Karen Pearl has worked with God’s Love We Deliver for 20 years, first as President & CEO from 2006–2022, then as a Special Advisor (2023-2025) and now as a consultant. God’s Love addresses nutrition insecurity and illness by providing medically tailored meals and medical nutrition therapy to people living with severe illness, largely in the NYC metro area as well as in communities in New York State and New Jersey. 

Karen also served as the founding Chair of the Food Is Medicine Coalition, a national association of nonprofit, medically tailored food and nutrition services providers advocating for the integration of medically tailored meal services into healthcare for the critically and/or chronically ill.

Under Karen’s leadership, God’s Love was the winner of a New York Times Nonprofit Excellence award in 2010, and a winner of the New York State Department of Health Social Determinants of Health Innovation Award in 2018. During COVID-19, God’s Love was recognized as an Essential Services Provider, never missing a delivery. 

Karen received a City/State Women’s Leadership Award and was named one of Crain’s Notable Women in Health Care.

Karen served on the Public Policy Committee of AIDS United and as an advisor for the Women in Leadership Certificate Program at Mercy University. For 10 years, Karen served on the Board of Directors of the Nonprofit New York and is currently on the Board of ACT. She has published articles and guides, and is a regular presenter at national conferences and symposia.

Karen was previously Interim President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County. Karen holds a B.A. in Psychology from Cornell University and an M.A. in Counseling from New York University.

Chef Michel Nischan is a four-time James Beard Award-winning chef with over 40 years of advocating for a sustainable, healthful food system. A lifelong Ashoka Fellow, he co-founded Wholesome Wave, a nonprofit focused on ending food and nutrition insecurity, and founded Wholesome Crave, a food company that supports the groundbreaking work of Wholesome Wave. Chef Michel has authored three cookbooks, owned Dressing Room Restaurant with the late actor Paul Newman, and is the co-founder of the James Beard Chefs Boot Camps for Policy and Change. Most recently, he received the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition’s 2024 Lifetime Impact Award in recognition of his extraordinary career and relentless commitment to improving food equity and nutrition across the U.S. Most recently, Michel launched the OneKitchen program, leveraging his deep experience and knowledge to provide training and mentorship along with an ongoing network of support for chefs who wish to make positive food systems change in the communities they call home.

Melanie Bush is Interim Deputy Secretary of Medicaid for the North Carolina Division of Health Benefits (DHB), Department of Health and Human Services – also known as NC Medicaid. In this role, she provides leadership, strategic direction, operational oversight, and managed care supervision for the North Carolina Medicaid program, which serves more than 3 million North Carolinians who cannot afford health care. As Assistant Secretary and Chief Operating Officer, Melanie and her teams led the implementation of managed care transformation, the unwinding of continuous coverage for the COVID-19 public health emergency, and an expansion of Medicaid that extended access to care to more than 700,000 additional North Carolinians. Melanie also serves as a Governor’s appointee to the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina State Health Plan, which provides health care coverage for state and county employees. She is committed to ensuring high-quality health care at the lowest cost possible for the State of North Carolina. Prior to joining NC Medicaid, Melanie was the Medicaid Fiscal Analyst for the Fiscal Research Division of the North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA), where she led the Health and Human Services budget team. Her previous roles also include Senior Policy Analyst for Medicaid at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and Policy Analyst for the Center for Community Change in Washington, DC. Melanie holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.

Elizabeth Edsall Kromm, Ph.D., M.Sc., is the Assistant Secretary for Population Health and Strategic Initiatives for the Maryland Department of Health. In this role, she serves as the primary advisor to the Secretary on population health improvement strategies and programs. This position incubates and drives high priority initiatives for the Department and works to bridge the gaps that exist in the health continuum between upstream interventions and the clinical delivery system. Previously, she led the Department’s Prevention and Health Promotion Administration, the largest component of public health services with over $600 million in funding, covering impact areas such as chronic disease, maternal and child health, infectious disease prevention and outbreak response and environmental health. Prior to joining the state, she was with the Johns Hopkins Health System as Vice President, Population Health and Advancement for Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center. In that role she led population health, community engagement and strategic planning efforts for the hospital and served as Vice President of Development and Chief Operating Officer for the Howard Hospital Foundation. Dr. Edsall Kromm’s additional work experiences include leadership positions in local government as well as with national non-profits. She served as the policy director for Howard County Government, a senior officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts, a senior adviser and bureau director with the Howard County Health Department and a program manager with the American Cancer Society. Dr. Edsall Kromm earned a doctorate in health policy and management from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she is an adjunct faculty member in the department of Health, Behavior and Society. She holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Emily Kain, MPH, is a leader in Food is Medicine strategy and implementation, bringing nearly two decades of experience advancing equitable access to nutritious food through policy, systems, and community-based solutions. She holds a Master of Public Health in Social & Behavioral Sciences from Boston University, grounding her work in evidence-based approaches that strengthen both patient outcomes and population health. As Senior Program Manager for Food is Medicine at MaineHealth, Emily partners with clinical teams to implement FIM interventions for patients managing uncontrolled diabetes and heart failure. She has led high-impact initiatives, including launching Maine’s first hospital-based food pantries that now serve more than 5,000 people each month and achieving consistent food insecurity screening across primary care practices. Emily also leads Maine’s statewide Food is Medicine Coalition and is known for uniting diverse clinical, community, and policy partners to advance solutions that integrate nutritious food into care, improve health outcomes, and strengthen communities across Maine.

Anuraag Chigurupati is Chief Operating Officer at Devoted Medical, the medical group division of Devoted Health, a company focused on dramatically improving the health and well-being of older Americans. Before Devoted, Anuraag started his career at McKinsey & Company and then served in state government as the Policy Director for Cost Trends at the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC).

Amanda Flaum, VP CA & HI Medicaid markets, is a distinguished leader within Kaiser Permanente’s Medicaid line of business, where she oversees strategy, planning, regulatory relationships, and health plan performance across California and Hawaii. Known for her steady leadership and clear strategic vision, Amanda partners closely with regional and national teams to drive operational excellence and improve outcomes for Medicaid members. With more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare sector, Amanda has led large scale organizational transformations, revitalized underperforming operations, and delivered more than $1 billion in enterprise savings and efficiencies. She is widely recognized for her ability to strengthen organizational capabilities, align leaders around shared priorities, and execute with discipline and precision. Amanda has held leadership roles at CenCal Health, Aetna Better Health, Blue Shield of California, and Anthem. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Northridge, and completed Harvard Business School’s Women’s Leadership Forum. Beyond her work at Kaiser Permanente, Amanda is deeply committed to advancing community health and equity. She brings her expertise to several nonprofit organizations through board and advisory roles, supporting efforts that improve social care, expand access, and strengthen local communities. Through her role with the Greater Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, she actively engages in civic forums that highlight collaboration and resilience within the region’s business community. As a board member of the Partners in Care Foundation, she helps guide the organization that addresses social determinants of health for vulnerable populations, supporting programs that have reached over two million people with critical care coordination and community based services. She is actively engaged with the United Way Ventura County, specifically Women United that supports single mothers on their educational journey. A Southern California native, Amanda lives in the region with her husband, Julian. She is an avid sports fan and brings that same competitive spirit and teamwork mindset to her leadership every day.

Stephen Massey is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Meteorite, a social impact firm that helps health movements scale. Meteorite designs, launches, and manages large-scale coalitions that unite employers, health systems, philanthropies, and community organizations around shared health goals — turning fragmented efforts into coordinated national infrastructure. Stephen co-founded and leads the Health Action Alliance, an 11,000+ employer network representing more than 50 million U.S. workers, which translates public health priorities into workplace action. Through HAA, he also launched U.S. Business Action to End HIV, mobilizing the private sector to help end the epidemic by 2030. He partners with Fortune 1000 companies to build initiatives that reduce barriers to care and address the social drivers of health. Stephen's career spans two decades of coalition leadership at global scale: co-founding an HIV organization in Russia, leading the United Nations' Global Media AIDS Initiative, and serving as a White House Fellow on the National Security Council. He is currently writing Structurally Sound, a book on designing systems for durability and applying organizational design principles to how we build our own lives.

Pamela Schwartz, MPH, is executive director of community health for Kaiser Permanente. She leads a broad portfolio of work addressing social determinants of health in the areas of highest need among Kaiser Permanente members and its communities, including food, housing, mental health workforce development, and financial security. Pam oversees Kaiser Permanente’s $50 million commitment to improve access to healthy food, which includes the Kaiser Permanente Food Is Medicine Center of Excellence created in 2024 to more fully integrate food and nutrition into health care delivery both at Kaiser Permanente and at health systems across the country. A champion for patient- and community-led solutions to social factors shaping people’s health, Pam and her team have created innovative, high-impact initiatives to increase affordable housing and reduce homelessness in dozens of communities and to increase the number of medical respite programs available in communities to help patients experiencing homelessness heal in safe and stable environments. An experienced leader in health care and community health, Pam has contributed pieces to several academic and health care publications and serves on many advisory committees and expert panels. She is currently on faculty at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine in the Department of Health System Science.

Dr. Jenefer Jedele is a health economist and health services researcher specializing in implementation and evaluation science. As a Health Economist for the Drivers of Health Strategy Team at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Jenefer leads evaluations of pilot programs that test innovative approaches to supporting members experiencing social drivers of health needs. She has expertise in evaluation across a variety of sectors including academia, government, and non-profit; and across a variety of domains including behavioral health, social programs, and public health. Dr. Jedele earned a Master’s degree in Survey Methodology and a PhD in Health Services Research at the University of Michigan. In her work, she is recognized as a “translator” of complex statistical output into actionable insights and strategies as well as a passionate advocate of data-driven decision-making.

Hollie Harris, MHA serves as President and CEO of Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH), the largest healthcare provider and leading employer in southeastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia. With more than 20 years of service at ARH, Harris has advanced a bold vision for rural health, strengthening the long-term sustainability of hospitals in medically underserved communities while improving outcomes through innovative, community-centered care. A dedicated champion for health equity, Harris focuses on addressing the social determinants of health that shape life in Central Appalachia, with a particular emphasis on food insecurity and nutrition-related chronic disease. She co-chairs Kentucky’s statewide Food Is Medicine initiative, helping integrate nutrition access into healthcare to prevent and manage conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Under her leadership, ARH has expanded partnerships with food banks, farmers, and community organizations to implement food security screenings, produce prescription programs, and medically tailored food initiatives across its system. Harris’ commitment to “food as medicine” is also deeply personal. After experiencing persistent symptoms traced to a gluten allergy and later navigating an early-detected cancer diagnosis and full recovery, she became even more focused on prevention and whole-person health. That conviction has helped shape ARH’s growing Lifestyle Medicine strategy, including the launch of Kentucky’s first dedicated Lifestyle Medicine service line and the opening of ARH’s first Lifestyle Medicine Clinic in Hazard, Kentucky, with plans to expand across its service region. Harris is also known for building a culture of wellness within ARH, supporting employee wellness initiatives, a subsidized Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program with local farmers, healthy cooking demonstrations, and community-building events that connect people to the food system. She frequently speaks at Food Is Medicine–focused events nationwide, sharing practical lessons from Appalachia and contributing to national conversations on nutrition security and healthcare innovation. Harris is a graduate of the University of Richmond and the Medical College of Virginia. She serves on the boards of the Kentucky Hospital Association, Kentucky Health Collaborative, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee, God’s Pantry Food Bank, Sayre School, the Women’s Business Collaborative, and Kentucky’s Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board.

Dr. Bechara Choucair, a board-certified family physician, serves as executive vice president and chief health officer for Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest integrated health system with more than 12.5 million members. In this role, he oversees over $4 billion in annual investments supporting the organization’s community health and social health portfolio, including the creation of the nation’s largest social health network and the organization’s philanthropic giving. This includes support to medical financial assistance and charitable health coverage programs, as well as grants to community health programs throughout the organization’s footprint. Dr. Choucair oversees the organization’s Medicaid line of business covering 1.5 million members, and advances initiatives to increase access to care and improve health outcomes for those enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare. In addition, his accountability includes leading enterprise clinical business development opportunities focusing on care delivery models, technologies, and products. He also leads Kaiser Permanente’s environmental stewardship work, which resulted in the organization becoming carbon neutral in 2020, and he oversees the organization’s goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. From January through November 2021, Dr. Choucair served as the White House national COVID-19 vaccinations coordinator. During his tenure, nearly 500 million doses of the vaccine were administered nationwide.