Leonard C. Achan Jr. RN, MA, ANP is one of the founders of HealthGavel. He is an entrepreneur from New York City. He is a Registered Nurse and an Advanced Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. For the past decade, Leonard has worked in clinical, operational and business development roles within an academic medical center in New York City. He is an operational expert with a specific expertise in concierge medicine, relationship management and global health. Leonard’s interest and projects also extend into sustainable energy, technology, marketing and innovation. Leonard received his bachelors of science in nursing from Adelphi University, his masters degree in advanced practice nursing and adult acute care nurse practitioner from New York University, post masters degrees in administration and education from Villanova and Rutgers University respectively and he is a Fellow of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania as well as a Doctoral candidate at Middlesex University studying international health. Leonard has received awards for clinical excellence and has served on various boards of professional, fraternal, philanthropic and private organizations.

Johnny D’Abbraccio RN, MSN is one of the founders of HealthGavel. He is a Registered Nurse and entrepreneur in New York City. Johnny received his bachelors of science in nursing  from Adelphi University and a Masters degree in Nursing administration from New York University. Over the last decade, Johnny has worked as a clinical nurse on various inpatient units in major teaching hospitals in NY as well as being an administrator with an expertise in operations, international health and business development. John’s expertise would include concierge medicine, relationship management and global health. John is a member of several professional and fraternal organizations and serves on various committees and think tanks discussing health related issues in the global community.

Erin Lieber is an entrepreneur and health care executive in New York City. She attended Villanova University where she studied Marketing and International Business and has been working in the health care industry for the last 6 years. Erin has experience working in consulting and with start-ups in the health care industry, specifically personal health records and consumer driven health care and she is currently working in Managed Care in product development and marketing. Erin is working to continually improve her understanding of all aspects of the health care delivery system not only domestically, but in the international realm as well, including third world countries. To that end, she is currently a Masters candidate at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service for her degree in Global Health Policy. She has also been a member of the Wharton Fellows, a lifelong network for learning and innovation, since 2004.

Kimberly Mayo-Achan MA,CCC-SLP is a Certified Speech Language Pathologist and Teacher of the Speech and Hearing Handicap. She currently runs a private practice in New York as well as maintains a full time faculty position as the primary therapist for an autism based program in Long Island, NY. She is licensed by NYS and certified by the American Speech and Hearing Association. Kimberly has a Bachelor of arts in speech, language, hearing sciences and a Masters degree in Speech Language Pathology from Hofstra University in NY. Her specialties include Autism Spectrum Disorder, pediatric speech and child development, accent reduction therapy and early childhood education.

Dr Miriam Carasa is a Chief Nursing Officer at a New York City Hospital in Manhattan. Her former role was as the Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President for Patient Care Services at North General Hospital where she developed a nurse driven “Remedy Program” to collect supplies and equipment no longer needed to send to developing countries such as Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama. As a dedicated educator, Dr Carasa served for over four years as Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Graduate Program in Nursing at Lehman College . Her partnership with Lehman College and CUNY continues and has evolved in creating comprehensive programs for nursing students giving them optimal clinical experiences in addition to developing faculty for nursing programs. This partnership was acknowledged recently by the city council which provided CUNY with a grant to replicate the Saint Vincent’s pilot program in five other hospitals in New York City.

Before joining North General Hospital, Dr Carasa served as Nursing Director for Mount Sinai School of Medicine’s General Clinical Research Center. She also held nursing managerial positions at Mount Sinai Medical Center and acted as mentor to numerous minority students as part of the Center for Excellence in Youth Education of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. In 1997, Dr Carasa was recognized for her work with minority students with a service award given by the New York City Public Schools and Mount Sinai. It was working at Mount Sinai that Dr Carasa joined the Hope for a Healthier Humanity Organization. A passionate volunteer and member of the Board of Trustees from 2003 to 2009, Dr Carasa coordinated Health Education Programs for disease prevention and health promotion in Central America and encouraged members of NAHN to participate in missions to Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama.

Dr Carasa is the recipient of numerous awards in both clinical practice and education, and she is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. A former critical care nurse, she has written about the care of the chronically critically ill patients. Her work has been published in The American Journal of Nursing, Critical Care Clinics, and The American Journal of Surgery. Dr Carasa is presently a Peer Reviewer for The Journal of Transcultural Nursing.

Dr Carasa graduated from St Vincent’s School of Nursing in 1977. She achieved a Masters in Health Services Administration from the New School University, and a Masters and Doctoral Degree in Nursing from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr Carasa is board certified as Nurse Executive by The American Nurses Credentialing Center. A native of Cuba, Dr Carasa’s  passion is to mentor nurses and she has educated and encouraged nurses to excel all throughout her career.

Eric T. Bitet LMHC, MPH, MA is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Program Manager working for an academic medical Center in New York City area.  Since 2004, he has worked therapeutically in the field of mental health specializing in the assessment and treatment of severe psychopathology and anti-social behavior of severe and persistent mentally ill (SPMI) adults and the incarcerated youth within the juvenile detention centers of New York City. Eric has also worked administratively in residential services managing the housing needs of the SPMI adult population.  Eric specializes in public health issues, specifically community health, health promotion and disease prevention, issues related to health care access within the American healthcare system.  Eric is committed to raising the level of community awareness to these public health issues and also has interests in healthcare policy & management.  Eric received his bachelors of art in psychology from Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus, where he minored in sociology and graduated Summa Cum Laude while receiving multiple awards for academic excellence.  Eric received his masters of art in forensic psychology from City University of New York’s (CUNY) John Jay College of Criminal Justice and his masters of public health from City University of New York’s (CUNY) Hunter College.  Eric is a member of several professional and fraternal organizations and serves on various think tanks discussing health related issues in the local, national, and global communities.