COGNOSANTE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Chief Performance Officer
- General Manager
- Senior Vice President
- General Manager, CognoConnected
Anita Griner serves as the Senior Vice President and General Manager for Cognosante's customer experience (CX) business sector, CognoConnected. She is responsible ensuring quality delivery, financial health, and operational excellence across all CongoConnected's state, Federal and commercial programs.
Previously as the Chief Performance Officer at Cognosante, Anita ensured the company's emphasis on excellence through effective project management. She also maintained a quality-centric culture focused on continuous improvement. Anita created and oversaw the Cognosante Performance Center, a centralized unit for project and quality management dedicated to improving and maintaining performance objectives across the company. The center maintains and matures the company's elite quality and service delivery industry certifications and appraisals, including ISO 9001:2008 and CMMI maturity level 3 for both development and services.
Before joining Cognosante, Anita supervised large-scale information technology (IT) and healthcare programs for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). In her last 10 years there, she oversaw national programs for the Center for Program Integrity, including the Affordable Care Act Open Payments (Physician Payments Sunshine Act) and Healthcare Fraud Prevention Partnership programs. Anita also implemented the project management office for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation and managed numerous Medicare Modernization Act and Medicare Part D IT systems development programs for the Office of Information Services.
Anita received her Master of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business and her Bachelor of Arts in Organizational/Personnel Psychology from University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
As President, Eliot leads Cognosante's business across the health, defense, and civilian business sectors, spearheading overall program direction and strategic growth in those domains. Eliot is a seasoned executive with twenty years of experience in business development and corporate and financial strategy.
Prior to joining Cognosante in 2021, Eliot served in several executive leadership roles at Booz Allen Hamilton. As Vice President, he led the business development for the multi-billion-dollar Civilian Services Group. Throughout his career, Eliot has specialized in business development and corporate and financial strategy, implementing numerous initiatives to maximize strategic investment decisions, promote data-driven decision-making, and facilitate efficient and high-quality performance. His expertise spans across all markets in the public sector.
Eliot began his career at SRA International. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.
As Chief Technology Officer, Erick Peters is responsible for ensuring that Cognosante's technology strategy, innovation, partnerships, and solution development deliver purposeful benefits for customers by leveraging current and emerging technology trends. Erick supports numerous teams to lead the company's technology evolution with innovative solution development across the service portfolio including Healthcare Interoperability, Cloud Engineering, Cyber, DevSecOps, Data Science, and Enterprise Architecture. He ensures that the solutions we develop for our customers and the role we play in expanding access to critical customer programs are built upon a purposeful, tailored, and evolving foundation of proven and emerging technologies.
A technology-focused professional with extensive executive leadership experience and over 25 years of experience in enterprise solution development, solution architecture, and information technology security, Erick leads the technologies teams to solve our customers' most difficult challenges.
Erick, a Navy Veteran, and a graduate of Nuclear Power School, received a Bachelor of Nuclear Engineering Technology and a Master of Business Administration in Management Information Systems from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Job Titles:
- Chief Administration Officer
As Cognosante's Chief Administration Officer, Jennifer Bailey oversees the company's strategic corporate functions, including Human Resources, Marketing Communications, Information Security, Facilities, and Quality and Performance. With more than 20 years of experience, Jennifer leverages her expertise in managing the unique opportunities and challenges associated with a rapidly growing, fast-paced environment to establish the right business strategies critical to Cognosante's success. She also spearheads Cognosante's company-wide culture and belonging initiatives, including corporate social responsibility, employee engagement and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), which resulted in Cognosante's third consecutive Great Place to Work™ certification in 2022.
Prior to joining Cognosante in 2018, Jennifer served as Vice President of Human Resources for Perspecta, a $1.2 billion organization with approximately 4,000 employees, where she was responsible for the overall design and execution of HR strategies. During this time, she increased Perspecta's corporate retention rate from 82 percent to 89 percent in just one year. Prior to Perspecta, Jennifer spent 13 years at Vangent, Inc., which was later acquired by General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT). As Vice President of HR for the Health and Civilian Solutions Division, she served as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders and drove the implementation of workforce strategies. There, she led the HR team in hiring and onboarding 15,000 employees in five months across 15 geographically dispersed locations.
Jennifer has spent most of her career in the government contracting industry, serving civilian, defense, intelligence, and healthcare segments. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communication from George Mason University. She is also an active member of the Human Resources Executives Council, the Society for Human Resource Management, and the Washington Executive Councils on Human Resources and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She was named one of Washington Executive's Top DE&I Executives to Watch in 2022.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Founder
- Investor
Michele Kang is an American businesswoman, investor, and philanthropist. Born and raised in South Korea, Kang came to the United States as a student to pursue her advanced education. She has spent her career building businesses that challenge the status quo-and leveraging her own successes, she has focused on helping others reach their own potential.
Kang is the founder and CEO of Cognosante. A visionary in the field of health information technology, she originally founded Cognosante to disrupt the U.S. healthcare system. Under Kang's leadership, Cognosante has grown rapidly, expanded markets, and emerged as a trusted provider of innovative technology solutions across the federal government, serving key health, military, and intelligence agencies as well as state health programs.
In 2022, Kang became the first woman of color to own a National Women's Soccer League team: the 2021 League champions, the Washington Spirit. Kang has become a leading global advocate to create a level playing field between men and women in soccer, starting with equal pay-and she was selected as one of Sports Business Journal's 2022 Power Players in Women's Sports and was named to Sports Illustrated Power List 2023: 50 Most Influential Figures in Sports.
In May 2023, Kang signed an agreement with the OL Groupe to create the first-of-its-kind global multi-team women's soccer organization. She became the majority owner and CEO of the newly formed company, making it the first ever women-owned, women-led multi-soccer organization. In December 2023, Kang further expanded her impact acquiring the London City Lionesses, the only fully independent women's only football Club among England's top two professional women's leagues. A leader in advancing women's sports around the globe, Kang received the 2023 Sports Business Journal Deal of the Year Award for her acquisition of the Washington Spirit in 2022.
Kang is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion-and she is focused on expanding opportunity to all by providing meaningful careers to those who are too often excluded from corporate America. Cognosante offers various internship and scholarship programs designed exclusively for HBCU students, first-generation college students, women in STEM and Americans with disabilities. As a result of the inclusive culture Kang has built, Cognosante is a four-time Great Place to Work-Certified Company.
In gratitude for the U.S. soldiers who helped defend her home country during the Korean War, Kang stands with American Veterans. She has been a proud supporter of the National Museum of the Marine Corps and The Chosin Few, which is a member organization of Veterans, spouses, and lineal descendants of one of the bloodiest battles of the Korean War, the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. She also supports organizations that aim to eradicate homelessness among women Veterans and find employment for wounded Veterans and their caretakers.
As a long-time, art-loving philanthropist, she currently serves as a Trustee on the boards of the Washington National Opera and the Norton Museum of Art. She has also served on the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts and the Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra.
Kang has been recognized for her philanthropic work and trailblazing entrepreneurship with numerous awards. She is the recipient of the 2023 Horatio Alger Award. In 2022, Junior Achievement of Greater Washington inducted her as a Hall of Fame Laureate. She received the EY Entrepreneur of The Year® for the Washington, DC region and the U.S. Award for Services. Along with U.S. senators, high ranking government officials, and top executives of Fortune 500 companies, Kang was named an inaugural member of 100 Women Leaders in STEM in 2012 and one of the Top 100 CEO Leaders in STEM in 2016.
Kang earned a bachelor's degree in economics from The University of Chicago and a master's degree in public and private management from the Yale School of Management.
Job Titles:
- General Manager, Civilian and Defense
As General Manager of Cognosante's Civilian and Defense Business Unit, Mike Keefe is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of a portfolio that includes clients across the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and other non-health civilian agencies. In this capacity, he oversees all aspects of program delivery, including the development of diverse and high-functioning teams.
Mike's expertise spans multiple domains, including research, consulting, modeling, digital solution development, program/project management, market development/growth, and strategic pricing. Prior to joining Cognosante, he was a Principal at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he was responsible for program delivery within Defense and Civilian organizations. Mike is an expert in developing solutions that blend mission-based and technical expertise to drive resiliency and maximize operational outcomes.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Radford University.
Job Titles:
- General Manager, Military and Veteran Health
As General Manager of Cognosante's Military and Veteran Health business unit, Philip leads the strategy development, division growth, client engagement, and program execution to ensure the successful delivery of all programs. He and his team work closely with leaders from both the Department of Veterans Affairs and the medical components of the Department of Defense to assist in solving their toughest challenges and driving innovative solutions. Philip is passionate about supporting the mission of our clients and improving the quality of healthcare delivery for active-duty service members and Veterans.
Philip has extensive experience driving large scale transformation across Federal health and Department of Defense organizations, with deep expertise in project management, strategic planning, advanced analytics, process improvement, and change management. Prior to joining Cognosante, Philip was a Principal in Booz Allen Hamilton's Federal Health Practice.
Philip holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Virginia's School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a Master of Business Administration from the College of William & Mary Mason School of Business. He also holds professional certifications in Business Analytics, Project Management, Design Thinking, and Lean Six Sigma.
Spiro Fotopoulos is Cognosante's General Counsel leading the company's legal department. Spiro oversees the legal, ethics, and risk management activities of the company. Spiro is an established business leader with extensive legal experience in a broad spectrum of areas, including corporate law, government contracting, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), labor & employment, and general legal compliance.
Spiro has more than 25 years of legal experience, serving in both private and in-house practice. Before joining Cognosante, Spiro served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at CACI International for more than seven years. He previously held the position of Vice President and Director of Legal Affairs at PRA International, a global clinical research organization. He was also Vice President and Associate General Counsel at PSINet, Inc., an international internet service provider. Prior to going in-house, Spiro was an associate at McGuireWoods LLP where he was a member of the firm's Labor and Employment group. Before joining McGuireWoods, Spiro served as a law clerk for the Honorable N. Carlton Tilley, Jr., U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Spiro received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia, as well as a Juris Doctor from the Wake Forest University School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Marketing Communications
As Cognosante's VP of Marketing Communications, Stephanie Kinsey oversees the company's strategic communication functions, including enterprise and employer brand management, portfolio marketing, public relations, and internal communications. She supports company-wide culture initiatives like employee engagement and corporate social responsibility.
Before joining Cognosante, Stephanie was head of marketing for Anthem's Federal Government Solutions division. There she oversaw the marketing and internal communications function for a multi-billion dollar federal health solutions business and managed a portfolio of market-facing brands. She successfully expanded the company's marketing efforts and led several division-level and go-to-market branding initiatives. Stephanie also established the division's corporate social responsibility approach, activating over 3,000 employees to raise over a quarter of a million dollars in direct giving and a half-million dollars in volunteering value.
Prior to Cognosante, Stephanie established the marketing function for the health and civilian solutions division of General Dynamics Information Technology. She developed and launched a unified health brand and messaging platform within four months of a major acquisition, establishing the General Dynamics Health brand. Collaborating with enterprise marketing, she also established the company's first large-scale recruitment advertising plans for 14 individual markets, enabling the company to meet hiring targets for a large customer experience program.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Financial and Strategic Business Advisor to Founder and Chief Executive Officer ( CEO
Steve Hamric serves as Cognosante's financial and strategic business advisor to Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Michele Kang, as well as the broader executive team. An operationally-focused CFO and senior finance executive, Steve applies significant financial leadership experience and skills from across a variety of industries to support Cognosante's continued growth as a leader in Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Outsourcing solutions that enable the public sector to better-serve Americans.
Prior to Cognosante, Steve served as the CFO at 1901 Group (a Leidos Company) where he developed and executed the financial growth strategy and led the company through a successful acquisition. His previous roles include a long history of success in the government contracting and managed services spaces including time at TeraThink (now CGI Federal Technology), MA Federal, Inc (iGov), and Athena Technologies, Inc. (now Rockwell Collins). In each of these roles, he led these companies to significant high-growth and national recognition in government services during his tenure.
He holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Virginia Tech, Pamplin College of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from Radford University.