Linda Skoglund

Clarifying 2020 Direction through Trends & Benchmarking

Linda Skoglund is the Managing Partner of JA Counter, an Alera Group Company. An insurance industry leader, Linda is responsible for the agency's strategic direction and continued growth. While focused on all aspects of the business, she oversees JA Counter's employee benefit and consulting practice while managing the organization's vision, direction and client relationships. Linda has specialized expertise in areas of benefits consulting, regulatory compliance, benefits administration and insurance product design. She is the lead Benefit Consultant for large employer groups, specializing in public sector. Linda began her career in the insurance industry in 1990. In 2001 she acquired all shares of JA Counter from its founder, James Counter. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Communication from the University of Minnesota as well as having earned the CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter), ChFC (Chartered Financial Consultant) and RHU (Registered Health Underwriter) designations from the American College. She is NAHU Certified as a Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Professional. Linda is active in both her business and local communities. She has served on the Broker Advisory Board of Medica and HealthPartners and is an active member of the Benefit Advisors Network (BAN). She has served locally on the board of the New Richmond Vitality initiative and actively supports Family Means and the Leadership Trust Initiative through the New Richmond Area Community Foundation. She is currently on the Board of the St. Croix Valley Foundation on the Donor Services Committee. She is an active member and past board member of the local chapter of the Wisconsin Association of Health Underwriters (WAHU) and served as past president of the local life underwriters’ chapter (BRAIFA). Linda is highly regarded within Alera Group as a female business leader and actively participates in the Diversity and Inclusion sector.

Danielle Capilla

Looking into 2020 Compliance and Politics

Danielle is the Director of Compliance for Alera Group’s Employee Benefits division. She previously served as the Senior Vice President of Compliance and Operations and Chief Compliance officer at United Benefit Advisors (UBA). Additionally, she served as an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University. She worked as a Senior Writer Analyst at Wolters Kluwer and as a Law Clerk at Clifford Law Offices. Danielle graduated with a B.A. in Sociology, History, and Business at Tulane University. She earned her JD in Health Law from DePaul University College of Law.

Alonzo Kelly

A Clear View into Implicit Bias

A dynamic Executive Coach, Professor, 3x Best Selling Author, and Radio Host, Alonzo Kelly has gained international and global attention as a premier consultant and strategist. Alonzo is recognized as one the nation’s leading experts on leadership development, strategic thinking, planning, and acting which results in individual and organizational goal achievement. He has appeared on America’s Premier Experts which airs on major networks across the country including ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. Alonzo has served over 1,000 individuals through personal and professional development, delivered training to a plethora of Fortune 500 Companies, College and Universities, Institutions of Higher Learning, Foreign Countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Canada), nonprofit organizations, and is consistently retained to be the keynote speaker at large and small events across the country. He holds a bachelor’s in Accounting, three master’s degrees (Public Administration, Human Resource & Labor Relations, Business Administration), and is nearing completion of a PhD in Multidisciplinary Human Services. He is also currently in the process of obtaining his Doctorate in Business Administration. He currently serves on the State Board of Directors for the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), and the National Board of Directors for SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted). Find more at www.alonzokelly.com

Steve Hansen

The Power in Sight: Claim Drivers & Cost Containment

Steve Hansen works as a Regional Vice President with Pareto Captive. Steve has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and is licensed in Life and Health. Steve has volunteered with Minds Matter in the Chicago area mentoring low income high school student and has served as a membership chair for Emerge Tampa Bay, a young professional leadership program of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce. Steve began his career in the health insurance industry over 10 years ago working with self-insured and fully funded groups varying in size from 25 to 10,000 employees. Steve’s true passion and expertise lies in self-funding benefit strategies. He began his career with Cigna Healthcare overseeing territories in NYC and FL. He later joined Sun Life Financial, helping the stop loss carrier grow their footprint in the Chicagoland area. With knowledge of the upcoming challenges for small to mid-size employers in the healthcare industry and a vision for how to meet their needs, Steve joined Pareto in 2017. Since then, Steve has doubled the membership size of Pareto and brought stability and proactive strategy to smaller companies searching to take control of their healthcare spend.

PJ Ortmann

The Power in Sight: Claim Drivers & Cost Containment

PJ Ortmann has been a pharmacist for over 42 years with broad experience in many aspects of the profession including Military and Civil Service, Hospital, Managed Care, the Pharmaceutical Industry, and Community Practice. He has extensive experience working with employers and health care benefit design, prescription benefit and Rx claims analysis, as well as implementation of patient health awareness programs. A longtime advocate of the “Asheville Project”, PJ presented for many years to physicians and pharmacists on the benefits of coordinating patient care to improve outcomes. PJ brings a passion for shifting employer focus from “spending” to one of “investing” in Health Care Benefits. A 1977 graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science with a BS in Pharmacy, PJ earned a Master of Business degree in Health Care Administration from Eastern University in 2001. He is an active member of Local, State and National Pharmacy organizations; has served as the Vice President and is now current President of the Lancaster County Pharmacists Association; and served as the Regional Coordinator for the Central Region of the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association and a member of LPIHO, a group set out to make a difference in the delivery of healthcare at a local level.

Mark Testa

The Power in Sight: Claim Drivers & Cost Containment

Mark holds a master’s degree in Health Administration making him a unique healthcare innovator and disruptor. He is an executive vice president and has been with Regenexx since 2010. While there he has worked in areas of physician network development, direct to consumer marketing, and B2B with their corporate self-funded program. Mark is a licensed chiropractor and acupuncturist and for the majority of his professional career, worked side by side with primary care, physiatry, occupational medicine, and hospital systems in the area of conservative musculoskeletal care. He lives in Denver with his wife and daughter.

Darren Rowe

The Power in Sight: Claim Drivers & Cost Containment

A co-founder and former CEO of the UK’s largest independent cancer navigation company, Darren is WGA’s Chief Innovation Officer, with leadership responsibility for strategic innovation and program design. Darren has a career background in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, and has held several leadership roles within companies specializing in the development of disruptive and innovative genomic technologies for personalized cancer treatments. Leading Champions Oncology’s European subsidiary businesses, Darren helped them achieve a market cap of $180m from a zero base. Darren is a former board member of Bowel Cancer UK and current board member of UK-based health technology company Trustedoctor. Whilst in the UK, Darren was a regular guest on the BBC, providing commentary on consumer-led healthcare issues. Darren studied Cognitive Behavioral Science at Leicester University in England and Executive Leadership and Organizational Innovation at Cornell Business School.

Julie Foss

The Power in Sight: Claim Drivers & Cost Containment

Julie Foss has an associate degree in Accounting, a bachelor’s and master’s in business administration and completed the Minnesota Executive Program. She has over 30 years of finance and accounting experience with a proven track record of results through profit growth, cost reduction and business development. Julie started her career as an Accounting Manager with Burger King Corporation and progressed to the VP of Operations-Finance. She continued working in leadership, finance and administration for several years before landing at Nolato Contour in Baldwin in 2013. As Nolato’s Vice President of Finance & Accounting, Julie is responsible for accounting, finance, human resources, administration and IT. While her peers know her to excel at strategic planning, financial advice, day to day operations, change management and planning, the Baldwin area community recognizes her for the demonstrated success and difference she has made through a shared multi-employer sponsored primary care clinic for the employees of four employers in the Baldwin area, and Julie's contribution to Nolato's active participation in the Youth Apprenticeship program. The difference that Julie has made on the students, employees and community members will have a lasting impact on generations to come. Her efforts have been observed by many employers and communities who now, after recognizing the return on investment that Julie has dialed into, are attempting to duplicate her successes.

Kristi Cherney

Visualizing 2020 Workforce Wellbeing

Kristi Cherney holds an accounting degree, various certifications through the Wellness Council of America, has spent time volunteering for Feed My Starving Children and is a current member of Osceola Medical Center’s Advisory Council. With over a decade of experience, Kristi has had an eclectic upbringing to her approach in wellness, wellbeing, total rewards, healthcare management and leadership. Her career in this industry began with employee assistance and work-life balance programs for organizations ranging from 50-5,000 employees. Development of her knowledge-base in wellbeing continued through the participation in an organizational acquisition and build-out of boutique health coaching programs leveraging motivational interviewing to drive long-term outcomes that exceeded industry average. Kristi had the unique opportunity to continue to grow in population health management expertise, with guidance from Nico Pronk, a world-known industry leader in effective population health management strategies. While working for HealthPartners, Kristi gained experience with onsite clinics, onsite health coaching and program management, strategic planning related to wellbeing programs and integration with health plans. She joined JA Counter in 2015 and works as the Chief Client Officer in the Employee Benefits Department, overseeing the account management team and ensuring satisfaction in client experience. As an advanced Account and Wellness Manager, she assists clients with selection, implementation and administration of their employee benefits packages. Kristi is focused on bringing practical solutions to organizations regarding health management, cost control, recruitment and overall culture that supports the wellbeing of employees; encouraging a win-win approach to reducing healthcare costs.