Jack DiMatteo is a Legislative Assistant in the Office of Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14). He works on health policy and staffs the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which Congresswoman Underwood co-founded and co-chairs. Jack first joined Congresswoman Underwood’s office as a 2019-2020 David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow. Prior to his fellowship, Jack completed his Master of Public Policy in May 2019 at the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from La Salle University in 2017. Jack is originally from Deerfield, Illinois.

Garrett Devenney currently serves as Health Policy Advisor for Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the Ranking Member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. His policy portfolio includes Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) programs, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), health care workforce, rural health, Tribal health, and aging issues. Prior to joining the committee, Garrett served as Health Legislative Aide to Senate Democratic Leader, Charles E. Schumer (NY) and completed his placement as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow with the HELP Committee. Originally from Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, Garrett received an MPH from the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University and a B.S. in Biology and Global Health Studies from Allegheny College.

Rachel Dolin completed her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management in May 2017 at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  A National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow from 2013-2017, Rachel has focused her research on the financing and delivery of quality care to Medicare beneficiaries, with a specific concentration on aging and end-of-life care. Her doctoral dissertation, Drivers of Live Discharge from the Medicare Hospice Program: A Mixed Methods Study, explored the provider- and market-based factors increasing the rate of live discharge from hospice across the United States over the last decade, employing both qualitative interviews and econometric data analysis techniques. Starting in 2009, Rachel worked as a researcher for L&M Policy Research, LLC, in Washington, D.C., where she contributed to numerous research contracts for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, as well as other federal, state, and private-sector clients. Through these research contracts, Rachel has applied a range of qualitative analytic skills to examine Affordable Care Act-related reforms and innovations, including accountable care organizations and the federally facilitated health insurance marketplaces. Rachel received her B.A., magna cum laude, in Political Science and History from Tufts University.

Olivia Pham is currently a Policy Analyst with the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured and the Disparities Policy Project. She previously worked at Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. As a former Winston fellow, Olivia completed her placement with the House Energy and Commerce Committee under the leadership of Congressman Frank Pallone. Olivia received her Bachelor of Science at the University of Oklahoma and earned her Master of Science in Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lydia Orth, MPH, is the Special Assistant in the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Formerly, Lydia was a class of 2016 Presidential Management Fellow. Prior to joining CMS, Lydia served as a David. A. Winston Health Policy Fellow with the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Health. Lydia has a Master of Public Health from the George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in English and Political Science from the University of Colorado Denver.

Leif Brierley, MPH, is the Powers’ Manager of Government Relations and focuses on federal healthcare, rehabilitation, and disability policy and advocacy for the firm’s clients.

Leif employs targeted legislative and political analysis, lobbying and advocacy activity, and strategic coalition management to enable clients to make their greatest impact on policy. His work on legislative and regulatory initiatives is critical to the provider, supplier, and consumer groups the firm serves. In his capacity as Manager of Government Relations, Leif conducts, organizes, and facilitates lobbying and related advocacy events, including congressional briefings, Capitol Hill visits, and federal agency meetings. Additionally, he manages a number of national disability and rehabilitation coalitions led by the Powers public policy and government relations group. These coalitions focus on access to rehabilitation services and devices, assistive technology, quality orthotic and prosthetic care, and promote of disability and rehabilitation research across the federal health agencies.

Previously, Leif served as a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow (2014-15), a distinguished postgraduate fellowship in health policy awarded to two individuals annually, which includes a full-time work placement in a key health policy development setting. Leif spent his fellowship year working for U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet. In the U.S. Senate, he covered a broad portfolio of health policy issues, including Medicare, Medicaid, providers, health care delivery systems, and child welfare through the Senate Finance Committee; and public health, infectious disease, medical research, pharmaceuticals, and medical innovation issues through the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Leif also served as a Senior Analyst at the Advisory Board Company in Washington, DC, where he provided best practice research and strategic guidance for hospitals and health systems across the nation. Prior to his time in DC, Leif spent several years involved in the Massachusetts health policy arena, serving as a Health Policy Analyst for the Massachusetts Medical Society, the statewide professional association for physicians and medical students that owns and operates the New England Journal of Medicine.

He is a graduate of the Boston University School of Public Health, where he studied Health Policy & Management, earning a Master of Public Health degree. Currently, he is the Vice Chair of the Board of the Society of Health Policy Young Professionals in Washington, D.C.

Anne Dwyer serves as Senior Health Counsel for the United States Senate Finance Committee under Ranking Member Ron Wyden. As Senior Health Counsel, her portfolio includes Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, women’s health, mental and behavioral health, and prevention. Prior to joining the committee as professional staff, Ms. Dwyer was a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow. Before arriving in Washington, D.C., she spent time with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the Minnesota Disability Law Center, and the State of Wisconsin. As a Midwest native, Ms. Dwyer received a JD with a concentration in health law and bioethics from the University of Minnesota Law School, MPH in Public Health Administration and Policy from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and BA from the University of Wisconsin.

Elizabeth founded Karan Legal Group PLLC to serve nonprofit healthcare providers, specializing in underserved patient populations, such as Hemophilia Treatment Centers, Ryan White Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and family planning and STD clinics. Her expertise is in compliance, transactional arrangements, and legislative and administrative advocacy with a focus on the 340B Discount Drug Pricing Program, federal grants, the Anti-Kickback Statute, and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement issues. Elizabeth strives to ensure that her clients understand the obligations of the statutes and agreements that underlie their grants so they can focus on fulfilling their mission to provide high-quality healthcare to vulnerable communities. Prior to this, Elizabeth worked as a Senior Associate at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP in Washington, DC for over six years. Elizabeth also has a background is in national health care policy-making as she served on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee through the David A. Winston Fellowship, learning first-hand the process of drafting and developing federal legislation. Elizabeth earned her J.D. and M.P.H. degrees from the University of Minnesota. She currently resides in Washington, D.C and is admitted to practice law in both D.C. and Illinois.

Yajuan Lu is an Associate Director serving the Johnson & Johnson Government Affairs and Policy team. Since she joined the company in 2013, Yajuan has been responsible for developing position papers and long-term strategies regarding China’s and emerging markets’ trends of the health care industry. She also designs and oversees health policy research projects concerning China’s overall health care system, identifies critical policy barrier impacting the access and quality of care provided for the public and seeks partnership opportunities and solutions to remove such hurdles. Prior to her current position, Yajuan was a David A. Winston Health Policy Fellow for Senator Chuck Grassley, assisting with managing the health care portfolio, including entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and various issues within the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee. Yajuan has a J.D. from University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she earned a specialty certificate in Health Law and Policy, and she earned her Bachelors degree from Beijing University Health Science Center. Yajuan is also an active member of Asian Pacific American Bar Association D.C. Chapter, and the Washington D.C. Chinese Legal Association.

Miraya is currently working at a Medstar Washington Hospital Center as a Cardiac ICU RN. She decided to go back to school to pursue a degree in providing direct health care because she was inspired by her volunteer experiences at a hospice and at a nursing home while working in England as an International Health Policy Research Officer at the London School of Economics immediately after her time as a Winston Fellow in the US House of Representatives' Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's Office. She is already seeing the benefits of combining the insight that she gained while researching and working on health policy with her current work in direct individual and public health as a registered nurse.

Erin Richardson is currently Vice President and Associate General Counsel at the Federation of American Hospitals (FAH). Prior to joining the FAH, she served as Senior Policy Advisor with the White House Domestic Policy Council under President Obama. She also previously served as professional staff and health counsel for the Democratic staff of the Committee on Ways and Means, Health Subcommittee where she had an instrumental role in the repeal of the SGR and passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. Prior to joining Ways & Means, she was the Legislative Assistant for Health for Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and a Winston Health Policy Fellow at the Committee on Ways and Means. Erin received her law degree from Columbia Law School, master’s in Bioethics from Case Western Reserve University, and bachelor’s from Wellesley College.

John Barkett is the Senior Director of Policy Affairs for Willis Towers Watson Exchange Solutions. He previously worked for Extend Health, the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, before it was acquired by Towers Watson in 2012. John is responsible for strategy development as it pertains to both federal and state health policy, as well as the product development and marketing of Towers Watson’s various exchange solutions.

Before joining Extend Health, John spent two and a half years in Washington, D.C., where he contributed to the writing, passage, and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. John served on the health subcommittee staff of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives in 2009 where he drafted and negotiated the final details of legislation aimed at reducing fraud in the Medicare program. After the bill’s passage, John joined the staff of the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, where he helped guide the implementation of all sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform.

Previously, John worked for athenahealth, Inc., a revenue-cycle management and electronic medical record company, and Medica HealthCare Plans, Inc., a Medicare Advantage plan.

John earned an MBA in health care management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he won the Robert D. Eilers Award for health care innovation and service to the community. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a secondary field in health care policy.

Elizabeth Lee is a Principal at Venn Strategies, a government affairs firm in Washington DC. She leads the firm's health care team, and works with government agencies, non-profit health care providers, and advocacy coalitions. Prior to joining Venn, she was a political appointee in the Obama Administration, serving as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration. Elizabeth also worked as a legislative aide to Senator Tammy Baldwin.

John Rigg is a Senior Advisor to the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the US Department of Health and Human Services.  John has been an HHS employee since 2010, serving most of that time as the Director of the Office of Policy Analysis.  Prior to his work at HRSA, he was a Senior Medicare Analyst at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Legislation.  While at CMS, in addition to his legislative work, John also had significant policy responsibilities over Medicare outpatient drug policy.  Recently, John has also served on several long-term details within HHS, including leading the HHS initiative “Accelerate Clinical Innovation” within the Office of the Secretary, and as Senior Advisor and Acting Chief of Staff at the Indian Health Service.  In 2016-2017, John was a White House Leadership Development Program fellow, where he led several initiatives for the Executive Office of the President.

Prior to his executive branch service, John worked at the California Hospital Association and in the legislative branch as a health policy fellow for the Ways and Means Health Subcommittee of the House of Representatives, and for the Government Accountability Office (GAO.  John’s first career was as a Paramedic-Firefighter in Atlanta and in Washington State, and he still practices emergency medicine as a volunteer Paramedic in Calvert County (MD).  John lives with his wife and two sons in College Park, MD, where he serves as a member of the non-partisan College Park City Council.  He has a Master of Public Administration and a Master of Health Administration with a focus on Health Policy from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University.

Diana Birkett Rakow leads Alaska's government affairs, corporate communications and community relations teams in Alaska, Hawaii, San Francisco and Seattle. Together, they are responsible for developing Air Group's legacy of good corporate citizenship. Diana is passionate about fueling organizational strategy and culture through a deep understanding of our guests, community and environment. Alaska is growing in leaps and bounds, and she's focused on deepening our reputation for engaging with and giving back to communities throughout the west coast. With ample experience leading organizations through change, she oversees internal communication efforts that keep employees informed of our strategy and committed to our purpose of creating an airline people love. Diana joined Alaska Airlines in 2017. Prior to Alaska, Diana served as vice president of public affairs, communications and brand management at Kaiser Permanente of Washington through its acquisition of Group Health Cooperative. With Group Health since 2006, she was executive vice president of public affairs and marketing and also led the company’s philanthropy strategy as president of Group Health Foundation. Before that, Diana spent three years on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in Washington, D.C. as a health policy advisor.

Diana holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and master’s degrees in public administration and public health from the University of Washington. She serves on the boards of the Greater

Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Pacific Science Center, and is a previous 40 under 40 Honoree by the Puget Sound Business Journal .

Jason Ormsby, PhD, MBA, MHSA, is a leader for Deloitte’s Monitor Strategy practice, where he touches most federal healthcare agencies and provides expertise in health systems, coverage, quality measurement, value-based purchasing, process improvement, health professional education, patient safety and accreditation. Prior to Deloitte, Dr. Ormsby was Senior Vice President at Atlas Research, with a wide array of care delivery improvements in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) involving quality, safety, accreditation preparedness, patient centered care models, rural health, women’s health, and collaborations between the VA and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Department of Defense, and other stakeholders. He also ran initiatives for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), supporting the development of nearly 20 value-based purchasing models within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), quality and patient safety improvement initiatives targeting vulnerable hospitals through HRSA, and agency-wide process improvements for CMS’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO). Since 2004, through his faculty positions within the Georgetown University Department of Health Systems Administration and George Washington University School of Public Health, Dr. Ormsby teaches on quality, health policy and management theory, and as a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt leads a process improvement education curriculum which has provided LSS Green Belt certifications for nearly 200 graduate students and health professionals, as well as 30+ improvement solutions for hospitals and health systems. Dr. Ormsby began his career in healthcare administration at Mayo Clinic, where he focused on the quality of care delivery and the implementation and meaningful use of HIT. After winning the Winston Health Policy Fellowship, Dr. Ormsby served as professional staff for the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, working on numerous Medicare quality measurement and improvement issues under Chairman Bill Thomas. Prior to joining Atlas Research, Dr. Ormsby handled federal relations for the Joint Commission and represented the organization to CMS, VA and national quality and HIT advisory bodies, including the National Quality Forum, Hospital Quality Alliance, Ambulatory Quality Alliance, Quality Alliance Steering Committee, American Health Information Community, and National eHealth Collaborative.

Since completion of the Winston Fellowship in 1994, Brad Hansen has spent most of his career in health care with Methodist Health System in Omaha, Nebraska. Currently, Mr. Hansen is Vice President of Methodist Physicians Clinic, a 300-provider multispecialty group practice with locations in Nebraska and Iowa. Previous to this role, Mr. Hansen also served as Methodist Health System Planning Coordinator (1994 – 1998) and Vice President of Professional Services for Nebraska Methodist Hospital (2008 – 2012).
Mr. Hansen represented Council Bluffs and Carter Lake in the Iowa Legislature as State Representative (1996 – 2003). During his legislative career, Mr. Hansen was the primary author and sponsor of Iowa’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) known as the Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (“HAWK-I”). He also led the effort to develop Iowa’s patient appeal process which restructured Iowa’s protections of patient rights in managed care plans. Mr. Hansen was also a key legislative player in Insurance, Energy and Banking issues.
Mr. Hansen left the legislature in 2003 to pursue a law degree from the University of Iowa which he earned in 2005. Mr. Hansen practiced law with Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, LLP in Chicago, Illinois from 2006 to 2008, focusing his practice in corporate law.
In addition to earning a law degree from the University of Iowa, Mr. Hansen also holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master’s Degree from the University of Iowa. Mr. Hansen lives in Omaha with his wife, Suzanne and three children, Isabella (age 13), Gretchen (age 4) and Everett (age 2).