Michele Lawrence, Board Chair

Michele Lawrence is a healthcare executive with 25 years of experience in healthcare strategy, transformation, innovation and rural health. She is currently the Assistant Vice President of Business Development at the University of Rochester Medical Center; the Co-Principal Investigator of the UR Medicine Recovery Center of Excellence; and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health Sciences. She has an MBA in Finance and International Management and an MPH focused on behavioral economics. She has 3 children.

Kevin Overton, Vice-Chair

Kevin is an attorney at Harris Beach. Kevin’s developers, health care, lending, corporate and educational clients rely on his expertise to get real estate deals done. He focuses his practice on commercial real estate acquisitions and sales, alternative energy financing and development, leasing, zoning, land use, condominium and homeowners’ association formation, municipal and public authorities law.

Erika Dooley, Trustee

Erika Dooley is an English as a New Language (ENL) teacher. She has been teaching ENL for ten years in charter schools, district schools and also internationally. Prior to teaching, she helped to empower parents to make informed decisions about school choice as a program manager at a non-profit in Washington, DC. She is a parent of school-aged children, who is highly involved in parent groups and community organizations.

Wendy Ferrer, Trustee

Wendy Ferrer is a marketing and communications professional with more than 25 years of experience. She is currently the vice president of marketing and communications for Jewish Senior Life, a continuing care retirement community. Previously, she founded Red Purse Marketing, a communications consulting firm focused serving the healthcare industry and mid-sized businesses; led the communications department at a community healthcare system; and served as the director of communications for a national non-profit youth entrepreneurship program. As an avid community supporter, Wendy has served on the marketing committees for a variety of organizations. She holds a B.A. in Journalism/Mass Communication from St. Bonaventure University.

Patricia Gatlin, Trustee

Dr. Patricia K. Gatlin is the Dean of Wegmans School of Nursing at St. John Fisher College.  After earning her associate in arts degree in nursing at Dyersburg State Community College and her bachelor of science in nursing at the University of Memphis, Dr. Gatlin went on to obtain a master of science in nursing at the University of Portland and a Ph.D. in nursing science at the University of Arizona. Her research, which primarily focuses on diabetes and support for diabetic patients, has been published in a variety of medical journals. Prior to joining academia, Gatlin practiced nursing in a variety of roles including staff nurse, charge nurse, rehabilitation nurse manager, and director of nursing at hospitals and health care centers around the country.

Warren Hern, Trustee

Warren Hern is President and CEO of EastBay Ventures where he provides early phase companies with start up capital and advisory services. Previously, he was Co-CEO of Rochester Regional Health and CEO of Unity Health System. Warren has served on several community Boards. He holds a BA in Accounting from Southern New Hampshire University and an MBA in Finance from Rochester Institute of Technology Saunders School of Business. Warren and his wife Kathy reside in Webster, NY.

Robert Hoggard, Trustee

Robert K. Hoggard recently helped lead Rochester Regional Health Foundations as the Founding Development Officer for Health Equity and Inclusion Initiatives, focusing on fundraising for the Social Determinants of Health initiatives. He currently serves as the Associate Director of Advancement for Academic and Student Affairs at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he leads the fundraising for diversity, equity, and belonging efforts. He’s pursuing an EdD in Educational Administration with a focus in Higher Education at the University of Rochester. His research seeks to understand African-American male college students’ racial trauma and resilience. Robert has taught and mentored students at Leadership Academy for Young Men, Vanguard High School, and Keuka College. He holds a bachelor’s degree from American Baptist College and a master’s degree from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.

Kevin Railey, Secretary

Dr. Kevin Railey is provost and vice president for academic affairs at St. John Fisher College. Previously, Dr. Railey served as associate provost and dean of the Graduate School at Buffalo State College. He has received several awards for his work. Dr. Railey received a bachelor’s degree in English from the State University of New York at Albany and went on to earn a master’s degree and Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Brittany Rumph, Trustee

Brittany Rumph’s mission in life is to positively impact as many children and families as humanly possible. Through her work in education, she has served as a teacher, instructional leader, professional development facilitator, summer school director, and now as a lead founder of a charter school. Most recently, Brittany worked as a Consultant at Coordinated Care Services Inc. In this role, Brittany supported educators and community-based organizations in creating trauma responsive and equity-focused communities. Outside of the workday she is a youth cheerleading coach and dance instructor for a nationally renowned cheer/dance team and serves as a board member for multiple local non-profit organizations. Brittany is a dually certified educator through the New York State Education Department who holds a MS Ed in Inclusive Early Childhood Education, a BA in Dance, and a BA in Interdisciplinary Arts for Children. Her teaching practices are referenced in Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion 3.0. She was recognized by the Rochester Business Journal as a 2021 Forty under 40 Honoree.

Bradley Turner, Trustee

Bradley Turner, MD, MPH, MHA, FCAP, is an Associate Professor of Pathology and co-director of the Breast/GYN Pathology fellowship at the University of Rochester Medical Center. After completing a residency in Family Medicine at Duke University/Southern Regional AHEC, he practiced family medicine for five years. He then completed a second residency in Pathology, with subsequent fellowships in General Surgical Pathology, Oncologic Surgical Pathology, and Breast/GYN Pathology.

Mario Urso, Treasurer

Mario Urso is a partner in The Bonadio Group’s statewide Healthcare/Tax-Exempt Division and is chairman of the Firm’s Board of Directors. Mario received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. Mario is active in local organizations, including serving as a Board Member and Treasurer of both the Academy of Health Sciences Charter School and the Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology.

Louise Vella, Trustee

Louise Vella is a multifaceted HR leader with  20+ years of experience in all parts of the employee experience in client relationship-based settings, primarily within healthcare. Louise also has skills in Quality via past positions as the Associate Director of Lean at RIT, Director of HR and Quality at Borg Imaging, and Reviewer and Judge for Empire State Advantage (ESA): Excellence at Work. Her certifications include Green Belt in Six Sigma, SHRM-CP, Lean and DiSC. She holds a BS in Business Management & Economics with a concentration in Healthcare Policy & Society from SUNY Empire and has undergraduate education in Political Science from the University of Rochester. She is also working on her Masters in Organizational Leadership. Currently Louise is the VPHR for the Weinberg Campus in Amherst, NY.