Our Purpose

Fostering innovation to improve the health of underserved communities

What We Do

We convene stakeholders from diverse industries, organizations, backgrounds and perspectives to build community, consensus, coordination and capabilities as a means to solve problems by catalyzing innovation, implementing pilot programs, and accelerating sustainable health care reform.

Our Values

How we work matters. We design our work and achieve our purpose through living our values.

JUSTICE

Striving for equitable and transformative opportunities for health of underserved communities

COMMUNITY 

Ensuring collaboration and connection because we are better and stronger together

PLAY 

Imagining a future that is not yet known through creativity, curiosity, and courage 

Meet the Team

Sarah Lampe

  • (she/her)

    Sarah is an experienced leader who has worked in public health for over 20 years. Most recently serving as the President and Executive Director of Trailhead Institute, she has become a known systems thinker who seeks to push the field of public health forward. Sarah has actively sought out innovative solutions for common problems, including initiatives that have positively impacted the health of the community across public health, health care and behavioral health. Her expertise includes community engagement, public health governance, law and administration, building and sustaining collaboration and workforce development, in addition to several other areas of public health. . You will often find Sarah simultaneously baking bread, hosting a webinar, hugging her spirited 9 year old and laughing at her husband's dry humor. If you spot her in the wild, it’s likely with a dimpled smile on her face or with a karaoke mic in her hand.

    COMMUNITY: I am the 4th of 5 children born to parents who were raised farmers and became community servants in education and healthcare. Growing up surrounded by loving chaos is why I feel at home supporting and engaging vast and diverse communities. I live this value in every aspect of my life. I plan our neighborhood’s annual block party, support and attend alumni events for the Colorado School of Public Health, and sit on my county’s (Jefferson County) board of health. Everything I do is to build and support connections to others because it is what has pulled me through even the hardest of times and I know it will do the same for others.

  • (she/her/hers)

    Felicity joined the Prime Health team in August 2023, as our Program Manager. Prior to her work at Prime Health, Felicity worked in public policy and strategic communications, as well as pharmaceutical research. Throughout her work and educational experience, Felicity has been known as someone who excels at problem solving and collaboration. Her expertise and passion lies within project management, event planning, and communication, as well as reproductive healthcare and justice, and increasing access to healthcare. Outside of work, you will most often find Felicity enjoying time with her family and dogs, going on a long run, or starting yet another crafting project. 

    PLAY. Since the start of 2023, I have been living with my aunt and her two teenage daughters, and our all-girl, music and glitter loving house is nothing short of a party (almost) 24/7. I have embraced the opportunity to celebrate everything and nothing, to get dressed up, and have fun often, even in the face of very difficult times. I take the value of play into all aspects of my life–  In my work, I do my best to celebrate wins no matter how small and approach problems with a creative mindset. Play is an essential part of our lives and by incorporating fun and creativity on a regular basis, I find that it is possible to maintain hope amidst adversity, and continue to build a future that is better for everyone.

  • she/her/hers

    Darby joined Prime Health in February 2019. In her role, she capitalizes on two decades of experience in team management, organizational strategies, administrative support, events planning, sales, and customer service. Darby is passionate about public health, social justice, and income inequality. She has been a Medicaid member, benefited from SNAP, and is a mom of 2 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 cats. Darby loves drinking coffee, hiking through the woods with her husband and Akitas, and seeing the forest for the trees whenever possible.

    JUSTICE: As someone who has at times been uninsured, relied on Medicaid, and been food insecure in multiple states and as a child, adult, pregnant woman, and mother, I know the struggle is real. I have benefited from public schools, public libraries, public transportation, and public radio my whole life. The pursuit of just opportunities and access for everyone is not an abstract idea to me, but a way of living. All people and families should be able to access healthy food, safe housing, and quality healthcare. I hope that through our work we can improve the systems that serve as our safety net. I believe in the need to expand services and increase quality, and the importance of and urgency of our mission.

Felicity Hughes
Darby Fornasiero

Board of Directors

Board Secretary

Eric Kintner, JD (he/him)

Snell & Wilmer | Director

  • Eric is a health care partner at Snell & Wilmer. Eric regularly represents various healthcare organizations, including hospitals, physicians, surgery centers, assisted living facilities, home health agencies and commercial insurers, as well as digital health and telehealth companies looking to innovate the healthcare industry. Eric enjoys hiking and skiing with his family, and playing Bluegrass music with friends.

  • I am particularly drawn to the value of Play because it aligns with my belief in the importance of fostering positive energy to drive innovation. I think embracing playfulness and creativity encourages fresh perspectives, collaborative problem-solving, and a culture of curiosity. For me, Play represents a vital tool for unlocking potential and sustaining enthusiasm in the pursuit of meaningful progress.

Kelly Benning (she/her)

LiveMetric | President

  • Kelly Benning is a visionary leader with over 20 years of experience in AI, digital health, and healthcare transformation. As President of LiveMetric, she drives the adoption of FDA-cleared wearable technology for blood pressure monitoring, advancing remote patient monitoring and cardiovascular care.

    Her career spans leadership roles at IBM Watson and HealthGrades, where she spearheaded initiatives in healthcare strategy, product development, and scaling digital health solutions. With a foundation in pharmaceuticals, Kelly is known for driving growth, fostering collaboration, and improving healthcare access for underserved populations.

    A 5th-generation Coloradan, she is committed to supporting her community and advancing health equity. Known for her thoughtful approach to leadership, Kelly works to create meaningful impact through innovation and collaboration.

  • Kelly Benning's connection to community runs deep. Growing up surrounded by Colorado's tight knit communities, she witnessed the power of collective care. This perspective shaped he leadership roles where technologies are specifically selected to achieve equitable care, especially in underserved communities. Kelly believes that true innovation happens when communities are heard, and she remains committed to improving health outcomes for underserved populations through thoughtful collaboration and patient-centered solutions.

Oli Sanidas (he/him)

Arapahoe Libraries | Executive Director

  • Oli Sanidas is the Executive Director of Arapahoe Libraries, serving a diverse community of over 250,000 individuals. With a Master’s in Technology Management from the University of Denver, Oli blends expertise in technology and community service to advance equitable access to information and innovation.

    Under his leadership, Arapahoe Libraries has launched transformative initiatives like the "Library as Showroom" project, introducing cutting-edge tools such as virtual reality and 3D printing to empower patrons through hands-on learning. He has also expanded electronic media platforms, significantly increasing access to digital resources.

    Oli’s dedication to fostering equity extends beyond libraries, with service on the boards of organizations like the Early Excellence Program of Denver and the Technology Partnership in Kenya. Recognized nationally for his innovative approach, Oli is committed to using technology and innovation to drive opportunity, equity, and meaningful impact in communities.

  • Community, to me, means collaboration, connection, and the recognition that we are stronger together. My work has always focused on deeply engaging with the people I serve to ensure their diverse needs are met. I believe we thrive when we listen, learn, and embrace both our commonalities and differences. True solutions come from humility and understanding—avoiding assumptions and working together to address what truly matters. By learning from each other, we create lasting, impactful change that reflects the richness of our shared experiences and the strength of our collective effort. Together, we can solve real issues effectively and meaningfully.

Steve Tremitiere (he/him)

StraightLine Health | Co-Founder & CEO

  • A Catalyst, Connector and Business Builder who is intensely focused on the acceleration of meaningful global innovation at the intersection of Health and Social Impact. Primary areas of focus are:
    • Mental Health
    • Women's Health
    • Healthy Aging & Longevity
    • Health Equity
    Steve’s 30 years of experience includes significant achievement in the start-up, growth and leadership of new companies, transformational initiatives and innovation in the Health, Social Impact and Mobile/Digital sectors.
    As the CEO and Founder of GrayHare Ventures and StraightLine Health, leads a consulting organization focused on working with innovative clients to create highly effective business “ecosystems” through integrated leadership, business development, partnership and sales strategies.
    As Head of Health Innovation for Boomtown Innovations, responsible for leading the company’s efforts to establish health innovation platforms in partnership with world class partners and funders.
    Steve is deeply involved in global health initiatives including serving on the Advisory Board of the UN Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx) as well as an Advisor or Board Member to a number of health and social impact organizations in the US, Europe and Africa.

    He lives in Boulder with his wife Stephanie and enjoys having his children and grandchildren nearby.

  • While all of Prime Health's values resonate for me, Community is the one that best represents the power and potential of Prime Health. As a Connector and Catalyst, I am very excited about working with the broader Prime Health Community to drive meaningful impact for the populations we serve.

Leah Spielberg (She/her)

Safety Net Consulting | Founder & Principal

  • Coming to Colorado from the Northeast with experience in care and research institutions, and healthcare startups, I first joined People's Clinic, helping transition it to the Clinica Family Health FQHC system. This role sparked my deep interest in care transformation and innovation for those who need it most, and for whom its impact is most profound. I spent twelve years at HCPF, creating their grants program, fostering participation in Colorado’s startup ecosystem, and launching the Medicaid Member Experience Advisory Committee. I worked with federal agencies including CMS, CMMI and SAMHSA, leading Colorado and national healthcare funders, and multiple state and local agency and organization partnerships, and was the founding Grants Director for Caring for Denver. Now, I work with state and county agencies, healthcare startups, and nonprofits on funding strategy, change management, and collaborative partnerships - all with a person-centered focus, and none of which uses my Medieval History degree.

  • Without equitable access to care and transformative resources, there is no health justice. Disproportionate worry about health care costs, and therefore access, overburdens people, communities - and economies. With type 1 diabetes, the sticker price to keep me alive each year is well over $40k; my cost with insurance premiums, co-pays and co-insurance is still nearly $20k, and I’m one of the lucky ones, able to access innovative technologies that make my care easier and my outcomes better. "Your money or your life" is not a viable healthcare system model. Working to change it helps keep me sane.

Ralph Choate (he/him)

State of Colorado Health Care Policy and Finance | Chief Operations Officer

  • Ralph brings 30 years of private-industry experience as a foundation for his decade-plus application of those skills to the world of Medicaid. As the 2023 recipient of the State of Colorado's Tom Clements Award, he guided his organizational partners to address the expanding needs of Medicaid members during the pandemic cultivating a high-performing team that answered all challenges with compassion and innovation.
    Colorado Medicaid represents $17 billion in expenditures across fiscal 2025. Embracing an environment of perpetual improvement ensures the team constantly seeks new efficiencies and solutions as they strive to lift the lives of 1.3 million Coloradans.
    Ralph holds a Master's in Gerontology from UMASS-Boston, and will celebrate his 42nd wedding anniversary in 2025.

  • Inspiring a culture that embraces a future that is not yet known requires a consistent message of acceptance for diverse thought, the desire to explore beyond the road already traveled, and a spirit that brings joy to every interaction. There is always time in every human meeting for a smile, a song, a kind word, and a dream.

Board Treasurer

Danielle Varda (she/her)

Visible Network Labs | CEO and Founder

UC Denver School of Public Affairs | Associate Professor

  • Danielle Varda is the CEO and Founder of Visible Network Labs, a social enterprise focused on strengthening social connectedness a the individual and community levels. She has been a professor in the School of Public Affairs at the University of CO Denver for 15 years, and was a Policy Scientist at the RAND Corporation prior to that. Her focus is on bringing data, science, and technology to communities to support their capacity to engage in collaborative strategies to reach social, economic, health, and wellness outcomes.

    Her combination of 25 years as a network scientist studying social connectedness and health, published author, 15 years as a tenured professor at the University of Colorado, and her successful launch and scaling of the Center on Network Science came together in one big idea to start VNL.

Darlene Tad-Y (she/her)

University of Colorado Hospital | Associate Chief Medical Officer of Patient Flow

UCHealth | Medical Director for Capacity Management

University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU) | Professor of Medicine

  • Dr. Tad-y is the Associate Chief Medical Officer of Patient Flow at the University of Colorado Hospital. In this role, she oversees efforts to optimize operational efficiency and ensure patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the right setting. In addition, she is Medical Director for Capacity Management for UCHealth, guiding the strategy for optimal placement of patients within the system and ensuring access through UCHealth DocLine Transfer Center. She is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU) where she is an academic hospitalist. She teaches for the Quality and Safety Educators Academy, authored and co-directs the quality improvement curriculum and annual QI pre-course for the American College of Physicians and is an Assistant Editor for the Joint Commission Journal of Quality and Patient Safety. She serves on the Board for the Society of Hospital Medicine and Prime Health.

  • Collaboration and partnership among multiple organizations and people within a community is the only way to ensure that our people are living their healthiest lives.

Nabeel Meghji (he/him)

Wellthy | Chief Product Officer

  • Nabeel Meghji is the Founder of Meghji Ventures, a fractional CPO and product consulting practice focused on helping startups accelerate product strategy, execution, and AI enablement. He partners with healthcare startups to refine product vision, scale execution, and integrate AI-driven solutions, helping companies navigate complex product challenges, drive adoption, and deliver meaningful health outcomes.

    Nabeel is Chief Product Officer at Wellthy, leading product and technology strategy for a digital health company supporting family caregivers. Before that, he was Chief Product Officer at SonderMind, expanding access to personalized mental health services, and at DispatchHealth, a leader in mobile healthcare. He also served as Head of Product at Healthgrades, where he helped over a million patients a day find the right doctor.

    With over 20 years of experience, he has built and led high-performing product teams at high-growth companies that have scaled to $1B+ valuations and impacted millions of lives.

Shawn Beals, CFA (he/him)

Siemens Healthineers | Vice President and Head of Strategy & Corporate Development, Americas

  • Shawn is a veteran executive in healthcare, technology and investments. He has a proven track record in building businesses, profitable growth, and launching new products in both start-ups and large multi-national corporations. Shawn has held leadership roles in strategy, corporate development, business development, M&A and finance with undisputed leaders in innovation, performance and market share expansion. He has his MBA and pre-medicine degrees from the University of Notre Dame (and was in the movie, "Rudy").

Board Chairperson

Wesley Williams (he/him)

WellPower | Vice President & Chief Information Officer

  • Dr. Wes Williams is vice president and chief information officer at WellPower, Denver’s community mental health center. As WellPower’s CIO, Wes oversees IT infrastructure, enterprise applications, business intelligence, and evaluation and research for the organization.

    Wes has been repeatedly recognized for excellence in technology leadership: a 2020 Denver Business Journal C-Suite Award, the 2020 Colorado CIO of the Year Corporate ORBIE, and finalist for the Colorado Technology Association’s 2023 APEX Award for CIO of the Year. 

    Wes has been a licensed psychologist in Colorado since 2005. As a young clinician learning to practice therapy, Wes struggled to keep up with clinical documentation requirements. These early career struggles inspired Wes to shift from clinical practice to health IT, building systems to better support clinicians in the behavioral health system. Wes graduated with a bachelor’s degree and honors in psychology from Stanford University. He earned his master’s degree and doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado, Boulder. 

    Wes previously served six years (2018-2024) on Colorado’s eHealth Commission, advising the governor’s office on its health IT infrastructure investments and representing behavioral health interests. To support his own well-being, he enjoys mountain biking, gravel biking, snowboarding, and coaching ultimate Frisbee.

Daniel Andrew Carnegie, MD, MPH, MBA (he/him)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Preventive Medicine Physician

  • Daniel Andrew Carnegie, MD, MPH, MBA graduated Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC in 2008. After completing 3 years of general surgery residency, he went on to complete a surgical oncology and breast research fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University. During his time at Hopkins he also earned his MPH and MBA degrees with concentrations in health finance and management, and discovered his passion for leveraging technology to improve health outcomes. Upon completing his training at Hopkins, Daniel served as Medical Director for Clinovations, a healthcare strategy consulting firm (now part of UnitedHealth Group/Optum), where he has successfully demonstrated the power of technology and innovation in low-resource hospitals. He is dedicated to reducing healthcare costs and optimizing clinical outcomes through the implementation of innovative and fiscally responsible technology.

Monica VanBuskirk (she/her)

Meapta Inc | Owner

  • Monica VanBuskirk, MBA, is a healthcare innovation leader with over 15 years of experience transforming health systems and policy. Currently leading Meapta Inc., a policy analytics firm serving state and national clients, she previously served as Chief Policy and Relations Officer at Connect for Health Colorado, where she led the organization's transformation into a proactive policy leader, including 27% individual market customer growth, and increasing federal funding by over $600M. She has sponsored several programs that created novel coverage solutions, and care delivery for underserved populations. At Colorado Permanente Medical Group, she directed value-based initiatives that measurably improved patient outcomes. Her experience spans roles at Denver Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Colorado’s Health Care Policy and Finance, international providers, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. She also serves as a Human Centered Design Practitioner with Aspen Labs, quantitatively integrating patient voices into healthcare improvement.

Ryan Mockabee (he/him)

DAWN Health | Executive Director

  • Ryan Mockabee is a results-driven leader passionate about innovation, well-being, and addressing healthcare inequities. With a B.S. in Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Florida, Ryan has dedicated his career to transforming how we approach health and wellness by challenging the status quo and driving meaningful change.

    As the Executive Director of DAWN Health, a student-run free clinic, he provides strategic and visionary leadership to a diverse team of volunteers from CU Anschutz and beyond. Under his guidance, DAWN Health has strengthened its role as a vital healthcare resource for the uninsured population in Aurora, focusing on delivering high-quality, compassionate care to those who need it most.

    Ryan’s approach blends innovative thinking with a deep commitment to equity, sustainability, and impact.

  • My commitment to justice is grounded in the belief that health is a fundamental human right. The stark disparities in health outcomes highlight the urgent need for all of us to work toward building systems and a society that enable every person to live a healthy, fulfilling life. By fostering a collective commitment to justice, I believe we can create a stronger, healthier future for all.