he was recognized by Modern Healthcare as 13th of the “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare” in March 2016.
Prior to being appointed President and CEO of Montefiore in 2008, he held a variety of increasingly senior leadership roles at Montefiore, including Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer from 1998 until 2008. Under his leadership, Montefiore significantly expanded the breadth and depth of its clinical care services. It is now composed of a network of 10 hospitals, including the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and Burke, a specialized state-of-the-art rehabilitation hospital, plus more than 200 ambulatory care centers in the Bronx and the Hudson Valley.
During his tenure as CEO, Dr. Safyer strengthened the relationship between Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine by identifying, leveraging, and nurturing key synergies between the two organizations in research, clinical care, and education. His efforts culminated in the integration of the two organizations and the creation of Montefiore Medicine in 2015.
Throughout his career he has been a leader in developing innovative business and clinical strategies designed to provide high-quality care management under prepayment and other value-based arrangements. He was an early champion of clinical information systems and in the 1990s launched physician order entry that supported his focus on creating nationally recognized quality and safety programs.
In addition, Dr. Safyer has always been deeply committed to improving healthcare for the underserved and galvanized a broad effort to stem the burgeoning HIV and TB epidemics that were taking their greatest toll on the poor during the 1990s in New York City. A champion for a single standard of healthcare quality and access regardless of social or economic circumstances, Dr. Safyer led the way for Montefiore to set a new standard for equitable healthcare systems.
Dr. Safyer earned his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine having received his bachelor of science from Cornell University. He completed his internship and a residency in Social Medicine at Montefiore. He is board certified in Internal Medicine as well as a Professor of Medicine and a Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at Einstein. He is a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, a founding member of The Health Management Academy, and a member of the Healthcare Institute.
Dr. Safyer currently serves on the boards of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the Association of American Medical Colleges Council of Teaching Hospitals Administrative Board, the NYC Board of Corrections, the Coalition to Protect American’s Health Care, and the University HealthSystem Consortium. He is also on the boards of the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, and the Greater New York Hospital Association, where he served as immediate past chair and as a past chairman of the Board of Governors respectively.
Susan Reilly Salgado
Founder and Managing Partner, Hospitality Quotient
Susan Reilly Salgado is founder and primary thought leader of Hospitality Quotient, a high-touch organizational consulting business. She has 20+ years of academic and professional experience in organizational behavior, and focuses primarily on assessing, building, sustaining, and evolving culture through effective leadership.
She launched Hospitality Quotient with Danny Meyer in 2010 after spending seven years as Director of Culture & Learning for Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group restaurants, where her role was to grow and evolve the culture of the businesses. Susan based her doctoral dissertation on an assessment of the culture there. Her research and expertise provide the foundation for the Hospitality Quotient offerings, which enable organizations to achieve favorite-in-category status.
A celebrated educator, she has taught and guest-lectured business classes at Lehigh University, the NYU Stern School of Business, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Yale University Executive Education program. She has addressed audiences from a wide range of industries, including engagements with Citibank Small Business Seminars, TEDx, Crain’s New York Business, Share Our Strength, the Global Insurance Symposium, GLG Share, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In addition to her PhD in Organizational Behavior from the NYU Stern School of Business, she holds a BS and an MBA from Lehigh University.
In 2016, Susan was named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business.
Sylvia Thomas, PharmD, MS, BCPS
Vice President, Clinical Pharmacy Services
Dr. Thomas is responsible for all clinical pharmacy services to the Innovatix membership base, which includes long-term care pharmacies and senior living facilities, infusion and specialty providers, Oncology Express participants, and physicians in the Vaccine Program. She also provides clinical support and education to Innovatix sales teams and consultants serving these markets. In addition, Dr. Thomas coordinates all Innovatix educational programs for members.
Prior to joining Innovatix, Dr. Thomas worked for Beth Israel Medical Center-Singer Division, where she served as Manager of Clinical Pharmacy Services and went on to become Director of Pharmacy. Prior to Beth Israel, Thomas held leadership positions in clinical pharmacy and served as the manager of an oncology pharmacy. She received her Doctorate in Pharmacy from the University of Florida and holds both a Master of Science in Drug Information and Communication, and Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Long Island University. She is also Board Certified in Pharmacotherapy.
Marilyn Yager
Senior Advisor, Alston & Bird
Marilyn Yager is a senior policy advisor in the Alston & Bird Washington, D.C., office, where she provides insight on a variety of healthcare issues and helps clients develop, design, and implement their legislative and regulatory strategy.
She has more than 30 years of senior management, policy, and government experience in both the public and private sectors. Her public sector experience includes several roles in the Executive Branch, where she served as both Chief of Staff to the White House Chief of Staff and Deputy Assistant to the President on Health and Budget in the Office of Public Liaison. She also served as professional staff on the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee for Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and spent five years as a legislative aide in the House of Representatives.
Marilyn has considerable experience in government affairs, having served as Executive Director of the Renal Leadership Council, Director of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Director of Federal Relations for the Massachusetts Hospital Association.
An Iowa native, Marilyn Yager began her career in the Cascade Mountains as a Volunteer in Service to America—the national public service program.