As a Chief Technology Officer, Prashant Gharpure leads the execution of the company’s technology strategy and is responsible for the management of software development, informatics, and infrastructure operations. Prior to Valera Health, he served as the CTO at Phynd (acquired by symplr). With over 30 years of experience in software product architecture and development, Prashant helmed technology leadership and consultative positions at various startup companies. He currently lives in the Atlanta area and is a passionate wildlife photographer.
Naomi is passionate about using technology to improve mental healthcare, accessibility and the patient experience. She believes in the interdisciplinary nature of creative problem-solving, reflected in her time incorporating music, fitness and social/mental health at Drums Alive. Prior to Valera, she worked at Kaiser Permanente, using her product and engineering background to drive virtual and digital care initiatives spanning several clinical specialties across the Southern California region.
Lauren Mills began her career as a clinical social worker providing counseling to children and families in a community-based mental health program at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Lauren later became a Clinical Supervisor and oversaw operations of a Medicaid funded program for children and adolescents and owned a private psychotherapy practice. Through this work, Lauren became passionate about increasing access to mental health services through technology and joined AbleTo, where she helped develop and scale a telemental health program and national provider network serving thousands of patients as Clinical Director. Following AbleTo, Lauren joined Aetna and led new product development as the Strategy and Product Management Director for National Account Commercial Business. Lauren holds a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and is currently pursuing an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lauren lives outside Providence, RI with her husband and three year old daughter.
Larry Ozowara is a psychiatrist who specializes in the collaboration between inpatient and outpatient care. He attended Stanford Medical School, completed a residency in adult psychiatry at Columbia University and is a former Assistant Professor at NYU School of Medicine where he supervised and trained medical students, residents and fellows in psychiatry. He has extensive experience in working with patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and patients with serious and persistent mental illness. Dr. Ozowara directs Valera’s psychiatry program and HEDIS improvement program for healthplans and hospitals.
Michele has worked as the Regional Vice President at Elements Behavioral Health and Head of Operations & Expansion at Defining Wellness Centers.
Manna Chan, LCSW served as the Director of Social Work and the Chair of Patient Relations at Charles B. Wang Community Health Center for 16 years.
Alan is a clinical social worker who works with children, adolescents, and adults. He has prior experience as Family Coordinator and Complex Trauma Program faculty member at Mount Sinai, therapist at the largest FQHC network for Asian-Americans, and clinical fellow at Yale School of Medicine. He specializes in trauma, anxiety, and mood disorders, with particular interest in supporting families of youth with behavioral health issues and co-occurring disorders.
Andrew is passionate about healthcare tech, privacy, interoperability, and improving the patient experience. At Epic he worked with healthcare organizations across the U.S. and Canada as a technical support engineer. As a consultant, he helped design, implement, and manage analytics initiatives and population health programs.
Sterling Elder most recently worked at Evolent Health. She brings a breadth of experience in human resource management, recruitment team leadership, and clinical recruiting.
Noam formerly served as Head of Technology and Strategy in an elite technology unit in the Israeli Defense Forces. He is passionate about building innovative people-centered products, and brings more than 10 years of experience managing projects in IT and mobile technology, cyber security and business research.