Front Line Leadership Track

Kelly Aiken is vice president at the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, based in Washington, DC. Working in collaboration with its network of 32 urban and rural communities, she oversees a portfolio of strategic initiatives focused on achieving inclusive community prosperity by activating employers to invest in their workers, preparing a competitive workforce, making jobs better and changing systems to be more equitable. She also leads the National Fund’s healthcare initiative, CareerSTAT, a network of healthcare leaders investing in the skills and careers of frontline workers.

With over a decade of experience in healthcare, Ms. Aiken has built and sustained collaborative partnerships to ensure workers have access to career pathways and the support services they need to fill critical vacancies and succeed in today’s rapidly changing workplace. Prior to joining the National Fund, Kelly served as the director of labor and workforce development for the Massachusetts Senior Care Association and director of healthcare initiatives at the Workforce Investment Board of Springfield, Massachusetts. Kelly holds a master's degree in education and community development from the University of California at Davis and a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Medicine Technology from Rhode Island Hospital, and a graduate degree in Health Care Management from Cambridge College.

Kerri Palamara, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She completed her medical degree at New York Medical College and Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital. She served as an Associate Program Director from 2010-2018, and directed the Primary Care Residency Training Program from 2014-18. Dr. Palamara is now the inaugural Director of the Center for Physician Well-being for the Department of Medicine at MGH and her academic work focuses on professional development coaching of physicians, faculty development, and physician well-being. Dr. Palamara leads the American College of Physicians “Physician Coach Training Program”, which focuses on training physicians to integrate coaching techniques into their quality improvement and well-being initiatives. For her work in these and other areas, Dr. Palamara has won teaching awards at MGH, Partners Healthcare, Harvard Medical School, and the Society of General Internal Medicine.

Dr. Palamara created, directs and participates in the Professional Development Coaching Program for physicians in training at MGH. This program was designed in conjunction with the Institute of Coaching at Harvard Medical School to improve trainee awareness of their growth and development, reduce burnout, and improve their resilience. The coaching program has been recognized by Harvard Medical School for the Culture of Excellence in Mentoring Award, based on the organizational change inspired by this program, and was featured by the AAMC as a model program to reduce resident burnout. Dr. Palamara also directs faculty physician coaching programs at MGH and is currently involved in several randomized controlled trials locally and nationally on the impact of coaching for coachees and their coaches. The MGH Professional Development Coaching Program has expanded nationally to over 40 residency and fellowship programs and Dr. Palamara is actively involved in onboarding, evaluating and sustaining these programs. Dr. Palamara has developed and run faculty development workshops nationally on this topic and contributes to the dialogue on physician well-being nationally as a member of CHARM (Collaboration for Healing and Renewal in Medicine) and the ACP Physician Well-being & Professional Satisfaction Task Force.

MJ Ryan is the senior director for workforce development and economic opportunity for Partners HealthCare, where she has held various clinical, teaching and management positions. MJ currently leads a small team that complements hospital-based workforce initiatives and fosters system-wide collaborations with key partners and stakeholders involved in skill development and job readiness training for community residents, (youth and adult), and career advancement opportunities for Partners’ incumbent workforce. Over the past decade, Partners incumbent worker initiatives have focused on innovative strategies to increase access to higher education and career advancement through digital learning, coaching and flexible options for working adults.

MJ is an active participant in multiple local, state, and national workforce convenings, and leads several healthcare workforce initiatives. She is the current chair of the Boston Health Care Careers Consortium and member of the MassHires Workforce Investment Board Council and the JVS Boston Advisory Council. Additionally, MJ helped to launch and continues to provide technical assistance for The CareerSTAT Health Care Workforce Academy, an initiative of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. MJ also co-chairs the Direct Care Workforce sub-committee of to the Massachusetts Health Care Collaborative, a newly established statewide initiative to increase access to health care roles leading to family sustaining income for Massachusetts residents. MJ holds a BS degree in Education from University of Maine at Orono, a certificate in Nuclear Medicine Technology from Rhode Island Hospital, and a graduate degree in Health Care Management from Cambridge College.

Charles W. Sorenson, MD, FACS, is President and CEO Emeritus of Intermountain Healthcare and the Founding Director of the Intermountain Healthcare Leadership Institute, a position he assumed in late 2016. The Institute’s premier program is designed for selected high potential health system leaders from the US and abroad. Staffed by a faculty of content experts from Intermountain and other distinguished health systems and academic institutions, the Institute’s focus is on the development of trusted leaders at the intersection of clinical and operational expertise.

Dr. Sorenson served as President and CEO of Intermountain Healthcare from January 2009 until his retirement from this position in October 2016. Prior to that, he served for eleven years as Intermountain’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Dr. Sorenson, a graduate of the University of Utah and Weill Cornell Medical College at Cornell University (MD), is a board-certified Urologic Surgeon and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is an Adjunct Professor of Surgery at the University of Utah.

Dr. Sorenson has a long-standing interest in clinical process improvement and in the development of Intermountain’s integrated delivery system. Under Dr. Sorenson’s leadership as Chief Operating Officer and as Chief Executive Officer, Intermountain Healthcare implemented a disciplined and system-wide focus on best clinical and operational practices aimed at producing measurably better outcomes for patients at costs that are sustainable to the communities Intermountain serves.

In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Dr. Sorenson has continued to be involved in the practice of urologic surgery at the Intermountain Medical Center, with a primary focus on urologic oncology. He also serves on several not-for-profit boards, including the Providence St. Joseph Health System Board.