Connecting Family and Friends When Health Matters Most
Board of Directors
- Milo Arkema, Chair
- Brad Beard, Vice Chair
- James Eppel, Jr., Treasurer
- Andrea Carruthers, Secretary
Milo Arkema, Chair
Milo is a partner and a member of the executive committee at the certified public accounting firm Baker Tilly in Minneapolis. He leads the firm’s local initiative for serving emerging companies in the medical device and med-tech industries. Milo honed his business expertise through extensive experience as a general business advisor to emerging and high growth companies.
Recognized for his expertise, Milo was selected as one of Twin Cities Business Monthly magazine’s “Super CPAs” in Minnesota for three years in a row. He also manages client services and serves as a general business advisor for a number of family-owned companies.
Milo enjoys reading, writing and traveling abroad with his wife Jentine. They live in Edina, Minnesota, and have three grown children.
Brad Beard, Vice Chair
Bradley J. Beard, MHA, is the president of Fairview Southdale Hospital and Clinics in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In his role as the administrator, he is responsible for Fairview Southdale Hospital, a 390-bed facility located in Edina, Minnesota, and four primary care clinics with 42 providers. In his previous role he was responsible for rehabilitation services and retail imaging for the Fairview Health System. Brad has been employed with Fairview for the past 23 years. He received his master’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of Minnesota, and a bachelor's degree from both the Medical College of Georgia and West Chester University.
A frequent lecturer and consultant on the topic of leadership, customer service and employee satisfaction, Brad provides practical solutions and strategies to organizations interested in improving their level of service to customers and employees.
James Eppel, Jr., Treasurer
Jim leads the network management division of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. In this role, he has responsibility for all aspects of the relationship between Blue Cross and its extensive network of hospitals, physicians, allied and ancillary providers.
Prior to joining Blue Cross in 2007, Jim served as vice president of revenue management and improvement for Allina Hospitals and Clinics, where he had responsibility for Allina’s revenue cycle functions, including payer relations and contracting; billing and collection; and Medicare reporting and pricing.
Jim has spent many years in a variety of roles within managed care organizations, including Medica Health Plans and United Resource Networks, a subsidiary company of UnitedHealth Group. While a member of the senior management team at Medica, he had responsibility for all aspects of Medica’s commercial products, including sales, marketing, product development and customer service. During another period, Jim had responsibility for Medica’s network management, health improvement, pharmacy and medical economics functions. As vice president of product development and contracting for United Resource Networks, he led contracting efforts with a national network of transplant centers and developed new products focused on catastrophic illness.
Jim and his wife Barb live in Edina, Minnesota. They have two children; Sarah, who is a student at Miami University, and John, a student at Edina High School.
Andrea Carruthers, Secretary
Andrea Carruthers is a partner at Faegre & Benson LLP, a general practice law firm based in Minneapolis, with offices in Denver, Boulder, Des Moines, Frankfurt, London and Shanghai. Andrea is a real estate lawyer whose practice primarily involves representing companies in the development, financing, repositioning and investment aspects of their real estate portfolios. She is the lead partner of the Faegre & Benson corporate real estate practice and the leader of the firm’s “green” task force.
Andrea discovered her passion for CaringBridge and its mission when her cousin created a CaringBridge website after he was diagnosed with cancer in 2005. She adds legal knowledge and business experience to the CaringBridge board.
In her spare time, Andrea enjoys reading, cooking, discussing politics, and most of all, spending time with her husband, their two young sons and the family dog.
Alan Abramson
Alan is the senior vice president of information services and chief information officer at HealthPartners, a family of nonprofit Minnesota healthcare organizations focused on improving the health of its members, its patients and the community.
Alan graduated cum laude from Wheaton College in Illinois, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota with a concentration in computer applications and decision science.
Alan has served as an advisor or board member to numerous regional and national organizations for healthcare systems innovation and improvement. He co–chairs the Minnesota e–Health Initiative Advisory Committee, is past board president and current board member of the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest and serves as the chair for the Managed Care Executive Group, a national organization that provides a forum for the open exchange of information, innovative ideas and experience among CIOs and senior health plan leaders.
Joel Ackerman
Joel has been actively involved in healthcare and information technology for over 30 years. He is the president of Ackerman Concepts, a consulting firm specializing in health information strategy and product design. Previously, Joel served as executive vice president and chief information officer for Vivius, Inc., an innovative consumer-choice healthcare company.
Prior to joining Vivius, he founded and was executive director of the Rx2000 Institute, a healthcare information clearinghouse and educational organization. The nonprofit institute played a vital role in preparing the American healthcare system for the year 2000 date change as well as the transition to HIPAA.
As vice president of international information systems and director of advanced technologies at United Health Group, he led the exploration, development and adoption of new and emerging information technologies. Joel has been a leader in the development of national standards for electronic communications in healthcare and chaired the development of the ANSI ASC X12 Eligibility (270/271) Transactions.
Janice Aune
Janice Aune is past chair and CEO of Onvoy Inc., a Minnesota headquartered technology leader and telecommunications innovator. Upon joining Onvoy in September 2000, Aune led the company to a position of financial stability and growth. Under her leadership, Onvoy refocused its market emphasis to serve strategic enterprise, independent telecommunications and carrier markets with the goal of creating a market leader position in the development and delivery of IP-centric services. Janice left Onvoy in November 2007 upon the successful completion of the acquisition of Onvoy by Zayo, a venture-capital backed broadband company.
Prior to joining Onvoy, Janice served in numerous executive leadership positions at U.S. West (now Qwest) and ended her 30-year career there as a senior executive officer and president of the INTERPRISE division, the technology and innovations arm of U.S. West. There she was responsible for a $3 billion product portfolio.
She currently serves on the board of directors for the Minnesota High Technology Association and the Women’s Healthcare Trust. Her past board of director experiences include: Minnesota Telephone Association, the Capital City Partnership, RLX Technologies, Onvoy Inc. and AeA. In addition, Janice held an appointed seat on the Technology Enterprise Board, a public-private board that advised state government officials on technology from 2001 to 2004.
Lars Leafblad
Lars is a vice president with KeyStone Search, a Minneapolis–based retained executive search firm with a unique emphasis on corporate culture. He joined KeyStone in 2007 after serving as director of development for the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Other experience includes assistant director of alumni and parent relations at St. Olaf College and helping launch Four51.com, a high–tech start–up.
Lars earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from St. Olaf College and his MBA with a concentration in strategic management from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.
He is a member of the Citizens League, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and the 2008–09 Humphrey Institute Policy Fellows program. He also serves on the board of The Salvation Army – Twin Cities. In 2007 Lars was recognized with a “40 Under Forty” award from The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
Lisa Pope
Lisa is a Minneapolis-based integrated marketing strategist. With over 20 years of Fortune 500 client experience, she has provided strategic direction for brand leaders such as BMW, Belvedere Vodka, Subway and Visa. Lisa excels at translating brand strategies across a variety of platforms - including web, print and multimedia outlets - to ensure consistent, effective customer experiences. Lisa’s superior leadership skills, network of best-in-class partners and collaborative approach offer her clients the best of all worlds in her consulting practice.
Lisa holds an MBA in marketing from the University of Minnesota. She earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and psychology from the College of St. Benedict. She has participated in continuing education courses at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Adaptive Path seminars, Culinary Institute of America and Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Scott Schwefel
Scott is founder and CEO of the Twin Cities Learning Center for Insights Learning and Development, the creator of professional assessments to enhance leadership skills, corporate communications and foster personal growth. Scott has more than 20 years experience as a successful business entrepreneur and leader.
Previously, Schwefel was CEO for Benchmark Computer Learning in Edina, Minn. Under his leadership, Benchmark was twice featured as one of Minnesota’s Fast 50 rapidly-growing, privately-held firms. He is a graduate of Concordia University.
Soni Styrlund
Soni is founder and CEO of The Sunny Corporation. She has nearly 30 years experience with industry leaders General Mills, Campbell-Mithun Advertising, Wilson-Griak Films and the Moore Talent Agency. She served on the board of Streetlights, a diversity mentoring program in Los Angeles and chaired the Association of National Advertisers Production Committee. She was the founder and President of Minnesota Women in Film and Television and a founding member of the Minnesota Film and Television Board. For her commitment to helping others, Styrlund has received a Women’s Leadership Award from Manhattanville College and an honorary certificate from Congress. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.
Jamie Thingelstad
Jamie has been overseeing and delivering large–scale financial Internet services for the last decade. He is currently working on the early stages of a new company that will offer a superior means of managing the incoming information with which customers want to stay current. Jamie also works as a consultant, bringing years of insight to companies delivering Internet products and services.
Jamie’s previous experience includes being chief technology officer and vice president for the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, part of Dow Jones & Co., as well as the Enterprise Media Group, which includes Dow Jones Newswires and Dow Jones Indexes. Prior to that he was vice president and chief technology officer for MarketWatch Inc. and founding chief technology officer and vice president for BigCharts.
Jamie brings CaringBridge a wealth of knowledge in technology and product development as well as passion for using the Internet to help people.
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