Ben Leedle is a transformative business leader who was the president and CEO of Healthways Inc from 2003 to 2015. He is broadly recognized as a driving force behind transforming that company from a small business to the number one independent population health management company in the world. Among his many accomplishments prior to joining Blue Zones, Ben co-founded both the Blue Zones project and the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index Innovations.

Ben is well recognized as a visionary leader in transforming Population health and joins us today as the CEO of Blue Zones. 

Chris Deacon is Founder/Principal of VerSan Consulting. She is a distinguished consultant and legal expert in employer sponsored healthcare, advocating for cost-effective strategies that benefit both employers and employees. Chris' background includes serving as New Jersey Deputy Attorney General and Special Counsel to Governor Christie. Her tenure at the New Jersey Department of Treasury was notable for implementing cost-saving measures exceeding $3 billion. 

Founder of Basinski and Juran, MDs, LLC

Damon Eisenbrey is a partner of Arnall Golden Gregory healthcare practice with an extensive background, completely devoted to litigation, he represents patients and healthcare providers against insurance companies on plan coverage, benefits and reimbursement related matters, including state and federal class and consolidated class actions. 

SVP of Compliance and Operational Strategy for Alera Group's Employee Benefits division

Ge Bai is a Professor of Accounting at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and a Professor

of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. An expert on health care accounting, finance and policy, Dr. Bai has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Health Committee. Written for The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, and published her studies in leading academic journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Health Affairs. 

Gretchen Day is Vice President of Health Innovations and Advanced Strategies at Alera Group. Leveraging her expertise in data analytics, pharmacy benefits and innovative health care delivery models like reinsurance captives, TPAs and advanced primary care, Gretchen crafts solutions that address social determinants of health and workplace culture to address both population and individual health needs. She is certified as a master's health education specialist and is a thriving workplace culture consultant. 

Jennifer Perlitch is an accomplished Clinical Pharmacist and serves as a subject matter expert on the Alera National Pharmacy Practice Team. She has extensive knowledge in value based contracts and works closely in both internal

and external stakeholders on the strategy, design, and implementing of programs and initiatives to ensure optimal financial and quality performance. Before Alera, and while at Beth Israel Lahey Health System, Jennifer created and served as the Rising Risk Disease Management Program Manager, which focused on patients living with  chronic diseases and the intersection and interdependency of medications and wellness 

Dr. Jonathan Bonnet is Board Certified in Family, Sports, Obesity, and Lifestyle Medicine. He is an Associate Professor affiliated with Stanford University’s School of Medicine, and the Program

Director of Medical Weight Loss at the Clinical Resource Hub Weight Management Center at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs. He has co-authored two editions of the Lifestyle Medicine Handbook and the first edition of the Medical Fitness Bible. He has published research in sleep medicine, nutrition, sports and exercise, obesity and behavior change. 

Kirsten is Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Shatterproof, a national not-for-profit dedicated to reversing the addictions crisis. Kirsten has spent her career using marketing to drive social impact. Currently, she addresses the ever-growing substance use disorder epidemic. She is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and is the board chair for Special Olympics District of Columbia. 

SVP for Shatterproof’s Treatment Atlas team

National Director for Population Health at Milbank Memorial Foundation

Tim Clement is the Vice President of Federal Government Affairs at Mental Health America. Tim drafts legislation, works with Congress and partners with federal regulatory agencies, all for the purpose of advancing mental health policy. He has written dozens of state laws and multiple federal laws, including the 2020 amendment to the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act. 

Wayne Dysinger is the Chief Medical Officer of Blue Zones Health, an innovative new clinical model combining evidence based lifestyle medicine, the viral movement of the Blue Zones, and a value based economic model for employers and government payers. Over 20 years ago, as the chair of Preventative Medicine at Loma Linda University, Wayne was inspired by the original longevity studies to push into the study of lifestyle medicine.

This culminated in Wayne becoming president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and founding board chair of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. Wayne left academia to prove that lifestyle medicine could get results in practice in an economically sustainable model. With the recent announced partnership with Blue Zones and the corresponding rebranding, Blue Zones Health has announced a nationwide virtual and a national in-person expansion launching in 2025, which should be a real game changer in the care delivery model.