Board of Directors

• James Conway, Senior Vice President, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Chair)
• Deborah Enos, President and Chief Executive Officer, Neighborhood Health Plan
• Jack Evjy, MD, Massachusetts Medical Society
• Zoila Torres Feldman, Vice President for Care Delivery Systems, Commonwealth Care Alliance (Treasurer)
• Robert J. Haynes, President, AFL-CIO
• Alan MacDonald, Executive Director, Massachusetts Business Roundtable
• Lucilia Prates, Director, Massachusetts SMP Program, Elder Services of Merrimack Valley
• Barbra Rabson, Executive Director, Massachusetts Health Quality Partners
• Dana Gelb Safran, Sc.D., Senior Vice President for Performance Measurement and Improvement, Health Care Services Division, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA)
• K. "Vish" Viswanath, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health

James Conway, Senior Vice President, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (Chair)

James Conway, M.S., is a Senior Vice President at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

From 1995 to 2005, Mr. Conway served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Prior to joining Dana-Farber, he had a 27-year career at Boston's Children's Hospital in radiology administration, finance, and as assistant hospital director for patient care services. His areas of expertise and interest include executive leadership, patient safety, change management, and patient/family-centered care.

Mr. Conway currently serves as a member of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Identifying and Preventing Medication Errors and a distinguished advisor to the National Patient Safety Foundation. He serves on the board of Medically-Induced Trauma Support Services; The Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, the Health Research and Education Trust; and on the Board of Advisors of the American Cancer Society, New England Region.

In 2001, Mr. Conway was awarded the first Individual Leadership Award in Patient Safety by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

He earned his Masters of Science degree from Lesley College.

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Deborah Enos, President and Chief Executive Officer, Neighborhood Health Plan

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Neighborhood Health Plan (NHP), Deborah Enos both articulates and represents the mission of NHP and is responsible for the overall management and performance of the organization.

Since 2005, in her role as President and CEO, Ms. Enos has worked in partnership with the NHP Board of Directors. She also builds and maintains effective working relationships with external organizations, both locally and nationally, including the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, the Association of Community Health Plans, community health centers, advocacy groups, state regulatory agencies, and others.

Before being appointed to her current position, Ms. Enos was Vice President for Business Development at Neighborhood Health Plan for seven years. Her previous roles included provider network management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Director of Program Development for Cambridge Eye Doctors.

In addition to her responsibilities at NHP, Ms. Enos serves on the boards of several organizations including the American Heart Association, Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP), Community Health Center Capital Fund (CHCCF), Community Medical Alliance (CMA), Massachusetts Association of Health Plans (MAHP), Massachusetts Association for Mental Health (MAMH), Massachusetts Health Payment Policy Advisory Board, and Whittier Street Health Center Foundation. Most recently, Ms. Enos was honored to be appointed to the Special Commission on the Health Care Payment System in Massachusetts.

Ms. Enos received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Dartmouth College and her Master of Science degree in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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Jack Evjy, MD, Massachusetts Medical Society

Dr. Evjy is Medical Affairs Advisor to the Massachusetts Medical Society. He is a medical oncologist working with Commonwealth Hematology Oncology, a regional community-based private practice where he serves as an officer and member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Evjy has served in multiple leadership capacities for the Society including President and member of the Board of Trustees. He recently completed a two year term as chair of the Massachusetts Medical Society Task Force on Universal Access (2004-2006). He is a Massachusetts delegate to the American Medical Association.

Dr. Evjy is also Clinical Professor of Medicine (Oncology) at Boston University School of Medicine and serves on the boards of Harvard Pilgrim Health, Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors and Physician Council of the Massachusetts Health Quality Partners. He is past chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for a Healthy Future (the anti-tobacco coalition) and recipient of the Ingersoll Bowditch award of the Massachusetts Medical Society for work in public health.

Dr. Evjy received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine.

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Zoila Torres Feldman, Vice President for Care Delivery Systems, Commonwealth Care Alliance (Treasurer)

Zoila Torres Feldman is the Vice President for Care Delivery Systems for Commonwealth Care Alliance. Commonwealth Care Alliance is not-for-profit care delivery system committed to integrating health care and related social support services.

Before joining Commonwealth Care Alliance, Ms. Feldman was the Executive Director of the Kit Clark Senior Services Center. She previously served as the President and CEO of the Great Brook Valley Health Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1983 to 2007. From 1980-1983, she served as its Director of Professional Services. Prior to coming to Great Brook Valley, Feldman served as a staff nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital and at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

Ms. Feldman has won numerous honors and distinctions for her professional and community work including the Outstanding Massachusetts Health Center Director Award (1987); the Kathleen Crampton Award from the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers (1990); a Recognition Award for Leadership from the City of Worcester and the State of Massachusetts (1980); a Recognition Award from the Massachusetts Public Health Association (1991); a Recognition Award from the City of Worcester for her work with Refugees and Immigrants (1998); and the Community Leader Award from Health Care For All (2006).

Ms. Feldman currently serves as a member of the faculty at UMass Medical School and at UMass Graduate School of Nursing. She also serves on the Board of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and the Board of The Partnership for Healthcare Excellence.

Ms. Feldman has a nursing degree from St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing in Youngstown, Ohio; a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston University; and a Master’s of Science in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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Robert J. Haynes, President, AFL-CIO

Mr. Haynes is President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. For twenty years, he has served the 400,000 union membership. His career in the labor movement began nearly forty years ago in 1968 as an 18-year old when he went to work as an ironworker. Mr. Haynes has played a key role in labor's successes and battles during the past two decades.

Mr. Haynes currently serves on the boards of Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board, Boston Private Industry Council, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Mass AREA (Massachusetts Affordable, Reliable, Electricity Alliance), University of Massachusetts Center for Collaborative Leadership and Development and Friends of Boston Homeless.

He served as well on the Steering Committee for the Campaign for Research and Chair of the Cancer Advisory Committee at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Council on Organized Labor and Tobacco Control at Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

Born and raised in Cambridge, Mr. Haynes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Boston State College and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts at Boston. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Trade Union Program.

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Alan MacDonald, Executive Director, Massachusetts Business Roundtable

Mr. MacDonald is Executive Director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable (MBR), a not-for-profit organization of seventy-five leading executives of major Massachusetts enterprises. MBR's mission is to focus the management perspective of its members on statewide issues to help the Commonwealth's public leaders design and implement policies that benefit the state's economy and quality of life.

Prior to coming to MBR in 1989, Mr. MacDonald served for ten years as the Manager of State Government Relations for General Electric Company in Massachusetts and in other New England states. Prior to his work with GE, he was Manager of Government Relations and Public Affairs for Gulf Oil Corporation in New England, Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. Early in his career, Mr. MacDonald was an Assistant Attorney General for Massachusetts, working primarily in the areas of environmental law and criminal law enforcement.

Mr. MacDonald is a Trustee of the Winchester Savings Bank; a Director of the Massachusetts Business Development Corporation; and Immediate Past Chairman of Hallmark Health Corporation, a community hospital in Medford, Melrose, Wakefield and Malden. He is twice past chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Winchester, past president of Winchester Country Club, and currently a Director of several non-profit organizations.

Mr. MacDonald is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Boston College Law School (and past president of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of Eastern Massachusetts.

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Lucilia Prates, Director, Massachusetts SMP Program, Elder Services of Merrimack Valley

Ms. Prates is the Director for the Massachusetts SMP Program, a statewide collaboration among Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Office for Refugees and Immigrants, Health Care For All, Home and Health Care Alliance of Massachusetts, Inc., Multicultural Coalition on Aging, Office of the Attorney General and the Aging and Disability Resource Consortium of Northeastern Massachusetts, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, MASSPRO, Action for Boston Community Development, and the Massachusetts Extended Care Federation. She has been director of this state-wide initiative, funded by the Administration on Aging, since 2002. The program does outreach and educates un-served, underserved, and limited English proficient elder populations across the state on the importance of taking an active role in their health care.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Prates worked as a consultant with immigrant communities across the state in the area of program and organizational development. As Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition, she advocated on behalf of immigrants and refugees on state and national levels.

Recognized as a bridge builder when it comes to addressing the challenges of cultural and linguistic barriers, Ms. Prates is committed to educating social service providers and health care providers about the importance of the delivery of culturally and linguistically competent care.

Ms. Prates serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Association of the Older Americans, as well as Health Care for All, where she also is President of Health Care for All's Health Quality Consumer Council. Ms. Prates is a member of several social service agencies; the Massachusetts Public Health Council, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs Diversity Workgroup, the Multicultural Coalition on Aging.

Ms. Prates holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts and has studied in Portugal, Spain and Eastern Europe. 

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Barbra Rabson, Executive Director, Massachusetts Health Quality Partners

Ms. Rabson is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) since 1998. Under Ms. Rabson's leadership, MHQP has become a trusted source of physician performance information in Massachusetts, and MHQP is nationally recognized for its collaborative approach to collecting and reporting performance information to improve care. Ms. Rabson was the principal investigator for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Rewarding Results grant awarded to MHQP to evaluate how financial and non-financial incentives impact the of quality care.

Ms. Rabson is a founding member of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), a national network of regional quality collaboratives. She serves on the Board of the Massachusetts eHealthCollaborative (MAeHC), and is a member of Health Care for All's Advisory Committee on Quality Initiatives. She is also a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the High-Value Health Care Project of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institute, and also serves on the Infrastructure Workgroup of the Quality Alliance Steering Committee (QASC).

Ms. Rabson received her Masters in Public Health from Yale University and her undergraduate degree from Brandeis University. She was selected to participate in the Executive Leadership Development Program at the Hauser Center for Non Profit Organizations, where she studied Strategy and Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

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Dana Gelb Safran, Sc.D., Senior Vice President for Performance Measurement and Improvement, Health Care Services Division, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA)

Dana Gelb Safran is Senior Vice President for Performance Measurement and Improvement for the Health Care Services Division of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA). In this role, Dr. Safran leads the company’s initiatives to measure and improve healthcare quality, safety and outcomes. Dr. Safran is also Associate Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Prior to joining BCBSMA, Dr. Safran was Director of The Health Institute at Tufts-New England Medical Center. Dr. Safran is widely recognized as having contributed to the empirical basis for our nation’s push toward a more patient-centered health care system – and for developing measures of patient care experiences that are now used nationwide, accepted as a national standard for this area of measurement, and used by the Medical Boards as part of their recertification process for physicians.

Presently, Dr. Safran’s advisory roles on state and federal quality measurement panels include work with the National Quality Forum, an advisory role with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as they develop a Medicare pay-for-performance program, and a seat on the Advisory Committee to the Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council.

She received her Doctor of Science degree in Health Policy from the Harvard School of Public Health.

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K. "Vish" Viswanath, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health, Harvard School of Public Health

Dr. K. "Vish" Viswanath is an Associate Professor in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). He is also a faculty member in the Center for Community-Based Research (CCBR) at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), and Director of the Health Communication Core of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC). He also chairs the Steering Committee for the Health Communication Concentration at HSPH.

Dr. Viswanath received his doctoral degree in Mass Communication from the University of Minnesota. He has written more than 80 journal articles and book chapters concerning communication and health disparities, public health communication campaigns, e-health and digital divide and the delivery of health communication interventions to underserved populations. He is the Co-Editor of three books: Mass Media, Social Control and Social Change (Iowa State University Press, 1999), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research & Practice (Jossey Bass, 2008), and The Role of Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use (National Cancer Institute, 2008). He was also the Editor of the Social and Behavioral Research section of the 12-volume International Encyclopedia of Communication (Blackwell Publishing, 2008). His research, both in the United States and the developing world, is funded by the National Institutes of Health among others. He has consulted for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and the American Cancer Society.

Prior to his arrival at Harvard, Dr. Viswanath was the associate director for behavioral research and a senior health communication scientist at the National Cancer Institute.

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