RETIREEFIRST - Key Persons
Caitlin has been with RetireeFirst since our inception, and she is a founding member of our Client Service and Retiree Advocacy teams. Caitlin helped design many of the service and support functions that make RetireeFirst's business model so appealing.
As our Senior Vice President of Client Service, Caitlin serves as an extension of each client's benefit team, handling communications between our clients, members, and carriers to help manage all aspects of their retiree medical and pharmacy benefit programs. This includes plan enrollment, implementation, ongoing administration, and billing.
Prior to joining RetireeFirst, Caitlin was a Group Benefit Account Manager at McBee Associates, one of the nation's largest independent consulting firms for the healthcare industry. She worked with hospitals and providers to improve their operational and financial performance. Caitlin has over 20 years of experience in dealing with Medicare, pharmacy benefits, and healthcare insurance. She is licensed in Life and Health Insurance and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management.
Caitlin resides in Southern New Jersey with her husband and 2 children, and she enjoys traveling and going to the beach in her free time.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President of Client Service Operations
As Senior Vice President of Client Service Operations, Christina's focus is to ensure a superior client experience and sustainable operational execution. She is responsible for overseeing the end-to-end client experience, from initial onboarding to cross-carrier installation (including communications, eligibility, and billing) and successful annual renewal of plan benefits. Her Client Service team partners closely with the RetireeFirst Advocate team as an extension of our Labor Union, Public Sector, and Commercial clients to deliver on the promise of exceptional retiree benefit support during retirement years.
Christina brings over 20 years of experience within the healthcare industry, with over 7 years in operational leadership roles within UnitedHealthcare's (UHC) group Medicare Advantage team (spanning sales, shared services, benefit consultation, ancillary product strategy, and implementation). Prior to UHC, she led service and operational teams for third-party administrators in the fields of reference-based claim pricing for self-insured clients, as well as group voluntary benefits and COBRA insurance. Christina is an undergraduate alumnus of Penn State University and received her Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M.
Job Titles:
- Chief Business Officer
- Co - Founder
As Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder of RetireeFirst, Gian is responsible for the development and implementation of our overarching business initiatives. These include identifying new market segments, strategic partnerships, and company-wide organization structure. Gian pioneers measurable strategies that continue to bolster RetireeFirst's position as a leader in the Retiree Healthcare Marketplace.
Gian grew up in a proud, third-generation union household. This upbringing instilled in him the significant value of healthcare benefits in enabling union retirees to enjoy a healthy, happy, and fulfilling retirement. To that end, he plays an instrumental role in ensuring that all RetireeFirst employees are fully engaged in our shared responsibilities of delivering superior solutions and services to our clients, partners, carriers, and retiree members.
Prior to RetireeFirst, Gian began his career working in a Health & Welfare Fund in Philadelphia. He holds multiple board seats and is passionate about helping his community by bringing awareness to diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. He is fully licensed and certified in Life & Health Insurance and attended college at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Gian resides in Southern New Jersey with his wife and 2 children. In addition to serving his community, he enjoys traveling with his family and, while he loves all sports, golf is his passion - when he can find the time for it.
Job Titles:
- Chief Human Resources Officer
- Chief Human Resources Officer ( CHRO )
As Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), Ketan is responsible for architecting and implementing the overall human capital plan designed to support RetireeFirst's growth strategy. In this role, Ketan leads our human resources organization, which includes talent acquisition, training, talent management, succession planning, employee development, organizational effectiveness, diversity and inclusion, total rewards, employee relations, HR Operations, payroll and compliance.
Ketan has significant experience leading teams through organizational design, change, transformation, and growth on a global scale, across multiple industries. Most recently, Ketan was the head of human resources for the US and Canada for Sysco, where he led human resources for the company's largest and most profitable business. Ketan was previously the head of human resources for Aetna Medicaid, a mission-oriented business focused on supporting and improving the lives of Medicaid members. Earlier in his career, Ketan held human resources leadership roles with Unilever, American Express, Starbucks, and Estee Lauder.
Ketan holds a Bachelor's degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and son and enjoys volunteering at his temple, playing tennis, and traveling to different parts of the world.
Job Titles:
- SVP, IT - Privacy & Security Officer
As RetireeFirst's VP of IT and Privacy & Security Officer, Kim oversees the various IT applications in use at RetireeFirst. Kim is a graduate of Colorado College, where she earned her degree in Computer Science. Kim has over 20 years of experience in Information Technology, both in direct hands-on and in management roles. Prior positions held include; Salesforce Consultant, Implementation Consultant and Senior Business Analyst.
Kim's combination of her background and education in Healthcare IT, understanding of HIPAA, and customer service ensure that the Retiree First staff always have the right tools in place to provide exceptional service to our retiree members. Additionally, Kim is the designated Privacy and Security Officer at Retiree First, responsible for maintaining HIPAA compliance.
Job Titles:
- SVP
- SVP, Labor Market Growth
Larry is the SVP, Labor Market Growth at RetireeFirst. Overseeing the organizations' sales operation, Larry leads a national team in marketing a diverse suite of retiree focused pharmacy and medical benefit solutions. Larry brings extensive pharmacy and health experience to the organization via his more than 25 years of sales and management responsibilities.
Prior to joining RetireeFirst, Larry worked at OptumRx marketing their full spectrum of pharmacy benefit management services across all customer verticals - including seven years focused on Taft-Hartley clients. Before this position, managing a 75 employee sales and client management team, he worked at Aetna Health as a Regional Sales VP responsible for growth and client retention in the North Texas Market.
Mr. Behrman graduated with honors from Northeastern University with a degree in Marketing.
Lexi Rambo is a seasoned professional who is dedicated to assisting seniors in navigating the intricacies of the healthcare system. Since joining RetireeFirst's Account Management team in 2014, Lexi has played a critical role in developing and maintaining the company's exceptional service, which embodies the commitment to exceed retirees' expectations. As the SVP, Service, West, Lexi's primary responsibility is to ensure that every retiree receives the highest level of white-glove service possible and that our clients feel supported by our team for the duration of their plan. Lexi will be leading the Arizona service team when it opens in Q3'23. Lexi and her husband are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first child this fall.
Job Titles:
- Chief Information Officer
Michael Yoo is a seasoned Chief Information Officer (CIO) with over 15 years of experience in Information Technology with a background working in global enterprises, small, and hyper growth mid-size organizations. Michael has a passion for creating and optimizing high-performing Technology operation teams, identifying and reducing risk, creating scalable enterprise processes, and ensuring technology is aligned with business objectives to scale rapidly and positively impact the client experience.
Michael has a demonstrated history of creating and implementing Information Security and Compliance programs focused on protecting internal and client data. As RetireeFirst's CIO, Michael's primary focus is to assess and identify opportunities for Technology to drive efficiencies, security, and experiences while partnering with the business on strategy. Outside of work, Michael enjoys golfing and spending time with his wife and resides in Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Executive Vice President
Mike Rahman brings over 12 years of extensive experience in the healthcare and fintech industries to his role as Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at RetireeFirst. With a proven track record of growing and transforming businesses, Mike's expertise lies in strategic financial management and operational leadership.
Prior to joining RetireeFirst, Mike served as CFO and President of Solutran, a prominent healthcare payments business, where he significantly expanded the company's reach to serve over 15 million Medicare members across the majority of the top-20 health insurers. Under his leadership, Solutran achieved remarkable growth and success, culminating in its successful acquisition by UnitedHealth Group in 2021. Subsequently, Mike served as SVP of Optum's Health Benefit Account business, a leading provider of HSA, FSA, HRA, and other accounts, managing assets totaling $20 billion and serving over 55,000 employers.
Drawing from his early career experience in Mergers and Acquisitions at UnitedHealth Group, where he played a key role in valuing and acquiring businesses, Mike has developed a keen understanding of the intricacies of the healthcare industry. He holds a Bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College and earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Additionally, Mike is a CFA charterholder. Outside of his professional endeavors, Mike likes exploring national parks, engaging in board games, and downhill skiing.
As RetireeFirst's Senior Vice President of Growth Operations, Rich leads a team of sales operations professionals who partner with our internal teams to provide sales enablement support for each of our vertical business segments nationwide. The team's primary objective is to achieve ReitreeFirst's growth goals, including exploring new business segments prime for engagement. Rich leads sales team infrastructure and processes, and he manages a division where data and analytics drive sales actions and decisions to optimize results.
Rich brings over 25 years of sales leadership and sales operations expertise. Before joining RetireeFirst, he worked in the Fin Tech, Healthcare, and Insurance spaces in executive sales roles. Rich has directed sales strategies and processes, territory alignment, compensation, and incentives strategies, and he has managed department P&Ls. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Colorado - Boulder, an MBA from Arizona State University, and a Global MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management.
As Chief Growth Officer, Rick oversees RetireeFirst's growth acceleration and performance, including leading our functional teams in sales, marketing, client retention, product strategy, and proposals.
Rick is mission-focused on helping others at a broad scale through innovative healthcare initiatives. He comes from a family of public-school educators, where the importance of developing our youth and bettering local communities was a critical part of his upbringing. Throughout his career, he has seen the importance of organizations providing hard-earned retiree benefits in enabling retirees to live healthy, fulfilling lives and be productive members of their communities.
Prior to RetireeFirst, Rick held various leadership positions at UnitedHealth Group, including the roles of Market President, Chief Growth Officer, and Chief Sales Officer at OptumRx, one of the largest and fastest-growing Pharmacy Benefit Managers with a significant Medicare client base. He also served in growth leadership roles at Health Net, ConnectiCare, and The Travelers, and he was a founding principal of eAdvocate, a venture capital backed e-health company.
Rick earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College's Carroll School of Management and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Connecticut. Given his Northeast roots, he is an avid skier and cycler.
As Chief Product Officer, Sheela's primary focus is to strengthen and build out the current Medicare products we offer while focused on the strategic direction of the organization. She is responsible for owning and overseeing the strategy, planning, development, and implementation of all of RetireeFirst's Medicare products, carrier relationships and collaboration, strengthening compliance, data integration improvements, and product service enhancements.
Stephanie leads RetireeFirst's Marketing and Communications team in developing growth marketing strategies and tactical planning. She oversees strategic planning, research, content development and design, multi-channel campaigns, online/social advertising, lead generation initiatives, and internal communications.
Prior to joining RetireeFirst, Stephanie worked with Comcast Corporation and led the acquisition marketing team for Internet Essentials, the fastest growing brand and product offering at Comcast. She was responsible for leading the brand's strategy development and tactical execution, exceeding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for revenue and growth. Stephanie also spent eight years at Aramark, overseeing consumer food marketing programs for multiple business units.
Stephanie obtained her Master of Business Administration degree from St. Joseph's University and has an undergraduate degree in Film and Media Arts from Temple University. She resides in Pennsylvania with her husband and son, and she loves to read, listen to podcasts, and bake gourmet desserts for her family, friends, and colleagues.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President for Public Sector Growth
Steve is the Senior Vice President for Public Sector Growth for RetireeFirst. He leads a team of sales professionals who work across all 50 states, focusing on municipalities of all sizes. The team's primary objective is to develop customized solutions for retiree programs that provide higher member satisfaction while delivering savings for the plan. Steve brings extensive experience to RetireeFirst with 25 years of healthcare experience, the last 12 specializing specifically on Public Sector clients.
Before joining RetireeFirst, Steve worked at OptumRx, leading the public sector sales team providing pharmacy benefit management to states, cities, counties, school districts, and retiree plans. As a leader within the organization, Steve was part of all aspects of the product offering with specialization in pricing, contracts, and customized solution development.
Steve graduated with honors from Clemson University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.
As one of our earliest employees, Theresa began her career with RetireeFirst as part of our Account Management team. Over the past decade-plus, Theresa has helped build out our industry-leading Retiree Advocacy Services with an in-house team of retiree Advocates who handle inbound and outbound calls on behalf of all retiree members to resolve issues related to healthcare benefits and to promote retiree wellness programs. She has led recruitment, training, and development of our growing team.
Theresa has also launched multiple initiatives to ensure that our retirees receive outstanding, above-and-beyond service. She is passionate about ensuring that our Advocate team helps all retiree members navigate the healthcare benefits process as seamlessly as possible, providing retirees with peace of mind and enabling them to live a healthy, happy retirement. Her work has helped grow our Retiree Advocacy Services into a world-class offering that consistently generates the highest Net Promoter Scores (NPS).
Theresa has an extensive customer service background. Prior to joining RetireeFirst, she worked as a Senior Loan Coordinator in the mortgage industry, working with applicants to secure home loans. She was also an Operations Manager for the reimbursement division of a geriatric rehabilitation company.
Theresa resides in Southern New Jersey with her husband and daughter. She enjoys spending time with her friends and family, traveling and enjoying life!