SendaRide Announces Effie Carlson as Newest Advisory Board Member

Christina has 17 years of experience in transportation and healthcare specifically in the technologies that enable the highest levels of service and care to our clients and members. A seasoned executive, Christina oversees the Product Development team and provides strategic direction to SendaRide’s portfolio of solutions.

Christina has previously served on the executive team as a VP for the Monitoring and Meals division of Modivcare overseeing Registration, Case Management, Billing, Customer Service, Installation and Meals.

Christina served on the senior management team for First Transit, the U.S.’s largest provider of public transportation, as the VP of Innovation and Technology Services and was instrumental in the direction and development of First Transit’s innovative rider solutions for fixed route, paratransit and NEMT services. Christina led strategic efforts to incorporate technology extensively into front-line operations, delivering critical business insights and supporting operational excellence. Also, during her time with First Transit, Christina served as the head of the Disciplined Operations for FirstGroup PLC overseeing multi-divisional, multi-national projects across FirstGroup’s 5 divisions: First Transit, First Student, UK Bus, UK Rail and Greyhound.

Christina holds a Bachelors degree from Liberty University.

With nearly a decade of experience in the healthcare regulatory and compliance field, AnnaLaura brings valuable expertise to our team. She has held key roles in various healthcare sectors, including privacy positions at a large research hospital in Seattle and a regional health plan in NYC, as well as compliance and regulatory roles in the NEMT division of a large transportation company.

AnnaLaura most recently focused on regulatory, contracting, and operational compliance within a large and diverse healthcare support-services organization, demonstrating a commitment to driving business forward while upholding industry standards and regulations.

Greg‘s extensive experience in both logistics and finance, spanning over two decades, highlights his expertise in these fields. His reputation for proactive leadership, innovative problem-solving, and stewardship have been a large part of his professional success.

One notable talent Greg brings is his ability to transition effortlessly from being detail-oriented to engaging in high-level strategic planning. This versatility, combined with his passion for continual learning, have played pivotal roles in helping companies achieve above-average industry profitability and growth.

Currently, in his role at SendaRide, Greg is responsible for overseeing all finance and accounting operations.  Greg holds an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.

Laura Fleet is a leading expert in health care and regulatory law, having represented health insurers, providers, and hospital systems for more than twenty-five years.

Her professional career as legal counsel, lobbyist, and Executive Director for numerous non-profit Associations in the health care sector has given her a unique perspective into our health care delivery system and its many challenges. Having successfully identified an opportunity to bridge one of the many gaps, she founded SendaRide.

During her career she has continually been at the frontline of our ever-evolving healthcare delivery system, shaping and interpreting the laws that providers, insurers, and hospitals operate within. She thrives on solving the many challenges the healthcare industry faces – whether regulatory, legal, legislative or innovation.

With over 15 years of experience in transportation and healthcare, Jessica Hylander is a highly accomplished executive with a remarkable track record in strategic leadership, team building, and operational excellence. Jessica’s career has been marked by her ability to drive growth, foster key partnerships, and cultivate innovative company cultures.

As the former Chief Operating Officer at Modivcare Monitoring and Meals, she played a pivotal role in generating over $65 million in annual revenue, achieving an impressive 35%+ EBITDA margin, and leading substantial organic growth. Her talent for assembling high-performing teams and forging strategic partnerships has been instrumental in her success.

Jessica’s career also includes roles such as VP or Quality and Process Improvement at Valued Relationships Inc., a premier remote patient monitoring provider, and Senior Director of Compliance at First Transit, the U.S.’s largest provider of public transportation, where she consistently delivered results and drove operational enhancements.

Jessica holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School.

Alfred brings over a decade of experience in operations, logistics and Non-emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT), working in nearly all areas of operations. He has worked in multiple organizations, ranging from small to mid-size to global companies and has led national teams within the NEMT industry.

Alfred Andrade joins SendaRide as Vice President of Operations, overseeing the Contact Center, Routing Team, Care Partner Team, Complaints & Grievances, Quality, Network and Business Transformation.

With a passion for creating teams, process improvement, developing leaders and enhancing services offered in NEMT, Alfred brings a fresh perspective on leading through periods of high growth and driving businesses forward. He is committed and determined to drive positive health outcomes for those who are underserved and in vulnerable communities.

Outside of his profession, Alfred enjoys reading music, hiking, and spending time with his two dogs, Winnie and Rocky. He’s also a horror movie lover!

Sara Aicklen serves as the Director, People and Culture of SendaRide – a Non-Emergent Medical Transportation (NEMT) broker offering state of the art technology for transportation solutions. With over a decade of experience in customer care, Sara brings a plethora of skills from adaptability, clear and concise communication and unique talents creating a positive work culture for teams and companies.

While Sara has experience across several industries, she was previously a customer care representative with SendaRide. Her professional and personable skills have given her the opportunity to become the Director of People and Culture.

Sara’s focal point is managing and implementing professional growth opportunities for SendaRide’s employees plus overseeing all human resource operations. She will create and implement opportunities and solutions that is a true reflection of who SendaRide is and the culture it wishes to preserve.

Having spent over two decades in a progressive customer service leadership position has expertly prepared Natasha Corcoran for her new role as the Director of Support Services.  This role is allowing her to do what she loves most – support her friends and family at SendaRide!

Natasha will not only focus on supporting leadership, but also colleagues as both an advocate and a professional growth trainer. She will also be assisting in the coordination of volunteer efforts for all of our SendaRide teams.

Kenny has almost 10 years of operations management and leadership experience in the logistics and Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) industry. Well versed in problem solving, critical thinking and team building. Having worked in various departments within the industry, Kenny offers a diverse range of knowledge and viewpoints.

As Director of Customer Operations, Kenny approaches the operations directive with the customer experience as the foremost priority. He embraces the unique challenges and opportunities that accompany each day and each ride. He puts extreme focus on the details and intentionality with processes and procedures.

Nicole has over eight years of experience in Non-emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT), working in nearly all areas of operations, with extensive background in quality management, standardization, and implementation.

With focus and passion for process improvement, Nicole approaches opportunities with detailed analysis, to understand both the specific nuances and how they serve our greater mission.

As Director of Operations Transformation, Nicole embraces the mindset of continuous improvement. This commitment to optimization allows our team to focus on our top priority–rider experience and care.

Rachel Kern has over 10 years of experience in healthcare information technology, healthcare services, investment banking and private investing. Ms. Kern serves as Vice President for First Trust Capital Partners (FTCP) and has led investments in a broad range of healthcare technology and services companies.

Before her role at FTCP, she has served as an analysts for Healthcare Growth Partners, LLC, a provider of strategic and financial advisory services to healthcare companies. Prior to HGP, she worked as a Legislative Assistant to an IL State Senator. She is currently active in the Mid-America Healthcare Investors Network. She earned her BA in History from the University of Dallas.

David Smith brings 10 plus years of experience to impacting customer success. Having helped clients overcome a variety of challenges by ensuring they have access to the products and knowledge necessary to keep their business moving. David spent time as an Account Representative and in Logistics in the oil and gas industry and is dedicated to the mindset that through coordination, and the occasional out of the box thinking, no obstacle is too complex.

In direct relation to his accomplishments with client outcomes, David also brings to the table an expansive background in new hire training and staff development. This experience has created an onboarding style that is both robust and easy to follow. His goal is to bring clients up to speed quickly and foster an environment for quick adoption of SendaRide’ s services.

Beyond the office, David is an aspiring amateur chef who truly enjoys cooking for his wife and children. On the weekends you can find him on the diamond fostering the competitive spirit in all his players as a softball coach and hitting instructor.

Josh Wilsie has over 15 years experience in the telecommunications and information technology space, solving complex problems and designing solutions to effectively answer business challenges.  He has worked in designing solutions across a wide variety of industries including Banking, Healthcare, Customer Service, and more.

Josh joins SendaRide as Vice President of Information Technology, helping guide both product development efforts, as well as information systems infrastructure as SendaRide grows.

Anand Nair has over 17 years of experience in the Information Technology world, designing and developing complex software products that are customer-friendly and scalable. He has worked in multiple software technologies and frameworks and has led IT teams in developing and integrating many third-party APIs and cloud services on divergent software products.

Anand joins SendaRide as Vice President of Product Development, helping guide the product development team to adapt to new technologies and standards.

Greg Ennis is an experienced Quality Assurance Specialist with a background in the insurance, medical, and media industries. Greg brings more than 10 years experience developing and implementing quality assurance programs for companies such as Farmers Insurance, Cognizant and Ballotpedia. Greg’s focus is on refining the patient and member experience, fostering employee development and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

Keith Spates specializes in National Sales for SendaRide. He brings more than 20 years of health care experience in Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Tricare sales and transportation benefit programs. He focuses on the company’s value proposition for National Health Plan clients, maximizing cost optimization and improving the patient and member experience.

Robb received his BS in Marketing and Finance from Brigham Young University and his MBA from Georgia Tech.  Robb has worked for several large firms including Arthur Andersen (Troubled Company and Bankruptcy Consultant), Oracle and Agilysys.  He has also held executive positions in several technology startups including ClientLink, Epi-Use Labs, Xcaliber Technologies (now Blannco) as well as The Gingrich Group (a healthcare think tank founded by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich).

He also co-founded and ran his own technology consulting company.  For the past 3 years, Robb has worked as an outsourced CFO for several start-up companies including a healthcare company and multiple SaaS companies.

Julie Correll is a proven legal and executive leader with more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience providing counsel and support to corporate legal departments and management teams at large public companies and middle-market private employers. She currently serves as Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer at Surescripts, LLC, a healthcare information network that provides and enables 20 billion electronic prescriptions and other healthcare transactions annually.

Julie was Chief Compliance Officer and HIPAA Privacy Officer at LogistiCare Solutions, LLC (now ModivCare), the nation’s largest manager of NEMT programs for state government agencies and managed care organizations. Prior to her appointment as CCO, Julie served as LogistiCare’s Associate General Counsel and Ethics & Compliance Officer and established the company’s first comprehensive corporate Compliance function, including forming and chairing the company’s compliance committees. She implemented and oversaw all Medicare / Medicaid Program Integrity compliance activities and ultimately led the Safety, Risk Management, Provider Credentialing, and Privacy groups under the Compliance center of excellence.

Prior to joining LogistiCare, Julie counseled startups and established middle-market and small private companies, where she provided executives with a full scope of legal and business advice and expertise with a focus on ensuring compliance with safety, environmental, and employment laws and regulations.

Julie began her legal career at Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon (now Locke Lord, LLP), where she specialized in commercial transactions and litigation in intellectual property, antitrust, employment, and corporate governance and compliance matters. She is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Virginia, and is Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC).

Dan brings over 20 years of valuable experience in operations, implementation and client delivery. He holds a master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Oklahoma and a bachelor’s degree in Management with a Marketing minor from Oklahoma State University.

Dan served as Chief Operating Officer of Molina Healthcare’s Medicaid plans in Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Mississippi, Vice President of Performance Management and Operational Excellence for Molina’s New Mexico plan, and was Molina’s operations subject matter expert for its successful Mississippi Medicaid bid.

Dan was previously the executive director of Optum’s dedicated site launch team, where he led implementations of operations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Ohio, and Idaho.

Dan also served as the client delivery executive for APS Healthcare, simultaneously leading operations for the Oklahoma EQRO, managing a behavioral health utilization management program for the Oklahoma Medicaid agency, and implementing a utilization management program for the Oklahoma State Educators and Employees Group Insurance Board.

His provider operations experience includes the start-up and management of a rural Federally Qualified Health Center, as well as the implementation of a strategic planning methodology at Parkland Health and Hospital System in Dallas that resulted in over $110 million in benefit.

He has a keen grasp of the impact of social determinants of health, especially transportation, on healthcare costs; the criticality of finely tuned operations; the importance of crisply executed implementations; and how consistent and timely outcomes measurement build strong operations and positive client relationships.

Effie Carlson has led healthcare teams across growth, operations, network contracting, sales, business development, and government/policy for over 14 years. She ran the business operations, sales, and clinical operations of independent healthcare providers as CEO of Best Practice Management and General Manager/VP of Payer Relations of Team Select Home Care.

She oversaw a national post-acute provider network team as Head of Provider Network and Market Analytics for CareCentrix. Most recently, she lead innovation in technology and product as the Chief Growth Officer for Logisticare | Circulation (PRSC NASDAQ). She is now the Chief Growth Officer for Healthcents and lives in TX with her husband, and four children.

Omar Nagji, a thought leader in the healthcare mobility space, was previously the Head of Healthcare at Lyft, responsible for developing and overseeing the healthcare sales department.  Prior to joining Lyft, Omar spent 15+ years across multiple verticals within the healthcare ecosystem – beginning at Huron Consulting where he implemented patient throughput strategies then continuing his healthcare journey in the BI space focusing on both revenue cycle and population health trends.  Omar is currently the SVP, Strategic Sales at Podium.

Prior to joining Lyft, Omar spent 15+ years across multiple verticals within the Healthcare ecosystem – beginning at Huron Consulting where he implemented patient throughput strategies then continuing his healthcare journey in the BI space focusing on both Revenue Cycle and Population Health trends.

Brandy has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Northeastern State University and a master’s degree in gerontology from University of Central Oklahoma where she graduated with honors. Previous to SendaRide, Brandy created a nationally recognized PACE program known for innovation, clinical, and financial outcomes. Under Brandy’s leadership, the program grew at three times the national average and was recognized by the National PACE Association as one of the fastest growing PACE programs in the nation. As a co-developer of the innovative risk calculator tool, EQUIP, Brandy led her organization to achieve record-setting hospitalization rates at greater than 20% better than other similar programs.

When she isn’t working, Brandy enjoys time with her family, which includes her husband Bill Bailey and their two sons, Bryce (14) and Brent (12).

Kelly Phillips is the Director of Client Relations at SendaRide, where she also leads the operational team on daily activities.  She came to SendaRide in June of 2018, backed by 20+ years in the areas of Health Information Management, Executive Assistance and Project Management.  Kelly graduated from the University of Oklahoma College of Nursing in 1998, quickly capitalizing on her administrative and organizational skills, as well as her medical knowledge.

She has worked directly with grant-funded community programs in Oklahoma City, tapping into her love for her community and helping the people within that community.  Kelly has had extensive experience working directly with at-risk populations as well as with executive leadership.  She believes strongly in the power of networking, personal development and team building.

Brinson has a passion for building relationships. She believes in using her strengths of innovation, empathy, drive and energy to contribute to a successful team.

She graduated from Texas A&M University and has found her passion in Sales. Her competitive background and natural ability to create meaningful relationships with her clients, has contributed to her overall success. She is quick to adapt and is always eager to learn. Brinson believes the best success in life comes from being your best, genuine self.

Brinson has extensive sales experience, traveling across the United States to prepare medical students to succeed as Physicians with the appropriate tools and resources.

Her experience with her grandparents and family allow her to relate on a personal level to the importance of health, independence and meaningful assistance for vulnerable populations.

She currently resides in Fort Worth, TX where she enjoys seeking out new food spots, going to the dog park, and enjoying bike rides on the Trinity Trail.

Brittney has over 6 years of experience helping some of our most vulnerable populations find transportation to increase their health and their ability to stay in their own homes. She has a passion for helping people and finding new ways to solve problems.

She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2008 but has been living in the DFW area for over 10 years.

Brittney has given national presentations concerning transportation for seniors and people with disabilities and has won a National Innovation award for a pilot program she created and launched.

Samantha Juarez is a high-energy and success-driven individual with a broad toolkit of business development and sales management skills. Over her 16+ year career, Samantha has developed a strong reputation for the ability to consistently drive progressive and profitable change and results.

As Regional Account Manager at SendaRide, Samantha will play a series of key roles in setting company strategies to drive new sales, managing relationships with key clients and growing the company’s core lines of business. Prior to joining SendaRide, Samantha worked in sales and marketing management roles for Retirement Center Management, Holiday Retirement, TGM Associates and Fidelity Management.

Most notable were her years with Fidelity Management, where Samantha was a key player in positioning the community she managed to save over $80,000 her first year, while changing the demographics and increasing overall resident satisfaction and occupancy.

As a top producer throughout her career, Samantha is known in the Senior Living Industry for increasing occupancy in red line communities in less than 90 days. She focuses on team building processes and out-of-the-box ideas to stand out amongst the competitors.

Since 2004, Samantha has volunteered her time and resources to organizations such as The National Alzheimer’s Association, several charitable organizations that help the homeless, and Domestic Violence Survivors .

As the Customer Account Manager, Meagan works directly with our current and future customers, serving as their primary point of contact and liaison to SendaRide. Meagan’s strengths encompass relationship management, as well as being proactive and solution oriented. She graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2013 with degrees in both Marketing and Management and a minor international business.

Meagan comes from a strong background in technology sales, marketing event management and account management.

Meagan believes that the foundation of every great partnership is built on collaboration and the development of strong relationships.  She’s excited to meet and work with our customers to further our business connections. Meagan is both client-focused and solution oriented which will help her excel in this role.

Arun has more than 20 years of experience in business development, sales and marketing. He works closely with several startups and companies in capacities including product design, strategy and business development. A serial entrepreneur, he co-founded Trellisys.net, a software consultancy with deep expertise in technology solutions for the healthcare, mobility and ecommerce space. He was also part of the founding team of ZoomIn, India’s largest online photo printing company.

In 2013, he co-founded Papertrell, a leading digital publishing platform. At SendaRide, Arun is primarily focused on scaling the sales and marketing efforts through automation and a globally distributed team of sales professionals and account executives.

Jeff has more than 20 years of experience building and executing highly functional teams in the tech industry with an emphasis on new business development, sales & marketing, and professional services.  He is driven to create employee-focused cultures that attract and retain the best talent available.

Jeff joined SendaRide in 2020 as the Vice President of Operations with his top priority of building the sales organization and the continued growth of the company.

As President of Solutions2Projects, LLC, Terri has over twenty years of experience working in and with biotech, medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies on IT strategies, IT systems, and IT compliance and is an IT expert witness. As Managing Partner of Class Bravo Venture, she invests in startups that expand the power and influence of women with a broader investment thesis investing in startups that improve people’s lives. As an advisor, Terri regularly provides strategic guidance to women and underrepresented founder-led startups around the world and across industries.

Terri is a Springboard advisor, former Vice President and Board Member of Sand Hill Angels, former EIR with Tech Futures Group, and former advisor with Women’s Startup Lab. Terri received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from California State University, East Bay. She is a commercially rated helicopter pilot.

As President of Solutions2Projects, LLC, Terri has over twenty years of experience working in and with biotech, medical device, diagnostic, and digital health companies on IT strategies, IT systems, and IT compliance and is an IT expert witness.  As Managing Partner of Class Bravo Venture, she invests in startups that expand the power and influence of women with a broader investment thesis investing in startups that improve people’s lives.  As an advisor, Terri regularly provides strategic guidance to women and underrepresented founder-led startups around the world and across industries.

Terri is a Springboard advisor, former Vice President and Board Member of Sand Hill Angels, former EIR with Tech Futures Group, and former advisor with Women’s Startup Lab. Terri received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from California State University, East Bay. She is a commercially rated helicopter pilot.

Faith has over two decades of Training and Recruiting experience, with a focus in the industries of transportation and health care. She is passionate about teaching others and helping them to reach their full potential. She has successfully facilitated Leadership Training in multiple professional environments, helping management teams to build morale and coach employees to not just meet but exceed their goals. She accomplishes this by teaching leaders to determine the core behaviors that drive data and coach accordingly.

Faith’s experience has given her a very real and in-depth perspective into exactly the type of compassion, care and professionalism that SendaRide provides to all riders and has allowed her to hand pick the best drivers to join the SendaRide team as Care Partners.

Scott comes to SendaRide after more than thirty years’ experience in healthcare, employee benefits, sales strategies and expansion in both Oklahoma and Texas markets.  A proven sales leader who has achieved top sales awards throughout his career, he is responsible for the growth of SendaRide’s expansion into the North Texas marketplace.

Chris was on the founding team of pioneering Internet companies such as United Online Services (Nasdaq: UNTD) and Merrill Lynch’s Intelligent Technologies Group. He has founded, advised, or invested in dozens of startups, including Ustream and PBworks. Chris is a much-quoted thought leader in the field of marketing and entrepreneurship; his research and publications have been incorporated into the Harvard Business School curriculum. Chris holds two degrees from Stanford University, and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was named a Baker Scholar (High Distinction).

As CEO of Apex Dental Partners, David is responsible for the strategic leadership. In addition, he leads the company’s new practice affiliation efforts as Apex continues to grow in both new and existing markets. Prior to founding Apex, David was an investment professional at Brazos Private Equity Partners where he was responsible for identifying and executing acquisitions across the healthcare, consumer, industrial and business services industries.

While at Brazos, he served as a board observer for Impact Confections, Ennis-Flint and National Bankruptcy Services. Prior to Brazos, David was an investment professional at J.F. Lehman & Company, where he focused on sourcing and executing investments in the aerospace, defense and maritime industries. David began his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley. David received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from the University of Oklahoma and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Principal, Purple Arch Ventures. Wayne has held positions in both successful startups and thriving tech firms and brings a wealth of operational experience building teams, executing deals, and developing clients. He is committed to the growth of the venture and tech community in Chicago, serves as an advisor to a number of startups, and is a founding board member of Great Lakes Academy Charter School.

Previously, he led the analysis, negotiation, and deal execution for the global content acquisition team at Netflix. Before that, he was VP of Business Development at Silver Chalice Ventures, a digital media startup owned by the Chicago White Sox. Wayne began his career in the US Navy, serving as a Surface Warfare Officer. He holds a BS in industrial engineering from Stanford and an MBA from Kellogg.

As Executive Vice-President of Benefits at Summit Benefits Inc., David has over 30 years’ experience in the Health Insurance industry including, ten years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma. After founding and managing his own Insurance Agency for six years he became a merger partner at Arthur J. Gallagher.

As a consultant, his focus is to bring innovative and cutting-edge solutions to his current and prospective clients regarding health management, plan design and resources that will have a positive impact on their Employee Benefits budget. His team provides critical insight and analytics to the Human Resources department to support meaningful decision-making by the corporate level executives.

Devon has spent his career as a software developer at one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals – a facility that was among the first to be all-digital and create custom software within EHR.  It was there he designed and developed applications for specific clinical workflows, such as diabetes management, anticoagulation checks, patient diagnostic resulting, and many more.  From there he was recruited into a software startup where he led projects to publish a mobile app and designed integrations with multiple industry partners.

Devon has a passion for the healthcare industry and designing technology to improve the patient experience. As the Director of Product and Technology at SendaRide, Devon will continuously work to improve the core product, improve the software development pipeline, and demand operational excellence.  His end goal is to see SendaRide scale nationally and play a major role in breaking open the healthcare industry for the better by improving the patient and provider experience.

Greg is a senior healthcare finance executive with more than 30 years of experience, focused on improving financial operations, new business development, strategic and business plan development and implementing alternative financing arrangements with health plans and physician groups.

He is a recognized leader in Value Based Care having developed the first Clinically Integrated Network in the State of Oklahoma with more than 1,000 physician participants. In addition, he has received recognition in numerous national publications for his work in Consumer Price Transparency as well as the Consumerism movement in Healthcare.  This resulted in Greg serving as a national advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in its efforts to improve patient billing.

Greg joined SendaRide in 2018 and is responsible for client contracting and assisting in the continued growth of the company.