RELATIONAL COORDINATION - Key Persons


A.K. Nandakumar

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Academic Director, Global Programs
  • Academic Director, Global Programs Director, MS in Global Health Policy and Management

Adwoa Asare

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
"No matter the industry-technology, affordable housing, impact investing-I'm always looking for the people trying to get into the game but who are just on the periphery," says Asare. "How can I help them get into the field and launch their impact journey?"

Ahmad Naveed

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Alex Green

Job Titles:
  • Visiting Scholar

Alexandra Piñeros-Shields

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Educational Program Director

Alexandra Rubington

Job Titles:
  • Web Manager

Alexandria Glaize

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Amanda Miller

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director
  • Associate Director of Admissions

Amy AbuShanab

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director for Administration and Engagement

Amy DiMattia

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director
  • Program Coordinator
  • Executive Education Program

Andrew Kolodny

Job Titles:
  • Medical Director

Andrew Swienc

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Financial Operations, Administration, and Budget

Anindita Roy Bannya

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
Anindita Roy Bannya is a PhD student at University of New South Wales. She is an experienced Lead with a demonstrated history of working in HRM. Skilled in Business Planning, Analytical Skills, Microsoft Word, English, and Market Research. Strong professional with a Masters of HRM and Industrial Relations focused in Business Administration and Management from The University of Sydney Business School. Keen interest in research in areas including HRM, workplace behavior, and organizational development. She has co-authored a review of relational approaches to human resource management.

Anita Hill

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Annalisa Valadez

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director

Anne Douglass

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Founding Director, Institution for Early Education Leadership and Innovation, University of Massachusetts Boston
  • Professor
Anne Douglass, PhD, is a professor of early childhood education, director of the graduate certificate program in early education leadership, and founding executive director at the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Douglass's work focuses on the design of programs, systems, and policies that support individual and collective leadership for quality improvement and innovation among early educators who work with children from birth to age five. She is the author of Leading for Change in Early Care and Education: Cultivating Leadership from Within (2017) and co-author of Engaging Young Engineers: Teaching Problem-Solving Skills through STEM (2015). She has been published in a wide range of academic journals, books, and news media, and presents nationally and internationally to academic, policy, and professional audiences. Since 2009, she has been awarded over $23 million in external funds for research and training from foundations and government agencies including the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, the U.S. Department of Education and Department of Health and Human Services, New Profit, United Way, and The Boston Foundation. She received her PhD in social policy from Brandeis University. Anne Douglass, PhD'09 Associate Professor and Executive Director, the Institute for Early Education Leadership and Innovation at the University of Massachusetts Boston "There is no policy investment that offers a bigger return on investment than high-quality early care and education. Children who would otherwise be excluded from this opportunity are able perform alongside their more advantaged peers. The more I saw this firsthand, the more I wanted to address those inequities at a broader scale." Read more about Anne's work.

Anne Valentine

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate

Anupama Sharma

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Ashley Brown

Ashley is an MBA Social Impact student concentrating in Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Management. She received her B.A. in Political Science from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Ashley served as an Education volunteer with the Peace Corps in Kosovo from 2015-2017. During that tenure, she also served as a Peer Support Mentor, a member of the Gender, Advocacy, and Diversity Committee, and worked with the SOS Children's Village as a secondary project. At Heller, Ashley is a Graduate Research Assistant for the EID office. Ashley's goal is to help facilitate the growth and impact of the EID office. Ashley is originally from Long Island, New York.

Ashley Osorio

Job Titles:
  • Conference Coordinator
  • Senior Events Manager

Audrey Shelto

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Barbara Nobles Crawford

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
  • Professor
Barbara Nobles Crawford's newest role is professor of the practice and director of executive and leadership coaching at the University of North Carolina. Her students are current and future leaders who will benefit from her experience in applied leadership and organizational behavior and development.

Benedict Owusu

Job Titles:
  • Strategic Communications
Trained as a Journalist and a Public Relations expert, Benedict Owusu has been working as a Sports Journalist for over 13 years and is also passionate about helping the poor in the community and the general development of society. He has covered major international sporting events including FIFA World Cups and contributed to global networks like the BBC, Aljazeera, etc, and won awards for producing compelling documentaries. He has successfully combined his work as a journalist and a social worker since 2019 when he worked with the National Health Insurance Authority, a pro-poor health system designed by the Ghana government to take care of the health needs of Ghanaians as their Digital Media Manager. Benedict is now pursuing a Master's in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management, while serving as Director of Communications for the Relational Coordination Collaborative.

Bishar Jenkins

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Brenda Anderson

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Director, EMBA Program
  • Executive MBA for Physicians

Bria Price

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board
  • MPP'19, Vice President

Calla Mattox

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager

Carmen Hicks

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Carrie Buck

Job Titles:
  • Fellow

Carsten Hornstrup

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • CEO at Joint Action
  • CEO, Joint Action Analytics
Carsten Hornstrup is CEO at Joint Action, a Scandinavian based consultancy and action research company, specialized in building strategies and advise leaders on building coordinated processes around very complex welfare challenges. He holds a MSc in Political Science and a PhD on building capacity for change. Together with his colleagues in Joint Action, he works with welfare organizations in Scandinavia and the US. He is a member of the Relational Coordination Collaborative Advisory Board. His primary research interest is how leaders at all levels can support stronger and more coordinated welfare services.

Casey Heely

Casey Heely, MHS, RN, BSN, is a Ph.D. in Social Policy student with a concentration in Health Policy. She received a Master of Health Science degree from Clark University with a concentration in Health Equity. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and a minor in English Journalism from Fairfield University. Following her undergraduate studies, she became a Registered Nurse and worked in Pediatric Intensive Care Units until transitioning to work for a telehealth start-up focused on diagnostic testing in the home. Her research interests include the healthcare workforce, health equity, social determinants of health, and evaluating access to primary and preventative care, especially for underserved populations, within the framework of healthcare and health policy in the United States.

Charles Nalyaali

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Cindy Thomas

Job Titles:
  • Research Programs

Colleen Flanagan

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellowship Advisory Board
Colleen Flanagan is a longtime activist for disability rights and justice. As a disabled woman, she brings important lived experience to her position at the Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities as the Outreach & Engagement Specialist, leading community engagement initiatives to make sure Boston's disability community can access all that the City of Boston has to offer. Colleen also manages the Commission's social media and other digital platforms. She is an expert in making digital content accessible to people with disabilities. At the Mayor's Commission for Persons with Disabilities she creates content that tells the story of Boston's disability community and illustrates resources available to the people with disabilities and the general public.

Constance F. Kane

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
In Ghana, a group of 10 women are running powerful educational programs that have collectively served over 55,000 women, children and families. They are all fellows at Empowered to Educate, a new non-governmental organization founded by Constance Fairweather Kane, PhD'85.

Constance M. Horgan

Job Titles:
  • Co - Director
  • Director

Courtney Lombardo

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Development and Alumni Relations.
  • Associate Director of Development and External Relations
  • Development and Alumni Relations
Courtney has worked in the development office at the Heller School since March 2007, under multiple Heller deans, supporting alumni and students in many ways. In her role as associate director, she oversees all department initiatives, in partnership with Heller's Dean and Director of Development, including engagement, stewardship and fundraising strategies for 4,500+ alumni and approximately 150 major donors. She has oversight of the 45+ fellowships offered at the Heller School and is motivated by meeting passionate and dedicated students every year. She works on special events to cultivate and engage with alumni and donors, from small gatherings to major events such as Heller reunions. Courtney partners with many departments to gather and disseminate information to Heller alumni to foster their connection to the Heller School, including establishing a Heller Ambassadors Program. She oversees the annual giving program and conducts detailed reporting and writes acknowledgments for all gifts to the Heller School. In addition to coordinating alumni solicitations, she also oversees the distribution of the Heller Student Enrichment Funds to students so they can further their Heller experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Bentley University.

Dalton Stevens

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Daniel Slater

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Chairman of Primary Care, Atrius Health
Dan Slater, MD, is an experienced Chair of Primary Care at Atrius Health in Boston, with a demonstrated history of achieving results in the healthcare industry. Skilled in Patient-Centered Medical Home Development, Quality Improvement, Healthcare Information Technology (HIT), Electronic Medical Record (EMR), Medical Education, and most importantly, in the delivery of Pediatric Care. Graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Darren McLean

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Principal Advisor, Clinical Teaming, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service
Darren works as a Principal Advisor, Clinical Teaming, at Gold Coast Hospital and Health Services in Australia. In this role, Darren plans and implements a range of hospital-based initiatives to improve the efficiency of care delivery. His work includes applying Relational Coordination to improve how individuals and groups work together to coordinate the provision of clinical care within the hospital that he works. Darren worked as Registered Nurse for over 10 years before turning to health improvement project work 15 years ago. He has a Bachelor of Nursing Science and a Master of Public Health, and is competing a PhD part-time at Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. His PhD thesis examines how contextual factors such as the economy, professions, and gendered work affects the implementation of a Relational Coordination designed to improve patient centred care.

Darren Zinner

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Associate Dean, Academics
  • Director, Undergraduate Program

David F. Squire

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Deborah K. Polivy

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Dianne Qualter

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director, Finance and Operations
  • Director of Administration and Operations

Dolores Acevedo-Garcia

Job Titles:
  • Director

Elad Daniels

Job Titles:
  • Data Analyst

Elena Lewis

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager
  • Director, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity
  • Program Manager, MBA Program Director, Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity
A visionary leader who has been part of the Brandeis community for over 18 years, Elena brings with her extensive expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion; program management; and student retention. She has a demonstrated track record of program innovation, conflict resolution, and building strategic partnerships to promote student success. Prior to her role at Heller, Elena served as the director for the TRIO Student Support Services Program in Academic Services, funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and institutional funds at Brandeis University. Elena also served as an inaugural ombuds in the Brandeis Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from 2016-2021 in response to student demands in Ford Hall 2015. She has extensive experience in conflict resolution, having received training from the International Ombuds Association. She has served on the Student Learning and Living Task Force and co-chaired the Academic Advising Working Group in the office of the Provost. Elena earned her master's degree in sociology at Brandeis, where she conducted research on the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She has traveled across the country researching systemic inequity, racism, and racial reconciliation. She has presented at national conferences on the first-generation college student experience, including at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education (NCORE). She is active in New England faith-based nonprofit organizations mentoring and training students on their personal growth and spiritual formation. Elena has received DEI certification training from the Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Elinam Ladzekpo

Job Titles:
  • Membership Director and Event Support
Elinam Ladzekpo is a current Social Impact MBA and Sustainable International Development master's student, combining a passion for business with a commitment to sustainable global development. With a background in conflict resolution, strategic planning, and extensive experience in research and project management, Elinam brings a unique skill set to drive positive change. From mediating conflicts as a Vice President of an HOA to leading qualitative processes as an Associate Consultant, Elinam has honed expertise in program coordination and data analysis. Committed to fostering equity, Elinam has actively contributed to organizational surveys and advocated for inclusive language. With a solid foundation in organizational and supervisory skills, Elinam is dedicated to making a meaningful impact in the realms of social impact and sustainable development.

Ellen Driscoll

Job Titles:
  • Admissions Counselor

Evie Sessions

Job Titles:
  • Program Administrator and Practicum Advisor, Global Programs

Farhat Jilalbhoy

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Frank Li

Job Titles:
  • Data Analyst

Freada Kapor Klein

She founded Klein Associates, a consulting firm specializing in reducing bias, harassment and discrimination in work environments. She then became a partner at Kapor Capital, a venture-capital firm that invests in startups that generate positive social impact. She also founded the Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI) in Oakland, a nonprofit organization focused on closing the gap of access and opportunity for people of color in STEM. In May 2016, she co-founded Project Include, a nonprofit organization whose tagline is "to give everyone a fair chance to succeed in tech."

G. Lawrence Atkins

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Gail Hall

Job Titles:
  • Senior Department Coordinator

Gail Strickler

Job Titles:
  • Deputy Director

Gayle Fraser

Job Titles:
  • Senior Grant Administrator - Post Award Grant Administration

Gerben DeJong

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Grace Lee

Job Titles:
  • Senior Program Administrator

Hannah Locke

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Director of Admissions
  • Senior Associate

Hannah Watson

Job Titles:
  • Master of Public Policy'24

Heather Watkins

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellowship Advisory Board
Heather Watkins is a disability activist, author, blogger, mother, graduate of Emerson College with a B.S. in Mass Communications. Born with Muscular Dystrophy, loves reading, daydreaming, chocolate, and serves on a handful of disability-related boards and projects including Disability Policy Consortium, advisory boards National Research Center for Parents with Disabilities, Open Door Arts. Heather is also a former chairperson of the Boston Disability Commission Advisory Board. Her publishing experience includes articles in MDA's Quest magazine, Mass Rehab Commission's Consumer Voice newsletter and has blogged for sites like: Our Ability, Art of Living Guide, Disabled Parenting, Grubstreet, Rooted In Rights, Women's Media Center, Medium, and Thank God I. Heather's short story, "Thank God I have Muscular Dystrophy," published in 2013 as part of compilation in the Thank God I…Am an Empowered Woman® book series. Her blog Slow Walkers See More includes reflections and insight from her life with disability.

Henry Claypool

Job Titles:
  • Visiting Scientist

Hussaini Zandam

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Ilhom Akobirshoev

Job Titles:
  • Director of Research

Ina Sebastian

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Research Scientist at the Center for Information Systems Research
  • Research Scientist, Center for Information Systems Research, MIT Sloan School of Management
Ina Sebastian is a Research Scientist at the Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Her work centers on how companies unlock innovation and value through partnering in digital ecosystems. Ina has a particular interest in how digital leaders effectively coordinate ecosystem collaboration to solve complex challenges, such as affordable healthcare and climate change. Before joining MIT CISR in 2014, Ina completed a Ph.D. in International Management with a focus on Information Systems at the University of Hawaii, where she studied the role of digital technologies for coordination in multi-disciplinary healthcare teams.

Ingrid M. Nembhard

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Fishman Family President 's Distinguished Professor, the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Ingrid M. Nembhard, Ph.D., M.S., is the Fishman Family President's Distinguished Professor, Professor of Health Care Management, and Professor of Management (Organizational Behavior) at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on how characteristics of health care organizations, their leaders, and staff contribute to their ability to implement new practices, engage in continuous organizational learning, and ultimately improve quality of care. She uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to examine health care delivery from provider and patient perspectives, and to evaluate organizational performance. Her research has provided and continues to provide insights about how health care leaders manage change, the role of psychological safety in organizations, teamwork within and across organizations, strategies for improving patient experience, and organizational efforts to learn new clinical and operational practices. Prior to joining the faculty at the The Wharton School, she was the Ira V. Hiscock Tenured Associate Professor at Yale School of Public Health, Associate Professor at Yale School of Management, and Associate Director of the Health Care Management Program at Yale. Dr. Nembhard received her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management, with a concentration in Organizational Behavior from Harvard University through a joint program between Harvard Business School and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She received her M.S. in Health Policy and Management from Harvard University School of Public Health, and her B.A. in Ethics, Politics and Economics and in Psychology from Yale University.

Isaac Cudjoe

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
  • COEX'18, President
Cudjoe credits the COEX program in particular for opening his eyes to the perspectives of people who grew up in conflict regions. "It wakes you up. You learn not to take your life for granted," he says. "You realize that there are people who are more experienced, better pooised, and smarter who should be leading decision-making about how we resolve conflict. When I left Heller, I realized it's such a unique place." When Isaac Cudjoe, MA COEX'18, graduated from Heller, he always had the feeling he'd be back. He's now the Alumni Association Board president, and he continues his work inspiring young people around the world to be active in their communities and manifest change.

Jacqueline Daniels Braunthal

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Jamie Cowles

Job Titles:
  • Senior Grants Administrator

Janelle Mills

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Jarnail Singh

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Jasmine Waddell

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean, Career Development
  • Interim Assistant Dean, Career Development
Jasmine has been working in career development in higher education and nonprofits for her entire career. Jasmine served as the inaugural Senior Officer for Research and Learning in the U.S. Regional Office of Oxfam America. She has held faculty positions at the Heller School at Brandeis, the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Prior to returning to Heller to join the Career Development Center, Jasmine spent eight years at Harvard supporting students and faculty with career management including supervising the New England Higher Education Consortium (NE HERC). She is a private career coach and active member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. Dr. Waddell is passionate about equipping Heller School students with the tools and strategies to successfully navigate the world of work. Jasmine holds a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Oxford where she was a U.S. Rhodes Scholar. She earned an AB with honors in Political Science from Brown University. Jasmine has extensive Board experience including serving as a Trustee Emerita of the Brown University Corporation and Ex Officio Member of the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women Advisory Board.

Jeanette C. Takamura

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Jennifer Lee-Rambharose

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Jennifer Perloff

Job Titles:
  • Director

Jessica Hoyle

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Jessica Pacheco-Estevez

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Jill Maley

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director
  • Associate Director of Admissions
  • Senior Assistant Director, Admissions

Jilliana Rodriguez

Job Titles:
  • Administrator

Joanne Beswick

Job Titles:
  • Executive Administrator and Assistant to the Dean

Joanne Nicholson

Job Titles:
  • Professor of the Practice
Expertise: Parenting and mental illness, psychiatric rehabilitation; web-based interventions

Jody Hoffer Gittell

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Professor of Management at Brandeis University 's Heller School
Jody Hoffer Gittell is a Professor of Management at Brandeis University's Heller School, Faculty Director of the Relational Coordination Collaborative, and Co-Founder and Board Member of Relational Coordination Analytics. Gittell developed Relational Coordination Theory, proposing that highly interdependent work is most effectively coordinated through networks of shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect, supported by frequent, timely, accurate, problem-solving communication. The Relational Model of Change shows how structural, relational and work process interventions can strengthen those networks. Gittell has published dozens of scientific articles and multiple books including The Southwest Airlines Way; High Performance Healthcare; Sociology of Organizations; Transforming Relationships for High Performance; and Relational Analytics: Guidelines for Analysis and Action, and she helps organizations with performance improvement.

Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Educational Program Director
  • Director, MBA Program
  • Professor and Director, MBA Program

John Paul Stephens - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Board
John Paul (J.P.) Stephens, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, John Paul completed degrees in Psychology at Morgan State University (B.S.) and in Organizational Psychology (M.S. and Ph.D.) at the University of Michigan. J.P. studies work relationships and coordination in groups, focusing on how what individuals and teams perceive about their behaviors shapes complex interdependent work. This research has centered on the felt dynamics - emotions and aesthetic experience - that comprise individuals' experience of relating with others in their work relationships and teams. His research has found that these felt dynamics interplay with cognitive (e.g. attention) and behavioral processes (e.g. contributing actions or information) to enable group coordination, performance, and resilience. His current research, funded by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, focuses on the development of high-quality relationships, teamwork and coordination on large construction sites.

Jonas Hedegaard

Job Titles:
  • Consultant
  • Member of the Board
  • Organizational Consultant, Team Working Life
Jonas Hedegaard is an organisational consultant (with a focus on psycho-social work environment, management, change, coaching, organisation, and collaboration). He is an industrial researcher (in the management and organisation of value-based organisations and the paradoxes they face). He gives talks (in topics such as organisational paradoxes, leadership in contradictions, informal leadership, value-based leadership, and volunteer management). He is also a volunteer (in associations, boards, committees, and advisory boards). He works as an organisational consultant at TeamArbejdsliv (where they work quite a lot with relational coordination), while also completing his Industrial PhD with Roskilde Festival, working as an independent consultant, giving talks, and doing volunteer work. His interests are within work environment, leadership, management, governance and strategy, civil society and volunteering, and organisational paradoxes.

Jonathan D. Katz

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Joseph Assan

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Director, MA in Sustainable International Development

Joseph Caldwell

Job Titles:
  • Senior Scientist

Jules Bernstein

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
Meantime, the long-serving worker and union-side labor lawyer has capped off a lifetime of altruism by making, with his wife and law partner Lindsa Lipsett, a substantial bequest to Brandeis to endow the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice. Bernstein established the fund at the university in 2006, and now serves as chair of its advisory committee, alongside Walt Mossberg '69; Nancy Shapiro '69; Shaina (Gilbert) Jean-Pierre '10; Sahar Massachi '11; Ajai Scott '15, MBA/MASID'19; and Elena Lewis, GSAS MA'11.

Karen Wolk Feinstein

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Kartik Trivedi

Job Titles:
  • Operations
Kartik Trivedi, MPA, is a policy researcher and PhD candidate at the Heller School of Social Policy & Management at Brandeis University. Trivedi's work focuses on algorithmic fairness and inclusion of people with disabilities. Broadly, he is interested in understanding the role algorithms and humans play in building fairer institutions. He presented his research about the human-algorithm relationship at the Academy of Management 2023, and has received an award from the Society of Human Resource Management for his work.

Kathryn McDonald

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Patient - Safety Expert
Patient-safety expert Kathryn McDonald explores what makes for safe, affordable, and high-quality health care delivery systems and the factors that prevent health organizations from achieving that standard of care. Her research relies on close partnerships with frontline teams, including patients and families. As the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Health Systems, Quality and Safety, Dr. McDonald holds primary appointments in the Schools of Medicine and Nursing and joint appointments in the Carey Business School and Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. McDonald also has affiliations with the Malone Center for Engineering in Healthcare, the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, and Hopkins Business of Health Initiative. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. McDonald was founding executive director of the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research at Stanford University's School of Medicine and executive director of Stanford's Center for Health Policy. She received her PhD from University of California, Berkeley.

Kathy Cook

Job Titles:
  • Executive Administrator

Kerry Harris

Job Titles:
  • Program Administrator

Kimberly The

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate

Kristen Faughnan

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Lanni Isenberg

Job Titles:
  • Senior Program Administrator

Laura Alpert

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Lauren Hajjar

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Assistant Professor in Suffolk University 's Institute for Public Service
  • Assistant Professor, Suffolk University
Lauren Hajjar is Assistant Professor in Suffolk University's Institute for Public Service. She specializes in organizational change and relational practices that support high performing teams, organizations and communities. Her research has explored the coordination of inter and intra-organizational work in multiple contexts across the United States and in collaboration with colleagues from around the globe. Her recent research themes include organizational development and change, coordination, relational practices and policy implementation. Dr. Hajjar is skilled in quantitative and qualitative analysis and uses diverse methodologies to answer research questions, including ethnographic methods such as interviews, focus groups, participant observation and field-based surveys. She has presented her research in papers and symposia at the Annual Meetings of Labor and Employment Relations Association, Academy of Management and other international forums. Previously, Hajjar was the Director of Research at the Relational Coordination Collaborative at Brandeis University, a Research Fellow at the Moakley Center for Public Management and Lecturer at Suffolk University. Prior to her academic roles, Dr. Hajjar spent a decade providing services to adults with disabilities and co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders in the nonprofit sector.

Lauren Smith

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Research Operations

Laurence R. Simon

Job Titles:
  • Director

Laurie Bertram Roberts

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellowship Advisory Board

Leslie Ziarko Valera

Job Titles:
  • Department Coordinator

Linda Lee

Job Titles:
  • Department Coordinator

Lisa Lynch

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Educational Program Director
  • Director, PhD Program

LuanJiao Hu

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Luca Swinford

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate

Lynn Davis

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Dean of Admissions

Lyudmila Bagnyuk

Job Titles:
  • Manager - Pre Award Grant Administration
  • Senior Grants Administrator

M. Bryna Sanger

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
From conducting urban policy research and teaching students at The New School, a private research university where she's spent the bulk of her career, to advocating for social services and proposing policies as board chair of United Neighborhood Houses (UNH), Sanger's impact has been felt throughout New York City.

M. Ihsan

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Maria Madison

Job Titles:
  • Interim Dean

Marji Erickson Warfield

Job Titles:
  • Lecturer
  • Senior Scientist

Mark Davis

Job Titles:
  • Data Analyst II

Mark Kiredjian

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director, Academic Affairs and Innovation

Mary Jo Larson


Mary Poor

Job Titles:
  • Deputy Director, Global Programs

Megan Casey

Megan Casey, MA COEX'18 Communications and Operations Manager, Mediators Beyond Borders International She's dedicated her career to creating dialogues, especially in communities or countries where there are limits on conversation about taboo or difficult topics. As an interpreter for the U.S. Army in her home country of Iraq, "I got to see how language and communication can make a difference," she says. She's worked with Places of Pilgrimage, which helps women from the Middle East and North Africa discuss topics like rape, leaving religion and women's independence through intensive writing and theater workshops. Now, she's developing monologues and scenes that came out of the workshop that reflect her own experiences as a queer, Iraqi woman. Read more about Megan's work.

Mel Ptacek

Job Titles:
  • Communications Coordinator

Melissa Brown

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate
Expertise: Participant/consumer-directed Medicaid waiver programs, community-based evaluation, behavioral health issues for individuals with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ populations across the lifespan, anti-oppressive research and pedagogy

Melissa MacKay

Job Titles:
  • Department Coordinator

Michael Appell

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director
  • Senior Lecturer and Assistant Director, MBA Program

Michael Doonan

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Executive Director

Michael McKee

Job Titles:
  • Visiting Scientist

Michael S. Jellinek

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Miriam Heyman

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate

Monica Jordan

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director

Monika Mitra

Job Titles:
  • Director

Nancy Leonard

Job Titles:
  • Program Manager

Nicole Lomerson

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate II

Nicole Rodriguez

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
  • MPP'14, Immediate past President

Olawale Olaleye

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Post Doctoral Fellow, Brandeis University Human Capital Consultant, Deloitte Consultant, Relational Coordination Analytics
Wale Olaleye is a Pharmacist, a Human Capital Consultant for Deloitte, a Consultant for Relational Coordination Analytics, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. He received a PhD in Social Policy at The Heller School, an MBA with a focus on Health Systems Management from the Charlton College of Business at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and his Pharmacy degree from the University of Ibadan Nigeria. Olaleye studied interprofessional teams at Beth Israel Lahey Medical Center in Boston where he identified workforce diversity as an impediment to effective communication and relationship building between and within teams. His dissertation focused on the use of Relational Coordination principles to uncover professional and social identity-related discrimination on health care teams. He now serves as Co-Principal Investigator on Relating Across Differences - An Improvement Process for Clinical Units, funded by the Josiah Macy Foundation, implementing the results of his research in three U.S. health systems over a three-year period. Prior to joining the Heller School, he worked at Steward Health Care System of Massachusetts and Care New England Corporate of Rhode Island as a Hospital Manager. He has also worked as a Clinical Pharmacist at government-owned hospitals in Abuja, Nigeria. His research interests include team-based care, diversity equity and belonging, opioid policy, performance of healthcare organizations and issues related to the healthcare workforce.

Oluwaseun Ayanniyi

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Pam Joshi

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director

Parisa Kharazi

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board
  • GHPM'13, Vice President

Paula Paris

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Prince Mujumbe Salama

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Rachel Sayko Adams


Rajan Sonik

Job Titles:
  • Associate Research Professor

Ravi Lakshmikanthan

Job Titles:
  • Associate Dean, Global and Strategic Initiatives

Rendelle Bolton

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Co - Investigator, VA Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research
Rendelle Bolton, PhD, is a a co-investigator at VA's Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research. She uses multiple methods to investigate the implementation and coordination of person-centered approaches in healthcare from a multilevel systems perspective. Her goals are to understand how organizational and system contexts inform implementation of culturally transformative healthcare initiatives, influence interdisciplinary coordination for complex conditions such as chronic pain, and contribute to interpersonal dynamics within patient-provider relationships. Dr. Bolton is particularly interested in how relational coordination can inform implementation of complex multicomponent initiatives in healthcare, and be a lens through which to understand patient-centered care coordination for patients with complex needs.

Robert Mechanic

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director

Robyn Powell

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate

Rodrigo Moran

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Roman Terekhin

Roman Terekhin has studied and worked throughout Europe, Asia, and North America, and has been involved with institutions such as Singapore Management University and Harvard Business School. After more than twenty years as a manager, entrepreneur, and researcher in corporate and non-profit sectors, Roman launched his career in academia, focusing his research on peer growth groups, and peer coaching groups (PCG) for business leaders, in particular. As a researcher, Roman aims to maximize the value of employees' and business leaders' peer coaching experiences, thus facilitating prosperity both for the organizations and their employees. Roman's recent study, presented at EURAM, ARNOVA, and AoM conferences, included in-depth critical incidents interviews with high-ranking participants of peer coaching groups, entrepreneurs, and employees with the aim to understand the factors that enable PCG to be effective for different goals.

Ryan Suh

Job Titles:
  • Graphic & Data Visualization Designer

Samer Faraj

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Professor at McGill University 's Desautels Faculty of Management
  • Professor, Canada Research Chair in Technology, Innovation & Organizing, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University
Samer Faraj is a professor at McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management, an associate member of the McGill Department of the Social Studies of Medicine, head of the research group on Complex Collaboration and serves as director of the Faculty's PhD program. His current research focuses on complex collaboration in healthcare and on how emergent technologies are transforming coordination and allowing new forms of organizing to emerge. Dr. Faraj has won multiple best published paper awards; most recently the AOM OCIS division 2021, 2018, 2016 Best Paper Award; the AOM Healthcare Management Division 2018 Best Theory to Practice Award; the FNEGE 2018 Prix Académique de la Recherche en Management as well as McGill's 2022 Henry Mintzberg PhD Teaching and Mentorship Award. Institutions such as SSHRC, NSF, IBM, the Fulbright foundation, and the Government of Quebec have funded his research. He is currently a Fellow at the Judge School University of Cambridge and has been a visiting professor at HEC-Paris, VU University, and a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the American University of Beirut.

Sandra Jones

Job Titles:
  • Executive Director, Global Programs
  • Interim Director, MA in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence
  • Interim Director, MA in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence Program Executive Director, Global Programs

Sandy Ho

Job Titles:
  • Research Associate at the Lurie Institute
Sandy Ho, a research associate at the Lurie Institute, received the Equity, Inclusion and Diversity award for her work both on- and off-campus. At Brandeis, she has planned and moderated talks with prominent disability advocates and policymakers, collaborated with the Heller Disability Working Group and worked with Chief Diversity Officer Mark Brimhall-Vargas to address students concerns on campus. She is also the founder of the Disability and Intersectionality Summit, a biennial national conference. Ho shows that "being both a policy researcher and an activist is possible," said one nominator.

Sangeeta Tyagi

Job Titles:
  • Director

Sara Chaganti

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Sara Miller

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Sarah Emond - COO, EVP

Job Titles:
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Executive Vice President
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors
During her impressive 14-year tenure at the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, Sarah has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, leading strategic operations of the organization and working to improve access and affordability to high-value care for all patients.

Sari A. Rapkin

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Sean C. Rush

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Board of Advisors

Shannon Hennig

Job Titles:
  • Program Director, Maternal Mental Health Research Collaborative Visiting Academic Scholar, Institute for Behavioral Health
Expertise: Maternal mental health, patient engagement, social media and mass communication, knowledge translation

Sharon Reif

Job Titles:
  • Deputy Director

Shayna Jones Perry

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Sheilanee Shona

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Sheldon Gelman

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Sheryl Seller

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director

Shirley Girouard

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Stuart H. Altman

Job Titles:
  • Co - Director

Susan Eaton

Job Titles:
  • Director

Susanna Flug-Silva

Job Titles:
  • Director, Eli J. & Phyllis N. Segal Citizen Leadership Program

Sydney Pickern

Job Titles:
  • Senior Research Associate

Tatjana Meschede

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director

Teresa Nguyen

Job Titles:
  • Director, Community Living Equity Center

Terri White

Job Titles:
  • Research Manager
  • Senior Research Associate

Tessa Venell

Job Titles:
  • Program Administrator

Traci Green

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Opioid Policy Research Collaborative

Ty Leisey

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Heller Alumni Association Board

Tynika Booth

Job Titles:
  • Heller 's EID Administrator
Tynika Booth, Heller's EID administrator, received this year's Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Award for her work to create a climate that is supportive and creates a space for collaboration, respect and trust. Several nominators noted her tireless work ethic and her impressive capacity to be integrally involved with so many aspects of EID work at the Heller School. As one nominator put it, "I know no one else who does as much and cares as much about connecting with students, supporting us and making Heller a welcoming community to diverse students."

Vianny Rodriguez

Job Titles:
  • Master of Public Policy
Vianny Rodriguez is an MPP candidate at the Heller School concentrating in Economic and Racial Equity. She is interested in finding ways to build community empowerment, as well as improving civic engagement and social capital in marginalized communities. At Heller, Vianny is a Graduate Research Assistant with the Heller Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, working with team members to create and improve EID programs and initiatives. Before coming to Heller, she served as a Learning Program Coordinator with the U.S. Peace Corps in the Philippines from 2018-2020. During this time, she volunteered at a local integrated school, co-created environmental programs, facilitated multiple leadership camps, served as warden with the Safety and Security team, and served on the EID committee. Vianny graduated with a dual degree in Marketing and Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2017.

Victoria Corpian

Job Titles:
  • Senior Department Coordinator

Victoria Lesser

Job Titles:
  • Research Assistant, Candidate
Expertise: Health education, health care delivery and policy, community engagement

Wale Olaleye

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board
  • Pharmacist
Wale Olaleye is a Pharmacist, a Human Capital Consultant for Deloitte, a Consultant for Relational Coordination Analytics, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. He received a PhD in Social Policy at The Heller School, an MBA with a focus on Health Systems Management from the Charlton College of Business at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and his Pharmacy degree from the University of Ibadan Nigeria. Olaleye studied interprofessional teams at Beth Israel Lahey Medical Center in Boston where he identified workforce diversity as an impediment to effective communication and relationship building between and within teams. His dissertation focused on the use of Relational Coordination principles to uncover professional and social identity-related discrimination on health care teams. He now serves as Co-Principal Investigator on Relating Across Differences - An Improvement Process for Clinical Units, funded by the Josiah Macy Foundation, implementing the results of his research in three U.S. health systems over a three-year period. Prior to joining the Heller School, he worked at Steward Health Care System of Massachusetts and Care New England Corporate of Rhode Island as a Hospital Manager. He has also worked as a Clinical Pharmacist at government-owned hospitals in Abuja, Nigeria. His research interests include team-based care, diversity equity and belonging, opioid policy, performance of healthcare organizations and issues related to the healthcare workforce.

Wanda Rifkin

Job Titles:
  • Department Administrator

Weiwen Zeng

Job Titles:
  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Welby González

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Director, Academic Affairs and Student Experience

Wendy Peverill-Conti

Job Titles:
  • Senior Department Coordinator

Yaara Zisman-Ilani

Job Titles:
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Public Health, Temple University