WellBe CMO Iyad Houshan on The Inspired Stories Podcast

Carter Prince is a Lead Director at CVS Health Ventures working across investments both in CVSH Ventures’ early-stage venture and growth equity investment strategies. Prior to joining CVSHV, Carter led Growth for Syntegra, one of the first companies to use Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI in healthcare, where he led Syntegra’s seed financing and initial launch into the market. Prior to Syntegra, Carter spent his career across both health technology companies and Venture with previous roles at Aetion, Flare Capital, SymphonyAI, and Epic Systems, with a focus on data and analytics across these roles.

James “Jim” Reed is President and Chief Executive Officer of Lifetime Healthcare Companies, which include Excellus BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS), Univera Healthcare, Lifetime Benefit Solutions (benefits consulting firm and third-party administration) and MedAmerica (national long-term care insurance company).

Jim joined Excellus BCBS in January 1996, providing him an opportunity to become educated in virtually all areas of the organization. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, and as Regional President in the Central New York region. As President and CEO, Jim assumes responsibility for the entire operations, including satisfying the mission of the company and maintaining the corporate culture. Jim also serves on multiple committees and boards in the regions, including CenterState CEO, ROCH2025, Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, and BlueCross BlueShield Association.

Jim earned a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in business administration from Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

Mary founded R1 RCM in 2003 and led the company’s growth for a decade as it evolved from an idea into a billion-dollar enterprise. She led with a team of seasoned industry professionals focused on revolutionizing patient access and revenue cycle processes for healthcare providers. The company grew to become a top provider of comprehensive end-to-end healthcare revenue cycle management services and population health management services infrastructure.

Between 2003 and 2010, Mary was the company’s Chief Executive Officer and served as Board Chair. She led the company’s IPO in 2010, earning it a $1.2 billion market capitalization.

Mary is an expert at building diverse and talented teams. Prior to founding R1 RCM, she was a Group Chief Executive at Accenture, heading up the $2.3 billion global operating group that was part of the $64 billion market cap global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. 

Mary also helped lead the team responsible for successfully taking Accenture public in 2001, one of that year’s largest offerings on the New York Stock Exchange. She holds a BBA from Loyola University Chicago and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Founder, entrepreneur, payor, investor, and advisor—Larry applies more than 30 years of experience in every aspect of the healthcare and managed care industries to his work at CPF. His track record of success reflects his commitment to helping healthcare companies and those that serve them achieve superior levels of performance while leveraging new and innovative strategies, technologies, and business models.  

Guided by a passion to provide more democratized healthcare that delivers both improved outcomes and affordability, Larry has been an influential force behind a number of companies’ leading advances in digital health and managed care. He was a key driver in building the successful consulting practices at both Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson) and Accenture. 

Larry co-founded the Employer Health Innovation Roundtable, a coalition focused on accelerating and adopting innovations that improve employee health, wellness, and productivity. Their scope has expanded to now include cohorts of leading health plans and health systems. He also devotes significant time, energy, and personal resources to encourage and support innovation across multiple academic institutions, industry collaborations, and one-on-one mentoring. He holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of California-Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.

Matt Mainelli joined Chicago Pacific Founders as a Partner in June 2022. Prior Matt served as a Managing Director in Healthcare Services Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan for over 20 years.

Matt graduated from Boston College with a B.S. in Finance.

Brian assesses where the highest value opportunities are within and across CPF’s portfolio companies, and applies analytics and AI to drive the most impact. He uses data, analytics and AI to source new strategies and companies in the healthcare sector while consistently elevating CPF as a recognized thought leader in healthcare data and technology. 

Before joining CPF, Brian co-led the global Analytics Transformation and the Knowledge Development agenda for McKinsey & Company Analytics. At McKinsey he focused on enhancing the firm’s capacity to call upon cutting-edge approaches to Artificial Intelligence in support of decision-making in the C-suite and at every level of the business. As an advisor to senior executives, Brian helped define a compelling vision for digital and analytics, enabled transformations based on that vision, and led the resulting change journey across industry sectors. Prior to McKinsey, Brian worked for more than two decades at Accenture. Among his top accomplishments were the launch of Accenture Analytics and serving as the Head of Financial Services Analytics and the Head of Analytics Strategy and Transformation. 

He holds two patents for innovative applications in the areas of analytics and value management and continues to write and publish extensively. He holds a B.S. and M.S. from University College Cork-National University of Ireland.

Jackson is passionate about helping CPF’s owner-operator partners navigate the challenges in transforming services delivery and leading initiatives to create new service lines, and accelerating the expansion of existing services. His experience in transaction advisory, business development and across a continuum of investment strategies enables him to consistently merge innovative ideas with forward-thinking strategies. 

Before joining CPF, Jackson was an investor with Audax Private Equity and Madison Dearborn Partners, where he evaluated investment opportunities across the healthcare services and medical products sectors and supported management in executing acquisition-driven theses and various operational initiatives. 

He began his career with the Mergers and Acquisition Group at Credit Suisse, where he advised global pharmaceutical and medical device clients across various financial transactions. He holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Griffin Rigg joined Chicago Pacific Founders as a Senior Associate in August 2023. Prior to his current role, Griffin served as a Private Equity Associate at Longshore Capital Partners and Investment Banking Analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Griffin pursued a dual major in Finance and Economics and graduated with honors from the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University.

Madhav Rajan is Dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting. His primary area of research interest is the economics-based analysis of management accounting issues, especially as they relate to the choice of internal control and performance systems in firms. He has carried out analytical, empirical, and field-based research on the role of information in incentive contracting, the value of nonfinancial and subjective performance measures, and the structural properties and usefulness of common financial ratios.

Before joining Booth, Rajan spent 16 years on the faculty of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business where he was the Robert K. Jaedicke Professor of Accounting, with a courtesy appointment in the Law School. He served as senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2010-2016, overseeing the school’s MBA program. From 2002-2010, he was area coordinator for the accounting faculty group. Previously, he served on the faculty at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, from 1990-2001.

While at Stanford, Rajan received the Robert T. Davis Award for Lifetime Achievement and Service (2017), and the Notable Contribution to Management Accounting Literature Award (2004). He also was the recipient of the David W. Hauck Award for Outstanding Teaching at Wharton (2000) and the Alexander Henderson Award for Excellence in Economic Theory (1990).

Rajan has served as editor of The Accounting Review, as well as Associate Editor for both the Accounting and Operations areas for Management Science. He has twice been a plenary speaker at the AAA Management Accounting Conference. He is coauthor of Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, whose 16th edition was published by Pearson Prentice Hall in January 2017. He is also coauthor of Managerial Accounting, whose first edition was published by Pearson in January 2013. He is a Director of Cavium, Inc. and iShares, Inc. and a Trustee of the iShares Trust.

Rajan received his Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Madras, India, and an MS in Accounting, an MS in Industrial Administration, and a PhD in Accounting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Bob Badal is a veteran of the healthcare industry, with a proven track record of executive success across health plans, provider organizations, and consulting service lanes. In 2018, Bob joined forces with New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a global venture capital firm with over $24B in invested capital across 500+ organizations, to cofound Strive Health. As co-founder, Bob is responsible for identifying and working with Strive’s health system, provider, and medical group organizations to design and establish the partnerships that drive value-based care in kidney centers of excellence nationwide. Strive’s mission is to disrupt the renal care industry status quo…and to dramatically improve clinical outcomes for chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease patients, healthcare providers, and insurers.

Building upon Bob’s desire to identify and deploy disruptive solutions to improve patient care, he co-founded in 2017 a digital health care company, Treatment Technologies & Insights (TTI). TTI Partners with payors, pharma organizations and providers, to improve chronic disease Outcomes, and reduce the total cost of care. TTI achieves these goals through the deployment of its leading patient-facing engagement mobile application, WaveHealth, and robust risk management care portal, which, when combined, drive enhanced real-time clinical intervention Opportunities.

Bob currently serves as a Board Member for multiple organizations including i) WellBe Senior Medical, a leading senior care company specializing in comprehensive medical care delivered in The home; ii) Lightfully Behavioral Health, a mental health provider organization providing Residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive and virtual outpatient programs; iii) Prism Vision Holdings, a leading administrative service organization (ASO) for eye care professionals across 67 locations and 122 providers; and iv) Commons Clinic, a Los Angeles-based specialty health System with center of excellence programs for spine, orthopedics, sports medicine and pain Management. Additionally, Mr. Badal serves as Principal of Robert Badal & Associates, a Healthcare strategic consulting organization that provides managed care, operations and Business development strategy support for numerous national provider-based organizations.

Bob earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and law from Trinity University in San Antonio Texas. Following his undergraduate degree, Bob worked in the healthcare field for over 10 Years, in health plan network development and hospital administration roles, before earning his MBA from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Alex is an Executive Director, Partner and founding member of CVS Health Ventures. Alex manages a $800M portfolio including both direct and LP investments. He leads capital deployment planning and strategy across multiple investment vehicles, as well as investment operations. Additionally, Alex led growth equity investments in Carbon Health and Array Behavioral Care, where he currently serves as a board observer.

Alex has 13 years of experience in the healthcare industry across multiple segments as an active investor and strategist. Prior to joining CVS Health, Alex was a healthcare focused management consultant for over 10 years, most recently in Deloitte Consulting’s Healthcare M&A practice. His industry experience spanned the healthcare and life sciences ecosystem, serving companies in the Health Plan, Pharmacy, Medical Device and Care Delivery segments. 

Alex earned his MBA from Cornell University and his B.S. in Economics and Mathematics from Syracuse University. He currently lives in New York City.

Late in 2006, excited to solve its challenges and move healthcare forward by sharing best-in-class innovations with the industry’s leadership, record-setting sales executive Richard Lungen founded Leverage Health. Today, with many longtime colleagues on his team, Richard continues to act as an industry connecter and leader, and as an advisor to the most respected companies in healthcare.

Before founding Leverage Health, Richard oversaw sales and business development in tenured positions at several outstanding enterprises, including HealthPlan Services, where, as senior vice president of business development, he led the company to achieve new levels of success. Prior to HealthPlan Services, Richard cemented his position as an exceptional driver of sales in organizations like MedAvant Healthcare Solutions, PlanVista Solutions, and National Preferred Provider Network (NPPN).

Richard continues the work he founded Leverage Health to do, directing the world-class team through healthcare’s busiest intersections while driving aspiring innovators to solve industry challenges. When colleagues—whether they represent a PPO, a health plan, a pharmacy, or a self-insured provider—look for solutions, they turn to Richard and Leverage Health to connect them to the up-and-coming companies that can take them forward. By founding the industry’s only Venture Catalyst, Richard has created a framework for solving some of healthcare’s most pressing problems.

Before joining Element3 Health as a board member and CEO, Doug was the co-founder and CEO of Prospero Health, a home-based medical care provider company he launched and grew from three Northeastern states with 1,700 patients to 29 states and over 30,000 patients in just three years’ time.

A former attorney, Doug began his career at Wiggin & Nourie, P.A., where he specialized in commercial litigation and health care compliance and regulation. He transitioned to healthcare, serving a successful 16-year tenure as a C-suite executive with Anthem. He also served as acting CEO of Privia Health.

Doug is motivated by the philosophy that great quality care should be organized around the needs of patients and their families, not the customs and preferences of the system itself. It is an organizing principle forged through his experience with his father Vin’s affliction with cancer and his own experience as a 25-year Hodgkin’s disease survivor.

Doug received his B.A. from Boston College, his JD from Suffolk University Law School, and his M.S. from The Dartmouth Institute at Dartmouth College.