Secretary, Executive Office of Health and Human Services, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Senior Associate Dean for Educational Programs, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Secretary, Executive Office for Administration and Finance, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
CEO and Founder of Siggers-Benton Consulting, LLC, and Chief Advancement Officer, Roxbury Community College
Executive Director
Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer
Chief Financial Officer
General Counsel
Chief Technology Officer
Chief of Staff
Senior Policy Advisor
Chief of Policy
Lauretta Siggers-Benton, MBA, CHRM, is an accomplished executive, entrepreneur, and human resources leader with more than three decades of experience in organizational leadership, human resources, operations, and talent development. She is the CEO and Founder of Siggers-Benton Consulting, LLC, where she advises nonprofit, healthcare, higher education, and mission-driven organizations on human resources strategy, organizational effectiveness, executive coaching, and leadership development. She also serves Roxbury Community College as Executive Advisor to the President and Chief Advancement Office and Executive Director of the RCC Foundation, following her tenure as the College’s Chief Operating Officer.
Throughout her career, Lauretta has held senior leadership roles with Cambridge College and the American Red Cross and has been deeply committed to developing leaders, mentoring and sponsoring women, and strengthening organizations and communities. Her civic and community leadership includes service with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Women’s Advisory Council, Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts Women’s Advisory Council, and Tomorrow’s Women TODAY. She also serves as President of the CSS Memorial Scholarship Fund. Lauretta holds an MBA from Cambridge College, a BS in Business Management from the University of Phoenix, and advanced human resources education from Bentley University. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, spending time with family, and experiencing new places and cultures.
Patrick R. Curtin serves as Chief Financial Officer of the Massachusetts Health Connector, where he oversees the organization’s financial strategy, budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, and related operations. He works closely with the executive leadership team to support responsible stewardship of public resources and advance the Health Connector’s mission of expanding access to affordable health coverage.
Patrick brings more than 15 years of progressive health care leadership experience spanning finance, operations, revenue cycle, and organizational transformation. Throughout his career, he has held senior executive roles across acute care, ambulatory, and community health settings in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. His work has focused on strengthening financial sustainability, improving operational performance, modernizing systems, and building collaborative partnerships among finance, operational, and clinical teams.
Patrick holds a Master of Health Administration from Boston College and a Bachelor of Science in Management from Merrimack College. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and holds the Certified Healthcare Financial Professional and Certified Revenue Cycle Representative credentials from the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He is a Doctor of Health Administration candidate at Franklin University.
Nelson Teixeira is the Chief of Staff at the Health Connector. In this role, he serves as an internal-facing operational and strategic partner to the Executive Director and agency leadership. He leads cross-functional alignment, operational efficiency, and agency affairs, all in service of ensuring that the Health Connector delivers high-performance services and value to its enrollees and the Massachusetts public. Nelson has spent his career in public service, furthering the mission of the Health Connector over 16 years working in various roles within the Health Connector Operations Department prior to his appointment as Chief of Staff.
Dr. Jonathan Gruber is the Ford Professor of Economics and the former Chairman of the Economics Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has taught since 1992. He is also the former Director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and the former President of the American Society of Health Economists and the Eastern Economics Association. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Social Insurance, and the Econometric Society. He has published more than 200 research articles, has edited seven research volumes, and is the author of Public Finance and Public Policy, a leading undergraduate text in its 7th edition, Health Care Reform, a graphic novel, and Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream (with Simon Johnson). In 2006 he received the American Society of Health Economists Inaugural Medal for the best health economist in the nation aged 40 and under.
During the 1997-1998 academic year, Dr. Gruber was on leave as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the Treasury Department. From 2003-2006 he was a key architect of Massachusetts’ ambitious health reform effort, and in 2006 became an inaugural member of the Health Connector Board, the main implementing body for that effort. During 2009-2010 he served as a technical consultant to the Obama Administration and worked with both the Administration and Congress to help craft the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In 2011 he was named “One of the Top 25 Most Innovative and Practical Thinkers of Our Time” by Slate Magazine. In both 2006 and 2012 he was rated as one of the top 100 most powerful people in health care in the United States by Modern Healthcare Magazine. In 2020 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Dr. Kiame Mahaniah is the Secretary of Health and Human Services. As the top health and human services official in Massachusetts and a practicing physician in the field of addiction and primary care, Secretary Mahaniah champions his vision of equity and dignity for all people. He has spent the past two decades shaping and leading health care initiatives in community health settings across Massachusetts. Prior to joining the Healey-Driscoll Administration first as Undersecretary for Health in 2023, he served as the CEO of Lynn Community Health Center where he led the transition away from a traditional fee-for-service payment. An avid teacher and committed mentor, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. He holds an MBA from UMass Amherst, a medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University, and a BA from Haverford College.
David Metraux serves as the Chief Technology Officer at the Massachusetts Health Connector. In this role, he leads the agency’s information technology organization, overseeing strategy, systems, cybersecurity, and operations that support its member-centered mission. His work focuses on modernizing systems, driving innovation, and strengthening reliability and security to improve access and service delivery.
Before joining the Health Connector in 2025, Metraux served as the Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), where he directed Enterprise Applications, Technology Services, Infrastructure, and Information Architecture. He led the development of the MBTA’s enterprise technology strategy and roadmap, modernizing core systems, improving service delivery, and advancing data-driven decision-making across the organization. He previously served as Director of Information Technology for the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, where he led technology strategy and modernization efforts across the agency and the state. Earlier in his career, Metraux worked in the private sector with Carrier Corporation, a subsidiary of United Technologies, as a Senior Business Consultant, focusing on enterprise systems and process improvement across global operations.
Metraux holds a Bachelor of Science in Information Management and Technology from Syracuse University and holds Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Public Manager (CPM) certifications.
Becca is currently Vice President of Homecare at 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East where she has served for close to 20 years, with 25 full years working in the labor movement in various capacities.
As Vice President of Homecare, Becca is responsible for representing almost 60,000 homecare workers, mostly Personal Care Attendants with the MassHealth PCA program, as they fight for better wages and benefits and increased job recognition. She is passionate about the intersection of workers’ rights, disability rights, and immigrants’ rights and is able to bring this work together in her current role. Becca is an organizer at heart and loves to see workers rise up to struggle for what they need and deserve. At 1199SEIU, Becca is honored to support PCAs as they organize politically, in their community, and in their Union to harness power for paid caregivers and for the people they support.
Prior to joining 1199SEIU, Becca worked at other Unions, organized around public health issues and in the disability community.
Becca has also served on the Boston Public Health Commission and the Massachusetts Statewide Independent Living Council.
Becca holds a Bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College and a Master’s in Labor Studies from UMass Amherst.
In her free time, Becca loves to hike, read, resist fascism, and hang out with family and friends.
Karen Tseng serves as Senior Policy Advisor at the Massachusetts Health Connector, where she leads the organization’s Business Improvement Taskforce and partners across the agency to advance health equity. Ms. Tseng has spent the last two decades expanding health care access and affordability for underserved populations and developing cross-sector initiatives to improve health and reduce disparities. Prior roles include serving as the founding Senior Vice President for population health at the country’s fourth largest safety net system, as Acting Undersecretary for Health at the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services, as chief of the Health Care Division at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and as a founding policy director at the Health Policy Commission. Ms. Tseng is an honors graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School and resides in Massachusetts with her spouse and children.
Marissa Woltmann is the Chief of Policy at the Health Connector. In this role, she oversees the agency’s work on policy and research, as well as designing and procuring high-value health and dental plans for sale to individuals and small businesses in Massachusetts. As part of this work, she is passionate about understanding and prioritizing members’ needs and supporting health equity. Prior to taking on this role last spring, Marissa spent fifteen years in a variety of other roles with the Health Connector and before that spent several years working for the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General on oversight of charitable organizations.
Erin Ryan serves as Chief of Staff at the Massachusetts Health Connector, managing special projects and strategic initiatives. She also oversees external relationships with elected and public officials at the local, state, and federal level, assisting with member relations, community outreach, and general education to raise awareness about the resources and benefits available for Massachusetts residents and employers through the Health Connector. Prior to joining the Health Connector, Erin held roles as a legislative aide and legislative director in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate where she managed constituent services, and district legislative and budget priorities. Erin holds a BA from Northeastern University.
Andrew R. Egan has worked with the Health Connector since 2013, and has served as its General Counsel since 2019. In that role he oversees the Health Connector’s legal matters, including implementation of state and federal health reform laws, regulatory compliance across business operations and IT systems, policy advising, contracting, and dispute resolution. Andrew earned his J.D., cum laude, from Boston University School of Law and a BA, summa cum laude, in English/Creative Writing and Philosophy from Binghamton University.
Trish serves as the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at the Health Connector. Prior to joining the Health Connector in December 2022, Trish was the Chief Operating Officer for Eyecare Leaders Group and before that, the Chief Operating Officer for MassHealth for over five years. She has also held senior management positions with Commonwealth Medicine under their contract for the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, at Boston City Hospital/Boston Medical Center, and was recruited to work as part of the team that founded the BMC HealthNet Plan.
Trish earned a BS in Biology from Tufts University, an MPH with a concentration in Health Services from Boston University and an MBA from Babson College.
Audrey Morse Gasteier serves as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, the Commonwealth’s official Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance Marketplace. The Health Connector provides health and dental coverage to approximately 350,000 Massachusetts residents and promotes enrollment in comprehensive health coverage to the Massachusetts public in accordance with its responsibilities under state and federal health reform laws.
Prior to her appointment as Executive Director in March 2023, Gasteier served as the Health Connector’s Deputy Executive Director and Chief of Policy and Strategy, leading strategy and operations, program and health insurance product design, policy research, government affairs, and outreach and communication efforts aimed at engagement with members and the public. Gasteier is also an instructor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to joining the Health Connector in 2012, she served as Director of Health Systems Policy at the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy, where she led health coverage research initiatives and implementation of employer-related elements of state health reform. Gasteier also served as a Policy Analyst at the Association of Community Human Service Agencies in Los Angeles, California. She holds an MS in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a BA from Mount Holyoke College.
Michael T. Caljouw is the Commissioner of Insurance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, appointed by Governor Maura Healey in October of 2024. As Commissioner, he oversees the Massachusetts insurance market, an approximately $70 billion industry that historically ranks near the top ten largest markets in the country and 27th globally.
Commissioner Caljouw is deeply committed to ensuring stable, affordable, and transparent insurance markets and safeguarding consumer interests. He has over three decades of public and private experience. Prior to this role, he directed Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts’ regulatory and policy portfolio, supervising their contracts division and the implementation of laws and regulations. He previously spent a decade in leadership positions in Massachusetts government at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance and the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation and led on emerging regulatory and policy issues, including comprehensive Massachusetts insolvency and cost containment laws. He was senior counsel at a national law firm and Chief of Staff and Legal Counsel to the Massachusetts Senate Minority Leader.
Raised in Boston, Commissioner Caljouw graduated from Boston Latin School, Williams College and Suffolk University Law School, serving on the Law Review and earning his Juris Doctorate cum laude. He has taught at Boston University School of Law and is a frequent lecturer on critical regulatory and policy issues. He chairs the Board of Advisors of the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Policy and is an active mentor to emerging leaders in public policy and insurance regulation. Commissioner Caljouw has received the Better Government Award, Suffolk University Law School’s Outstanding Alumni Service Award and the Arthritis Foundation’s Community Warrior Award.
He and his wife Ann-Margaret reside in Boston with Carly, their amazing goldendoodle.
Matthew Veno is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission (GIC), and he oversees the delivery of insurance benefits to its more than 460,000 members. Matt has more than two decades of experience in insurance and health care in Massachusetts, both in the public and private sectors. Prior to joining the GIC in 2020, Matt served as the First Deputy Commissioner at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance (DOI) where he led key interagency initiatives with a focus on health care and advised the Commissioner on innovation across all lines of insurance. Matt previously managed government relations at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, helping to shape the company’s strategic policy direction and advocating for quality, affordable health insurance before federal and state legislative and regulatory bodies. He also served six years as a City Councilor in Salem, Massachusetts, and spent a decade in early childhood education policy, along with a year of volunteer service in the Bronx, NY as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
Matt holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the College of the Holy Cross, and a Master’s in Business Administration in Health Care Management from Boston University Graduate School of Business (now the Questrom School of Business). He is an avid fisherman and enjoys restoring old 1970s classic cars.
Nancy Turnbull is a senior lecturer in the Department of Health Policy and Management and the Senior Associate Dean for Educational Programs at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research interests include health insurance regulation, health care access, consumer participation in managed care plans, and international applications of managed care.
Before joining the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Nancy worked for almost ten years for the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, where she was First Deputy Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner for Health Policy. She has also served as the president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.
Nancy is on the board of a number of state health policy organizations, including the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum, Commonwealth Care Alliance, and the Massachusetts Health Council.
Dimitry Petion is President and CEO of Mulberry Systems in Quincy, MA. He has a strong background in engineering and business, having previously served as President and CEO of Advanced Management Services and spent four years at Harvard Street Neighborhood in positions including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Interim Chief Executive Officer. As a computer engineer and director of several organizations, he brings practical knowledge of business and industry to the healthcare field. Mr. Petion earned his B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering as well as his M.S. in Computer Science from Boston University.
Robyn is currently a Partner at Boston Benefit Partners, an Alera Group company, an employee benefits consulting firm in Boston, MA.
Robyn is a lifelong learner with a passion for health policy and politics. She has a PhD in Public Affairs and a Master of Public Administration with a Health Policy specialization from Northeastern University. She uses this education and training to the benefit of all BBP clients and previously to students at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), where she served as an adjunct faculty member. She taught Health Policy for many years and has served as thesis advisor for students. Robyn has co-authored a book chapter and journal articles with colleagues and students at MCPHS.
Prior to joining BBP in 2009, she worked at Delta Dental of Massachusetts, where she was highlighted in their 2007 annual report as both an “innovator and an implementer who has championed the delivery of breakthrough oral health services to plan members and the community at large.” From 1999-2002, Robyn served as the Assistant Director of Budget for the Group Insurance Commission (GIC), the organization responsible for the procurement and management of the benefit programs for the state’s employees and retirees. At the GIC, she became skilled at policy analysis, budgeting, and the procurement and management of benefit plans and programs.
Robyn is a Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH) and served as the Assistant Dean of the Forsyth School for Dental Hygienist early in her career. She brings her vast knowledge in the oral health arena and her consensus-building skills to her clients at BBP and to the coalitions in which she participates. She serves on the steering committee of the Oral Health Advocacy Task Force (OHAT) and on the board of the Better Oral Health for Massachusetts Coalition (BOHMAC). She also currently serves on the board of the Medicaid/Medicare/CHIP Services Dental Association (MSDA).
In her free time, Robyn escapes to Cape Cod to refuel and enjoy her wonderful extended family and friends.
Eric Gulko brings more than 25 years of experience as a leader in the employee benefits industry. He is the founder and president of Innovo Benefits Group, a benefits brokerage firm and human resources company servicing the small and mid-size employer market. Additionally, Eric is a licensed Massachusetts attorney and a former professor in the Massachusetts state college system — establishing himself as a respected leader and spokesperson for the industry. He has authored articles and has been quoted in several publications, and has actively participated in national and local discussions on healthcare policy and compliance matters — including with the White House, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and other federal and state agencies.
Eric holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Boston College School of Law and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University. He serves on several boards, including the National Association of Benefits & Insurance Professionals – MA, the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, and the Advisory Council for the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.
Matthew Gorzkowicz is the Secretary of the Executive Office for Administration and Finance. He has more than 25 years’ experience in state finance and budgeting in the Commonwealth. He has served as the Associate Vice President for Administration and Finance at the University of Massachusetts President’s Office for more than a decade, where he has had a direct role in setting the University’s long-range administrative and financial goals and managed the development of an annual operating budget of $3.8 billion. Prior to UMass, Secretary Gorzkowicz worked in the Massachusetts Senate, the Department of Mental Health, the School Building Authority, and the Executive Office for Administration and Finance under Governor Deval Patrick, where he served as Assistant Secretary for Budget and then Undersecretary. He is a graduate of Northeastern University and lives in Winthrop, MA with his wife and two children.
Bela Gorman is a health care actuary with over 30 years of experience. Bela has provided consulting services to health insurers, various state insurance and health care policy divisions, and non-profit organizations across the country.
Bela’s experience includes leading studies analyzing the impacts of various health policies on the insured markets, provider payment reform analyses, market studies, and health insurance rate review. Bela has provided her expertise to many of the Massachusetts regulatory agencies and has been employed at the two of the larger insurers in Massachusetts. Bela was most recently a Partner with the Actuarial Practice of Oliver Wyman. Prior to Oliver Wyman, Bela lead her own actuarial firm for 18 years.
Bela volunteers her services on the Health Equity Committee for the American Academy of Actuaries. She is also a Trustee on the Board of Trustees for the Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School and is Treasurer and Board Member of Stearns Farm CSA.
Filaine Deronnette serves as elected Vice President at Large at 1199SEIU and represents over 70,000 healthcare workers across our Commonwealth. She has over 20 years of representational and collective bargaining experience in both the public and private sectors. She currently serves on the Massachusetts Health Connector’s Board as appointed by the Attorney General. As co-chair of the 1199SEIU Massachusetts Racial Justice Committee, she leads the educational and organizational programmatic work for the Massachusetts Division. She currently serves on the leadership team of the Health Equity Compact, a group of Black and Latinx leaders organized to ensure that health equity is a top priority in Massachusetts, building on the heightened awareness and momentum to change racial injustices witnessed in the COVID-19 pandemic. Filaine currently serves as Executive Vice President at the MA AFL-CIO.
Dr. Michael Chernew is the Leonard D. Schaeffer professor of Health Care Policy in the Department of Health Care Policy (HCP) at Harvard Medical School. He currently directs HCP’s Healthcare Markets and Regulations (HMR) Lab. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD in economics from Stanford University.
Dr. Chernew is currently both the co-editor of the American Journal of Managed Care and an editor of the Journal of Health Economics. He is a member of the Congressional Budget Office’s Panel of Health Advisors. In the past, he has served on the editorial boards of Health Services Research, Health Affairs and Medical Care Research and Review, as well as on technical advisory panels for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to evaluate the methods that Medicare actuaries use to assess the financial status of Medicare trust funds. He is also the former Vice Chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). Dr. Chernew’s research, which has been widely published and awarded, focuses on different facets of controlling health care spending growth while ensuring that quality of care is maintained or improved.
Kate Walsh is the Secretary of Health and Human Services. In her nearly 13 years as CEO of the Boston Medical Center health system, Walsh managed the system through multiple COVID-19 surges and recoveries by expanding telehealth capabilities, bolstering regional resource management, establishing a COVID Recuperation Unit, and coordinating with state and local government. She also oversaw a Clinical Campus Redesign project at BMC with the goal of decreasing costs and modernizing facilities. Walsh also established BMC Health System’s Health Equity Accelerator in November of 2021 to transform health care and eliminate gaps in life expectancy and quality of life among different races and ethnicities. Walsh previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Chief Operating Officer for Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, and Senior Vice President of Medical Services and the MGH Cancer Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. She also held positions in a number of New York City hospitals including Montefiore, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, Saint Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.
