Leadership.

Steve Sell is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board at agilon health. Steve brings 22 years of experience in the health care industry, having served as the President, CEO and Chairman of Health Net (Centene’s largest subsidiary) prior to joining agilon health in June of 2020. Steve leads agilon health as an experienced, mission-based CEO known for transforming organizations through partnerships, product innovations and talented, collaborative teams. He brings his capabilities in designing, building and running multiple high-growth organizations that navigated and capitalized on periods of tremendous environmental change into his decision-making as a leader.

In his previous roles, Steve was responsible for the strategy, execution and financial performance of a $14B business with 7,300 employees and 3 million members in Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial. In his role, Steve re-tooled the company’s multi-line strategy, rebuilt the entire senior team, expanded key provider partnerships, and migrated core system platforms while exceeding the company’s financial plan by 10+% annually. Outside of his current role at agilon health, Steve serves as an advisor to multiple health start-up companies and volunteers in the education world by serving on several local and national boards.

Lisa Ali is the Chief Compliance Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. Lisa brings 15 years of experience in the health care industry, and previously held senior level positions at managed care organizations with regional and national footprints before joining the team in 2019. As Chief Compliance Officer, she leads compliance within the organization, ensuring effective alignment with laws, regulatory requirements, policies, and procedures, as well as agilon health’s code of conduct. She sets the strategic direction for the organizational culture of compliance by blending ethics and integrity in evaluating matters and concerns. Lisa also co-leads the [email protected] employee resource group, and offers individualized coaching for colleagues, providing mentorship to achieve professional success in their roles.

Lisa is a Registered Nurse, Clinical Nurse Leader and holds a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. She earned her MSN-CNL from California State University, Dominguez Hills, and her doctorate from the University of La Verne. Her published dissertation, titled Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Action Plan: Nursing Intervention and Patient Readmission (2016), is available on ProQuest.

Tim Bensley is the Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. Tim brings more than 30 years of experience in scaling businesses and delivering consistent performance. Prior to joining the company in January of 2021, he served as the CFO of PepsiCo Americas Foods, and more recently as the CFO of Blue Apron, a $500 million public e-commerce company. At PepsiCo, Inc., Tim held a variety of finance leadership roles including, leading PepsiCo’s Global Transformation Group, and serving as the CFO of Pepsi-Cola North America and ultimately PepsiCo Americas Foods, a division of PepsiCo with approximately $23 billion in revenue at the time.

Tim received a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point. Upon graduating, he spent five years as an Officer in the U.S. Army, where he progressed to Captain and served as a Company Commander. Tim also received a Master’s degree in Project Management from Boston University.

Veeral Desai is the Chief Strategy and Development Officer, and a founding member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. Veeral joined the company as President of Enterprise Operations where he oversaw the initial development of the agilon health’s operating platform. Veeral held operating responsibility for our markets spanning the Western and Eastern regions of the company. In his current role as Chief Strategy and Development Officer, he leads mergers and acquisitions, business development, corporate strategy, new market implementation, product development, and health plan engagement & contracting for the company.

Prior to joining agilon health, Veeral served in several senior executive roles at Vantage Oncology and McKesson. He was President of Operations for Vantage’s cancer delivery network, and Chief Operating Officer of the Vantage Cancer Care Network, an innovative model for value-based cancer care. Before Vantage, Veeral spent nearly a decade as a leader in the healthcare practice of Bain & Company.

Veeral earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley.

Heidi Hittner is the Chief Experience Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. Heidi is an experienced senior health care executive, passionate about the patient experience, quality, and growth. Heidi joined agilon health in January 2019 as Senior Vice President, Provider Strategies and Growth where she developed repeatable operating models for organic growth and provider engagement. She led the re-working of our provider engagement to include a differentiated network experience, integrated innovative strategies into practice for EMR workflow, and collaboration on creative clinical solutions to improve quality, as well as provider and patient experience. In her current role, Heidi is responsible for the company’s in-market organic growth strategy, patient and provider experience, and quality and experience measures including HEDIS, STARS and Net Promoter Score (NPS) reporting.

Prior to joining agilon health, Heidi led the development of physician services and strategies which fueled success in value-based care Fresenius Medical Care North America. She also spent over a decade at Concentra, where she led operations nationally, and the success of Concentra’s NPS transformation is highlighted in Fred Reichheld’s book “The Ultimate Question 2.0”. Heidi earned her B.S. and master’s degree at Loma Linda University.

Dr. Benjamin Kornitzer is the Chief Medical Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. Benjamin brings broad clinical and operational experience, leading a diverse range of medical enterprises, including community-based practices, ACOs, IPAs, and integrated ambulatory networks. He previously served as Chief Medical Officer of the Mount Sinai Health Network in New York, one of the premier academic delivery networks in the country as the system developed robust population health tools, quality programs, care coordination resources, and invested in practice transformation.

Earlier in his career, Benjamin held operational and strategic positions at leading community-based healthcare organizations focused on quality and value. In addition to his clinical and operational roles, Benjamin previously served as a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company, working with U.S and foreign governments, public health organizations, and major hospitals systems. Benjamin earned his medical degree with AOA honors from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and completed his residency at Harvard Medical School/ Massachusetts General Hospital.

Claire Mulhearn is the Chief Communications and Public Affairs Officer, and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. In her role, Claire is responsible for communications & marketing, public policy, environmental, social & governance (ESG) and corporate philanthropy. In addition, Claire serves as executive sponsor of the agilon’s Women Employee Resource Group and Women Physician Leadership Council and Resource Group. Claire joined agilon health in 2021 as Head of Communications and Brand to establish the function.

Claire is a seasoned leader with more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, marketing, and public affairs in the healthcare sector. Prior to agilon health, Claire held senior external affairs roles at Merck, including head of communications for Merck’s expansive human health portfolio and R&D engine, communications lead for blockbuster brand KEYTRUDA, and strategic lead for critical patient engagement and heath equity efforts. Prior to Merck, Claire was the deputy director of the health care practice at Hill & Knowlton Strategies where she led communications and public affairs strategies on behalf of the firm’s healthcare clients.

Claire serves as a board member for the Healthcare Transformation Taskforce (HCTTF) and is a member of the American Medical Group Association (AMGA) Women in Leadership Council, The Conference Board Corporate Communications Council, and the Page Society. Claire earned her B.A. from the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California (USC).

Ben Shaker is the Chief Markets Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. In his role, Ben is responsible for the physician partnerships across our 17 communities. He joined agilon health in 2017 as President of the Central Region where he led the standup of our very first partnership with Central Ohio Primary Care (COPC). Prior to joining the company, Ben served as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Mount Carmel Health Partners, a clinically integrated network, part of Trinity Health.   He also spent time working in other previous roles all with a focus on physician and health care transformation.

Ben earned a B.A. in Economics from Youngstown State University and a Master in Health Administration from the Ohio State University.

Mat Varghese is the Chief People Officer and a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. He brings nearly 20 years of experience in human resources management, having worked across multiple industries, with a record of scaling HR within global businesses and implementing cost-effective business processes. In this role, Mat leads the advancement and execution of employee development, growth and talent acquisition strategy.

Mat brings nearly 20 years of experience in various HR leadership roles at large multi-national organizations such as General Mills, General Electric, Arthur J. Gallagher Inc. and R1 RCM Inc. Prior to joining agilon in October 2021, Mat worked at R1 RCM where he was responsible for a broad mandate relating to HR strategy for the delivery and operations organization. Mat earned a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations (MILR) from Michigan State University and a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Michigan.

Denise Zamore is the Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary and is a member of the Executive Leadership Team at agilon health. Prior to joining agilon, Denise was the Deputy General Counsel at Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, where she led a team of attorneys and non-attorney professionals providing support to healthcare provider partners and executives on a broad array of areas including critical strategy development, identification and leveraging of high-profile risks and opportunities, regulatory guidance, mergers and acquisitions, state regulation of risk-bearing entities, compliance with corporate practice of medicine, privacy and employment law. Denise previously led a team of attorneys and non-attorney litigation professionals at UnitedHealthcare in the coordination and management of legal, regulatory and compliance matters related to all lines of health insurance business where she advised insurance business units on issues related to antitrust, bankruptcy, behavioral health, claims reimbursement, contract disputes, employment, ERISA, Medicare, Medicaid, member privacy and provider disputes.

Denise is committed to diversity and previously served as Chair of UnitedHealth Group’s Diversity & Inclusion Council and was selected by UHG Chief Legal Officer as a 2013 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Fellow and a 2017-18 UHG Emerging Leader.

Denise is an active member of her community and serves as a mentor to high school and college students. She serves as a board member of the Connecticut Bar Foundation, a foundation dedicated to promoting equal access to justice; as a board member of the Hartford Promise Scholars program, a nonprofit organization focused on high school and college success for Hartford public school students; and as a board member of the Connecticut Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. She has received numerous award and distinctions for her commitment to diversity and the practice of law.

Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Denise completed a two-year federal clerkship and practiced complex commercial litigation at large multinational law firms. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.A. in government from Georgetown University.

Steve Sell is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board at agilon health. Steve brings 22 years of experience in the health care industry, having served as the President, CEO and Chairman of Health Net (Centene’s largest subsidiary) prior to joining agilon health in June of 2020. Steve leads agilon health as an experienced, mission-based CEO known for transforming organizations through partnerships, product innovations and talented, collaborative teams. He brings his capabilities in designing, building and running multiple high-growth organizations that navigated and capitalized on periods of tremendous environmental change into his decision-making as a leader.

In his previous roles, Steve was responsible for the strategy, execution and financial performance of a $14B business with 7,300 employees and 3 million members in Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial. In his role, Steve re-tooled the company’s multi-line strategy, rebuilt the entire senior team, expanded key provider partnerships, and migrated core system platforms while exceeding the company’s financial plan by 10+% annually. Outside of his current role at agilon health, Steve serves as an advisor to multiple health start-up companies and volunteers in the education world by serving on several local and national boards.

Karen McLoughlin joined the agilon health board of directors in July 2021.  From 2012 – 2020, Ms McLoughlin was the Chief Financial Officer of Cognizant Technology Solutions (“Cognizant”).  Prior to being named CFO in 2012, Karen was Senior Vice-President, Enterprise Transformation and Financial Planning & Analysis.

Prior to joining Cognizant in 2003, Karen spent six years at Spherion Corporation (acquired by Randstad in 2011) and three years at Ryder System Inc. where she held key financial management positions. Prior to joining Ryder, she spent six years in the South Florida Practice of Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers).

Karen currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Best Buy since September 2015. She is the chairperson of the finance and investment policy committee and a member of the audit committee.

Karen obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wellesley College and her MBA from Columbia University

Ron Williams is co-founder of agilon health and has served as a director and chairman of the board since 2017. Mr. Williams also is Chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises, an Operating Advisor to private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), and Chairman of apree health (previously Castlight/Vera Whole Health). He currently serves as Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee for Boeing and Director at Warby Parker. Mr. Williams previously served as Lead Director of American Express, Chair of the Compensation Committee for Johnson & Johnson, and the Chairman of naviHealth and PharMedium. Mr. Williams also served on the Board of Envision Healthcare from May 2011 to October 2017.

Mr. Williams joined Aetna in 2001 and was named President in 2002. He served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Aetna from 2006 to 2010 and Chairman until his retirement in 2011.

Mr. Williams serves as Chairman of The Conference Board and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. He is a member of the President’s Circle of the National Academies. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development. He served on President Obama’s President’s Management Advisory Board from 2011 to 2017. Mr. Williams received his B.A. from Roosevelt University and holds an M.S. in Management from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Mr. Williams focuses his energy on private equity, values-based leadership and transformational change, and health care value creation.  Through his firm, RW2 Enterprises, Mr. Williams counsels C-Suite corporate executives on strategy and transformational leadership.  He is Operating Advisor to private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and serves as Chairman of portfolio company agilon health.  He is Lead Director of American Express and Director of The Boeing Company and Johnson & Johnson.

Mr. Williams became president and joined Aetna’s Board in 2002 (Aetna had a full year 2001 continuing operations loss of – $0.46 per share for a $292 million loss).  In 2006, he became chairman and CEO.  Under his leadership, Aetna was named FORTUNE’s most admired company in the Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care category for three consecutive years.  In 2011, the year he retired, Aetna had full-year operating earnings of $5.17 per share. The Market capitalization grew from $4.7 billion in 2001 to $15.3 billion in 2011 and the company ranked 77th on the Fortune 100 list.

Mr. Williams is Chairman of The Conference Board, a member of the President’s Circle of the National Academies and a member of the Cleveland Clinic Board of Trustees.  He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development.  He served on President Obama’s President’s Management Advisory Board from 2011 to 2017.

He is a graduate of Roosevelt University and holds an M.S. in Management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mr. Sachdev joined Clayton Dubilier & Rice in 2015. He has played a key role in the firm’s investments in agilon health, Covetrus, naviHealth, and Tranzact.

Previously, he served as a Managing Director and Co-Head of Healthcare Services at J.P. Morgan, advising senior healthcare company executives on strategic initiatives, M&A and capital markets. In that role, Mr. Sachdev advised on multiple transactions including the sale of Medco to Express Scripts, Vanguard to Tenet, Trizetto to Cognizant, and the IPOs of HealthEquity, SCA, Premier, and IMS Health.

He received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Sharad Mansukani, M.D., has served as a director of Agilon Health since 2017. Dr. Mansukani also serves as a Senior Advisor to TPG, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Convey Health Solutions.

Dr. Mansukani served as Chairman of the board of directors to Envision Rx Options from 2013 to 2016; a strategic advisor to the board of Director at Cigna Corp. from 2012 to 2015; Vice Chairman, Board of Directors of Health Spring, Inc. from 2007-2012; a director of IMS Health Holdings, Inc. from 2009 to 2016; a director of Surgical Care Affiliates, Inc from 2007 to 2017; as lead director of IASIS Healthcare from 2005-2018; and a director of Kindred Healthcare, Inc. from 2015 to 2018. Dr. Mansukani also has served as a Senior Advisor on Medicare’s Program Advisory and Oversight Committee to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; Senior Advisor to the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and senior vice president and chief medical officer at Health Partners.

Dr. Mansukani completed a residency and fellowship in ophthalmology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a fellowship in quality management and managed care at the Wharton School of Business. He is a graduate of the Managed Care Executive Program at the Kellogg School of Business. We believe Dr. Mansukani is a valuable member of our board because of his experience as a medical professional, including in his positions working for government agencies and his experience on other healthcare companies’ boards.

Mr. Schnall has been with Clayton Dubilier & Rice for 21 years and is a member of the Investment and Management Committees. He is responsible for the acquisitions and subsequent sales of AssuraMed, Diversey, Envision Healthcare, PharMEDium, Sally Beauty and VWR; the acquisitions of agilon health, Brakes Group, David’s Bridal, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Healogics and US Foods; and the sale of Alliant Foods.

Previously, Mr. Schnall worked in the investment banking divisions of Smith Barney & Co. and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. He is a Director of agilon health, David’s Bridal, Drive, Healogics and US Foods.

He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Mr. Strum joined CD&R in 2003 and is currently a Partner focused on healthcare investments. In addition to agilon health, he has played a key role in CD&R’s investments in AssuraMed, Carestream Dental, Drive DeVilbiss Healthcare, Envision Healthcare, Healogics, PharMEDium and VWR International. He currently serves as a Director of agilon health, Carestream Dental, Drive DeVilbiss and Healogics.

He also serves on the Board of the Digestive Disease Research Foundation. Prior to CD&R, he worked in the investment banking division of Morgan Stanley and at York Capital Management, a multi-strategy investment firm.

Mr. Strum graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in economics and earned an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Dr. Bill Wulf is the first physician Chief Executive Officer of COPC, assuming this position in 2013.  Prior to this role, he served as the Corporate Medical Director of COPC for seven years. Bringing over 30 years of leadership in Primary Care delivery he was a leader among the founding physicians that helped establish COPC, Inc. in 1996. COPC, as an independent physician owned organization, has grown to over 430 physicians in 80 locations in central Ohio.

Dr. Wulf is a member of the COPC board of directors and serves on the board of agilon health. He is also on the board of directors and is the chair-elect of America’s Physician Group (APG).

As a board certified internist, he received his Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo. Dr. Wulf previously operated a private practice in Columbus.

Dr. Michelle A. Gourdine has served as a director of agilon health since Jan 2021 and is passionate about reducing healthcare inequality. Besides being a primary care physician, health policy specialist, and expert in preventive health and wellness,  Dr. Gourdine has gained acclaim as an author for her book, Reclaiming Our Health:  A Guide to African American Wellness (Yale University Press, April 2011).

She is a frequent speaker for organizations including the American Diabetes Association, the American Cancer Society, the Institute of Medicine, Howard University, and the National Association of Health Services Executives.

Dr. Gourdine is SVP and Chief Medical Officer (interim) for the University of Maryland Medical System, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Senior Associate faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is the former Deputy Secretary of Health and Chief Public Health Physician for the state of Maryland and former Health Commissioner for Baltimore County.

Jeff Schwaneke joined the agilon health board of directors in August 2022.  Jeff is the former Executive Vice President, Health Care Enterprises for Centene Corporation.

At Centene, Jeff held numerous positions and was instrumental in raising capital as well as leading seamless acquisitions. In his most recent role as EVP, Health Care Enterprises, Jeff oversaw Centene’s $35 billion pharmacy business including part D Medicare, dental and vision companies, and company-owned clinics. Prior to this role, Jeff served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer from 2016 to 2021; during his tenure, revenues grew from $20 billion to $125 billion. Jeff joined Centene in 2008 as Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer.

Prior to joining Centene, Jeff served as the Assistant Controller and then as Chief Accounting Officer of Novelis, Inc., and he has held finance and accounting positions at SPX Corporation and PriceWaterhouse Coopers.

Jeff obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Missouri and is a CPA.