Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA

Michael Gustafson MD, MBA, is a senior healthcare physician executive with progressive strategic, operational, and leadership responsibilities spanning three decades within academic medical center, community hospital, and integrated delivery system settings. His personal mission over this time has been to help transform healthcare delivery in the U.S. and drive improvement in quality, safety, equity, experience, and value for both patients and their caregivers. His many passions and areas of expertise related to this work include healthcare strategy, clinical innovation, organizational culture change, and leadership development.

Dr. Gustafson most recently served as president of UMass Memorial Medical Center (UMMMC), an 800-bed tertiary teaching hospital with 7,500 caregivers across three campuses and multiple community sites in central Massachusetts. The flagship member of UMass Memorial Health, UMMMC is a $2.5 billion nonprofit hospital that provides lifesaving care to over 1.5 million people throughout central New England and serves as the clinical partner of UMass Chan Medical School. Over his 5-year tenure, Dr. Gustafson guided UMMMC through the daunting COVID-19 pandemic while simultaneously implementing an ambitious plan to establish the medical center as a national leader in clinical quality & safety, patient experience, and caregiver engagement. In establishing its first-ever Center for Quality & Safety and many related programs, Dr. Gustafson worked to transform the culture of safety, while drastically reducing patient harm events and improving quality outcomes.

Prior to his role at UMMMC, Dr. Gustafson served for seven years as the president/COO for Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital (BWFH), a fully integrated community teaching hospital in Boston, MA. While there, he worked to advance clinical and administrative integration between BWFH and the main campus of Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) while implementing the campus’s clinical strategic roadmap and multi-year capital master plan. The institution also achieved multiple milestones in quality, patient safety, service excellence, staff engagement and financial performance under his leadership. Dr. Gustafson’s work during the prior decade as SVP for clinical excellence (chief quality officer) at BWH helped to build a culture of quality, safety, transparency, and efficiency. Dr. Gustafson founded and directed the Brigham Health Center for Clinical Excellence from 2001-2011, and he worked with leaders throughout the hospital to develop and coordinate strategies for performance measurement and analysis, process improvement, patient safety, quality of care, financial planning, and operational efficiency. The Center has been heralded as a national best practice for how to effectively organize and support improvement activities within a large, complex academic medical center. 

Dr. Gustafson received his MD degree at West Virginia University and completed his general surgery residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, including a three-year, NIH-funded surgical research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. He later went on to become one of the first surgeons to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School. Dr. Gustafson has prior appointments as professor of surgery at the UMass Chan Medical School and assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, where early on he spearheaded some of the first patient safety efforts in the field of surgery and helped launch the Brigham’s Center for Surgery & Public Health. 

He has served on the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association (MHA) CEO Board of Trustees for eight years (2015-2020, 2022-23) and was elected to chair the Board’s Clinical Issues Advisory Council for two terms (2015-17, 2022-23). Dr. Gustafson has also been active in many national patient safety, quality, patient experience, and academic medicine organizations throughout his career and has enjoyed sharing with and learning from colleagues throughout the U.S. and the world.

Elizabeth Hickman

Since joining the Schwartz Center in 2007, Elizabeth has held a number of positions in development, communications and programming. She is responsible for leading the organization’s strategy, managing the day-to-day operations, and developing new programs and services to meet the needs of our growing membership. In addition, she oversees all corporate and strategic partnerships.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, Elizabeth managed large-scale fundraising initiatives for clients including the Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day and the LIVESTRONG Challenge in 19 cities across the country.

Elizabeth received her bachelor’s degree in communications from Merrimack College and an executive education certificate in nonprofit management from Harvard Business School.

Beth Lown, MD

Dr. Beth Lown is the Chief Medical Officer of the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining compassion through its programs, education, and advocacy so that all who seek and provide healthcare experience compassion.

As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Lown leads the Schwartz Center’s thought leadership and content development. With her team and collaborators, she creates, implements, improves, and evaluates new initiatives, courses and programs, convenes conferences, and does research on compassion-related topics and measures. She works with national organizations to advocate for resources to support the mental health and wellbeing of the healthcare workforce. She consults and speaks locally, nationally, and internationally about compassion, wellbeing, social support, and organizational and systems change. She has taught communication and relational skills to health professionals across the continuum of learning for decades.

Her current focus is on supporting healthcare leaders by implementing actionable frameworks, programs and metrics to enable leadership teams to foster and sustain cultures of compassion and wellbeing in their organizations.

In addition to her work with the Schwartz Center, Dr. Lown is an affiliate faculty member at Mount Auburn Hospital, Cambridge, MA, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

Jessica Thompson Somol

Jessica manages all aspects of fundraising for The Schwartz Center, including individual major giving, foundation and corporate support. Prior to joining The Schwartz Center, Jessica was an independent fundraising consultant, serving non-profit clients across a variety of industries. Prior to that, Jessica led fundraising as Director of Development for Charles River School in Dover, MA and as Executive Director of Care 2 Communities, a social enterprise providing low-cost, financially sustainable primary care clinics for poor communities overseas.  Before her non-profit work, Jessica worked in strategy and marketing roles at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda). Jessica received an A.B. cum laude in Medical Anthropology from Harvard University in 1993 and an MBA from The Wharton School in 1999. She serves as Vice Chair of the Board for The Bellforge Arts Center in Medfield, MA. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling, cooking, reading and singing with her rock band, Offside.

Michele Babineau

Michele is responsible for providing executive level assistance to the Schwartz Center executive team; acting as the liaison to the Board of Directors. In addition, Michele provides general office management and support to her colleagues at the Schwartz Center.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center in 2017 Michele was the Executive Assistant to the Vice President of Performance Excellence, Quality and Patient Relations at South Shore Hospital for over a decade. Michele also served as the senior staff liaison to South Shore Hospital’s Patient and Family Advisory Council.

Michele is a graduate of Curry College, Milton, MA, where she earned a bachelor degree in Business Management/Administration with a minor in Human Resources Management.

Sheri Carey

Sheri is responsible for the management of the Schwartz Center membership and member programs including the operations of program activities, member communications and special projects.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center in 2013, Sheri managed and coordinated volunteers and assisted in the growth and enhancement of volunteer programs and initiatives at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. She also served as the marketing director for the Anaheim Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau in California. In addition to her work at the Schwartz Center, Sheri has volunteered with the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Project Sunshine at Spaulding Rehab Hospital in Charlestown, and served on the Communications Committee and Analytics Team for the American Marketing Association’s Boston Chapter.

Sheri is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Julie Collier, PhD

Julie Collier recently joined the Schwartz Center as the senior director of programs. She is a psychologist with extensive clinical expertise working with children and families living with chronic and life-threatening illness. She spent 30 years at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, serving in a variety of clinical roles, and was co-chair of the hospital ethics committee for 20 years. Julie went on to launch the Office of Professional Fulfillment & Resilience at Stanford Children’s which offers programs and resources to support the well-being of all team members. In addition to developing trauma-informed resources to mitigate clinician distress, she was instrumental in developing an organization-wide wellness survey and directed a support team to address threatening behavior directed toward staff.

 Julie’s experience leading Schwartz Rounds and implementing Stress First Aid at Stanford Children’s informs her understanding of the critical value that the Schwartz Center brings to healthcare organizations.

Tarik Doukkali

Tarik joined the Schwartz Center in 2022 and is responsible for accounting and financial reporting for the Schwartz Center.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, Tarik was responsible for accounting in Boston area life science consultancy firms.

Tarik is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Boston where he earned a bachelor’s degree in management with a concentration in accountancy.  Tarik is fluent in English, French, and Arabic.

Jennifer Fiske

Jennifer joined the Schwartz Center in 2018 as a member of the development team. In 2020, she transitioned to our membership team where she currently manages our membership and events data.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, Jen worked at Brown Brothers Harriman she served as an operations specialist on the data control team for the securities lending services department.

Jen is a graduate of Brandeis University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Health: Science, Society and Policy with a minor in French and Francophone studies.

Michael Goldberg, MD

Michael J. Goldberg, MD, is the Scholar in Residence at The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare.

He is also a member of the Skeletal Health Program at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Vice-Chair of the Division of Pediatric Orthopaedics, and Clinical Professor of Orthopaedics at the University Of Washington School Of Medicine in Seattle.

Dr. Goldberg’s major clinical interests are in the diagnosis and management of children with syndromes, complex birth defects, and skeletal dysplasias; and measuring the outcomes and functional performance of children undergoing orthopaedic treatments. He is a past president of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America; has held leadership positions in the American Academy of Pediatrics, and has been recognized with honorary memberships in the pediatric orthopaedic societies of Brazil and Italy (the first American to receive such an honor).

The majority of his professional career was spent in Boston where he was the Henry H. Banks Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedics; and currently Professor Emeritus at Tufts University School of Medicine; as well as past-Chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics at Tufts Medical Center.

Dr. Goldberg has lectured widely both nationally and internationally; authored more than 70 peer reviewed scientific articles, and the single author textbook: The Dysmorphic Child: An Orthopaedic Perspective.   He has participated in the development of outcomes instruments, performance measures, evidence based guidelines and quality initiatives for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America; the American Medical Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics and government agencies with the goal to answer the questions “Are we helping? and How do we know?”

He served on the ACGME Residency Review Committee for Orthopaedic Surgery and as chair of the AAOS Evidence Based Practice Committee and the AAOS Guideline Oversight Committee. He is a team member of initiatives designed to reduce medical errors, improve workforce well-being, promote young faculty research, and create a culture of compassion at Seattle Children’s Hospital. He is the facilitator for Schwartz Rounds at Seattle Children’s.

Dr. Goldberg has served as a member and chair of the Board of Directors of The Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, the oldest and one of the largest child welfare agencies in the United States, and also served on the Board of Directors of Camp Korey in Mount Vernon, Washington, a camp for children with life altering medical conditions.

Husam Hammad

Husam joined the Schwartz Center in 2023 as part of the membership team and is responsible for supporting and sustaining our member relationships.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, Husam worked as a project coordinator and data analyst.

Husam earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Al Azhar University in Palestine, where he received extensive experience as a pharmacist before he earned his Master of Public Health from Al Quds University in East Jerusalem and served as a project coordinator at the Palestinian Ministry of Health. He earned a Master of Science in Global Health Policy and Management at Brandeis University.

Casey Kudesia, MA

Casey Kudesia is based in Boston, Massachusetts, and is excited to work with healthcare organizations to lead Schwartz Rounds. Casey comes to the Schwartz Center with a background in education, training and organizational leadership.

She started her career as a middle school science teacher in Los Angeles with Teach for America, where she also finished her Master’s in Education at Loyola Marymount University. After returning home to Boston and teaching high school science at an alternative high school, Casey transitioned to staff training and organizational development at Planned Parenthood. She has over a decade of experience partnering with care providers and leadership to improve the patient and employee experience.

Casey holds a certificate in Organizational Leadership, and she believes that when compassion is a fundamental value of leadership and care providers, patients and employees will all thrive.

Suzee Lock

Angelina McCoy, MA

Angelina joined the Schwartz Center as the Member Experience Manager in 2021. Angelina is responsible for managing the membership lifecycle and supporting member relationships, recognition programs and member communications. Angelina has a background in non-profit operations, customer service and has a desire to use her experience to make a positive impact in the healthcare space.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, she worked at the Boston Public Library Fund as the Development Associate and later as the Development Operations Manager. She also spent time as the Volunteer Coordinator and Office Manager at Beacon Hill Village, serving older adults in Boston. Before moving to the Boston area, she spent five years at the Cincinnati Art Museum overseeing the visitor experience.

Angelina graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Arts in art history and from Georgetown College with a Bachelor of Arts in studio art.

Jessica Moran-MacAleese

Jessica joined The Schwartz Center in 2023 as the Director of Individual Giving. In this role, Jessica manages all Annual Fund activities and assists donors in identifying and fulfilling support for organizational needs.

Jessica comes to The Schwartz Center with over 20 years of fundraising experience. Prior to joining Schwartz, she served as Director of Individual Giving at the National Psoriasis Foundation where she managed all Annual Fund activities. During her career, she has also held the roles of Annual Fund Manager at the Cape Symphony and Conservatory and Fundraising Data Segmentation Manager at the International Fund for Animal Welfare. In these roles, Jessica has implemented processes to enhance donor experiences, upgraded donation platforms to streamline online and recurring giving and acquired and developed impactful corporate sponsorship relationships.

Jessica is a graduate of Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication. In her spare time, Jessica can be found at a hockey rink, lacrosse field or basketball court cheering on her two sons or enjoying time with her family and mini goldendoodle Ella in their hometown on Cape Cod. Jessica understands the challenges that healthcare providers face each day and is driven to support the mission of the Schwartz Center.

Christina Parks

Christina is responsible for coordinating the Schwartz Center’s communications strategy and implementation.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center in 2011, she served as a professional development coordinator at the Boston law firm of Mintz Levin and as a professional networks assistant at Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

Christina has a bachelor’s degree in communication from Boston College.

Melissa Restivo

Melissa joined the Schwartz Center in 2018 and is responsible for implementing all Schwartz Center events and managing event related corporate fundraising. She also manages the Schwartz Center’s internship program and social media presence.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, Melissa worked at One Mission, a pediatric cancer foundation and served in various development roles there for six years. In addition to her work at the Schwartz Center, Melissa has volunteered with the Ronald McDonald House at Boston Harbor and served as a co-chair of the Red Shoe Society, their young professionals board.

Melissa is a graduate of Endicott College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management.  In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading and yoga. Melissa and her husband reside in the Boston area.

Leah Rybarczyk, LISW

Leah Rybarczyk joined the Schwartz Center team as a Member Experience Advisor in 2021 and is based in Cleveland, OH. Leah comes to the Schwartz Center with a background in medical social work and program development. Previously, she worked at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital/MacDonald Women’s Hospital. Leah received her bachelor’s degree in social work from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, before returning to her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to earn her master’s degree in social administration from Case Western Reserve University. Leah is committed to supporting the well-being of healthcare providers and is deeply aligned with the Schwartz Center’s mission to keep compassion at the heart of healthcare.

Elizabeth Santiago

Elizabeth joined the Schwartz Center as the Member Outreach Manager in 2023. She manages the membership pathway and provides ongoing support for prospective Schwartz Center members.

Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, Elizabeth worked in admissions for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she managed the undergraduate recruitment process for applicants in the Northeast. She also spent four years managing corporate partnerships for Family Reach, where she fundraised to address the financial burden caused by cancer.

Elizabeth graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.

Laurie Tellis

Laurie manages the oversight and integration of all the Schwartz Center’s database platforms, making sure that all departments have access to accurate information to support our work. Formerly, she managed our donor information systems.

Before joining the Schwartz Center, Laurie created print and online public health publications at New England SERVE and the Massachusetts Consortium for Children with Special Health Care Needs, coordinated communications at the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union (now the Crittenton Women’s Union), and taught English in corporate Japan.

Laurie has a bachelor’s degree in English and linguistics from Binghamton University, and completed master’s-level coursework in writing and publishing at Emerson College.

Peter Underhill

Peter joins us from Partners Healthcare Finance where he has held several key finance positions over the past 9 years. Most recently, he served as an accounting manager, overseeing accounting and financial reporting for Newton Wellesley Hospital & North Shore Medical Center.

Prior to that, and for the majority of his tenure at Partners, he held the position of senior accounting analyst on the General Hospital Team preparing the MGH financial statements with its very challenging and complex financial structure.

Peter brings a wealth of practical experience in healthcare accounting and financial reporting and is truly an asset to the team. Peter holds a master’s degree in accountancy from Bentley University.

Christian Wallace

Christian joined the Schwartz Center in 2024. As Data Coordinator at the Schwartz Center, Christian enhances data collection, management, and utilization for informed decision-making and optimized outreach.

Passionate about healthcare, she leverages her diverse background in CX, operations, and analytics to make a meaningful impact. With experience in administrative support, user training, and CRM implementation, she’s adept at improving operational efficiency.

Christian graduated summa cum laude from CUNY School of Professional Studies with a Bachelor’s in Industrial and Organizational Psychology.