CaringBridge Announces Three New Board Members
Eagan, Minn. (August 20, 2018) – CaringBridge is pleased to announce the appointments of Jodi Hubler, Hitesh Patel, and Kathy Persian, to its board of directors. They join a board comprised of individuals from the technology, health care, business, and nonprofit communities. The board works side-by-side with the CaringBridge senior leadership team to provide counsel, guidance and governance in the direction of the organization. In addition, they raise awareness for the CaringBridge mission and work to attract support.
“I am thrilled to welcome Kathy, Jodi and Hitesh as new CaringBridge board members. Their particular expertise will add tremendous value,” said Liwanag Ojala, CEO of CaringBridge. “Each of these board members have diverse professional and personal experience with CaringBridge, which will help guide the strategic direction of our leadership team. These new board members bring a wealth of knowledge about disruption, business transformation and innovative user experiences through technology, which will help further the mission of CaringBridge.”
Hubler is the Managing Director of Lemhi Ventures, a health care services venture capital fund with $385M under management, where she leads an experienced team through all phases of the investment life cycle. Over her 20-plus-year career, she has held executive positions in a variety of public and private companies, including Cargill, Alcoa, and Definity Health, where she served as chief people officer. She has served as a board member or chair of a dozen health care services companies, valued for her keen insight as a strategic advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs and CEOs. In addition to five corporate boards, she is currently a member of the Healthcare Executives Leadership Network and Women Business Leaders in Health Care Foundation. Jodi holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Iowa. She was inspired to seek Board service at CaringBridge after witnessing the power and impact of the CaringBridge community over the past 6 years.
Patel is the Vice President – Technology for Geek Squad Services, Product Categories and Mexico at Best Buy, and has been in various mobile technology strategy roles across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. He is responsible for the IT application delivery and management for Best Buy, managing a team of 400 IT professionals from start-up to deliver multichannel, multi-branded, multi-lingual systems for the North American carriers’ cell-phone market. He also manages IT for Geek Squad Services, Contact Centers, CRM and MRP capabilities. His team was responsible for implementing mobile and tablet experiences across 1400 retail stores. Prior to Best Buy, he was a leader at Carphone Warehouse based in London, where he first managed offshore developers in Mumbai and Bangalore and was previously a consultant for Ernst & Young. He has a degree in computer science from De Montfort University and has an MBA from Birmingham University. Patel first became a CaringBridge user when he followed a colleague’s site during her health journey in 2012.
Persian is senior vice president and chief information officer for Schwan’s Company, a Minnesota-based business passionate about bringing delicious foods to U.S. families wherever they shop and eat. Throughout her more than 25-year career in information delivery, she has held a variety of executive leadership roles with companies, such as Schwan’s, Sports Authority, SuperValu, Best Buy and Accenture. She has gained extensive experience in strategic business areas such as technology, corporate planning, merchandising and supply-chain systems. Kathy, who has been a CaringBridge user, has a specific interest in using technology to build communities.
About CaringBridge
CaringBridge is a global nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey through the use of free personal websites. Their mission is to amplify the love, hope and compassion in the world, making each health journey easier. Nearly 90 percent of all funding comes from individual donors. Since its founding in 1997 by Sona Mehring, more than 650,000 CaringBridge websites have been created. Combined, they have received more than 2 billion visits. For more information, visit