Fall Conference Speakers and Handouts

Laurie Baedke
Speaker and Author
Mentor, Coach & Lead to Peak Professional Performance (Handout)
Wednesday, September 25th  | 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM
Resilient Leadership: The Role of Well-being in Individual and Organizational Performance (Handout)
Thursday, September 26th  | 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
The Emerging Healthcare Leader: Leading Self, Leading Others, and Leading Change (Handout) 
Thursday, September 26th  | 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Laurie K. Baedke is a well-regarded speaker at international healthcare and continuing medical education conferences, and the host of a weekly leadership podcast, The Growth Edge. She holds a master's degree in healthcare administration and is a board-certified fellow of both the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Medical Practice Executives. She has written two editions of a book, The Emerging Healthcare Leader: A Field Guide. In 2017, Ms. Baedke contributed a chapter titled "The Clinician Entrepreneur" to a book published by Oxford Press titled The Handbook of Private Practice. Her most recent book, Mentor Coach Lead to Peak Professional Performance was released in February, 2023.

Dale R. Folwell, CPA
Treasurer, State of North Carolina
NC Treasurer's Report
Thursday, September 26 | 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM
Dale R. Folwell, CPA was elected for his first term as State Treasurer of North Carolina in 2016. He was reelected in 2020 and is currently serving his second term responsible for 240 billion dollars which is nearly 8 times larger than the state budget. As the keeper of the public purse, Treasurer Folwell is responsible for the more than $115 billion state pension fund that provides retirement benefits for more than 950,000 teachers, law enforcement officers and other public workers. Under Folwell’s leadership the pension plan was rated among the top five best-funded in the country and won accolades for proactive management, efficiency and funding discipline and was recently ranked as the most efficient public plan in north America. In 2021, the state’s coveted AAA bond rating was reaffirmed by every major rating agency, making North Carolina one of only 13 states in the country to hold that distinction. Treasurer Folwell also oversees the State Health Plan, which provides medical and pharmaceutical benefits to more than 450,000 current and retired public employees and is the largest purchaser of health care in North Carolina.

Tim Hebert
CEO and Founder, Dirigo
The Intentional Leader
Thursday, September 26th  | 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Leading a Culture of Change (Handouts)
Thursday, September 26th  | 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM
Inspired by his childhood dream of becoming a superhero, he discovered his unique superpower: igniting leadership in others. With over thirty years of experience, he has become a champion of intentional leadership, promoting empowerment, innovation, and self-reliance.

Tim has successfully transformed companies, most notably Atrion as its CEO and Medicus IT as its Chief Revenue Officer. His leadership led to explosive growth, breakthrough performance, and healthy, vibrant workplace cultures. Now, he is the CEO and Founder of Dirigo, his twenty-third company, and a sought-after keynote speaker on leadership and change.

Despite battling dyslexia, Tim is a published author of "The Intentional Leader" and has contributed hundreds of articles and blogs. He serves on numerous boards and is a United States Air Force veteran.

Tim is an adventurer who always seeks new challenges and keeps his office stocked with Diet Coke.

Shane McKenzie
Learning and Development Partner, Catapult
Pre-conference Session: Influencing without Authority
Wednesday, September 25 | 1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
When Shane McKenzie became a Vice President, before turning 30, he knew he was in over his head. Inside a start-up that was experiencing explosive growth, Shane knew he had to quickly educate himself on how to build systems and organize teams to scale or he would be left behind. He devoured every book and article he could find from experts in sales, marketing, customer service, and product development and took action to implement their advice. By valuing curiosity, focus, and experimentation. Shane developed the ability to make connections and see pathways others couldn’t to move the business forward. What he failed to do was realize that systems run the business, but people run the systems.

Shane went to work deconstructing his leadership in order to rebuild it with the same tenacity he learned while building out critical business functions. Drawing from the example of great leaders and timeless principles he built a process for his own personal leadership transformation, with the goal of adding value to others as his foundation. Removing himself from the center of a command-and-control operation, Shane began developing agile leaders who could carry the business farther than he could alone.

Noticing how Shane changed his behavior and regained the trust of his team caused other executive leaders to ask him to do for them what he had done for himself. That’s when Relevant Leadership Solutions was born. After developing and proving a process inside the organization to help other leaders move away from outdated management tactics to become agile leaders, Shane exited his executive position to own his own coaching firm.

Jason Newton
General Counsel, Curi
Regulatory Updates (Handouts)
Friday, September 27th  | 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Jason Newton joined Curi in 2013 after a 14-year career in private law practice defending doctors, advanced practice providers, and hospitals. Curi is an insurance, wealth management and advisory firm headquartered in Raleigh, NC, and its mission is to help physicians in medicine, business and life. Jason is a Senior Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America and recently spent several years serving on the Editorial Advisory Board for the Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice section of the national online legal publication Law360. He has authored or contributed to nearly 30 publications. Jason is a nationally recognized and frequently sought-after speaker, and organizations regularly ask Jason to speak on a variety of topics relevant to physicians around the country. He has given over 100 presentations to over 7,500 healthcare providers, lawyers, and medical liability industry professionals. Jason has a BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a JD from Wake Forest University School of Law.

Donna Nicholson MBA, BSN, RN, CPCO
Managing Director of Risk Solutions, Curi Advisory
Searching for Efficiencies? Risk Management Considerations with AI Scribes Today (Handouts)
Friday, September 27 | 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM
Donna Nicholson MBA, BSN, RN, CPCO, is Curi Advisory’s Managing Director of Risk Solutions. In this role, Donna leads a team dedicated to helping healthcare organizations and physicians limit their clinical, regulatory, and financial risk. Prior to joining Curi in 2017, she held executive leadership roles with large independent physician practices and management services organizations. A Registered Nurse and Certified Professional Compliance Officer, Donna earned a BS in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and an MBA from Pfeifer University.

Todd Pittman, CMPE
CEO, Digestive Health Specialists
ACMPE Presentation and NCMGMA Business Meeting
Friday, September 27 | 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM
Todd Pittman, CMPE is the CEO of Digestive Health Specialists in Winston-Salem and a board-certified member of the American College of Practice Executives. Over the past 30 years Todd has held positions in private primary care and specialty practices, hospital owned specialty practices, hospital Administration, corporate facility management and healthcare consulting. Todd has also held numerous leadership positions in the state and local MGMA chapters, serving as the President of the state and 3 local chapters. Todd served as the NCMGMA Conference Chair for over 20 years, NC Chair of the Tri-State Conference (NC, SC & GA) and chaired the Joint Conference with the NC Medical Society. Additionally, he has served on the MGMA Annual Conference Committee and as a State Liaison for MGMA.

Nelson Santiago
Learning and Development Partner, Catapult
Dealing with Difficult People
Friday, September 27 | 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Being your Professional Best
Friday, September 27 | 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Nelson Santiago is a globally recognized, bilingual Learning and Development leader with over 20 years of experience helping organizations align their talent development initiatives and strategies to business outcomes. He has led talent development and leadership projects in over 25 countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He is also a Master Trainer with the Association for Talent Development, a DDI Facilitator, a Gallup Certified Strengths and Everything DiSC Coach, and an associate with the ROI Institute. He holds a degree in Organizational Psychology and proudly served his country for 13 years as an Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard. Before joining Catapult, he was the Chief Learning Officer and Principal Consultant at Learning DNA, LLC in Raleigh, NC. In his spare time, he likes to cook and is an avid musician.

Kristine Sims
Partner and Office Lead, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete
HR Update (Handouts)
Friday, September 27 | 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Kristine is an equity partner and oversees the three North Carolina offices of the national labor and employment law firm, Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete. With over 25 years of practice in employment law, Kristine has experience in administrative charge and litigation matters involving every facet of employment law. Kristine federal contractors with compliance and audit response. She has a robust advice general practice as well having assisted clients of all sized with pay equity analyses and compensation practices to ensure alignment with federal and state laws. Kristine has significant experience with healthcare clients from large hospital systems, academic medical facilities, and both private equity and physician-owned independent practices.

Kristine is a frequent lecturer and trainer on the employment relationship. She has been recognized by her peers and clients for her excellence in the employment law arena having been named over multiple years as a North Carolina Super Lawyer, Legal Elite, she has been recognized by Chambers USA. In 2023 she was named the Lawyer of the Year for Litigation – Labor and Employment by Best Lawyers in America®. In 2024 Kristine was recognized as a "Leader in the Law" by North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and selected as one of the Triad Business Journal's "Outstanding Women in Business."

Javier Young
Principal, CLA
10 Cybersecurity Questions your Healthcare Organization should be able to Answer! (Handouts)
Thursday, September 26th  | 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Javier Young is a Principal within the Cybersecurity Services Group at CLA and has been in the cybersecurity field for over 14 years. Prior to joining CLA, Javier spent ten years supporting the Department of Defense as well as a financial services company in the fields of insider threat, incident response, fraud, waste and abuse, analytics, and systems engineering. Since Javier has been with CLA, he has spent the majority of his time providing IT Security, Risk, and Consulting services to clients in healthcare, higher education, and financial related institutions. Education: MBA, Strategy and Leadership-Wake Forest University; MS, Computer Science-North Carolina A&T State University; BS, Computer Science North Carolina A&T State University