Institute Team
Bev Johnson, President and Chief Executive Officer
Bev offers more than 30 years of experience in leading non-profit organizations. In addition to her clinical and administrative experience in an academic medical center, she has served as a hospital trustee as well as a trustee for other organizations. Bev has provided technical assistance and consultation for advancing the practice of patient- and family-centered care to over 250 hospitals, health systems, federal, state, and provincial agencies, military treatment facilities, and community organizations. Bev assists hospitals and ambulatory programs with changing organizational culture, and facilitates visioning retreats and the integration of patient- and family-centered care concepts in policies, programs, and practices, as well as in facility design and the education of health care professionals.
Bev, who is invited to speak worldwide, has co-authored numerous books and publications on patient- and family-centered practice inpediatrics, newborn intensive care, maternity care, emergency care, geriatrics, and other aspects of adult health care. She has served as executive producer for award winning documentary films and videos. Bev also is the recipient of numerous awards.
Bev is the mother of four children, two of whom are writers and two of whom are health care professionals. She also has six grandsons and two granddaughters.
Sharon Love, BS, Executive Assistant to the President & CEO
Sharon provides primary support to Bev Johnson, President and CEO, is the liaison for employee benefits, and assists with other administrative duties. She possesses over twenty years of administrative and human resources experience. Sharon spent over 5 years in the health care industry, focusing on end-of-life and elder care issues. Her recent work in a long-term care facility helped her realize the importance of compassion and quality care for patients and their families. Sharon graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Psychology and minor in Business Administration, and resides in Maryland with her family.
Business and Finance
Dolores Coutts, MBA, CFA, Business Manager
Dolores is responsible for the oversight of the Institute's financial and business operations. Her responsibilities include financial management and analysis, management and review of contracts, human resources, and strategic planning. Dolores brings to the Institute over 20 years of executive financial and business management experience, working in profit and non-profit organizations. Dolores, her husband, and their two sons live in Virginia.
Alexdandra Vergara, BS, MS, MBA, Accountant
Alex provides accounting services to the Institute. Alex has nearly 20 years of experience in banking, accounting, finance, consulting, and management. Alex is also the Principal/Director of AV Financial and Trading Solutions, a company that specializes in full service bookkeeping and financial data management. In her leisure time, Alex, who is originally from Colombia, South America, enjoys traveling, reading, swimming, camping, and dining out.
Elizabeth Hansen, BA, Bookkeeper
Liz not only handles bookkeeping for the Institute, she occasionally is called upon to use her organizational and administrative skills to assist on other projects. Liz, who has a BA in English from Old Dominion University, brings a host of work experience to the Institute. She has worked as a reporter, technical writer, and desktop publisher of marketing materials for real estate agents. In addition, Liz works on the business side of her husband's residential contracting business. A Virginia native, Liz continues to live there with her husband and two daughters. In her spare time, Liz enjoys reading, gardening, and taking walks.
Program and Policy
Marie Abraham, MA, Senior Policy and Program Specialist
Marie provides consultation to hospitals and primary care and ambulatory care practices, assists with the development of resource materials, co-authors publications, and serves as a planner and faculty member for Institute conferences, seminars, and webinars. Currently, Marie is project co-director for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded project that provides training and technical assistance to teams from their Aligning Forces for Quality Initiative. Since joining the Institute in 1996, Marie has worked on several international and national quality improvement initiatives focusing on newborn intensive care, maternity and normal newborn care, and primary care for children and adults with chronic conditions. Marie lives in Connecticut with her three sons, one of whom required early intervention for his first six years.
Mary Minniti, BS, CPHQ, Program and Resource Specialist
As a Program and Resource Specialist, Mary provides consultation to health care organizations and assists with the updating and the development of resource materials. Prior to joining the Institute, Mary spent more than 25 years in quality improvement, community organizing, implementation of patient-centered medical homes, and the enhancement of the patient experience of care. Mary worked in a variety of capacities for PeaceHealth, an integrated health care system serving communities in Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, including as the Pursuing Perfection Project Manager in Whatcom County, and as the Quality Improvement Director for PeaceHealth Medical Group (PHMG) in Eugene, Oregon. Mary continues to serve as facilitator with the Oregon Task Force on Patient-Centered Care Primary Care Homes. Mary is a proud grandmother, an avid gardener, and dog lover.
Marlene Fondrick, RN, MSN
Marlene provides training and technical assistance to hospitals and health systems on implementing patient- and family-centered care, building the capacity of patient and family advisory councils, creating a variety of advisory roles for patients and families, and enhancing staff understanding of effective approaches to collaboration. Marlene brings experience as a clinician and an administrator in both maternity care and pediatrics. She currently resides in Northwest Minnesota with her husband and three dogs. She is a proud grandmother of three boys, one of whom has experienced cancer care. Marlene is also the step-grandmother of two girls and step-great grandmother of two and another on the way.
Information and Resource Guidance
Barbara Kahl, JD, Information Specialist
Barbara works collaboratively with members of the Institute's team, writing and editing new content for the website, producing the Institute's e-newsletter, Pinwheel Pages, and responding to requests for information. Barbara also uses her skills in research, writing, editing, and analysis, to assist other team members on a wide array of projects, as well as providing a family perspective on substantive issues. For over 20 years, Barbara practiced law (appellate, labor, health and safety) with the United States Department of Labor.
Barbara is a volunteer for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), running a support group for families with children with Type 1 Diabetes and leading a team of volunteers who reach out to newly diagnosed families. She is also a member of the Suburban Hospital Patient and Family Advisory Council, and is a patient advocate for several of her extended family members. Barbara lives in Maryland with her husband and daughters, one of whom has Type 1 Diabetes.
Joanna Kaufman, RN, MS, Information Specialist
Joanna comes to the Institute with more than 25 years of experience in patient- and family-centered care. She is a registered nurse with a myriad of pediatric clinical experience, gained in the trenches of Strong Memorial Hospital, Charity Hospital of New Orleans, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1983, she became the Executive Director of a federally funded SPRANS (Special Project of Regional and National Significance) funded by the Dept. of Health and Human Services Bureau of Maternal/Child Health. This is where she learned her first lessons about family-centered, community based coordinated care and has been committed to patient- and family-centered care ever since.
As a member of the Institute's team, Joanna serves as a faculty member for the intensive training seminars, actively participates in webinars, and provides training and technical assistance to hospitals. She also collaborates on a variety of projects that involve research, writing, editing, and analysis. In 2009, Joanna became a registered World Health Organization Patients for Patient Safety Champion and a reviewer for the Journal of Adolescent Medicine. Joanna lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with her husband and their cat, Thor.
Special Projects
Julie Ginn Moretz, Director of Special Projects
Julie is the Director of Special Projects, and works on programs to develop partnerships among health professionals, patients, and families. She leads the team that develops and produces educational meetings, including intensive training seminars, international conferences, and webinars, and spearheads the Institute's Pinwheel Sponsors Program. As the former Director of Family Services Development at the Medical College of Georgia Health System in Augusta (now the Georgia Health Sciences Health System), Julie has over 20 years of hands-on experience in developing nationally recognized patient- and family-centered care programs. She is a long-time member of the Institute's faculty, and also presents at a wide array of forums to advance the practice of patient- and family-centered care. Julie most recently led a faculty team to Saudi Arabia.
Inspired by her youngest son's battle with heart disease, Julie works to redesign the experience of health care through her unique perspective. Julie and her family were featured in the PBS Remaking American Medicine Series, "Hand-in-Hand" where she was named a Champion of Change. She and her husband, David, have three children—Lee and Morgan, both recent college graduates, and Daniel, forever 14.
LeAndria Streeter, Special Projects Coordinator/Webinar Technical Manager
As Special Projects Coordinator, LeAndria works with the Special Projects team on a broad range of activities to plan and conduct educational meetings. LeAndria's responsibilities include coordinating registration, developing participant evaluations, marketing events, and assisting with pre- and on-site conference and seminar logistics. She also manages the Institute's e-commerce site, which advertises and sells Institute publications. As Webinar Technical Manager, LeAndria is responsible for all technical aspects of the Institute's webinars. Given her keen computer and design skills, LeAndria also contributes to other Institute technical projects.
LeAndria brings to the Institute prior experience in meeting planning, and skills in organization and coordination of programs and events. She is a graduate of Clemson University, and resides in Washington, DC.
Ann Selinger, Special Projects Manager
Ann initially joined the Institute as a volunteer and handled the sale of publications and processed financial transactions at the Institute's 3rd International Conference and at our Hospitals Moving Forward Seminars. While in the office, Ann assists on a variety of projects, such as meeting planning, the Pinwheel sponsorship program, and providing general office support to the Institute team. Ann brings a wealth of experience to the Institute; she has been a hospital and school volunteer, hospital board member, nursery school teacher, head of a nursery school, children's bookstore owner, caterer, real estate agent, and administrative assistant.
Sherry Hajec, BS, Special Projects Program Associate
As a Special Projects Program Associate, Sherry provides support to the Special Projects team. Sherry's responsibilities include working on seminar action plans and Institute resources, and providing assistance in meeting planning. Originally from Louisiana, Sherry—who has a BS in accounting from Louisiana Tech University—has almost twenty years of experience in accounting.
Since the birth of her son, who has congenital heart disease, Sherry volunteers with the Children's Heart Program (CHP) Volunteer Council and also served as the MCG Children's Medical Center CHP's paid parent coordinator. She lives in South Carolina with her husband, her son (who is in high school), and her daughter (who is attending Clemson). Sherry enjoys time with family and friends, especially sporting activities with her children.
