Nancy Gaden DNP, RN, FAAN

Nancy Gaden, DNP, RN, FAAN, is Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net hospital and busiest trauma center in New England. Since joining in 2014, she has led major initiatives including the clinical merger of two campuses, improvements in quality and engagement, and led the department to the hospital’s first Magnet Designation in 2021 and redesignation in 2026.  

Prior to BMC, Nancy held CNO roles at Hallmark Health System, St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, South Shore Hospital, and Milton Hospital. Nancy is a nationally recognized nursing leader, honored with awards such as the Living Legend by the American Nurses Association of MA (2024), DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award (2020), and inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (2023). She is past President of the New England Organization of Nurse Leaders and a frequent national speaker.

Nancy earned her BS in Nursing from the University of Rochester, her MS from Boston College, and her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Regis College. She has an appointment as an Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences and Education, Boston University Chobanian and Avedesian School of Medicine.

Christopher Kerns MBA

Prior to founding Union and serving as its CEO, Christopher Kerns was Vice President for Executive Insights at Advisory Board, where he led all research aimed at senior executives across the entire health sector—which included overseeing and hosting Stay Up to Date (Advisory Board’s weekly webcast) and Radio Advisory (its podcast companion). He began his career as a healthcare financial analyst focusing on stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and over the years expanded his expertise to span the entire industry.

He has led or overseen more research studies on healthcare policy and politics, health system M&A, capital allocation, investment strategy, revenue cycle, and supply chain than he’d prefer to count. You might have seen him quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Modern Healthcare, and his work has been published by Harvard Business Review. He earned his MBA at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, and holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Matt Kurth MBA

Matt is the Deputy Chief People Officer for Northwell Health. In this role, Matt leads the HR operations function and has additional responsibilities related to the design and implementation of strategic HR and people-related initiatives. This includes further advancing the overall HR operating model to help ensure the success of our ambitious people strategy, and guiding the continued development, coordination, and alignment of our HR centers of excellence.

Since joining Northwell in 2016, Matt has served in a variety of HR leadership roles, overseeing areas such as project management, change management, career, and performance development, and most recently, operations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he oversaw significant aspects of Northwell’s response to staffing and many other team member-related impacts, including coordination of our team member vaccination operation. Throughout his six years with Northwell, has led cross-functional teams amid challenging and evolving conditions.

Prior to joining Northwell, Matt spent seven years as a human capital services consultant for Baker Tilly, providing consulting expertise to Northwell and other organizations in healthcare and across a variety of industries. Matt holds a Master of Business Administration degree in strategic HR management from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and he is a recent graduate of Northwell's High Potential development program.

Michelle McGee

Michelle McGee is the Executive Vice President, Client Engagement and Delivery at Laudio, where she leads the strategic direction and execution of client engagement, implementation, and service delivery. In her role, Michelle oversees initiatives that enhance client satisfaction, deepen partnerships, and maximize client value by helping organizations achieve impactful outcomes through Laudio's solutions. Before joining Laudio, Michelle was an Operating Partner and Executive-in-Residence at Cranemere, LLC, a long-term holding company with operations in New York, London, and Washington, DC. Prior to her time at Cranemere, Michelle was at The Advisory Board Company for 24 years (later acquired by Optum) where she served in a variety of capacities including, Senior Vice President, Strategic Accounts, driving growth and client strategy for their largest health system accounts and leading the Client Engagement team for the $250M business intelligence division.  Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Vanderbilt University.

Paula Menkosy M.A.

Paula Menkosky is the Chief Human Resources Officer for Mayo Clinic. A role she assumed in July 2022. Paula is responsible for Mayo Clinic’s people strategy and HR operations that attracts and retains a global workforce of over 80,000 employees. She is the administrative leader of the People and Culture Committee where she partners closely with Dr. Charanjit Rihal, who serves as the committee’s chair.

Paula began her work at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in 1996. She has held numerous leadership positions at Mayo Clinic, and prior to serving as Mayo Clinic’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Paula served as the Chief Administrative Officer for Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She also served as a member of the Mayo Clinic Board of Governors and Board of Trustees. 

Ms. Menkosky holds a B.A. in applied psychology from California State University, Long Beach; an M.A. in Industrial-organizational Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino; and an M.S. in Health Care Administration from California State University, Long Beach.

Deb Muro BSN, MS, CHCIO

As the CIO for El Camino Health, Deb Muro has transformed and improved the consumer and patient experience through innovative and creative partnerships in the Silicon Valley.   With more than 25 years of combined nursing, clinical, healthcare and technology experience, Deb has held various healthcare IT leadership positions focused on the delivery and realization of premier technology solutions and best practices.  Prior to joining El Camino Health, she served at the executive level within health care organizations leading enterprise wide digital transformation spanning multiple acute care hospitals, outpatient facilities, ambulatory clinics and community networks.   In her current role at El Camino, she is responsible for leading technology strategy, digital experience, innovation, information services, clinical engineering, and cybersecurity while re-defining services and products to meet today’s unique healthcare environment.      
 
Ms. Muro holds a Bachelor’s in Science Nursing Degree from Baylor University and a Master of Science Degree from Amber University.   Deb received the HMG Strategy Global Leadership Institute Award, YWCA Tribute to Women Leadership Award, the Orbie Bay Area CIO Of the Year,” Becker’s “CIO To Know” and Women Health Care Executives “2026 Innovation Leader of the Year.”    

Jill Ragsdale

Jill Ragsdale is a seasoned C-suite executive with over 30 years of experience leading strategic transformation and culture change in complex healthcare systems. A forward-thinking HR leader, she brings expertise in human capital management, labor relations, organizational development, and workplace well-being.

Most recently, Jill served nine years as SVP and Chief People & Culture Officer at Sutter Health, where she advanced integration, drove cultural transformation, and elevated workforce engagement and effectiveness. She also previously served as CHRO at Mayo Clinic, where she standardized compensation, redesigned HR service delivery, and launched leadership development aligned with the Mayo Model of Care.

Jill chairs the board of WEAVE, a Sacramento-based nonprofit supporting survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. She holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Iowa and is certified in Mediation and Conflict Resolution from UC Davis.

Joel Ray COL, USAF, NC, MSN, RN, NEA-BC

Joel Ray is Chief Clinical Advisor at Laudio, where he brings a CNO perspective to a wide range of cross-functional initiatives and is a key contributor to Laudio Insights. With 42 years in healthcare and over 23 years in executive leadership roles, including Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Joel brings a wealth of operational leadership experience to Laudio. He understands the needs of executives and frontline leaders. He is passionate and pragmatic about empowering frontline leaders to focus on what matters most: building meaningful connections with their teams to enhance engagement and secure the delivery of high quality, safe care and an excellent patient experience. Previously the Vice President of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at UNC Rex Healthcare under his guidance, the hospital obtained its 4th Magnet designation, CMS 5 Star, and Leapfrog A ratings. He served 26 years in the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps, retiring with the rank of Colonel. He earned a BSN from Arkansas State University and MSN from Arizona State University.

Mandy Richards DNP, RN, MSN, APRN, ACNS-BC, NEA-BC

Mandy Richards is the chief nursing executive (CNE) and president of Children’s Health for Intermountain Health and serves as a member of the Enterprise Leadership Team.

She is responsible for the nursing practice across the health system and advancement of patient care, including oversight of all pediatric care with a focus on strategy and operations.

As CNE, Mandy has integrated nursing across the continuum of care, driving sustainable improvements in quality, patient experience, staff engagement, and labor efficiency.

Mandy joined Intermountain in January of 2023 from Hartford HealthCare in Hartford, Connecticut, where she served as chief nursing officer (CNO). Prior to then, she spent 15 years with Allina Health in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Mandy completed a Doctor of Nursing Practice with a focus on Leadership, Systems, and Policy from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, a Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, and a mini-MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She also received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

Mandy was recently named among Becker’s Healthcare’s CNOs of hospitals and health systems to know in 2025.

Janice Walker DHA, MBA-HCM, BSN, RN, NEA-BC

Dr. Janice Walker is currently serving as the System Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer for the University of Florida Health Clinical Enterprises (UF Health). At UF Health, Dr. Janice Walker serves as the nursing expert for the UF Health Clinical Enterprise.  She is responsible for ensuring the delivery of safe, high-quality, and efficient care, while advancing workforce strategy, operational integration, and interprofessional collaboration. She previously served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer - Southeast Region of Advocate Health. She was responsible for providing strategic leadership for all nursing and other designated patient care functions and services for Atrium Health, which comprises the entirety of Advocate Health's Southeast Region. Before Advocate Health, Dr. Janice Walker’s previous experience includes System Chief Nursing & Chief Operating Officer roles at Baylor Scott & White Health (BSW) and Texas Health Presbyterian, Freeman Health System, Slidell Memorial Hospital, and National Park Medical Center (Tenet). 

Dr. Janice Walker is a national speaker on topics such as clinical recruitment & retention models, transformational nursing leadership traits, service bundle care to increase patient satisfaction, and driving quality through accreditation programs to promote care of at-risk population patients.  Dr Janice Walker’s work has been published on driving to zero patient harm, tactics for strong candidate-centric nursing recruitment and retention, workplace violence, interdisciplinary team dialogue, driving service scores through such programs as open visitation, hard-wiring service, and patient advocacy service councils.