William Jefferson Clinton, the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice, led the United States to the longest economic expansion in American history, including the creation of more than 22 million jobs.

After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation in order to continue working on the causes he cared about.  Since its founding, the Foundation has endeavored to help build more resilient communities by developing and implementing programs that improve people’s health, strengthen local economies, and protect the environment.

In addition to his Foundation work, President Clinton served as the top United Nations envoy for the Indian Ocean tsunami recovery effort, the UN Special Envoy to Haiti—and has partnered numerous times with Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush to support relief efforts for communities devastated by natural disasters.

President Clinton was born on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. He and his wife Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton have one daughter, Chelsea, and two grandchildren, Charlotte and Aidan. They live in Chappaqua, New York.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was elected as WHO Director-General for a five-year term by WHO Member States at the Seventieth World Health Assembly in May 2017. He is the first WHO Director-General to have been elected from multiple candidates by the World Health Assembly, and is the first person from the WHO African Region to serve as WHO’s chief technical and administrative officer.

Dariush’s crusades in the world of art and social activism, as an Iranian artist as well as a humanitarian, have echoed the intimate connection between what is and what should be for over four decades. But his greatest impact lies with the millions of ordinary individuals whose lives he has touched and transformed, many of whom have been inspired by him to try to make the world a better place. His art with a purpose coupled with a passionate belief in the importance of civil liberties and political and human rights has made him an international symbol of a free Iran. By establishing Ayeneh Foundation & Media, an educational nonprofit, he has been empowering communities worldwide with education, awareness, and prevention with regard to such social maladies as the international disease of addiction, the plight of the children of labor, and refugees, and domestic violence among others. He has been an advocate for the establishment of a Health Triangle, consisting of a complementary collaboration between nonprofits, media, and people in an attempt to tackle society’s needs for healing. He has been a messenger of love and compassion to those around the world thriving to make a difference.

Peter Lachman M.D. MPH. M.B.B.Ch., FRCPCH, FCP (SA), FRCPI was Chief Executive Officer of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) from 1st May 2016 to 30th April 2021. He has great experience as a clinician and leader in quality improvement and patient safety. He led the transformation of ISQua to be one of the leading global organisations in quality, safety and person centred care.

Dr Lachman was a Health Foundation Quality Improvement Fellow at IHI in 2005-2006 and developed the quality improvement programme at Great Ormond Street Hospital where he was the Deputy Medical Director with the lead for Patient Safety. He was also a Consultant Paediatrician at the Royal Free Hospital in London specialising in the challenge of long term conditions for children. Dr Lachman has been the National Clinical Lead for SAFE, a Heath Foundation funded RCPCH programme which aims to improve situation awareness in clinical teams across England.

Currently, he is Lead Faculty Quality Improvement at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) in Dublin, where he directs the Leadership and Quality programme to develop clinical leaders in quality improvement. He is co-founder and Chairperson of PIPSQC, the Paediatric International Patient Safety and Quality Community.

Mary Dale Peterson, M.D., MSHCA, FACHE, FASA, is president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA). She was elected for a one-year term in October 2018.

Dr. Peterson is executive vice president and chief operating officer of Driscoll Health System; emeritus staff at Driscoll Children’s Hospital; and president and CEO of Driscoll Children’s Health Plan, a non-profit, community-based health insurance plan, in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is also a clinical assistant professor at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.

Dr. Peterson has served ASA in numerous roles, most recently as ASA first vice president. She has served as ASA treasurer and chair of the ASA Section on Fiscal Affairs. Additionally, Dr. Peterson has been on the ASA Board of Directors since 2006 and is a member of the ASA Charitable Foundation’s Board of Directors. She was also treasurer of the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (an ASA related organization) from 2012-2017.

Dr. Peterson serves on the Executive Committees of the Texas Society of Anesthesiologists and Nueces County Medical Society. She has been an active member of the American Medical Association and the Texas Medical Association since 1984.

Dr. Peterson received her Bachelor of Science from Texas A&M University. She completed her Doctor of Medicine and anesthesiology residency at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, where she was elected chief resident. Dr. Peterson also completed a Master of Science in Health Care Administration at Trinity University in San Antonio. She is board-certified in anesthesiology and critical care medicine.

Dr. Peterson resides in Corpus Christi, Texas with her husband, Rafael Coutin, M.D. They are the proud parents of three sons, Christopher, Mark and Steven.

Joe Kiani is responsible for creating the Patient Safety Movement Foundation & Coalition and the Patient Safety Science & Technology Summit. Mr. Kiani founded the Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) in 2013 with a mission to reduce the more than 200,000 preventable patient deaths that occur in U.S. hospitals every year. Under Mr. Kiani’s leadership, the Patient Safety Movement held the first Patient Safety Science & Technology Summit in January 2013 with President Clinton as the keynote speaker. Mr. Kiani has convened hundreds of leading clinicians, hospital CEOs, and medical technology CEOs from around the globe and at this Summit, launched an aggressive goal – ZERO patient deaths by 2020.

As the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Masimo Corporation, a global medical technology innovator, Mr. Kiani has been a beacon for patient safety and innovation in healthcare for more than 30 years. Convinced that the use of adaptive signal processing could solve the problems of motion artifact and signal noise that plagued pulse oximetry–widely recognized as the 5th vital sign–he founded Masimo in 1989 to improve the accuracy of noninvasive patient monitoring.

Under his leadership, Masimo has grown from a “garage start up” into a successful publicly-traded company (NASDAQ: MASI) employing more than 6,000 people worldwide and providing its market-leading Masimo SET® Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion pulse oximetry technology to leading OEM patient monitoring manufacturers. Today, Masimo is an innovative powerhouse delivering key noninvasive medical breakthroughs, including: Masimo rainbow Pulse COOximetry™–the first noninvasive blood constituent monitoring platform to measure multiple blood constituents that previously required invasive procedures and help reduce risky blood transfusions.

Mr. Kiani’s dream of transforming patient care thrives today as he works with legislators in Washington, D.C., to affect public policy that supports innovation and promotes good healthcare decisions. In 2010, he created the Masimo Foundation for Ethics, Innovation and Competition in Healthcare to encourage and promote activities, programs, and research opportunities that improve patient safety and deliver advanced healthcare worldwide—fostering access to innovative medical solutions for those who may not otherwise benefit from their lifesaving capabilities. In 2011 he founded the Masimo Political Action Committee to spotlight the important issues that will shape healthcare policy.

Mr. Kiani believes in turning yesterday’s impossibilities into tomorrow’s possibilities and challenging the status quo. This is exactly what he and his company, Masimo, have done and are continuing to do, and his passion is to share this insight, knowledge, and the indomitable spirit of a true innovator to improve healthcare for Americans and patients around the world.

Jake Lyon is a live commentator for the Overwatch League and a partnered content creator on Twitch.tv and Youtube. Drawing on his personal experience as a professional player for the Houston Outlaws, Jake brings the perspective of a veteran esports competitor to long-term fans and newcomers alike.

Ariana has been with the Patient Safety Movement Foundation since 2015 and is currently serving as Chief Operating Officer.

In her short career prior to joining the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, Ariana graduated cum laude from Loyola Marymount University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Studio Arts. She worked at the University of California, Irvine’s Institute for Immunology for one year and left her post at UCI to pursue a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland in 2012, with a focus on oral immunotherapy for children with egg allergy. Ariana came back to California and spent time at the Orange County Healthcare Agency in the Health Promotion Division. She then seized the opportunity to work at Masimo Corporation, in the Fire and Emergency Medical Services sector, where she worked closely with marketing and sales to develop a Grant Assistance Program, helping Fire and EMS Departments procure devices to help them screen for carbon monoxide poisoning, among department staff and the public. Ariana volunteered at the Patient Safety Movement Foundation’s 2015 Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit and knew that she wanted to step into a leadership role to support the Foundation’s audacious mission.

Since joining the Patient Safety Movement,  Ariana developed the Committed Partners opportunity for professional societies, associations, and other aligned healthcare-related organizations to work with the Movement and has helped grow the number of committed organizations to over 4,710 worldwide, spanning 51 countries.

David Mayer, MD is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation and remains a director on the governance board. Dr. Mayer is executive director of the MedStar Institute for Quality & Safety (MIQS). In this role, Dr. Mayer leads specific quality and safety programs in support of discovery, learning, and the application of innovative methods to operational clinical challenges.

Prior to his appointment as executive director, MIQS Dr. Mayer served for over six years as vice president, quality and safety for MedStar Health, overseeing the infrastructure for clinical quality and its operational efficiency for MedStar and each of its entities. Dr. Mayer also designs and directs systemwide activity for patient safety and risk reduction programs.

Dr. Mayer joined MedStar from the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, Ill. Over the course of 10 years, he held numerous roles including co-executive director of the UIC Institute for Patient Safety Excellence, director of UIC Masters of Science Patient Safety Leadership Program, associate dean for Education, and associate chief medical officer for Quality and Safety Graduate Medical Education. Concurrent with his other roles, he served as vice chair for Quality and Safety for the Department of Anesthesiology, where he was an associate professor of Anesthesiology and director of Cardiac Anesthesiology. Dr. Mayer also founded and has led the Annual Telluride International Patient Safety Roundtable and Patient Safety Medical Student Summer Camp for the last thirteen years.

In addition, he has significant experience in the private sector as director of Medical Affairs of the Hospital Products Division of Abbott Laboratories and was president and founder of Esurg Corporation.

Dr. Mayer attended the University of Illinois at Chicago for both his undergraduate and medical degrees. He completed his internship and residency at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in cardiac anesthesia. Additionally, he co-produced the patient safety educational film series titled “The Faces of Medical Error…From Tears to Transparency,” which won numerous awards including the prestigious Aegis Film Society Top Short Documentary Award.

Most recently, Dr. Mayer was listed on the Becker’s Hospital Review 2017 and 2018 lists of Top 50 people leading patient safety. He was one of four medical professionals presented with the 2017 Humanitarian Award from the Patient Safety Movement Foundation for his lifesaving achievements in patient safety. He was selected by the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) as an International Quality and Safety Expert, has been presented with the 2013 Founders’ Award from the American College of Medical Quality, the University of Illinois/American Association of Medical Colleges Humanism in Medicine Award for his commitment to teaching, service and patient advocacy, and was recognized by the Institute of Medicine in Chicago in 2010 with the Sprague Patient Safety Award.

He regularly presents and writes on topics related to quality and patient safety, and has received grant funding from the United States Department of Education, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation.

Monica has devoted more than twenty-five years of her career to nonprofit management for causes she is deeply concerned with. She has specialized in event production, fund development, brand awareness and elevating cause marketing missions. She joined the PSMF in January 2020 to help produce the inaugural March for Patient Safety and #uniteforsafecare campaign, serving as Campaign Director. In December 2020 she was promoted to the Foundation’s Director of Development.

Her support and passion for nonprofits has included working with AIDS Services Foundation, American Cancer Society, Special Olympics Southern California and Girl Scouts Orange County, to name a few. She has also consulted with organizations such as the Friends of the Santa Ana Zoo, Alzheimer’s Association San Diego, the Wall Las Memorias Project Los Angeles, and Family Assistance Ministries. She volunteers her expertise as a board member for the Newport Harbor High School Alumni Association and has served as Secretary since 2016.

Monica’s family has been touched by medical harm, so she feels very strongly about the mission of the PSMF. She is thrilled to become part of such a dedicated team!

Dr. Donna Prosser has been in the healthcare industry for more than 30 years and is currently the Chief Clinical Officer at the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. She spent the first fifteen years of her career at the bedside and transitioned into administration after a personal experience helped her to understand just how fragmented and unsafe patient care can be. This experience ignited a passion to improve healthcare quality and safety in her that continues to burn to this day.

Prior to joining the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, Dr. Prosser worked as a healthcare consultant, helping organizations across the United States to improve quality and safety, increase patient engagement, and reduce clinician burnout. Before beginning her consulting career, she was responsible for clinical practice improvement across Martin Health System, while also functioning as Site Administrator and Chief Nursing Officer for the system’s largest hospital. She previously held administrative, education, and clinical roles at both Carteret Health Care and the Washington Hospital Center.

Dr. Prosser received a Doctorate in Nursing Practice at the University of Central Florida, a Master of Science in Nursing at Duke University, and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at George Mason University. She is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, and is board certified as a Nurse Executive by the American Nurses Credentialing Center and as a Patient Advocate by the Patient Advocate Certification Board.

Dr. Michael Ramsay is the organization’s Chief Executive Officer, having been previously appointed Chairman of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, taking Joe Kiani’s place in 2020. In addition, he sits on the PSMF’s Board of Directors and serves as the Chair of the “Failure to Rescue: Post-Operative Respiratory Depression” workgroup.

Dr. Ramsay also currently holds the title of Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, and serves as a member of the Baylor University Medical Center Board of Trustees. He is Past Director of Anesthesia for the liver transplant program at Baylor and has personally provided anesthesia for over 1,000 liver transplant recipients. Dr. Ramsay is also Past President of the International Liver Transplantation Society and previously was an at-large delegate to the United Network for Organ Sharing, Dr. Ramsay is a professor at Texas A & M Health Science Center and holds a clinical professorship in anesthesiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School.

Dr. Ramsay developed the first Sedation Scale, a measurement designed to interpret the depth of sedation for patients in the critical care unit. This scale was adopted around the world. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and numerous chapters in textbooks. 

As President of Baylor Scott & White Research Institute (BSWRI) from 2000 to 2020, Dr. Ramsay directed clinically relevant research efforts. While with the organization, he developed a successful infrastructure that increased the number of clinical trials from 250 to more than 2,000 active trials. He also executed a multimillion-dollar collaboration agreement with Roche pharma that supported very early research projects and accelerated their completion. This pilot project has since been replicated at many academic centers around the world.

Dr. Ramsay is currently a Study Monitor of several clinical trials to improve the outcomes of brain trauma victims.

Nikki Silvestri is the Founder and CEO of Soil and Shadow, a coaching and consulting firm bringing social and environmental entrepreneurs more impact in their work and joy in their lives.
As an entrepreneur and serial non-profit Executive Director, Nikki has invited thousands of leaders and hundreds of businesses and organizations into more in-depth conversations around the intersection of ecology, economy, and social equity. Her wide-ranging career has taken her from presentations at the White House and negotiations with the Environmental Protection Agency to intimate workshops with local businesses and small retail organizing. A nationally recognized thought leader and international keynote speaker, her many honors include being named one of The Root’s 100 Most Influential African Americans.
Nikki serves as a Board Member for Greenpeace USA and is the Board Co-Chair of the Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE). She is a Faculty Member at the Food Business School (she co-designed and taught one of their inaugural courses, “Ethical Leadership in Food Business”). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including ELLE Magazine’s “Gold” Award and OxFam America’s “Act Local, Think Global” Award.
Nikki has a master’s degree in African American Studies from UCLA and is originally from Los Angeles. She currently lives in Oakland with her husband and son.

A Tongva Elder of the first nation of the Los Angeles basin,  four channel islands and part of orange county, the Tongva Tribe Ti-iat Society, Elder advisor board member  for the Society of Native Nations, a community  activist and speaker, water protector and a caretaker for Mother Earth.  A teacher of Tongva culture and mentor for youth.

Leah Binder is President & CEO of The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit based in Washington, DC, representing employers and other purchasers of health care calling for improved safety and quality in hospitals. She is a regular blogger for Forbes.com, the Huffington Post, and the Wall Street Journal expert forum. She has been named on Modern Healthcare’s national list of the top 25 women in health care in 2013 as well as their annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare since 2009.

Under her leadership, The Leapfrog Group launched the Hospital Safety Score, which assigns letter grades assessing the safety of general hospitals across the country. She has also fostered groundbreaking innovations in the annual Leapfrog Hospital Survey, including partnerships to eliminate early elective deliveries, central line-associated bloodstream infections and safe use of health technology.

She sits on numerous national boards and councils, and was cited by Becker’s as one of the nation’s leading experts leading the field of patient safety in 2013.
Her boards include the Institute of Medicine Collaboration on Patient Engagement, the Maternity Care Shared Decision Making Initiative National Advisory Council, the Leadership Advisory Board of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, and the National Priorities Partnership Board.

Prior to her position at The Leapfrog Group, Ms. Binder spent eight years as vice president at Franklin Community Health Network, an award-winning rural hospital network in Farmington, Maine. She previously worked as a senior policy advisor for the Office of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in New York City and started her career at the National League for Nursing, where she handled policy and communications for more than 6 years.

Ms. Binder has a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and two master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, one from the Annenberg School of Communication and the other from the Fels Institute of Government.

A forceful advocate for families, children, consumers, the environment and her State of California, Barbara Boxer became a United States Senator in January 1993 after 10 years of service in the House of Representatives and six years on the Marin County Board of Supervisors. In November 2010, she was reelected to her fourth term in the Senate.

A national leader on environmental protection, Senator Boxer is the first woman to chair the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW). She is a powerful advocate for clean air and water and has been leading efforts in the Senate to craft a 21st century transportation policy for the United States.

Senator Boxer also chairs the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, making her the only sitting Senator to chair two Senate committees. She is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she chairs the first subcommittee ever to focus on global women’s issues.

Senator Boxer is also a member of the Democratic leadership in the Senate, serving as the Chief Deputy Whip since 2005.

As Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, she secured passage of the Water Resources Development Act, which authorized $1.3 billion for 54 flood control, ecosystem restoration and navigation projects in California. The bill had languished for six years until she led the fight to pass it and override a veto by President George W. Bush.

In 2010, Senator Boxer led the bipartisan effort in the Senate to extend the Highway Trust Fund, which helped protect 1 million jobs in transportation nationwide.

Senator Boxer has won numerous awards for her efforts to create a cleaner, healthier environment and for her dedicated work to address the threats of climate change. She has fought to remove arsenic from drinking water and authored an amendment ensuring that drinking water standards protect children. She has led efforts in Congress to protect California’s coast from offshore oil drilling and fought to end the unethical use of human subjects in pesticide testing by federal agencies.

A champion of quality public education, Senator Boxer wrote landmark legislation establishing the first-ever federal funding for afterschool programs. Her law now covers 1.7 million children. She continues to work to expand afterschool programs nationwide as chair of the Senate Afterschool Caucus.

To ensure that generations of Californians will be able to enjoy our natural heritage, Senator Boxer wrote laws designating more than 1 million acres of California wilderness. Boxer also authored the California Missions Preservation Act to protect and restore California’s 21 historic missions, and led the effort in the Senate to create the Manzanar National Historic Site.

To protect children from dangerous toys, Boxer authored a provision in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Commission Law requiring children’s products sold over the Internet to list cautionary warnings in their advertisements. She has also led efforts to protect children from lead and other dangerous chemicals.

Senator Boxer is a champion of airline passengers’ rights, and her legislation with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) to protect passengers from being stuck on planes for hours without food, water or access to restrooms became the centerpiece of Department of Transportation rules that have reduced tarmac delays nationwide.

In 2010, she founded the Senate Military Family Caucus to help address the challenges faced by families of U.S. service members who sacrifice so much for our country. She worked to establish the West Coast Combat Care Center in San Diego to ensure that severely wounded service members in the West have access to the highest quality care. She also helped create the Defense Task Force on Mental Health and secured millions in federal funding to improve medical care for severely burned soldiers.

A strong proponent of life-saving medical research, Senator Boxer wrote bipartisan legislation to accelerate America’s contribution to combat global HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

A leading defender of a woman’s right to choose, Senator Boxer helped lead the floor fight for passage of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. She continues to lead efforts to stop extremists in Congress from attacking women’s health and a woman’s right to privacy.

In 2010, she wrote a measure to end taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street by ensuring that financial firms – not taxpayers – will pay all the costs of liquidating failing Wall Street firms. She also co-wrote legislation to increase lending to small businesses through community banks.

Senator Boxer has worked to revitalize the economy by supporting targeted tax cuts, a permanent Research and Development tax credit, accelerated depreciation of new business equipment, and tax credits for broadband investments focused on rural and underserved areas. She co-authored the bipartisan — Invest in the USA Act of 2004,‖ which provided tax incentives for U.S. companies to bring overseas profits back home to create jobs and spur economic growth.

To help homeowners, Senator Boxer wrote a measure requiring that homeowners be alerted within 30 days if their lender sells or transfers their home mortgage loan. She wrote a bipartisan measure to ensure that banks cannot act as real estate brokers to prevent conflicts of interest.

In response to the September 11th attacks, Senator Boxer wrote the law requiring that air marshals be on board high-risk flights and the law allowing airline pilots with special training to carry guns in the cockpit.

She is the author of the Syria Accountability Act, which strengthened sanctions against Syria over the country’s support for terrorism. She also wrote a bipartisan measure to ensure that POWs who died in captivity would be eligible to receive the Purple Heart.

Senator Boxer joined colleagues to pass the 1994 Crime Bill, which led to the lowest crime rate in 25 years. She has worked to fund anti-gang programs, pass the Violence Against Women Law (VAWA), and the Community Policy – COPS‖ Program. Her bill to prevent the criminal use of personal information obtained through motor vehicle records was signed into law and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. She has authored the Violence Against Children Act, based on the successful Violence Against Women Act.

Senator Barbara Boxer met her husband of 48 years, Stewart Boxer, at Brooklyn College. The couple moved to California in 1965 to raise their two children, Doug and Nicole. They have been blessed with four grandchildren–Zachary, Zain, Sawyer and Reyna.

Steve Burrows is a comedic storyteller. 
 
This multiple award-winning writer/director/performer has been reinventing stereotypes and challenging expectations in film, television, commercials and theatre for over two decades. His original voice – coupled with his edgy, character-driven humor – has made his work a favorite around the world, where his range in comedy is as diverse as the locations of his shoots – London, Rome, Tokyo, Glasgow, Bangkok, New Zealand, South Africa and Milwaukee, Wisconsin to name a few. 
 
After graduating from The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Burrows began his career in Chicago joining Second City Director Del Close as a member of the famed, groundbreaking improvisational comedy group, Baron’s Barracudas. 
 
He then moved behind the camera, relocating to L.A. and making his first film, “The Soldier of Fortune” – a short about his actual appearance and subsequent humiliation on “The Wheel of Fortune” game show. The film went on to win a slew of festival awards. From there, Burrows became a writer and performer for the legendary comedy troupe, The Groundlings, leading to stints on everything from “Seinfeld” to “America’s Funniest Home Videos” to over 200 TV spots – including a litany of appearances on the Super Bowl. 
 
After writing an original screenplay for 20th Century Fox, Burrows made his directorial feature film debut with “Chump Change”, bowing at the prestigious AFI Film Festival to rave reviews. It then played to sellout crowds at the HBO Comedy Fest in Aspen, winning the Audience Award / Best Feature. It is there Miramax Films acquired “Chump Change” for distribution. 
 
Burrows then went on to win over 75 awards for writing/directing television commercials on five continents – including the Cannes Lion, a plethora of Addy and Telly awards – not to mention the New York Festivals Grand Gold for the iconic Accuserv “Paper Tray” – a spot which now resides in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC. 
 
Burrows then went viral with the award-winning “Glass Nickel Pizza Anthology”, where popular demand prompted Burrows to take his creation a step further, resulting in “The King Kaiser Show” – an award-winning television sitcom about a show within a show within a show. 
 
In a complete career 180°, Burrows dropped out of Show Business to take care of his mother, who had gone in for a routine partial hip replacement and came out in a coma with permanent brain damage. For real. The insane years that followed – fighting for his Mom’s life and for medical and legal justice – became Burrows latest feature, the award-winning, critically acclaimed HBO documentary film, “Bleed Out”. 
 
Back in the saddle, Burrows is now working on several television and feature film projects, including a comedy and a drama. He is also writing his first book. 

Alicia Cole is an internationally recognized Speaker and Patient Safety Consultant. A two-time survivor of hospital-acquired MRSA, Sepsis, and Necrotizing Fasciitis, Alicia has endured nine surgeries, eleven blood transfusions, and nearly had her left leg amputated. She’s navigated her way through over a decade of weekly medical treatments and aftercare.  While still recovering, Alicia co-sponsored and successfully lobbied for passage of two California laws, one for Patient Safety education for healthcare workers, and the other, Public Reporting of hospital infection rates. (“Nile’s Law”) In between doctor appointments, Alicia earned a Post-Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Management and Leadership, from UCLA School of Public Health. Her passion is protecting patients by improving health literacy and self-efficacy, while promoting safer care as a Health Policy Change Agent. In 2015, Alicia was honored by President Barack Obama for her advocacy work and appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB).  She continued in that position under the Trump administration until February of 2020. Alicia’s journey from survivor to champion has been featured on ABC’s 20/20, The Doctors, The Dr. Nandi Show, CBS and Fox News, she has also been profiled in USA Today, HEALTH Magazine, Consumer Reports, HealthLeaders Media and the LA Times.

Zubin Damania, M.D., is an internist and founder of Turntable Health, an innovative healthcare clinic that was part of an ambitious urban revitalization movement in Las Vegas spearheaded by Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. During his decade-long career as a hospitalist at Stanford, Dr. Damania began a shadow career under the pseudonym ZDoggMD, performing stand-up comedy and creating parody videos for medical audiences worldwide. Dr. Damania examines how we can all work to build Health 3.0, an ideal model of care where technology and evidence-based medicine seamlessly support healthcare teams in achieving the outcomes that actually matter to our patients, while improving the wellbeing of the caregivers themselves.

He subsequently founded ZDoggMD Industries, the digital production studio behind the Internet’s #1 medical news and entertainment show, The ZDoggMD Show. Reaching millions of viewers weekly, Dr. Damania leads a passionate tribe of healthcare professionals towards this vision of Health 3.0, with in-depth interviews of medical thought leaders, mixed with merciless satire and hilarious takedowns of popular pseudoscience.

Through song, humor and creative storytelling, Dr. Damania delves into the challenges of delivering compassionate health care in our severely dysfunctional medical system while proposing collaborative ways to revitalize it. He explores how we might work individually and collectively to transform the current system and ensure that the future of medicine is a bright one.

Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Springfield, is the 47th U.S. Senator from the State of Illinois, the state’s senior senator, and the convener of Illinois’ bipartisan congressional delegation.

Durbin also serves as the Democratic Whip, the second highest ranking position among the Senate Democrats. Senator Durbin has been elected to this leadership post by his Democratic colleagues every two years since 2005.

Elected to the U.S. Senate on November 5, 1996, and re-elected in 2002, 2008, and 2014, Durbin fills the seat left vacant by the retirement of his long-time friend and mentor, U.S. Senator Paul Simon.

Durbin sits on the Senate Judiciary, Appropriations, Agriculture, and Rules Committees. He is the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and the Appropriations Committee’s Defense Subcommittee.

Senator Durbin makes approximately 50 round trips a year between Washington and Illinois. He is married to Loretta Schaefer Durbin. Their family consists of three children–Christine (deceased), Paul and Jennifer–as well as six grandchildren. They reside in Springfield.

Maria Fava has over 20 years of experience leading and producing large scale events for Corporations and non for profit clients. She also started and co-owns the A.J Fava Produce Company with her husband of 25 years. She currently serves in the Believe Big Organization Advisory Board and recently became a member of ALFPA (Association of Latino Professionals for America).
She is a speaker, mother, wife and patient advocate.

Dr. Karen Wolk Feinstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation (JHF) and its three operating arms, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI), Health Careers Futures (HCF), and the Women’s Health Activist Movement Global (WHAMglobal). Combined, they perform a unique mix of grantmaking, research, teaching, coaching, and project management in order to serve as a regional catalyst for progressive health care.

Under her leadership, JHF and PRHI have become a leading voice in patient safety, healthcare quality, and related workforce issues. When Dr. Feinstein founded PRHI, it was among the nation’s first regional multi-stakeholder quality coalitions devoted simultaneously to advancing efficiency, best practices, and safety by applying industrial engineering principles. Dr. Feinstein founded HCF to assist the region’s healthcare industry in attracting, preparing, and retaining employees. WHAMglobal was established to empower women to lead efforts to advance healthcare systems that are transparent, respectful, accountable, and equitable.

Dr. Feinstein is widely regarded as a leader in healthcare quality improvement and frequently presents at national and international conferences. She was a presenter at the 2016 TEDxBeaconStreet event, an independently organized Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) event with a global audience. She has served on the faculties of Boston College and Carnegie Mellon University, and taught at the University of Pittsburgh. She is the author of numerous regional and national publications on quality and safety. Dr. Feinstein is the editor of Moving Beyond Repair, which explores the conditions required to successfully apply Lean as a system-wide quality improvement philosophy. In 2015 she was named Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine, and in 2020 she was recognized as a member of Pittsburgh Business Times’ Power 100, a guide to the region’s most influential business leaders.

Dr. Feinstein is a founder and executive committee member of the Network for Regional Health Initiative, a past President of Grantmakers In Health and Grantmakers of Western PA, and founder and co-chair of the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative. She serves on many nonprofit, governmental, and for-profit boards, including the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Allegheny Parks Foundation, and the National Board of Medical Examiners. She’s appointed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Health Research Advisory Committee, Board of Visitors of the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside Board of Directors, and the UPMC System-wide Patient Care Committee. She is a founding member of the national Women of Impact coalition and a member of the International Women’s Forum where she established their Women in Health Care Special Interest Group.

Dr. Feinstein earned her bachelor’s degree in American History at Brown University, her Master of Social Work at Boston College, and her doctorate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Dr. Feinstein has Honorary Doctorates from Chatham and Carlow Universities.

Jack Gentry is a lifelong Baltimore resident. He graduated from Loyola University in 1975 with a BA in political science and a BA in history. Jack joined the Baltimore City Police Dept in 1975 and worked in various fields of law enforcement throughout his 37 year career. His expertise included 26 years of hostage negotiation, 14 of which he served as the instructor and coordinator of the team. In 1994, Jack became a member of the Baltimore City SWAT team, eventually serving as a team leader. As part of the SWAT team, Jack was also a member of the Emergency Services Unit. Jack was a highly decorated police agent throughout his extensive career. His awards included 4 Bronze Stars, 5 Unit Citations, a Life Saving award, a Mayoral Citation of Valor, 2 Police Commissioner Ribbons of Excellence, and a Departmental Accommodation Ribbon. He was a 1987 nominee for Baltimore City police officer of the year and in 1988 he was given the Maryland State Police Officer of the Year award. In 2012 Jack retired from the Police Dept.

In addition to his police career, he was an avid wood worker and carpenter, designing and building custom cabinets and furniture. He also spent 12 years as a little league baseball coach and enjoyed skiing, camping, spelunking, hiking, rock climbing, golfing, sailing, traveling and competitive running. Additionally, he and his wife, Teresa, raised 3 successful boys.

While looking forward to an active retirement, Jack’s plans changed drastically when, in April 2013, he was seriously injured as a result of a medical error during an elective surgery to repair two bulging discs in his neck. Jack was paralyzed from the neck down.

Dr. Mauricio Gonzalez is a board-certified internist and emergency medicine senior resident in New York City. His main focus has been public health. His message is to inform the science behind a healthy lifestyle that includes predominantly a plant-based rich diet and exercise. He created the first medical seminar in Latin America (veggie power summit) that educates physicians, nurses and the general public about diet and exercise as efficient measures to counteract the surge of non-communicable diseases. Thousands of people from all over the world attend this event every year. During his residency, he was an active member of the ethics committee in his hospital.

He has presented his work in Germany and has been invited to speak on different platforms, such as the senate of Buenos Aires and the internal medicine program of Weill Cornell. In 2017 he joined the campaign of an independent candidate for the Mexican presidency as health care policy advisor.

He is passionate about sharing scientific facts about prevention through his social media accounts, which has captivated the attention of thousands of young people throughout the world. He is a frequent guest in Univision, Telemundo, CNN, among others. His current efforts include sharing medically accurate facts about COVID19.

Helen Haskell is co-chair of the World Health Organization’s Patients for Patient Safety advisory group, president of the American nonprofit patient organizations Mothers Against Medical Error and Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, and a board member of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Since the medical error death of her young son Lewis in 2000, Helen has devoted herself to enhancing the patient contribution to safety and quality in healthcare, in areas ranging from infection prevention, medication safety, and diagnostic accuracy to health professional education and response to patient harm. She serves as a public director at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and on the board of advisors of the Medstar Institute for Quality and Safety and the International Society for Rapid Response Systems. Helen has been closely involved in the passage of patient safety legislation in her state of South Carolina and has written numerous articles, book chapters, and patient educational materials, including a co-edited textbook of case studies in patient safety from the patient perspective. Her son Lewis’s story has been featured in educational programs and videos including Transparent Health’s full-length Lewis Blackman Story. Helen holds a bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies from Duke University and a master’s degree in Anthropology from Rice University in the United States.

Marty Hatlie is CEO of Project Patient Care (PPC, a non-profit organization that uses the voice of the patient to improve care. PPC’s mission is to mobilize the diverse healthcare stakeholders in metropolitan Chicago to provide the best possible care to every patient every time, by eliminating preventable harm and implementing systemic change to ensure consistent excellence. He also is Co-Director of the MedStar Institute for Quality and Safety.

Drawing on experience as a civil rights attorney, malpractice defense litigator, lobbyist and coalition-builder, Hatlie is active in both public and organizational policy development on patient safety, litigation reform and patient safety issues. He works extensively with consumers and organizations to foster the cultural paradigm shift necessary to support a patient-centered, systems-based approach to the delivery of healthcare services. Hatlie is active in U. S. federal health system transformation work as a consultant on several projects funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

He was a lobbyist for the American Medical Association for many years. In 1996, he was instrumental in developing the first Annenberg Conference on Patient Safety. In 1997, he coordinated the establishment of the National Patient Safety Foundation and served as its founding Executive Director (1997-99). From 2000 through 2002, Hatlie served as the National Chair of VHA Inc.’s Accelerated Learning Initiative on Patient Safety, working with VHA member hospitals across the country.

Mr. Hatlie is the co-editor of the Patient Safety Handbook (Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2003), one of the first textbooks in the field of patient safety. He has authored numerous articles addressing patient safety, patient engagement and medical liability issues. Among other activities, p4ps develops case-based training tools exploring systems problems that produce adverse patient events. Its interactive educational programs, the First Do No Harm® video series, developed in partnership with the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, are used widely in more than 40 countries.

Mr. Hatlie currently serves in Board of Directors positions for Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, the Leapfrog Group Board of Directors, the Alliance for Integrated Medication Management and MacNeal Hospital. He currently serves on advisory bodies for AHRQ, the Joint Commission and National Quality Forum. He also serves on the Steering Committees of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation, the National Patient Safety Foundation Patient Safety Action Plan and Patients for Patient Safety (PFPS), a part of the World Health Organization’s Patient Safety Programme. Hatlie has helped organize and facilitate numerous workshops in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe that prepare participants to be PFPS Patient Safety Champions.

Previously, Mr. Hatlie was a member of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Session on Medical Error and served on the boards of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, the Physician Insurers Association of America, the American Tort Reform Association and Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus. He was the Founding Chair of both the Health Care Liability Alliance and the National Medical Liability Reform Coalition – both are Washington, D.C.-based coalitions that advocate civil justice and patient safety reform. Mr. Hatlie is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts and Illinois.

Charles Holland is President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Bernard Hospital, a safety-net community hospital that proudly serves residents of Chicago’s South Side. Mr. Holland assumed leadership of the Hospital on January 1, 2013. He has served in various administrative roles at the hospital since 1998. He is a member of the hospital’s Board of Trustees and in May 2019 he was designated as a representative for the Congregation of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph with Catholic Health Partners/Catholic Health International, the sponsor of St. Bernard Hospital.

Since joining the senior leadership team of St. Bernard Hospital in 1998, Mr. Holland has been instrumental in helping to build the stature of the hospital as an institutional community development leader. He led the work on Bernard Place, the Englewood hospital’s 77 home affordable housing project, which won the prestigious Richard H. Driehaus Award for Outstanding Non-profit Neighborhood Real Estate Project in 2004. He has guided the development of pivotal programs such as the Pediatric Mobile Health Unit and the St. Bernard Hospital Dental Center. As the leader of St. Bernard’s strategic planning efforts, Mr. Holland led the Senior Management Team in the development of the hospital’s newly opened 70,000 square foot state of the art Ambulatory Care Center.

Mr. Holland takes an active role in the healthcare needs of Englewood and serves on the Board of Directors of the South Side Healthcare Collaborative.

Mr. Holland earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Akron, and Master of Arts degrees in social service administration from the University of Chicago and in health law from Loyola University, Chicago. In 2011 he completed the Ministerial Leadership Preparation Program of the Francis Cardinal George Center for Ministerial Development, a program designed to prepare lay leaders to assume leadership of Catholic healthcare organizations.

Jeremy Hunt has been a Conservative Member of Parliament for South West Surrey since May 2005.

In May 2010 Jeremy was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, during which time he oversaw a successful Olympic and Paralympic Games in London in the summer of 2012. He had shadowed this brief in opposition since July 2007. From September 2012 to July 2018, Jeremy held the position of Secretary of State for Health. He was reappointed in the role in January 2018 with the added responsibility of Social Care. In June 2018, Jeremy became the longest serving Secretary of State for Health in British history.

In July 2018, Jeremy was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, a position he held until July 2019.

Born on 1 November 1966, Mr. Hunt studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University. He lives in Godalming and London with his wife Lucia and their three young children.

John T. James, earned a PhD in pathology in 1982 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore. He was board certified in toxicology in 1986 and is now a retired toxicologist, having spent most of his professional career as NASA’s chief toxicologist. He became a patient safety activist after the death of his 19-year old son, a junior at Baylor University, due to uninformed and unethical medical care. The story is told in his 2007 book A Sea of Broken Hearts. In 2008 he founded Patient Safety America to educate the public about the dangers of medical care. In 2013 he published a seminal article in the Journal of Patient Safety, using recent data to estimate that 440,000 Americans die prematurely each year due to preventable mistakes made during their hospitalization. In 2014 he testified to a Senate Subcommittee on medical errors. He co-edited a book called The Truth about Big Medicine, which was published in 2015. Chapter authors included MDs, nurses, change leaders and PhDs. His current work focuses on informed consent, patient rights, and reducing diagnostic errors. He serves in a half-dozen patient safety and care-quality groups.

Soojin (or “Soo”) is a board certified geriatric pharmacist in Illinois and Wisconsin.  She is also a certified professional in patient safety and certified professional in healthcare quality, evidently very passionate about patient safety and quality improvement.  After losing her dad to many gaps in healthcare as a minority caregiver, possibly from medication adverse events, she changed her career from a wedding videographer to a pharmacist. 

She specializes in medication therapy management and believes empathy in healthcare can make healing possible in any relationship of healthcare.  She has experiences in both inpatient and outpatient pharmacies and has worked as a population health pharmacist that manages complex medication regimens and also helps with social determinants of healthcare.  She is also an ambassador for Patient Safety Movement Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to patient safety worldwide, where she passionately speaks up about patient safety, patient rights, minority health, and patient advocacy for voiceless patients. She speaks English and Korean and is eager to help patients!   

Mr. Loftin is a progressive senior healthcare executive who cultivates a culture of healing and person and family-centered care.

Dr. Tim McDonald, MD JD, is an accomplished physician and attorney, with more than 30 years of experience. By using the CANDOR approach, he has assisted over 200 hospitals and health systems implement a culture of “normalized compassionate honesty” combined with the transformation to a “fair and accountable culture.” Tim has received numerous Patient Safety awards including the American College of Medical Quality’s Founder’s Award, the Institute of Medicine – Chicago Patient Safety Award, and the MITSS Hope Award.

Dr. Mellin-Olsen is cand. med. from the University of Trondheim, Norway, from 1982. In 1987, she was the first Norwegian female physician to complete her (voluntary) military services, which she did by serving for the UNIFIL Forces in South Lebanon. She got involved in patient safety initiatives during her residency training in Trondheim University Hospital where she got her specialty in 1992. She has worked for the Red Cross in Pakistan and Serbia. She was the medical director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa for MedAire, Inc, based in Tampe, AZ, for ten years, dealing with remote medical advice, including for aviation and maritime. Since 2002, she has held a full-time clinical post in Baerum Hospital, Oslo, Norway.

Both in her home country and internationally, Jannicke is known for her dedication to organizational work. She has been active in the Veterans’ organization and in national and international medical organizations. During her term in the European Board of Anaesthesiology, she chaired the Patient Safety and Quality Committee before becoming president. During her presidency, she was the driving force for the Helsinki Declaration on Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology, which was launched in 2010. Since then, this Declaration has been signed and supported in all regions of the world and has become the industry standard. She is currently the secretary of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and the president-elect of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists. In her home country, she is known as a promoter of a non-punitive approach to medical errors, according to the model of the NTSB’s. She is particularly committed to human factors, communication, and involvement of patients, relatives, and clinical staff as experts to improve patient safety.

Jannicke’s publication list mainly contains articles and book chapters related to patient safety, education, and manpower. She is a well-known speaker at anaesthesiology meetings globally and holds several honorary positions.

Dr. Najmedin Meshkati is a (tenured, full) Professor of Civil/Environmental Engineering, Industrial & Systems Engineering; and International Relations at the University of Southern California; an Associate (former Research Fellow) with the Project on Managing the Atom at Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School; and an Associate with the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard.

Meshkati was a Jefferson Science Fellow and a Senior Science and Engineering Advisor, Office of Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State, US State Department, Washington, DC.  He is a Commissioner of The Joint Commission (a not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies nearly 21,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States and operates in 92 countries around the world) and is on the Board of Directors of the Center for Transforming Healthcare.  He is a member of the Board on Human-Systems Integration (BOHSI), Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, The National Academies (Sciences, Engineering and Medicine).  He has served as a member of the Global Advisory Council of the Civilian Research and Development Foundation Global, chaired by Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering.

For the past 35 years, he has been teaching and conducting research on risk reduction and reliability enhancement of complex technological systems, including nuclear power, aviation, petrochemical and transportation industries. He has been selected by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and National Research Council  for his interdisciplinary expertise concerning human performance and safety culture to serve as member and technical advisor on two national panels in the United States investigating two major recent accidents: The NAS/NRC Committee “Lessons Learned from the Fukushima Nuclear Accident for Improving Safety and Security of U.S. Nuclear Plants” (2012-2014); and the NAE/NRC “Committee on the Analysis of Causes of the Deepwater Horizon Explosion, Fire, and Oil Spill to Identify Measures to Prevent Similar Accidents in the Future”.

Dr. Meshkati has inspected many petrochemical and nuclear power plants around the world, including Chernobyl, Fukushima Daiichi and Daini.  He has worked with the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, as an expert on human factors and safety culture, on the investigation of the BP Refinery explosion in Texas City, and served as a member of the National Research Council  Committee on Human Performance, Organizational Systems and Maritime Safety. He also served as a member of the NRC Marine Board’s Subcommittee on Coordinated R&D Strategies for Human Performance to Improve Marine Operations and Safety.

Dr. Meshkati is the only full-time USC faculty member who has continuously been conducting research on human factors and aviation safety-related issues (e.g., cockpit design and automation, crew resource management, safety management system, safety culture, and runway incursions,) and teaching in the USC 63-year old internationally renowned Aviation Safety and Security Program, for the past 25 years.  During this period, he has taught in the “Human Factors in Aviation Safety” and “System Safety” short courses.  From 1992 to 1999, he also was the Director and had administrative and academic responsibility for the USC Professional Programs, which included Aviation Safety, as well as for the Transportation Safety, and Process Safety Management (which he designed and developed) programs.  He has worked with numerous safety professionals from all over the world and has taught safety short courses for private and public sector organizations, including the US Navy, US Air Force, US Forest Service, California OSHA, Celgene, Metrolink, Exelon, FedEx, the Republic of Singapore Air Force, Singapore Institution of Safety Officers, China National Petrochemical Corporation, Canadian upstream oil and gas industry (Enform), Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Republic of Korea), etc.

Dr. Meshkati is an elected Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society; the 2015 recipient of the HFES highest award, the Arnold M. Small President’s Distinguished Service Award, for his “career-long contributions that have brought honor to the profession and the Society”; and the 2007 recipient of the HFES Oliver Keith Hansen Outreach Award for his “scholarly efforts on human factors of complex, large-scale technological systems.”  He is the inaugural recipient of the Ernest Amory Codman Lectureship and Award (form The Joint Commission for his leadership and efforts in continuously improving the safety and quality of care).  He is an AT&T Faculty Fellow in Industrial Ecology, a NASA Faculty Fellow (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2003 and 2004), and a recipient of the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation in 1989.

He has received numerous teaching awards at USC, which include the 2013 Steven B. Sample Teaching and Mentoring Award from the USC Parents Association, the 2000 TRW Award for Excellence and Outstanding Achievement in Teaching from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering; the 1996, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2016 Professor of Year Award (Excellence in Teaching and Dedication to Students Award) from the Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering; the Mortar Board’s Honored Faculty Award (2007-2008) from the University of Southern California’s Chapter of the Mortar Board; and the Outstanding Teaching Award from The Latter-day Saint Student Association at USC.  He was chosen as a Faculty Fellow by the Center for Excellence in Teaching, USC.

He is the co-editor and a primary author of the book Human Mental Workload, North-Holland, 1988. His articles and commentaries on public policy; the risk, reliability, and environmental impact of complex, large-scale technological systems; and foreign policy-related issues have been published in several national and international newspapers and magazines such the New York Times, International New York Times (International Herald Tribune), Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, The Hill, Baltimore Sun, Charleston Gazette, Houston Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, MIT Technology Review, Japan Times, Korea Herald (South Korea), Strait Times (Singapore), Times of India, Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey), Gulf Today (UAE), The Nation (UAE), Gulf News (Qatar), Iran News (Iran), Shargh (Iran), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Winnipeg Free Press, Waterloo Region Record, Windsor Star (Canada), Scientific Malaysian, etc.

As chairman of the “group of experts” of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA), Dr. Meshkati coordinated international efforts which culminated in the joint publication of the United Nations’ International Labor Office (ILO) and IEA Ergonomic Checkpoints: Practical and Easy-to-Implement Solutions for Improving Safety, Health and Working Conditions book in 1996, for which he received the Ergonomics of Technology Transfer Award from the IEA in 2000.  According to the ILO, this book has so far been translated and published into 16 languages including Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysian, Chinese, Estonian, Farsi, French, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese.  The second edition of this book was released by the ILO/IEA in 2010.

Dr. Meshkati simultaneously received a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and a B.A. in Political Science in 1976, from Sharif (Arya-Meher) University of Technology and Shahid Beheshti University (National University of Iran), respectively; a M.S. in Engineering Management in 1978; and a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering in 1983 from USC.  He is a Certified Professional Ergonomist.

Miceli has set the vision and mission for the University of Vermont Medical Center Supply Chain operation, ranked #1 and #2 by the University Health System Consortium/Vizient in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. The effectiveness of the supply chain has supported the clinical mission and operations of the University of Vermont Medical Center, OneCare Vermont, and the University of Vermont Health Network

Miceli has also served as the Vice President of Information Systems for the University of Vermont Medical Center as well as the CIO for the OneCare Vermont Accountable Care Organization

Key accomplishments include sponsoring the successful integration of biomedical devices with the EPIC EHR, as well as championing interoperability of key clinical applications with EPIC (McKesson PACS).

Prior to joining Fletcher Allen/University of Vermont Medical Center in 2008, Miceli held leadership positions in supply chain, biomedical engineering, and support services at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Loyola University Medical Center, The University of Chicago Hospital and Health Systems, and Partners Healthcare System in Boston. He has also served as an expert consultant in change management/turn around, cost management, and information systems.

An avid guitarist, Miceli and colleague McKenna Lee founded the musical group McKenna Lee and the Microfixers in 2010. Over the past 7 years the group has helped raise over $20k for charitable causes. He has two adult children with wife Mari, an RN and fellow patient safety advocate who designed and developed the PatientAider app that the Miceli’s donated to the Patient Safety Movement Foundation.

Danielle Ofri MD, PhD is one of the foremost voices in the medical world today, speaking passionately about the doctor-patient relationship and bringing humanity back to health care. She is an internist at Bellevue Hospital, the oldest public hospital in the country and Editor-in-Chief of the Bellevue Literary Review, as well as a clinical professor of medicine at NYU School of Medicine.

Her newest book is “When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error”.

Danielle Ofri is the author of five other books about life in medicine:

• What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine.
• Medicine in Translation
• What Patients Say; What Doctors Hear
• Incidental Findings
• Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue

She was also editor of a medical textbook—The Bellevue Guide to Outpatient Medicine—which won a Best Medical Textbook award.

Danielle Ofri writes regularly for the New York Times, the Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Slate Magazine about medicine and the doctor-patient relationship. Her articles have also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, CNN and on National Public Radio.

Her writings have been selected twice for Best American Essays and also for Best American Science Writing. She has received the McGovern Award from the American Medical Writers Association for “preeminent contributions to medical communication.”   She is also the recipient of this year’s National Humanism in Medicine Medal from the Gold Foundation.

Danielle Ofri has given TED talks on Deconstructing Perfection and Fear: A Necessary Emotion, and has also performed stories for the Moth. She is featured in the upcoming documentary: “Why Doctors Write.”

In lieu of going to the gym, she spend most evenings wrestling with the Bach cello suites, routinely bested by a guy who’s been dead for 270 years.

She strives for a serene, uncluttered life of Zen, but has teenagers instead.

Christine Pontus is an Associate Director of Health & Safety in the division of Nursing for the Massachusetts Nurses Association.  She has worked as a staff nurse in the hospital, a certified occupational health nurse and a certified case manager in the manufacturing environment.  Chris was also a risk manager administering workers compensation for a self-insured’s business as well as a consultant to the Insurance Industry.

Currently she is involved in identifying and analyzing research, policy and current trends in the field of Occupational Health and Safety as it  impacts nurses.  As an educator and Nurse Planner, she is responsible for planning, developing and presenting approved educational programs for registered nurses.

Chris is directly involved with injured nurses helping them through the Workers Compensation System and testifying on their behalf. She represents the Massachusetts Nurse Association working in collaboration with diverse organizations and professionals both on a national and international basis.

Raj is the vice president of scientific affairs for the MedStar Health Research Institute, the director of the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare and an associate professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. As director, he oversees the Center’s vision and strategy and has overall responsibility for Center activities. He is also an active applied researcher serving as principal investigator on numerous grants and contracts, including three research project grant (R01) awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which are among the most prestigious grants. Raj has expertise in health information technology, usability and safety, interruptions and workflow, data visualization, and data science. Raj’s research has been funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), National Institutes of Health (NIH), The Pew Charitable Trusts, and industry partners. His work has been published in high-impact journals such as The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and Health Affairs and has influenced both policy and frontline clinical practice. His research has been featured by Politico, Fortune, Kaiser Health News, National Public Radio (NPR), and many other media outlets. He serves on the federal 21st Century Cures Act Health Information Technology Advisory Committee and has testified to the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. He holds a doctorate in human factors and applied cognition and was a National Research Council post-doctoral fellow at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. He enjoys spending time with family, traveling, distance running, and tennis.

Brandon “Stix” Salaam-Bailey (born July 13, 1983) is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Salaam-Bailey, was born and raised in Watts, Ca, having started off as a full-time dancer in 2002, creating one of the most popular dance movements in the world called “KRUMP.” The new dance craze eventually went mainstream after it hit the big screens from world renown director David La’Chapelle’s “Rize”.

During mid-2006, Stix and partner, Nicholas Gouche, developed a worldwide rap battle league called “The Pit” where the battle rap careers of Dizaster and Daylyt were born. The Pit in just a short time, immediately became LA’s most popular and top hip-hop event. The PIT amassed support from some of the west coast’s most notable artist like Kendrick Lamar, Problem, YG, Glasses Malone, Roscoe, Mistah Fab, J-Doe, Gizzle (Bad Boy), and BadLucc (Diamond Lane) to name a few. The Pit also received support from artist outside of the western region like Nas, Redman, and Young Jeezy.

In 2012, his determination and will to succeed would later lead him to work with and executive produce pop rapper Iggy Azalea on her first mixtape Ignorant Art. Stix became instrumental in the early stages of the Iggy Azalea brand. Along with hyping up crowds on stage with I-G-G-Y, Stix would go forward and executive produce Iggy’s “Glory” album with rap legend TI, and “Trap Gold” with FKI’s 1st down and edm producer Diplo.

Billboard’s cover story music executive Sarah Stennett, hired Stix to join her Turn First / First Access roster of A&R’s in late 2014. Stix would develop, executive produce, and oversee projects from artist Bishop Nehru, Zernell Fontaine, and Laurel. Stix would also lend his services as a songwriter/record producer to exclusively produce and write for artist like Rita Ora, Zayn Malik, Ellie Goulding and other Turn First / First Access artist. During the end of Summer 2015, pop star Iggy Azalea tweeted that she was back in the studio with her good friends Stix, and the collective D.R.U.G.S to work on her 2017 release “Digital Distortion”. The first leak “Azillion” received over 1 million views on Soundcloud in 2 days and the first official single “Team” debuted #42 on the Billboard Hot 100, IGGY’s highest debut of her career.

In 2016, Stix was Tanqueray Ten and Ciroc’s official music program ambassador for their liquor spirit. Stix’s superior ability to perform secured him a slot as the opening act on the Puff Puff Pass Tour 2 behind Westcoast legend Snoop Dogg. Other acts on the tour included Dogg Pound, Warren G, & Bone Thugs and Harmony. Stix was also selected for Pepsi Co‘s ‘Stubborn Soda’ series campaign. Pepsi highlighted Stix’s story on how he managed to become a successful entertainer. Keep your ears and eyes open for the Watts City native and watch the journey as history is being made.

Today, Stix is the official ambassador for LAFC (Los Angeles Football Club) and the LA Clippers. Stix has created the theme song for both teams and has launched multiple community activations over the last year. Stix has recently created the Thinkwatts Foundation a 501c3 company who’s main objective is to develop resources and create opportunities for low income and underserved communities. To date, the Thinkwatts Foundation has partnered with various companies like Adidas, LA Clippers, WSS, Banc of California, and Planet Fitness to refurbish over 16 outdoor basketball courts, 1 indoor basketball gym, 1 renovated fitness room inside Drew Middle School in Watts , a 5 week financial literacy course covering money management, credit building, and the introduction to investing along with donating over 100+ pairs of shoes, groceries to over 100 families, and more. Recently, Stix and the Thinkwatts Foundation partnered up with Beyond Meat to hand out beyond meat products and boxes of fresh produce to over 4000+ people in the Watts community.

Prof. and Dr. Sheu is the superintendent of Taichung Veterans General Hospital in Taiwan and holds several adjunct and consulting professor of medicine at several medical schools in Taiwan including National Defense Medical Center, National Yang Ming University, both at Taiwan.  He is currently the president of Taiwan Public Hospital Association, as well as the immediate past president (2013-2019) of Diabetes Association, Taiwan and the immediate past chair (2016 to 2017) of the IDF-WPR.

Dr. Sheu had led a team in Taichung Veterans General Hospital, located at central Taiwan, as the most prestigious smart hospital in Taiwan.  This hospital was the first film-free and paper-free hospital.  By employing central dashboard they had shown how to improve quality of diseases control for inpatients as well as outpatients care when back to community.  They also develop dynamic visualized control and several lean processes to greatly run operations room efficiently.

Dr. Sheu has authored and co-authored more than 410 original articles in the areas of Diabetes, Endocrinology, Hypertension, Obesity and Coronary Heart Disease. Dr. Sheu and this team has been actively participated many international clinical trials, such as TECOS, EXSCEL, REWIND, CREDENCE etc. He has frequently been invited to deliver speech in domestic and internal medical conferences.  He also serves as editorial board member of as reviewer for many scientific journals, including Diabetes Care, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, American Journal of Hypertension, Circulation Journal of Biomedical Sciences, Journal of Diabetes Investigation to name a few.

Nikki Silvestri is the Founder and CEO of Soil and Shadow, a coaching and consulting firm bringing social and environmental entrepreneurs more impact in their work and joy in their lives.
As an entrepreneur and serial non-profit Executive Director, Nikki has invited thousands of leaders and hundreds of businesses and organizations into more in-depth conversations around the intersection of ecology, economy, and social equity. Her wide-ranging career has taken her from presentations at the White House and negotiations with the Environmental Protection Agency to intimate workshops with local businesses and small retail organizing. A nationally recognized thought leader and international keynote speaker, her many honors include being named one of The Root’s 100 Most Influential African Americans.
Nikki serves as a Board Member for Greenpeace USA and is the Board Co-Chair of the Business Alliance of Local Living Economies (BALLE). She is a Faculty Member at the Food Business School (she co-designed and taught one of their inaugural courses, “Ethical Leadership in Food Business”). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including ELLE Magazine’s “Gold” Award and OxFam America’s “Act Local, Think Global” Award.
Nikki has a master’s degree in African American Studies from UCLA and is originally from Los Angeles. She currently lives in Oakland with her husband and son.

After an MBA (Master of Business Administration) at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France) and an MPA (Master of Public Administration) at IDHEAP (Lausanne, Switzerland), Anthony Staines obtained a Ph.D. in Management at University of Lyon (France). He is the author of a doctoral dissertation on the impact of hospital quality improvement programs on clinical outcomes.

He currently runs a portfolio of Patient Safety improvement projects for the Federation of hospitals of Canton Vaud, in Switzerland, and advises a number of hospitals on Patient Safety strategies and projects. He lectures on Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at IFROSS, University of Lyon, France. Together with Charles Vincent, he recently coauthored the Swiss National Report on Quality and Safety in Healthcare.

Robyn Symon is a two-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker specializing in documentaries and television series. Robyn began her career as a television news reporter at the NBC and ABC network affiliates in Southeast Texas and then joined the staff of the PBS station WPBT in Miami as a Producer, ultimately becoming a Senior Producer. In 2007, Robyn debuted in the independent film arena, producing, directing and editing the feature documentary “Transformation: The Life & Legacy of Werner Erhard” about one of the most controversial pioneers of the multi-billion-dollar self-help industry. Other award-winning films followed including “Behind the Blue Veil” about the nomadic Tuaregs caught in the middle of the war on terror in West Africa and “Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride” a stranger than fiction true story of a senior citizen who hides from the law as a woman and then undergoes a sex change operation. All of her films have won awards and received international distribution deals.

Robyn has also produced hundreds of hours of television programming for various networks including PBS, NBC, Discovery, CNBC, HGTV including the PBS series “Voices of Vision,” hosted by NPR’s Scott Simon focusing on the work of non-profit organizations around the world and “Florida!” for The Travel Channel.  Recently Robyn produced and directed the docu-series “Nancy O’Dell Remembers” for the Reelz Channel about the shocking deaths of Robin Williams and Michael Jackson and “Fatal Addiction” an inside look at Hollywood’s role in the opioid crisis. Her most recent film DO NO HARM: Exposing the Hippocratic Hoax is currently on an international film tour and is available on Amazon and set for a broadcast on PBS stations in September 2020.  In addition to two Suncoast Emmys, Robyn has been honored with three national Telly awards, two NABJ awards among others.  For more info her company website is www.Symonproductions.com and www.donoharmfilm.com

Daria Brooks Terrell, MD, serves as St. Bernard Hospital’s Medical Director of Clinical Programming and Health Outcomes. In this role, Terrell develops the safety-net hospital’s community health initiatives with an emphasis on patient education, preventive care, improved patient outcomes and health disparities. She also serves as Chair of Surgery and Vice President of the medical staff.

Dr. Terrell is known for her expertise, concern for the community and high standards for patient service. She plays an integral role in the hospital’s efforts to address the health disparities that threaten the well-being local residents. She works with communities on Chicago’s South Side to have an impact on treatment of diabetes, behavioral health, high blood pressure and preventative health.

An orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Terrell has been on St. Bernard Hospital’s staff since 2011. She is Wound Care Certified by the National Alliance of Wound Care, and she has been an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery. Additionally, Dr. Terrell has earned numerous awards and fellowships.

Vonda Vaden Bates added patient safety to her speaking topics and consultancy focus after extensively researching how her husband, Yogiraj Charles Bates, died from the most common preventable cause of hospital death, HA-VTE (Hospital Associated-Venous Thromboembolism.) Stalled attempts to engage the hospital redirected Vonda’s attention to patient safety everywhere. Aiming to avoid similar outcomes for other patients and providers, she compassionately sheds light on the impact opaque hospital cultures have upon grieving families. Advocating every player in the care arena, Vonda brings 20+ years of professional success to influence advancements in patient safety. She is the Sr. Trainer and Facilitator for 10^th Dot Transformations^®.

Manvir Victor popularly known as Manvir Sportsguru has been involved in the sports industry in Malaysia for the past 19 years. He formerly was part of the pioneer batch who joined Astro and also Astro Radio and was amongst the most influential people in the media while at NTV7, Astro and has also increased his exposure with his stint for BBC and Radio France while covering the Petronas F1. Stricken with kidney failure in 2002, he needed to transform himself and started a sports management company that has been at the forefront of youth development in sports. He now plays an integral role in the Patients for Patient Safety Malaysia as its’ first Chairman and speaks Internationally at major Healthcare Conferences championing the Patients rights.

Sheldon Whitehouse has made reforming our broken health care system a hallmark of his career.  During his time as Rhode Island’s Attorney General, he founded the Rhode Island Quality Institute, a collaborative effort between health care providers, insurers, and government that has pioneered efforts to expand the use of electronic medical records and improve the quality of care delivered across the state.

In the Senate, as a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), he has established himself as a leader on health care delivery system reform and health information technology (HIT), working to secure new investments in HIT through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  He has held hearings in the Special Committee on Aging on improving care for patients with advanced illnesses.  To combat the national opioid epidemic, Whitehouse authored the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, a bipartisan law that gives states resources to prevent drug abuse, treat addiction, reduce overdose deaths, and support those in recovery.  He helped to pass the Affordable Care Act, which expanded access to health insurance for people across the country, while also making important changes to the ways we deliver and pay for care that will lead to lower costs and better health outcomes.  To build on the progress made by the Affordable Care Act, Whitehouse introduced legislation to add a public option to the health insurance exchanges, which would guarantee consumers access to high-quality, low-cost plans.

A graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Whitehouse served as U.S. Attorney and Attorney General of Rhode Island before being elected to the Senate in 2006.  In addition to HELP and Aging, he is a member of the Budget Committee; the Environment and Public Works Committee; and the Judiciary Committee.

He and his wife Sandra, a marine biologist and environmental advocate, live in Newport.  They have two children.

For the latest updates on Senator Whitehouse’s work, follow @SenWhitehouse on Twitter and visit facebook.com/SenatorWhitehouse.

Dr. Ronald Wyatt joined MCIC Vermont in January 2020 as the Vice-President and Patient Safety Officer.

Prior to joining MCIC Vermont, Dr. Wyatt was formerly Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer at Cook County Health, one of the largest public health systems in the United States. He also served as Chief of Patient Safety and Quality for the Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha Qatar. Dr. Wyatt was the first Patient Safety Officer at the Joint Commission and in that role contributed to National Patient Safety Goals.

Dr. Wyatt is an internationally known patient safety and health equity subject matter expert.

He Co-chairs the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Equity Advisory Group and is faculty for the IHI Pursuing Equity Initiative.

Dr. Wyatt is a member of the ACGME Clinical Learning Environment Review committee (CLER) as well as faculty on the ACGME Disparity Collaborative.

The ACGME Disparity Collaborative has been underway for two years. It includes eight training programs and the focus includes health disparity, healthcare equity, implicit bias, racism in healthcare and cultural humility.

He also serves on several boards including the IHI Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), the Society to Prevent Diagnostic Error (SIDM) and the Consumers Advocating for Patient Safety (CAPS).

Dr. Wyatt is a credentialed course instructor in the School of Health Professions at the University of Alabama Birmingham, teaching a graduate course in health policy with a focus on safety and quality.

Dr. Wyatt is a graduate of the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Medicine, was chief resident in Internal Medicine at St. Louis University School of Medicine and holds an master’s (executive program) in health administration degree from the University of Alabama Birmingham School of Health Professions. He was a 2009-2010 Merck Fellow at IHI.

Senator Todd Young represents Hoosiers in the United States Senate. He currently serves on the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations; Health, Education, Labor & Pensions; Commerce, Science & Transportation; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. A fifth-generation Hoosier, Todd grew up watching his parents work hard in order to support the family. His first jobs were delivering newspapers, mowing lawns, and providing janitorial services at the family business. Todd is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He graduated with honors in 1995 and accepted a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 2000, Todd was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps as a Captain. While serving in the Marines and working as a business consultant, Todd earned an MBA and his law degree. In 2010, he ran for Congress and served three terms representing Indiana’s 9th District. He was elected to the US Senate in 2016. Todd married his wife Jenny in 2005 and worked together at a small law firm in Paoli, Indiana started by Jenny’s great-grandfather. Today, they reside in Johnson County, Indiana with their four young children: a son, Tucker, and three daughters, Annalise, Abigail and Ava.

The Driveway Divas are a group of musical women who used to meet monthly for a “Girls night”.  Of course after Covide-19 we no longer did this, then we thought of playing music together outside.  The majority of us met in the Palisades Symphony, a Community orchestra.  So I got some music together, Swedish, English, Bach Mozart and some pop tunes.  It is the highlight of my life now.  We play every other Sunday evening on my driveway. wearing masks and being 6 feet apart.  All play violin with two exceptions, a pianist and a flutist.  The flutist has a special mouthpiece for outside which keeps the wind from disturbing the sound but also keeps her from spreading any droplets. So we are safe and happy and enjoying the music. We are delighted to be part of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation’s commemoration of the World Patient Safety Day.

Driveway Divas:

Mary Ann Sereth – Bass & Violin
Yoko Tamanoi – violin
Eve Harrison  – flute
Keiko Cadby – violin
Sandra Zaninovich – violin
Samatha Castro – violin
Olga Khokhlova – piano

Dariush’s crusades in the world of art and social activism, as an Iranian artist as well as a humanitarian, have echoed the intimate connection between what is and what should be for over four decades. But his greatest impact lies with the millions of ordinary individuals whose lives he has touched and transformed, many of whom have been inspired by him to try to make the world a better place. His art with a purpose coupled with a passionate belief in the importance of civil liberties and political and human rights has made him an international symbol of a free Iran. By establishing Ayeneh Foundation & Media, an educational nonprofit, he has been empowering communities worldwide with education, awareness, and prevention with regard to such social maladies as the international disease of addiction, the plight of the children of labor, and refugees, and domestic violence among others. He has been an advocate for the establishment of a Health Triangle, consisting of a complementary collaboration between nonprofits, media, and people in an attempt to tackle society’s needs for healing. He has been a messenger of love and compassion to those around the world thriving to make a difference.

Dr. Lauren Miller is a violist, violinist, and educator. In addition to playing many professional shows with the Florida-based HMI Orchestra – a cross-genre group that performs classical, jazz, latin, pop, folk and film music with a variety of well-known artists, Dr. Miller has earned three advanced degrees including; a Bachelor of Music in string performance from the University of Colorado, and both a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

Since moving back to Orange County in 2017, Dr. Miller has been performing with the Dana Point Symphony Orchestra, freelancing, and and teaching private lessons. She has a fondness for beginning students and as an instructor, her goal is to promote physical and mental wellness amongst her students while bringing out their musicality and polishing their technique.

An award-winning songwriter, recording artist and filmmaker, Michael Stillwater provides artistic and transformative reflection upon core societal issues. An innovative educator, he catalyzes creative expression in people of all ages.

His film series, co-produced with his wife Doris Laesser Stillwater, has received seven Best Documentary awards and focuses on the music that lives in all of us, .

His chants and healing songs are enjoyed by listening audiences worldwide.

His intuitive recording artistry provides a unique way for people to feel seen and supported at an essential level. His Song Sanctuary seminars and retreats, and SongLife Trainings, give people access to their creative inspiration. He is co-author with film composer, Gary Malkin of the award-winning audio resource for palliative care and transition, Graceful Passages: A Companion for Living and Dying, and Care for the Journey: Messages and Music for Sustaining the Heart of Healthcare.

A guitarist with over 50 years experience teaching and performing, he has recently published No Mind Guitar: Contemplative Practice On Six Strings, a collection of exercises for beginning to advanced players.

His latest recording is Stillwater: Intuitive Music / Empathic Songs.

He resides in Helsinki, Finland with his wife Doris, offering music and creative educational programs online and worldwide.

Nombre: Sandra Damiana Ruiz González

Nacionalidad: Mexicana

Escolaridad: Lic. En Ciencias de la comunicación

1993.- Empezó a cantar profesionalmente el 7 de mayo en la ciudad de Chihuahua, desde entonces su carrera ha sido imparable. Heredera de talentos artísticos como sus padres el Sr. Miguel Alberto Ruiz Bejarano y la

bailarina Teresita de Jesús González Rodríguez (+) Sobrina del orgullo chihuahuense la señora “Lucha Villa”.

1995.- Ganadora del premio del heraldo de Chihuahua como la mejor intérprete.

1996.- Grabó su primer material discográfico en forma independiente bajo la dirección de su padre y con temas inéditos del señor Federico Méndez (no tengas miedo), del sr. Federico Regalado (pericia) y otro de su padre el sr. Miguel Alberto (larga espera) entre otros temas ya conocidos.

Participó en el certamen señorita Chihuahua donde obtuvo los títulos de Srita. Talento, Srita. Simpatía y el 3er lugar en la final

Recorrió París y Roma donde tuvo la oportunidad de cantar en el reconocido centro de espectáculos “El Lido de París” acompañada por la orquesta del mencionado lugar.

1997.- Triunfadora del 1er lugar en el festival de “Valores Juveniles” en la categoría de folklore con el tema “Yo traigo el as” de Kiko Campos y de Fernando Riba, bajo la dirección musical de Nando Hernández. Gracias a eso participo en todos los programas de revista como “Pácatelas, Hoy, Al ritmo de la noche, La botana, Siempre en domingo y Otro rollo.

1998.- Representante de la música mexicana en Cannes, Francia en un evento para todas las televisoras del mundo y donde se presentó acompañada por el mariachi Gama 1000 en una actuación especial para el Príncipe de Mónaco, quien la felicito personalmente e hizo varias peticiones como México lindo y el Rey.

Reina de la belleza en el municipio de Cuautitlán Izcalli donde también fue acreedora del título de belleza corporal.

1999.- Hizo labores comunitarias durante su reinado

2001.- Fue reconocida por un periódico del Edo. De México (Foro 10/25), por su entrega y profesionalismo en diferentes facetas artísticas.

2002.- Participó en el Donaton de Tlaxcala, Tlax.

A lo largo de estos años y a la fecha Damiana ha hecho palenques en diferentes ciudades como San Luís Potosí, Guadalajara, Zacatecas, Durango, Puebla, Aguascalientes, Colima, Estado de México y Chihuahua; siendo este el escenario que piso en el 2004 y donde tuvo una respuesta del público sin igual.

También participó el programa de Nuestra Casa bajo la conducción de Coque Muñiz y la Sra. Talina Fernández donde obtuvo uno de los primeros lugares y después se presentó con su grupo siendo invitada especial del mismo programa.

2004.-Abrió el baile de Julio Preciado y al mismo tiempo que este la apadrino junto con “el mimoso”, integrante de la banda El Recodo

2006-2007.-Trabajo para la campaña de la cervecería Moctezuma en la gira “a mover el bote” de la cerveza Montejo, presentándose en la ciudad de Yucatán, Campeche y en el carnaval de Veracruz.

2008.-Contratada por la unión ganadera a nivel nacional para amenizar el evento realizado en Chihuahua dentro de las instalaciones del palacio de gobierno.

En noviembre de este mismo año hizo una revista musical mexicana en el teatro Ferrocarrilero.

2009.-Se presentó en Oklahoma junto a Charly Valentino y el comediante Jota Jota.

2010 – 2011 Apoyando a la Secretaria de Salud, se presentó en dos ocasiones en el Auditorio Nacional en eventos para el Gobierno del DF. Alternando con la presencia de Carlos Cuevas, Alberto Ángel “El Cuervo” y Aranza 2012-2013 Hizo una presentación especial en la obra de teatro Si nos Dejan como

homenaje a su tía Lucha Villa siendo merecedora de un reconocimiento especial.

2015 Recibió galardón por trayectoria a la excelencia profesional como intérprete vernácula.

Se presentó en los programas de: Carlos cuevas “Noche a Noche Contigo”, “México Canta” de Julia Palma y María Elena Beltrán.

Canto en el Teatro Hidalgo haciendo un segundo Homenaje a Lucha Villa, de ahí que su público la ha Bautizado como Damiana Villa.

Invitada al programa Noches Con Platanito en los Ángeles California y entrevistas con Mónica Garza y en los programas La Cuchara, Hoy, Suelta la Sopa, Platicando con Alazraki, entre otros.

2016 Grabó la serie de tv HASTA QUE TE CONOCI La vida de Juan Gabriel interpretando el papel de Queta Jiménez, La Prieta Linda, actuando junto a los actores Julián Román (Juan Gabriel), Julio Bracho, Anette Michel entre otros.

Participó como jurado en un concurso de canto al lado de Chacho Gaytán y Erika Alcocer en el programa Las Tardes Con La Bigorra.

2017 Mención honorífica por preservar la música mexicana.

2018 Presenta su nuevo disco titulado ELLA de la mano de los productores Alazán Rodríguez, Erik Guecha y Joel Solís con si primer sencillo TE QUIERO DIFERENTE el cual ya se encuentra en todas las plataformas digitales.

2019 Participó con un pequeño papel en la serie de Bronco y continuó con la promoción de su disco.

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