HCPEA 2025 Forum

Arthur Brooks is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. He is also a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column.

Brooks is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 13 books, including Build the Life You Want in 2023, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, and From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.

Brooks is one of the world’s leading experts on the science of human happiness, appearing in the media and traveling the world to teach people in private companies, universities, public agencies, and faith communities how they can live happier lives and bring greater well-being to others.

Ira Coleman is the chairman of McDermott Will & Emery. When Ira took on this role in 2017, the Firm embraced a new strategic direction focused on being indispensable to clients, enhancing performance and nurturing a happy, fun culture—encapsulated in the mantra of Always Better. Since then, the Firm has achieved the strongest upward trajectory among big law firms, become a magnet for top talent, and expanded its practices and geographic footprint. In 2024, Ira was named Managing Partner of the Year by American Lawyer, and in 2021, he received the “Most Innovative Law Firm Leader” award by the Financial Times.

Prior to taking on this role, Ira led the Corporate & Transactional Practice Group and served as the managing partner for the Firm’s Miami office. Ira continues to practice law, representing the healthcare industry. In particular, he advises private equity clients in navigating M&A and controversy matters that have “bet the company” implications.

Ira also serves as the general counsel for the Healthcare Private Equity Association (HCPEA). He presents regularly at private equity, national healthcare and leadership-focused conferences on a variety of subjects. He has authored and been quoted in numerous articles on private equity, health law, diversity, equity and inclusion, and leadership.

Recognition
The American Lawyer, Managing Partner of the Year, 2024
Financial Times, Most Innovative Law Firm Leader, 2021
Daily Business Review, Distinguished Leaders, 2021
Chambers USA 2007 to 2024
The Legal 500 US, 2016
The Best Lawyers in America 1997 to 2025, Healthcare and Corporate Law
Florida Bar, Board Certified Specialist (BCS) in Health Law

Credentials
Florida
Washington, D.C.

Mark McClellan, MD,PhD is Director and Robert J. Margolis, M.D., Professor of Business, Medicine and Policy at the Duke‐Margolis Institute for Health Policy at Duke University. He is a physician‐economist who focuses on quality and value in health care including payment reform, real‐world evidence and more effective drug and device innovation. At the center of the nation’s efforts to combat the COVID‐19 pandemic, the author of COVID‐19 response roadmap, and co‐author of a comprehensive set health policy strategies for COVID vaccines, testing, and treatments, Dr. McClellan and his Duke‐Margolis colleagues are now focused on health policy strategies and solutions to advance the resilience and interconnectedness of 21st Century public health and health care. Mark is a former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration where he developed and implemented major reforms in health policy. Dr. McClellan is an independent board member on the boards of Johnson & Johnson, Cigna, Alignment Healthcare, and PrognomiQ; co‐chairs the Guiding Committee for the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network; and serves as an advisor for Arsenal Capital Group, Blackstone Life Sciences.

John DiGiovanni is a Partner at Arsenal Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm that specializes in investments in middle-market healthcare companies. Mr. DiGiovanni focuses on investments in HCIT. He serves as a Board Director at Knowtion (revenue cycle management), OncoHealth (oncology tech), MaxHealth (value-based primary care), Hopebridge (autism therapy) and 3DR (radiology tech-enablement).

Prior to joining BRG John served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Health Care Delivery System Reform on the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he covered drug pricing reform, Medicare Advantage and Part D, and value-based care. He also previously served on the faculty of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where he was an Assistant Scientist and Health Policy Scholar.

John was the Senior Director of Policy Affairs for Willis Towers Watson from 2012-2021. He worked for Extend Health, the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, before it was acquired by Towers Watson in 2012.

Before joining Extend Health, John served on the Health Subcommittee staff of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives and the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, during which time he worked on the writing, passage, and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and helped guide the implementation of all sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform.

Chris Jennings is a four decades-long health policy veteran of the White House, Congress and private sector. He was President Obama’s White House Senior Advisor for Health Policy and Coordinator of Health Reform and served in a similar capacity in the Clinton White House for nearly eight years.

He currently is the President of Jennings Policy Strategies, a nationally respected consulting firm that assists foundations and stakeholders develop and promote policies to secure affordable, quality health care for all. He is a senior Fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and is annually recognized by the Washingtonian as one of the most influential non-governmental experts engaged in national domestic policy debates.

Mr. Jennings has advised over ten Presidential campaigns on health policy, and was appointed to the 2008, 2016 and 2020 Democratic Platform Drafting Committees. In the decade prior, he served in the U.S. Senate for three Senators (Pryor, Glenn and Melcher) on the Senate Finance and Special Committee on Aging Committees as well as the U.S. Bipartisan Commission on Comprehensive Health Care (the Pepper Commission). He has counseled countless gubernatorial and Congressional candidates and has been a trusted advisor of the Congressional Leadership and their staffs for decades.

Jennifer Young served as the Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as Senior Counselor to Secretary Mike Leavitt before cofounding TDY in January 2006. She was an integral part of the Administration’s efforts during the development, passage and implementation of the Medicare Modernization Act and oversaw all legislative efforts on behalf of HHS. Prior to joining HHS, Young was on the staff of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. In addition to her federal experience, Young also headed the health care team at the National Governor’s Association.

John Barkett is a Managing Director in BRG’s Healthcare Transactions and Strategy practice, where he counsels health plans, hospital systems, life sciences companies, consumer groups, coalitions and financial institutions, among others, on a range of issues related to transactions in the healthcare space.

Prior to joining BRG John served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Health Care Delivery System Reform on the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he covered drug pricing reform, Medicare Advantage and Part D, and value based care. He also previously served on the faculty of the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where he was an Assistant Scientist and Health Policy Scholar.

John was the Senior Director of Policy Affairs for Willis Towers Watson from 2012-2021. He worked for Extend Health, the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange, before it was acquired by Towers Watson in 2012.

Before joining Extend Health, John served on the Health Subcommittee staff of the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives and the Office of Health Reform in the Department of Health and Human Services, during which time worked on the writing, passage, and implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and helped guide the implementation of all sections of the Affordable Care Act related to delivery system reform.

Previously, John worked for athenahealth, Inc., a revenue-cycle management and electronic medical record company, and Medica HealthCare Plans, Inc., a Medicare Advantage plan.

John earned an MBA in health care management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College, with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a secondary field in health care policy.

David Yeager, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the cofounder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. He is best known for his research conducted with Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, and Greg Walton on short but powerful interventions that influence adolescent behaviors such as motivation, engagement, healthy eating, bullying, stress, mental health, and more. He has consulted for Google, Microsoft, Disney, and the World Bank, as well as for the White House and the governments in California, Texas, and Norway. His research has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, CNN, Fox News, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and more. Clarivate Web of Science ranks Yeager as one of the top 0.1% most-influential psychologists in the world over the past decade. Prior to his career as a scientist, he was a middle school teacher and a basketball coach. He earned his PhD and MA at Stanford University and his BA and MEd at the University of Notre Dame. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and their four children.

Stephen Bochner leads the Healthcare Private Capital and For-Profit Healthcare Sector. He is an established industry expert with more than two decades of experience recruiting senior healthcare executives, board members, operating partners and investors.

He is focused on the recruitment of investment professionals and senior operating executives to financial sponsor-backed and for-profit healthcare companies.

Dr. Bochner has served as an investment advisor to private capital firms and as a consultant to several public and privately financed companies. He is a member of numerous medical associations and serves on the Board of several companies.

Dr. Bochner’s prior business background included operating roles, consulting with privately financed companies, and working as a growth equity principal. He served as Vice President in the Private Capital Group at Robertson, Stephens & Company where he focused on health care investments. Prior to joining RS & Co. he served as Vice President of Business Development at Fusion Medical Technologies, a Sequoia Capital backed medical device company that went public during his tenure.

As a physician, Dr. Bochner established a private medical practice affiliated with Stanford University Hospital, specializing in minimally invasive surgical procedures. During this time, he served on the Clinical Faculty at Stanford University Hospital. Previously he was a member of the full-time faculty at Stanford University Hospital in the Department of Gynecology.

Dr. Bochner obtained his medical degree from the University of Ottawa and McGill University and performed his specialty training at Stanford University, serving as Chief Resident in 1987. He holds an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Biology from Colgate University.