Dr. Scott Parazynski is a highly decorated physician, astronaut, and tech CEO, recently inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame. He is a widely sought after keynote speaker on innovation, risk management, mentorship and leadership under extreme adversity. Scott has lived and traveled all over the world, spending many of his grade school years in places such as Senegal, Lebanon, Iran and Greece. A graduate of Stanford University and Medical School, he went on to train at Harvard and in Denver for a career in emergency medicine and trauma.

In 1992 he was selected to join NASA’s Astronaut Corps and eventually flew 5 Space Shuttle missions and conducted 7 spacewalks. Mission highlights include a global ozone mapping flight; leading the first joint US-Russian spacewalk while docked to the Russian space station Mir; serving as Senator John Glenn’s crewmate and “personal physician” and assembly of the Canadian-built space station robotic arm. In October 2007, Scott led the spacewalking team on STS-120, during which he performed 4 Extravehicular Activity (EVAs).

The final EVA is regarded by many as one of the most challenging and dangerous ever performed. The tremendous coordinated effort in orbit and on the ground by Mission Control has been likened to the Space Shuttle and Space Station era “Apollo 13 moment”

In addition to being a diver and accomplished mountaineer, Scott is also a commercial, instrument, multiengine and seaplane-rated pilot. On May 20, 2009, he became the first astronaut to stand on top of the world, the summit of Mount Everest. As a life-long explorer, he and a colleague recently set the first bootprints adjacent the world’s youngest lava lake, inside the crater of Massaya Volcano in Nicaragua.

He is a prolific inventor/product developer, and serves on the Boards of several companies. He is Founder and CEO of Fluidity Technologies, focused on the development of revolutionary input devices powered by machine learning to intuitively move through physical and virtual space.

Scott Parazynski has nothing to disclose.

Since 1989, Stanley M. Bergman has been Chairman of the Board and CEO of Henry Schein, Inc., a Fortune 500® company and the world’s largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental and medical practitioners, with more than 22,000 Team Schein Members worldwide and operations or affiliates in 32 countries and territories. Henry Schein is a member of the S&P 500® index. In 2021, the Company’s sales reached $12.4 billion. Henry Schein has been a Fortune World’s Most Admired Company for 21 consecutive years.

Mr. Bergman serves as a board member or advisor for numerous institutions including New York University College of Dentistry; the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine; the Columbia University Medical Center; University of the People; Hebrew University; Tel Aviv University; the University of the Witwatersrand Fund; The World Economic Forum’s Health Care Governors; the Business Council for International Understanding and the Metropolitan Opera.  Mr. Bergman is an honorary member of the American Dental Association and the Alpha Omega International Dental Society.  Mr. Bergman is the recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor; the CR Magazine Corporate Responsibility Lifetime Achievement Award; the 2017 CEO of the Year award by Chief Executive Magazine; Honorary Doctorates from The University of the Witwatersrand, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Western University of Health Sciences, Hofstra University, A.T. Still University’s Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, Case Western Reserve University, and Farmingdale State College (SUNY); and Honorary Fellowships from King’s College London – Dental Institute and the International College of Dentists.

Stan and Dr. Marion Bergman and their family are active supporters of organizations fostering the arts, higher education, and cultural diversity, as well as grassroots health care and sustainable entrepreneurial economic development initiatives in the United States, Africa, and other developing regions of the world.

Mr. Bergman is a graduate of The University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and is a South African Chartered Accountant and a NYS Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

Patrick Bauer has been an integral part of the Heartland Dental family since the earliest days of the company. During his time as Chief Operating Officer, he provided support wherever Heartland Dental needed it, serving as a dental assistant, administrator and everything in between.

Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bauer brings more than 25 years of experience in dental and healthcare operations management to the dental support organization.

Today, as CEO, he is responsible for the oversight and management of all operations and day-to-day functions of the company. He remains laser-focused on building and promoting professional, as well as personal, growth for all supported doctors and team members within the Heartland Dental family. Not only is this part of Bauer’s responsibilities, it’s also a personal passion of his.

Bauer and his wife, Gloria, enjoy spending time with their two children and two grandchildren. In addition, Bauer enjoys catching up on sports, reading and watching movies. He is a graduate of Concordia College.

Priyanki Amroliwala, Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition at 42 North Dental, is a seasoned Talent Acquisition Leader who has partnered with 42 North Dental for almost eight years. She specializes in talent acquisition/doctor recruiting for 110+ practices across the New England/Northeast/Mid-West region for 42 North Dental, focusing on doctors and specialists. Priyanki has 15 plus years’ experience, most recently in healthcare including the private duty home care and senior care sectors. She graduated from the University of Baltimore, Merrick School of Business, in 2006, specializing in Marketing Communications.

Priyanki is well-known in the dental and healthcare industries and believes that recruiting is her calling. One of her passions is to be “at service for others,” which is why she loves helping her clients and candidates. She enjoys spending time with her family, shopping, and trying out new foods at local restaurants.

Brian Colao is the Director of Dykema’s Dental Service Organizations Group. He has been serving the dental industry for over 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the foremost authorities in the United States on DSO formation, DSO business structures, DSO related mergers and acquisitions, and the full array of regulatory compliance requirements for DSOs. Brian was named a “2019 DSO Influencer” by Group Dentistry Now.

Dr. Alan J. Acierno is a practicing dentist, CEO of DecisionOne Dental Partners, and COO of Smile Brands. After receiving his D.D.S. from Creighton University, he practiced dentistry in both corporate and private environments, where he discovered the benefits and challenges of each practice. Compelled with a vision to make a difference in the way dentistry is practiced, Dr. A.J., together with his brother and fellow dentist, Dr. Michael Acierno, founded DecisionOne Dental Partners in 2011. In 2018 DecisionOne partnered with Smile Brands to continue their mission of changing the way dentistry is done to improve lives with the backing of best-in-class partner. In 2021 Dr. Acierno stepped into his role as COO of Smile Brands, overseeing the Midwest division. In his free time, Dr. Acierno enjoys spending time with his family and visiting Walt Disney World.

John Petzold has more than 30 years of finance experience in professional services firms including five years with private equity-backed multi-site healthcare/ dental service organizations, seven years in software development and technology services, nine years in the industrial manufacturing and distribution industry, and over four years in the mobile telecommunications vertical. He has led all aspects of finance and accounting, including budgeting, forecasting, cash management, debt management, financial reporting, analysis, contract management, and compliance. John also has extensive experience in risk management and distressed financial and turnaround management. And he has worked extensively with various private equity funds and creditors to facilitate post-acquisition management and platform integration of newly acquired companies.

His lengthy list of accomplishments includes an IPO, two restructurings/bankruptcies, multiple corporate divestitures, two post-acquisition dental platform integrations, various dental practice acquisitions, and de novo site openings and multiple ERP, practice management, and technology system implementations.

As the CFO of Aligned Dental Support, LLC, John oversees and directs all financial and investment aspects of the DSO for 52 Dental Practices in 9 states. John is a graduate from the University of Michigan with a BBA in Professional Accounting. John practiced publicly as a CPA with the firms Ernst & Young, LLP and Plante Moran, LLP for seven years in the State of Michigan.

Mike Montgomery works in Live Oak’s Specialty Finance division, providing solutions to middle market clients and sponsor finance. Mike’s background is in healthcare mergers and acquisitions with a concentration in the Dental Service Organization sector. Currently he works with groups ranging in $2-50 Million in EBITDA. Previously, he worked with Live Oak’s healthcare team as a senior loan officer, where he developed business strategies in lending to the industry and structured loans to doctors and dentists for expansion, construction, commercial real estate and various other business purposes. Mike joined the Live Oak team in early 2013 after seven years with SunTrust Bank. Mike has a business degree in finance from the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Polaris Healthcare Partners is a Strategic Consulting and M&A Advisory firm that focuses exclusively in the group dental practice space. Their purpose is to help entrepreneurial dentists build and exit successful group dental practices. They do that by helping their clients:

• Develop and execute their growth strategy
• Negotiate and obtain committed sources of growth capital
• Build and implement associate equity partnership structures
• Guide and fulfill their exit strategy through their marketed sales process

Mark Flock is one of the Executive and Partnerships consultants for Polaris. He has his bachelor’s degree in Finance and his MBA with a focus in Entrepreneurship. He has over 11 years of experience working with dentists primarily in the banking industry in various leadership roles. He’s spent three years working in the group practice space providing advisory services for partnerships and capital solutions.

Mark enjoys traveling. He has a goal of visiting all 50 states before the age of 50. He has 15 more to go and welcomes new clients in those states to help achieve that goal faster. He is an avid golfer that likes to travel nationwide to play new PGA courses. He also enjoys cars and hiking.

Mark has been on the board for the Ohio Business Week Foundation for the past seven years. OBWF is a non-profit organization that educates high school students about entrepreneurship and leadership.

Kevin has over a decade of experience in the dental industry. He has valued and sold over 120 dental practices, managed over $100MM of revenue in a DSO, and is co-owner of a start-up dental practice, Mundo Dentistry. He earned his BA from Washington & Lee University and MBA from the Babcock School of Management at Wake Forest University.

With over 15+ years of experience, Mike serves as a principal within the health firm’s health care industry. Truly passionate about his work, he strives to provide strategic business intelligence by identifying complex, financial, operational, and technical issues while developing comprehensive solutions to enhance the client’s business operations. Mike is one of the national leaders for CLA focused on building teams and financial structure, specifically Dental, MedSpa and Aesthetics groups.

Mike is a highly sought-after speaker sharing his broad knowledge of the health care industry while understanding the complexity of health care practices of various sizes.
Technical experience
• BizOps
• Financial Consulting
• Budgeting and Forecasting
• Business Development
• Strategic Planning
• Buy/Sell Side Support
• MedSpa and Aesthetic Groups
• Medical Service Organizations and individual Physician Practices
• Dental Service Organizations and individual Dental Practices

Education and professional involvement
• Master of accounting science from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
• Bachelor of science in accountancy from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
• American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• Certified Public Accountant in the state of Texas
• Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants

Jill Nesbitt is an independent dental technology consultant working with dental groups to maximize their technology investment. If you want to roll out a new software to your offices and want an experienced project leader so you can avoid hiring a new team member or pulling an existing resource away from their regular responsibilities, I can serve as an extension of your leadership team to manage this work for you. I also have extensive experience with Dentrix Ascend for group practice and can help you to optimize this software and confirm you’re getting full value from your subscription.

With dental practice management experience including managing a multi-specialty dental group, working for a DSO and building the customer success program for Henry Schein One to support both national and regional DSO’s across multiple products, I have a deep understanding of dental group practice and technology to provide a white glove customer experience for your team. You’re invited to subscribe to my free blog sharing the real story on dental practice management and technology at OptimizeDent.com – and my next adventure is learning to sail and buying a liveaboard catamaran to enjoy in Florida!

Heidi Arndt is an executive and strategist with deep expertise in establishing, developing and managing multi-location dental groups across the United States. With more than two decades of experience advising and consulting emerging, mid-market and elite DSOs, Heidi supports clinicians, owners, and investors to align clinical success with overall business success.

Heidi previously served as CEO for Strive Dental Management, a private equity-backed DSO based in Austin, Texas. Heidi successfully led the company through an equity sale transaction in July of 2021. Prior to joining Strive Dental, Heidi founded two boutique consulting firms serving DSOs across the United States – Enhanced Hygiene and Enhanced Practice. In early 2019, she successfully sold and exited both companies.

Heidi began her career as a clinical dental hygienist at various dental groups, including Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and American Dental Partners in Wakefield, Massachusetts, where she would eventually assume the role of National Director of Dental Hygiene. Heidi holds a Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene from the University of Minnesota.

Raymond F. “Rick” Willeford, MBA, CPA has an unusually broad background in the dental industry. He retired as a Dental CPA after 40 years. But then he dusted off his Electrical Engineering degree from Georgia Tech to develop DentaMetrix—a professional strength data extraction and dashboard program for consultants, DSOs and experienced practice administrators.

The combination of his deep dental business experience and his knowledge of cutting-edge technologies—and his understanding of the practice management side of dentistry—give him a unique perspective to enhance revenues and plug profit leaks in a practice.

Jordan is an analytics and strategy professional with experience supporting small and large brands make data-driven strategy decisions. He worked at Stax LLC, a boutique consulting firm, focused on delivering strategy and due diligence projects for private equity firms and their portfolio companies in healthcare, consumer, industrial, and technology. After, he spent time with the Liberty Mutual Insurance commercial analytics team leading the analytics support for the Healthcare and Public Entity verticals in addition to delivering analytics solutions for broader industry strategy. He then led an analytics team at Starbucks focused on delivering interpretable data products and upskilling the organization in analytics.

Currently, Jordan is the owner of Bean Consulting L.L.C., a business analytics consultancy that delivers analytics-driven solutions to strategy questions, such as identifying new geographic areas for expansion, evaluating the location profile of acquisitions, unlocking insights from customer patterns and trends, and building interactive self-service data products.

Jordan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Tufts University and a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) from the Wake Forest University School of Business.

Eric Giesecke is the CEO of Planet DDS, the leader in cloud-based software for independent dental offices and dental groups in North America. Prior to joining Planet DDS, he co-founded District Line Partners, a private investment fund created to acquire and operate a single attractive business in a growing industry. He also ran One Source Water, a bottleless water cooler firm, where he nearly doubled the size of the company in less than three years. Eric has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia.

Craig Woods is a member of Dykema’s Dental Service Organizations Group with a focus on transactional matters, regulatory investigations and dispute resolution. He has considerable experience advising DSOs, MSOs, large practice groups, dentists and other health care providers in various corporate and regulatory matters, including the purchase and sale of companies and assets, forming regulatory compliant DSO structures, private equity investments, the negotiation of key commercial business agreements, and establishing equity incentive options for key employees.

As the Founder & CEO of Fidler and Associates, Jon has a history of building teams by connecting talent with opportunity.

Jon began honing his talent recognition skills working for the Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB) in the scouting and player development departments. In his role Jon was responsible for not only recognizing the physical talent of potential prospects, but also developing that talent into a championship caliber team.

For the last 13 years Jon has focused his skills specifically within the dental industry. During this time, Jon has placed successful executives throughout the country for DSO’s, multi-location groups, manufacturers, distributors and other dental related organizations. Throughout his career Jon has been responsible for hiring, training and developing numerous performance award-winning employees and executives.

Jon is a graduate of the University of Iowa and currently resides in Austin, TX.

As the CEO and co-founder of Black Talon Security, Gary Salman provides guidance and education to corporate leaders on cybersecurity issues through cutting-edge technology and training. Black Talon is a leader in cybersecurity for small and medium size businesses. Gary is dedicated to data security and understanding the latest trends in the industry, particularly as they relate to the dental industry. He has decades of experience in software development and computer IT and developed one of the very first Cloud-based healthcare systems.

Bill Neumann is a dental industry veteran with 19+ years of experience in all facets of the industry. He is a DSO consultant and CEO at Group Dentistry Now & JoinDSO. Bill co-founded the first print publication for DSOs, Efficiency in Group Practice, launched the first app for dental product literature, videos, and information, Dental Sales Pro Connect, founded the first dental industry networking platform, Dental Sales Pro, invented the iBarrier, a disposable infection control sleeve, and managed and trained a sales force for dental manufacturer, Coltene/Whaledent. He sits on the board of Dental Lifeline Network and is an international public speaker on DSO topics at many dental events.

Bruce Lieberthal has served as Henry Schein’s Chief Innovation Officer for almost 8 years. In that role he reviews cutting edge clinical and practice medical and dental technologies helping the company’s numerous business units provide innovative new products and services to its customers and their patients. Prior to that, Bruce was the General Manager of Henry Schein’s medical practice management/EHR company, assisted the company launch its digital dentistry solutions and managed products and development for its US dental technology group.

Bruce graduated dental school at SUNY Buffalo in 1983 and, while practicing, authored a number of practice management software products, building a successful business around those solutions. After having that business acquired by Discus Dental, Inc., Bruce and the business came to Henry Schein in 2007 as part of an acquisition.

Bruce also is honored to serve on the boards of The Forsyth Institute and Harvard University’s School of Dental Medicine.

Dr. Wardah Inam is the Co-Founder and CEO of Overjet. Overjet is the leading provider of AI technology for the dental industry to help improve patient care.

Prior to founding Overjet, she led product development at a healthcare startup, Q Bio, working on biomedical imaging. Before that, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab where she worked on remote biomedical sensing using machine learning on wireless signals.

Dr. Inam received a PhD from MIT, where she developed AI-powered microgrid technology. This work received widespread recognition including National Geographic covering it as a breakthrough that could transform the way we power the world. She has corporate experience in GE and Apple and is the recipient of the MIT Graduate Women of Excellence Award.

Dr. Inam has been ranked among the 32 most influential people in dentistry by Incisal Edge (#8), listed by Inc. Magazine as one of the Top 100 Female Founders, and received the Shils Innovator Award in 2022. She is also a member of the Santa Fe Group’s Strategic Advisory Council, a think tank that advocates for better dental services.

For over fifteen years, Dr. Mark Sivers grew a fee-for-service multi-specialty dental practice, taught as an associate professor at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston, and served as the team dentist for the Boston Red Sox. In 2008, together with several Harvard Business School professors, he began exploring how to practice dentistry more efficiently with better outcomes, profitability, and fewer complications.

In 2015, Dr. Sivers founded Laeta, Inc, a healthcare investment company, and in 2017 co-founded Affiliated Dental Support, a multi-state DSO. Dr. Sivers’ past activities have included: dental practice roll-ups; transitioning from dental insurance-based to fee-for-service dental practices; beta testing digital dental scanners with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/ Brontes Technologies; incorporating intra-oral photography into patient care, using CBCT imaging in routine patient care, guided implant surgery for general dentists, and using artificial intelligence to scale diagnosis. However, his main focus through all of this has been how to better lead and communicate teams and patients.

Amol Nirgudkar helps dentists grow their practices and reach their goals.  

He is in an unusual position to offer practical insights. As a certified public accountant, business consultant, author, entrepreneur, and former owner of several dental practices, he has 20 years of experience working with dental practices, both large and small.  

Through the three companies he founded, Amol has served more than 1,000 dentists across the United States. Through his work, Amol saw firsthand a growth challenge that all dental practices face. No matter how successfully they may market their practice, almost 50% of new patient calls don’t end in a booked appointment.

To help solve that problem, he founded Patient Prism in 2015. The service uses both A.I. and American call coaches to evaluate the way dental offices handle phone calls, identify the callers that didn’t schedule, and teach the team how to win them back – all within 30 minutes of the failed call.

Amol co-invented the patented technologies used in Patient Prism. One eliminates the need to listen to recorded phone calls by providing the information visually. The other technology details specific words spoken by the patient during the call so dentists and managers know which services callers are requesting and the revenue opportunity associated with each call. Amol continues to work with artificial intelligence and machine learning to empower dental teams to deliver a better patient experience and build even more successful practices.  As of today, Amol currently holds 5 utility patents in the call intelligence space. 

Amol has also written several articles and e-books, and published a paperback book called Profitable Niches in General Dentistry (2014).

Amol sits on several emerging DSO boards and acts as an advisor to many CEOs around the country.  In his spare time, Amol also runs a quantitative hedge fund and travels the country with his 17-year-old piano prodigy daughter to piano competitions. 

Kurt Harvey joined Caber Hill Advisors in 2019 as Managing Director on the firm’s healthcare team to
lead M&A activities in the dental industry. Kurt has been recognized as one of the most transformative
corporate development and finance executives in the dental industry over the past fifteen years. Kurt
has a unique advantage of having the been-there-done-that experience to help entrepreneurial doctor
groups with their growth initiatives that other advisors don’t have.

He has created a niche to fill the need for an elevated level of strategic advisory and sell-side investment
banking services for founder-owned groups that have $4M to $10M of EBITDA.

Prior, Kurt led unprecedented growth at Great Expressions Dental Centers for 11 years, which positions him as one of only a few professionals able to accomplish such a feat for one dental group. Kurt was integral in successfully transitioning the dental service organization from a family / founder environment with single digit EBITDA through three separate Private Equity events creating hundreds of millions in enterprise value. In his time there, the company achieved over 500% revenue growth, primarily through the acquisition and successful integration of over 220 practices via nearly 50 transactions ranging from dozens of single site practices to several multi-site groups in 10 states.

Prior, Kurt spent over a decade elevating within multiple Big 4 CPA firms. Kurt was a director of
transaction services at KPMG, where he provided M&A advisory on small to mid-market transactions
across multiple industries and borders. This followed stints at Arthur Andersen and Deloitte in assurance
management roles.

In addition to his role at Caber Hill, Kurt serves on boards of DSOs. He is a Crain’s Detroit Top 40 under
40 alumnus, a CPA in MI and CA, a member of the AICPA, a Board Member and President of ACG Detroit,
past Chair of ACG Detroit’s Corporate Development Alliance Initiative, an Ironman triathlete, and Chair
of the Board of the non-profit Transracial Journeys.

Rand is a serial entrepreneur leading several IPOs and exits and is a pioneer in digital analytics and big data. He heads DMscore analytics as CEO. Rand is the CEO/ founder of the first SaaS-based web-analytics company, Keylime, acquired by Yahoo! and the founding CMO of analytics company WebSideStory through its IPO, now Adobe Analytics. He has been a director and executive officer of numerous other data & digital intelligence companies including IBM/Unica. Rand is a co-founder of the Digital Analytics Association and emeritus director; teaches analytics at well-known universities and is a highly regarded author on digital topics. He is a frequent speaker at DSO & dental conferences. He graduated from University of the Pacific with BA in Literature.

Dr. Aman Kaur a seasoned executive and a DSO industry veteran  with a passion for driving results  through clinical excellence and operational discipline. Dr. Kaur is Founder and President of Women in DSO and CEO of a Midwest-based DSO. She is also currently working with a few well-known dental groups and PE firms across the industry as clinical and business operations  consultant. With over 16 years of experience in Dental industry, Dr. Kaur has worked with multiple DSOs over her career in various executive roles and is very involved with Dental Vendors, DSOs, Not for profit and other  Dental Groups developing business solutions for operational efficiencies, customer intimacy, compliance programs, peer review, CE and training at all levels, along with helping emerging  dental organizations  to build development and growth  strategies. Seven years ago, Dr. Kaur came together with 2 other female executives to run 33 Urgent Dental Care  practice model open 9AM to 9PM seven days a week, one of the complex business model and company revenue grew by 108 percent during her tenure. She is an inspirational leader who tells stories that inspire action while at the same time is grounded in clinical and  financial information that levers the business. Respected as a credible voice in industry for her clinical and business decision-making, finding strategic solutions  and building partnerships  and alliances Dr. Kaur is constantly shaping  the industry.

Dr. Chris Steele joined Park Dental in 1991 as a general dentist at Park Dental Ridgepark, where he continues to maintain his clinical practice.  Since then, he has served many roles in the organization, including Doctor Mentor, Board Member, and Board Chair.  Dr. Steele also serves on the Board of the Park Dental Foundation and The Dental Specialists Board of Governors.  Beginning in 2019, Dr. Steele assumed the role of President of Park Dental.

Dr. Steele resides in Excelsior, MN, with his wife Gail, a physician with Park Nicollet.  He has two sons, one in medical school at Harvard, and the second a junior at Abilene Christian University.  Dr. Steele is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys spending time with his family at their cabin in northern Minnesota.

Hollie Williams joined Rodeo Dental and Orthodontics, based in Fort Worth Texas, as their Chief Financial Officer in June of 2020. She is a strategic leader with over 25 years of experience in finance, analysis, strategic planning, operations, and business expansion. She has over 15 years’ experience in the highly regulated fields of healthcare and national franchising.

Bringing her experience in healthcare into the DSO space has been exciting and rewarding. Prior to joining Rodeo Dental, she was the CFO for a multispecialty, oncology focused medical practice located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for more than 11 years. Hollie currently serves as an advisory board member for Women in DSO

Hollie is a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelor of Business Administration (Accounting) from Texas Christian University. She enjoys cheering for the Horned Frogs as both her alma mater and hometown team.

Slava Girzhel is a Senior Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Investment Banking for Ernst & Young Capital Advisors, LLC. Slava has more than 20 years of investment banking, financial advisory and consulting experience. He has advised over numerous healthcare clients on wide range of mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity raising transactions. Slava works with both public and private companies across numerous healthcare sectors including physician practice management, dental services, post-acute, managed care, healthcare IT and medical products. He has been a leading advisor to the DSO sector for more than a decade having completed more than 20 transactions involving M&A advisory and capital raising for a variety of DSO organizations across the country.

Dr. Virginia Jones . With over 12 years of experience in the dental industry, and 30 years of C suite executive experience, has a wealth of knowledge and experience to share. Ginny is the CEO of Village Family Dental and Valleygate Dental Surgery Centers, a multi-location, multi-specialty group practice and three dental only surgery centers. She oversees a team of over 350 professionals and staff, $50 Million in Revenues, and manages a network of dental practices and ASCs across the State of North Carolina. Her specialty is strategic planning and growth strategies, particularly through acquisition and strong collaborative partnerships. In 2016, her team developed the first ever Certificate of Need dental-only ambulatory surgery centers in North Carolina, and have successfully expanded them to (3) operating locations, and (3) more under design/construction. These centers have met the high demand for pediatric dentists to have a place to treat their patients in an OR setting. Finally, she has led a team that developed the connections between the web based accounting software, purchasing software, and dental practice management software to build efficiencies and better reporting solutions for the business.

Dr. Jones serves on the Task Force for Oral Health in North Carolina, the Board of the North Carolina Ambulatory Surgery Center, and Region 6 health care advisory team. She has been an invited speaker for Beckers Healthcare and Intacct Accounting Software.

With her unique blend of expertise and experience, Dr. Jones is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to learn more about the combined world of dentistry and healthcare.

With over 30 years of HR, operational, compliance, and marketing experience, Lisa’s personal philosophy is rooted in servant leadership. She is passionate about helping Aligned Dental Support make the most of its resources and talent while helping team members experience maximum support and enhanced quality of life. Her focus from an HR perspective is on the importance and value of the Team members. Lisa joins Dr. Giannini, Dr. Sivers, Dr. Veronica, and the rest of the ADS support team in the collective conviction that if you take care of the employees, they will take care of our patients and the business will thrive. She wholeheartedly believes that to facilitate company growth and the achievement of its goals, the focus should be placed on employee relations and grounded in communication and responsiveness.

Lisa was born in Connecticut but spent most of her informative years in the suburbs of Detroit. While attending USF, she began her career designing cutting-edge, customized selling systems, marketing, and software user interface for a real estate software development company. After obtaining a B.A. in Criminology and Political Science, summa cum laude, she relocated to Boca Raton, Florida to join Cybrant (later Blue Martini Software), an exciting start-up software company that developed e-commerce and CRM solutions that revolutionized complex configuration on the internet in real-time. This is where she developed her niche for wearing several hats as she served the organization both from a marketing standpoint as well as handling HR while managing office and facilities issues.

Lisa Woodman entered the dental industry in 2008 as the Chief Administrative Officer for Dynamic Dental Partners Group, alternately and simultaneously managing human resources, legal administration, project management, facilities, compliance/risk management and marketing over the next eight years from an initial two practices with twenty employees to forty practices with over five hundred employees. Under the tutelage and mentorship of Dr. Alex Giannini, she became indoctrinated into the dental industry and learned the art of building DSO infrastructures that are scalable and poised for growth.

Lisa’s next venture was spending three years as VP of Operations, HR, and Compliance for a local DSO with eight locations on the Gulf Coast of Florida. With the formation of Aligned Dental Support, Lisa is thrilled to once again join forces with Dr. Giannini and the team and feels as though she has come home!

Lisa holds professional certifications in Human Resources as an SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) and holds the OSHA designation of PCG (Professional Certificate for General Industry). She is also certified as an OSHA and HIPAA Trainer.

When Lisa is not supporting ADS, she spends her time creating. She has two grown children, a daughter and a son, who are 6th generation circus performers, musicians, and artists, and four cherished grandchildren. She enjoys reading, painting, and any activity that involves nature and the outdoors. She believes that life is all about continually learning and growing.

Ellie Naderi has worked in the dental industry for over 25 years After years spent performing virtually every support function in the private practice setting, she continued her education and became a dental hygienist. After which she entered the dental pharma world, and subsequently worked in academia teaching both clinical and didactic courses to Dental Hygiene Students.

Over the past 15 years, Ellie has held multiple Senior VP and CEO positions with Dental Service Organizations (DSOs). Most recently, Ellie served as CEO of SALT Dental Collective, a pedo/ortho group in the PNW. In 2016, Ellie co-founded and has since operated her own dental advisory firm, Dental Solutions by Ellie Naderi which provides operating partner support to Private Equity Firms, board advisory and strategic support to various DSOs and Vendor partner companies. In 2022, in collaboration with various industry leaders, Ellie launched the Leona Group, which is part an investment bank, part management consulting company, and part accelerator which strives to solve for the industry’s existing challenges.

Ellie is an esteemed board member for various DSOs and Technology companies. Ellie’s greatest passion is supporting the Dental industry by bringing leaders together, breaking down silos and solving for the various pain points that exist within the industry. Ellie makes Bend, Oregon her home enjoying the beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest with her family.

Dr. Britt Bostick lives in Lubbock, Texas, and is a graduate of Texas Tech University and Texas A&M School of Dentistry. He has 33 years of clinical, practice growth, and management experience in large, group dental practices. Dr. Bostick is the Chief Dental Officer of Mortenson Dental Partners, one of the largest doctor and employee-owned dental groups in the US, and has also served as Founder / Regional President, Vice President of Clinical Affairs, and is on the Board of Directors for Mortenson. Dr. Bostick has been instrumental in creating and implementing the Yes Philosophy and the Top Docs development program. Britt is married to Patti and has four children and six grandchildren. . When Britt is not working, he loves sports, fishing, and hunting.

 Anuj James, actively practices dentistry and serves as managing partner for a multi-location, multi-specialty group practices in North Carolina. The group also encompasses single-specialty Dental Ambulatory Surgery Centers across North Carolina. He is also clinical adjunct faculty at the East Carolina School of Dental Medicine. A long time member of AADGP, he is also serves as a board member.

Mr. Jeffrey Reibel has been Chief Financial Officer for Mortenson Dental Partners since joining the Company in August of 2019. Prior to joining MDP, he served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer for LHC Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LHCG) following a multi-billion dollar merger of equals with Almost Family, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFAM) where Mr. Reibel was Chief Accounting Officer and Vice President of Finance and a key member of the management team that rapidly grew Almost Family through acquisition. In 2007, he founded a software company and served as its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer until its sale in 2010. He served as Controller and Principal Accounting Officer of a public company from 2005 until 2007. He found his affinity for growth companies while working as a certified public accountant for 12 years at Ernst & Young LLP serving clients ranging in size from small entrepreneurial start-up companies to a $40 billion international conglomerate in Switzerland. Mr. Reibel graduated from Bellarmine University with a BA in Accounting.

Gareth Petsch, Citi Commercial Bank Director, manages nationally the Healthcare Specialty Group (HSG)

Gareth founded the HSG in 2012 to support the unique and specialized needs of medical, dental and veterinary providers of all shapes and sizes in the private sector. Today, the group specializes in support to investors, owners & providers of large-scale group practices for M&A or Roll-ups, Medical Support/Service Organizations (MSOs), Dental Support/Service Organizations (DSOs) and various other Physician Practice Management (PPM’s) companies. Over the past 10 years, Gareth has executed a variety of strategic transactions for companies ranging from small, high growth businesses through large multi-nationals.

Recognized as a Washington, D.C. SmartCEO Top Banker, Petsch brings a deep understanding of the complex issues involved with the business of healthcare and the specific challenges CEO’s & CFO’s of group healthcare practices face. He and his team of Specialized Healthcare Bankers work with clients nationwide to create customized solutions that help enable the success and growth in these ever-changing times.

Gareth was born and raised in Durban, South Africa, immigrating to the United States in the late 90’s to begin his banking career. He earned a degree in Business Management from Varsity College in South Africa and currently lives with his wife and 3 children in Ashburn, Virginia.

John Geary is a co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Independence Dental Services and serves on its Board of Directors. Independence is a dental partnership organization, pairing a high degree of autonomy with a high degree of support for its dentist partners, and as COO, John leads all practice valuation, term sheet negotiations and transaction diligence activities. Prior to joining Independence in 2020, John served as the Chief Operating Officer for the Eastern Division of ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers where he had full P&L responsibility for 23 practices producing $245 million in revenue annually. John is relatively new to dentistry and spent the bulk of his career in the vision space where he ended his 14 year run as Senior Vice President of Operations and Business Development for Vision Group Holdings, at the time, North America’s largest provider of laser vision correction services. Notably he spent a decade leading operations, sales and an aggressive de novo strategy for The LASIK Vision Institute, growing that brand from 27 to 81 practices in 36 states with $160 million in annual revenue. Following the acquisition of TLC Vision, another national brand, John led all M&A efforts, successfully acquiring 14 more practices and brands for Vision Group Holdings, bring its total footprint to 150 practices across the US & Canada.

Dr. Weiss graduated from New York University in 1991. He has been practicing dentistry for over 21 years and comes from many generations of dentists.

Dr. Weiss is also a clinical instructor at New York University College Of Dentistry.

Dr. Weiss is married to Lauren. They have 3 beautiful children, Alec, Sammy and Julia. He enjoys coaching for his sons’ baseball and basketball teams. Dr. Weiss enjoys very much working with children. When not working, he is spending his time with his family.

McKenzie Fagan is the Area Sales Manager for Strategic Accounts at Henry Schein ONE. With an undeniable passion for integrated technology, McKenzie helps large organizations evaluate, select, and implement full tech stack digital solutions. She is an industry expert on the utilization of technology to achieve centralization, standardization, and create economies of scale through the use of software, hardware, and best practice workflows. McKenzie began her career as the first female in a dental software start-up in San Diego and now works with the most strategic, sophisticated organizations in the dental space to optimize their solutions stack with Henry Schein ONE. McKenzie enjoys international travel and is working towards achieving her private pilot’s license.

Theresa Yanicak RDH MBA has over 30 years of experience in the dental industry providing skillful clinical treatment as well as being a national, and international educator and leader in private and group dental practices.

Theresa was born and raised in Ohio and spent 10 years enjoying the great state of Texas before making North Carolina her home.

Theresa has an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Dental Hygiene, a Bachelor’s Degree in Technical and Applied Studies, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Healthcare Administration.

Theresa understands the importance of helping clients and candidates navigate the landscape of a career change and provides support from various perspectives.

Amine Lahlou is a Senior Vice President in Citibank Healthcare Group. In this role, he brings many years of banking experience and strategic planning and leadership. Citi Healthcare Specialty Group is an industry focused banking vertical, specializing in serving high growth multi-site service providers in the healthcare industry. My team focuses on multi-specialty / location DSO’s, MSO’s VSO .

Amine joined Citi in 2012 and has co-founded and designed the Healthcare Business Program within Citi’s Commercial Bank. We are thought partners, offering more than a simple transaction to our clients.

Amine graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Amine Lahlou is a Senior Vice President in Citibank Healthcare Group. In this role, he brings many years of banking experience and strategic planning and leadership. Citi Healthcare Specialty Group is an industry focused banking vertical, specializing in serving high growth multi-site service providers in the healthcare industry. My team focuses on multi-specialty / location DSO’s, MSO’s VSO .

Amine joined Citi in 2012 and has co-founded and designed the Healthcare Business Program within Citi’s Commercial Bank. We are thought partners, offering more than a simple transaction to our clients.

Amine graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Joe Fogg is the CEO of onDiem. onDiem’s mission is to establish “The Future of Work ” in dentistry. This is accomplished by building an ecosystem that transforms the way dental practices manage contingent labor and empowers practices and professionals to provide access to oral healthcare to everyone.

Joe views temporary staffing through a different lens than traditional healthcare staffing companies. The most valuable asset in any service organization is human capital (employees) and no industry has seen the impact of labor shortages and increased wages like dentistry. Post-covid hygiene labor wages are up 20-30% over pre-covid. In this new landscape traditional W2 staffing models employing mark ups of 50% or more are being rendered obsolete – they are not only outdated and overpriced their model is no longer sustainable. If you take the traditional staffing markup of 50% and add it to the 20% post-Covid increase practices are incurring a 70% – 80% increase in hygiene labor in less than two years. This is a huge financial burden for practices regardless of size. onDiem leverages technology for pricing optimization and efficiency creating a competitive and compliant contingent labor force. This allows onDiem to augment an existing practice staff at an affordable rate freeing up permanent staff to provide the best possible care to their patients.

Prior to onDiem, Joe was part of the leadership team at Cerus Industrial, leading marketing, product and engineering teams. Joe was able to successfully establish strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies all over the country building Cerus into a key market player eventually acquired by Franklin Electric.

Kim Diamond has been in the dental industry for 24 years. Kim is a student of her trade, conanding her expertise and broadening her scope of work perpetually through her career.

After starting her career as a dental office manager for a small group practice, Kim was promoted
quickly to Managing Director, and then launched her sales career with Patterson Dental as a Technology
Sales Representative for the next several years shortly thereafter. She would later find a home at Henry
Schein Dental as a Digital Technology Sales Specialist on Long Island (NY), and has been with the
company for over 15 years, propelling her career into leadership as a Regional Manager, then on to
various iterations of Imaging and Technology leadership roles around the Henry Schein One (Dentrix)
and Dexis brands; and ultimately into her most recent role with key responsibilities in restructuring the
National Accounts Team to better serve the largest customers’ Henry Schein serves. Kim now serves
as the Business Development leader for North American Strategic Accounts.

Community Activities, Trustee Hartland Library Board, Give Kids a Smile, Swallow School Board, CrossFit

Kim Diamond has been in the dental industry for 24 years. Kim is a student of her trade, conanding her expertise and broadening her scope of work perpetually through her career.

After starting her career as a dental office manager for a small group practice, Kim was promoted
quickly to Managing Director, and then launched her sales career with Patterson Dental as a Technology
Sales Representative for the next several years shortly thereafter. She would later find a home at Henry
Schein Dental as a Digital Technology Sales Specialist on Long Island (NY), and has been with the
company for over 15 years, propelling her career into leadership as a Regional Manager, then on to
various iterations of Imaging and Technology leadership roles around the Henry Schein One (Dentrix)
and Dexis brands; and ultimately into her most recent role with key responsibilities in restructuring the
National Accounts Team to better serve the largest customers’ Henry Schein serves. Kim now serves
as the Business Development leader for North American Strategic Accounts.

Community Activities, Trustee Hartland Library Board, Give Kids a Smile, Swallow School Board, CrossFit

Kim Diamond has been in the dental industry for 24 years. Kim is a student of her trade, conanding her expertise and broadening her scope of work perpetually through her career.

After starting her career as a dental office manager for a small group practice, Kim was promoted
quickly to Managing Director, and then launched her sales career with Patterson Dental as a Technology
Sales Representative for the next several years shortly thereafter. She would later find a home at Henry
Schein Dental as a Digital Technology Sales Specialist on Long Island (NY), and has been with the
company for over 15 years, propelling her career into leadership as a Regional Manager, then on to
various iterations of Imaging and Technology leadership roles around the Henry Schein One (Dentrix)
and Dexis brands; and ultimately into her most recent role with key responsibilities in restructuring the
National Accounts Team to better serve the largest customers’ Henry Schein serves. Kim now serves
as the Business Development leader for North American Strategic Accounts.

Community Activities, Trustee Hartland Library Board, Give Kids a Smile, Swallow School Board, CrossFit

Joe Fogg is the CEO of onDiem. onDiem’s mission is to establish “The Future of Work ” in dentistry. This is accomplished by building an ecosystem that transforms the way dental practices manage contingent labor and empowers practices and professionals to provide access to oral healthcare to everyone.

Joe views temporary staffing through a different lens than traditional healthcare staffing companies. The most valuable asset in any service organization is human capital (employees) and no industry has seen the impact of labor shortages and increased wages like dentistry. Post-covid hygiene labor wages are up 20-30% over pre-covid. In this new landscape traditional W2 staffing models employing mark ups of 50% or more are being rendered obsolete – they are not only outdated and overpriced their model is no longer sustainable. If you take the traditional staffing markup of 50% and add it to the 20% post-Covid increase practices are incurring a 70% – 80% increase in hygiene labor in less than two years. This is a huge financial burden for practices regardless of size. onDiem leverages technology for pricing optimization and efficiency creating a competitive and compliant contingent labor force. This allows onDiem to augment an existing practice staff at an affordable rate freeing up permanent staff to provide the best possible care to their patients.

Prior to onDiem, Joe was part of the leadership team at Cerus Industrial, leading marketing, product and engineering teams. Joe was able to successfully establish strategic partnerships with Fortune 500 companies all over the country building Cerus into a key market player eventually acquired by Franklin Electric.