Our Team | Our Advocates

Our team of Personal Health Advocates includes:

  • Medical Directors
  • Wellness coaches
  • Licensed professional counselors
  • Social workers
  • World-class data scientists
  • Registered Nurses
  • Benefits and claims specialists
  • Work/life experts
  • Onsite biometric screening staff
  • Nutritionists and registered dietitians
  • Wellness Program Consultants
Our Team | Our Members

Working together on behalf of our members

Because healthcare issues are multifaceted, they may take multiple experts to resolve. That’s why our Personal Health Advocates work together in a collaborative environment. Our custom-built “MemPHIS” CRM allows our team to instantly manage member calls and interactions across all of our programs, resulting in seamless service and an enhanced member experience.

Our Team | Engagement

Our members get:

  • Unlimited 24/7 support in 250+ languages
  • A secure, HIPAA-compliant website and mobile app
  • Help for the whole family – at no extra cost
  • Assistance via phone, email, text, or chat
  • 100% independent and confidential help personalized to their needs
Jeff Cordell

Jeff Cordell

PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Jeff Cordell has 30 years of experience leading the growth and digital transformation of businesses with global-scale communications and personalized healthcare engagement.

Jeff is passionate about building high-performance teams who deliver innovative solutions that unite expert personalized service with cutting-edge technologies.

Previously, Jeff served as the CIO for both Teleperformance Specialized Services and LanguageLine Solutions.

Jeff proudly served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force and holds a BSEE from the University of Notre Dame. In addition, Jeff has been awarded over 30 patents in the fields of disruptive communications and cloud technologies.

Abbie Leibowitz, M.D.

Abbie Leibowitz, M.D.

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, PRESIDENT EMERITUS

Abbie Leibowitz is a nationally recognized leader in the healthcare industry and an authority on managed care, clinical management, quality assurance, medical data and information systems.

Tara Kelly

Tara Kelly

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Before joining Health Advocate, Tara was Director of Operations for CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits and served as Director of Customer Service for SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories. She began her career with Aetna U.S. Healthcare as a member relations representative, advancing through increasing levels of responsibility to become Assistant Vice President of Operations. Tara received a master’s degree from Temple University and a bachelor’s degree from Millersville University.

Raffi Terzian, M.D., MPH, FACEP

Raffi Terzian, M.D., MPH, FACEP

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF CLINICAL OPERATIONS, SENIOR MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Raffi Terzian, MD, MPH, FACEP is the Senior Vice President of Clinical Operations and Senior Medical Director at Health Advocate. In that role, he leads a team of nurses and medical directors and has responsibility for clinical operations and services. He is a board-certified Emergency Physician with over 25 years of clinical and administrative experience and has served on the faculty of leading academic medical centers and top teaching hospitals. He also holds a Master’s degree in public health and has experience in occupational health.

Our Team 24

Alyssa Scott

CHIEF ANALYTICS OFFICER

Alyssa Scott has over 15 years of experience in enterprise data and analytics strategy, data and analytic operating model design, data and analytics governance, data science, and process optimization. She also has extensive domain expertise in population health management, utilization management, Medicare Stars, core operations, and quality, provider, employer, trend and medical cost management.

Alyssa served as VP and Head of Corporate Data & Analytics at Point32Health, led a team of data scientists at Florida Blue, and gained experience in research and development at Optum and Health Dialog Analytic Solutions.

Alyssa has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Northeastern University, and an MSc in Applied Social Research and BA in Psychology and Sociology from Stirling University.

David Dawson

David Dawson

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

David Dawson has over 20 years of experience leading technology teams to meet the demand of building secure, redundant, and resilient global solutions. David’s expertise is in providing a streamlined approach to delivering cutting-edge technologies to support digital transformation in ever-changing business environments with a focus on real-time analytics to help drive data-driven business decisions. David is passionate about building high-performance teams, improving the efficiency of development cycle, and increasing the platform capacity to ensure we can support business growth by leveraging innovation to show the full value of our product offerings to our customers. Previously, David was the Director of Global Technical Support for LanguageLine Solutions. David’s team supported over 16,000 personnel in 17 countries which provided real-time audio and video interpretation sessions in 240 languages. David has a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Bellevue University.

Adam Walter

Adam Walter

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Adam Walter has more than 20 years of financial and operations experience building highly engaged teams and leading strategic growth and transformation initiatives. Prior to Health Advocate, Adam served as VP of Finance at Intrado with financial leadership over multiple divisions as well as corporate technology and operations groups during his tenure. Adam previously held senior roles in finance, sales and reporting with Mutual of Omaha and Aviva. He has a Bachelor of Science from Nebraska Wesleyan University and an MBA from the University of Nebraska.

Jessica Parker-Smith

Jessica Parker-Smith

VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING

Jessica Parker-Smith is an accomplished marketing and public relations executive with a background in the healthcare, insurance, and employee benefits fields.

She began working at Health Advocate in 2009 and has over 25 years of experience building and leading creative marketing teams and developing and executing marketing plans and campaigns. Before joining Health Advocate, Jessica created and ran a marketing department at Devon Health Services and led public relations and client account efforts at Smithworks Design. She is a graduate of West Chester University.

Judy Grant

Judy Grant

VICE PRESIDENT, EAP+WORK/LIFE SERVICES

As a licensed clinical social worker with more than 30 years’ experience in the behavioral health field, Judy Grant is well versed in providing first class, direct clinical services. Combined with her background in business development, she has become a sought-out expert in organizational development consultations and training. Judy has master’s degrees in both Social Work and Business Administration and specializes in the development and growth of high quality employee assistance Programs (EAP). She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Employee Assistance Professional and has been involved in all areas of EAP management including training and supervision of clinical staff and program effectiveness.

Neil Halpern

Neil Halpern

VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL ENABLEMENT

Neil Halpern is a technology industry veteran who has built and led large teams to develop cutting-edge solutions for regulated industries such as aviation, transportation, and medical devices. As the head of the product team, Neil is responsible for the digital enablement of the Health Advocate member experience. By cross-pollinating industry best practices from his diverse background, he strives to create the most compelling and engaging user experience for our customers. A recognized software architect and product designer, Neil has published numerous articles and presented at conferences nationwide. A professional engineer, he brings rigor, discipline and a passion for quality to the process of developing software products. Neil holds a BS from Boston University in Aerospace Engineering and was a former naval officer.

David Vandeveer, CEBS

David Vandeveer, CEBS

VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Over his 30-year career, David has built subject matter expertise in HR technology and benefits administration, health insurance and point solutions, and sales leadership. He has worked with some of the largest firms in the industry, including Aetna, Aon, Transamerica, and Businessolver. David consults with enterprise-level employers and national brokers with an emphasis on commercial teaching for market distinction and identifying opportunities or threats for his clients. He leverages his management and sales experience in leading high-performing teams to achieve sales goals through specialized training and technology resources.

Bob Tucker

Bob Tucker

VICE PRESIDENT, CHANNEL DEVELOPMENT

Bob Tucker has 30 years of experience leading teams and growing businesses within the health, benefits, and financial wellness industries. Bob previously held commercial leadership positions at Aon and Alight Solutions. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management of Information Systems from Iowa State University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Howard Mintzer

Howard Mintzer

DIRECTOR, HUMAN RESOURCES

Howie Mintzer has been with Health Advocate for 4.5 years, and has eight total years of Human Resources experience. He holds a BA in Psychology and Business and is certified by the Society for Human Resource Management as a Senior Certified Professional. He is most passionate about helping people, he also enjoys collecting and analyzing people data to identify trends and improve the effectiveness of the organization. Prior to joining Health Advocate, Howie was the Executive Team Leader of Human Resources at Target Corporation, where he worked closely with the various locations for compliance, recruiting, employee relations, vendor relations, and acted as the “Coordinator of Volunteers”.

Jennifer Greenley

Jennifer Greenley

SENIOR COUNSEL

With nearly 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Jennifer Greenley is responsible for providing legal support and advice for all legal, regulatory and compliance matters for Health Advocate, primarily focused on corporate contracting and serving as the Health Advocate privacy officer. Prior to joining Health Advocate, Jennifer spent more than 15 years in roles within both not-for-profit and privately held health insurance carriers, providing advice in financial regulatory compliance. Jennifer also actively participated in a national organization of health insurance leaders working cooperatively with regulators to shape national health insurance industry policy.

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A special message from our founder

Health Advocate was founded in 2001 to help people navigate the complexities of the healthcare system. Since that time, we’ve grown and evolved in many ways – adding innovative new services to further improve people’s health and reduce costs; enhancing our member digital experience and expanding accessibility; and growing our team across the country to better meet the needs of our clients and members.

But some things haven’t changed. Healthcare continues to be complicated, but we continue to be here to support people when they need us most — with dedication, compassion, expertise and understanding. At Health Advocate, we are committed to tackling the tough issues people face and making it easier so that everyone can benefit from a healthcare system that works for them.

Through advanced data analytics and technology, we’re gaining insights into the health of organizations and leveraging that information to create new ways to motivate people to take charge of their health.

By combining our uniquely personalized support with cutting-edge programs and services, we strive to simplify the healthcare experience and help engage people in their health and well-being, driving the positive change that leads to improved outcomes and lower costs for both our clients and members.

From day one, we are — and will continue to be — at your side.

Abbie Leibowitz, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer, President Emeritus