Affordability in Action: Joining Forces to Lower Hospital Prices

Marilyn has focused on healthcare financial management, serving as controller for a national health insurance carrier, chief financial officer for a regional healthcare third-party administrator, and has held other health management positions within the Montana State Government. As a consultant, she works with Patient Rights Advocate and various employers to “follow the money” in healthcare, with the goal of transparency and lower costs for the plan. As senior policy fellow for the National Academy of State Policy (NASHP), she developed the NASHP Hospital Cost Tool, using hospital filed Medicare Cost Report data, focused on transparency of hospital financial performance.

As State of Montana Employee Benefit Plan Administrator, she moved the plan from projected reserves of minus $9 million to $112 million in less than three years. She disrupted the status quo by implementing reference-based pricing contracts with all Montana hospitals. For her work, she was recognized as #13 of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders in 2019.

Claire Brockbank is the Director of 32BJ Health Fund, a Taft-Hartley fund serving the nearly 200,000 members of SEIU Local 32BJ and their families. With a unique ability to combine strategic vision with operational innovation, she has built a career dedicated to improving healthcare affordability and accessibility by delivering value-driven benefit solutions. She joined the Fund in 2022 as Director of Policy & Strategy, and established a team of healthcare policy experts, lobbyists, analysts, and thought leaders. In 2025, Brockbank steered the Fund’s collaboration with Northwell Direct to reach the largest direct healthcare contract of its kind in the country, generating significant savings while expanding access to high-quality care for 32BJ health plan participants.

Shane Cerone is the CEO of Kada Health, a healthcare advisory and management firm focused on making exceptional healthcare accessible and affordable for everyone. The Kada Health team possesses extensive experience leading nationally recognized health systems to improve access, quality, performance, and affordability.

A major focus of Kada Health’s work is advising self-funded employers on direct strategies to improve employee and family access to high-quality healthcare while reducing the overall cost of care. Kada Health helps employers identify and implement strategies that reduce the prices paid for hospital, physician, and other healthcare services. The firm’s approach is based on the principle that employers can achieve meaningful reductions in healthcare spending by directing patients to high-quality providers while addressing the underlying unit prices that are a primary driver of healthcare costs.

Prior to founding Kada Health, Shane spent more than 20 years leading hospitals and physician group practices in both community and academic health systems. He has held senior leadership positions at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Beaumont Hospital, Mercy Iowa City, and Virginia Commonwealth University Hospitals. As President of Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Shane led one of the nation’s largest teaching hospitals during a period in which the hospital was consistently recognized among the country’s highest-performing hospitals for clinical excellence, quality and safety, and affordability. Beaumont Royal Oak was recognized by U.S. News & World Report across numerous clinical specialties with nine national rankings, received national recognition for seven consecutive years from the University HealthSystem Consortium for quality and safety, and was identified by the RAND Corporation as delivering care at some of the most affordable prices in the nation.

Shane earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a Master of Arts in Hospital and Health Administration from the University of Iowa, where he serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. He and his wife, Sarah, have five children and live in Royal Oak, Michigan.

A physician first and foremost, Dr. John D’Angelo leads with compassion. With over 25 years of practical experience, he continues to transform healthcare operations as president and CEO of Northwell Health, the Northeast’s largest non-for-profit health system. Dr. D’Angelo oversees a complex network of 28 hospitals and 104,000 employees, including over 1,000 outpatient facilities, 22,000 nurses, and more than 20,000 physicians with an operating budget of $22.6 billion. Northwell cares for more than three million people annually in the New York metro area, including Long Island, the Hudson Valley, western Connecticut, and beyond. He was previously the Executive Vice President, Market President for Northwell Health’s Central Market, which includes NorthShore University Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Cohen Children’s Medical Center, LIJ Forest Hills Hospital, LIJValley Stream Hospital and Zucker Hillside Hospital, as well as Northwell’s 260+ ambulatory locations within the Nassau/Queens area. Dr. D'Angelo led Northwell's operational response to the COVID-19 pandemic as operations chief for the system command center and was later appointed chief of integrated operations.

Leveraging lessons from the pandemic, he integrates Northwell's extensive operational resources in the post-pandemic era. Previously, as senior vice president and executive director of Northwell Health’s Emergency Medicine Service Line, he oversaw the clinical and operational performance of Northwell's emergency departments, observation units, and a growing network of urgent care centers, serving nearly 1.5 million patients annually.

As an emergency medicine physician, Dr. D’Angelo has a keen understanding of clinical care delivery, quality, process improvement and operations management. He has spearheaded numerous initiatives that have distinguished Northwell over the years. Dr. D’Angelo has served as the Chair for the Northwell Health Physician Partners Board of Governors & Executive Committee from 2019-2022. He is also a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Raised in the Bronx and Long Island, Dr. D'Angelo earned his medical degree from SUNY Stony Brook and subsequently completed a residency in Emergency Medicine at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA. He started his career as an attending at Holyoke Hospital in Massachusetts and transitioned to an attending physician at Northwell Health's Glen Cove Hospital in 2000 and appointed Chair of the Glen Cove's Emergency Department in 2005. He also served as medical director to numerous EMS agencies throughout his career and served in the United States Army Reserve from 2001-2011.

Melanie is a reporter and producer for Tradeoffs. She spent eight years at The Wall Street Journal, where she reported on hospital costs, healthcare quality and the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the Journal, Melanie covered health policy and business for Modern Healthcare and began her career at the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota, her home state. Her coverage has won awards from the New York Press Club, Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing and Association of Health Care Journalists. She lives in New York.

As Executive Director of the 32BJ Benefit Funds, Peter Goldberger oversees the administration, operation, and planning for eleven multi-employer funds that deliver a broad range of health, retirement, training, and legal fund benefits to nearly 155,000 union members, 239,000 covered lives, and 58,000 retirees with a combined asset portfolio of $13 billion. 

Mr. Goldberger was appointed Executive Director in 2018 after serving for nine years as the Deputy Executive Director. Under his leadership the 32BJ Benefit Funds have expanded its operations to cover a growing number of participants, assets, and employees. Its Health Fund is a leader in the fight for affordable high-quality healthcare for working people and in 2022 the 32BJ Labor Cooperation Trust Fund was established to win public support for various legislative and regulatory changes to rein in high hospital costs – the largest driver of health costs for 32BJ members. Prior to joining the Funds, Peter served as Chief of Staff for SEIU Local 32BJ, and as Director of Education and Mobilization for UNITE/ACTWU. Mr. Goldberger holds an A.B. in History from Brown University.

Maya Holmes is the Senior Director of Health Policy for the Culinary Health Fund, a multi-employer Taft-Hartley Fund that provides health benefits to workers represented by the Culinary Worker, Bartender, and Stage Technician unions in Las Vegas, Nevada, and their dependents, approximately 145,000 lives.

Maya works on health policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure Fund members can access high quality and affordable healthcare in their communities. Since 2017, the Culinary Health Fund has opened four large health centers for its members around the Las Vegas valley. The centers offer primary and pediatric care, pharmacy, mental health, vision, dental, physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, healthy living classes, lab, radiology, walk-in convenience care, and other services. Most services require no copay.

The Culinary Health Fund is the largest plan unit of UNITE HERE HEALTH, which provides health benefits to many members of UNITE HERE, the national hospitality service workers union. UNITE HERE’s 300,000 members work in hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries. The union’s members are highly diverse. The majority are women and people of color, and many are immigrants. Prior to joining the Culinary Health Fund’s policy team, Maya was the Research Director for the Culinary Workers Union, a Deputy Research Director at UNITE HERE, and a research analyst for UNITE HERE locals and campaigns in California.

Chantel Jackson, LMSW, represents New York’s 79th Assembly District in the Bronx, serving Concourse Village, Melrose, Morrisania, Claremont, Belmont, and East Tremont. Born in Harlem and raised in a close-knit family, her commitment to public service is grounded in lived experience and strong community ties. Her mother, an immigrant from Belize, serves as Vice Chair of a local DC 37 chapter, and her late father, who passed away in 2022, was an entrepreneur and CEO of WIBO.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from City College of New York and went on to spend nine years working with low-income, first-generation students on college access and financial aid. She later obtained her Master of Social Work from Adelphi University and served as a social worker in New York City public high schools for four years, supporting students’ mental and physical well-being.

Now in her third term, Assembly Member Jackson focuses on maternal health,
economic development, mental health, youth development, and holistic wellness. She
championed A7713, legislation advancing reforms to adolescent offender case
processing, including changes to guilty pleas and expanding the transfer of cases to
Family Court to strengthen youth-centered justice.

As Chair of the New York State Black Legislative Task Force, Member Jackson helped
secure a $30 million investment for underserved communities and led a 12-stop statewide listening tour to help ensure funding reflected community needs. As of June 2025, she also serves as Chair of the New York State Legislative Women's Caucus, a bipartisan, bicameral body of women legislators who work together to champion policies that support women throughout New York State. In addition, Chantel sits on the Committees of Cities, Education, Housing, Mental Health, Small Business, and Chair of Subcommittee on Micro Business.

While in office, Assembly Member Jackson prioritizes providing constituents with direct access to opportunity and career exposure. In August 2024, she organized two buses of Bronx students to attend Invest Fest in Atlanta, created by Earn Your Leisure, expanding their exposure to financial literacy, investing, and entrepreneurship. Building on that commitment, in February 2026 she hosted The Next Wave Career Summit, bringing together professionals in content creation, photography, entrepreneurship, and other fields to equip students with tangible tools, resources, and clear pathways to becoming the next generation of professionals.

Her work is grounded in lived experience—as a licensed social worker, college professor, published author, and mother to her daughter, Skye, and son, TJ. These roles inform her focus on health, wellness, education, and building long-term economic opportunity for families in the Bronx and beyond.

First elected to the New York State Senate in a Special Election in February 2002, Senator Liz Krueger is currently the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee and a member of the Budget and Revenues and Rules Committees. Senator Krueger is a strong advocate for reproductive rights, affordable housing and tenants' rights, improved access to health care, and more equitable funding for public education. In 2011, Senator Krueger formed the New York State Bipartisan Pro-Choice Legislative Caucus and has passed key legislation to protect and expand access to maternal, reproductive, and sexual health care in New York. 

She has fought for policies that make New York a more affordable place to live, work, and retire, and is a proud sponsor of the Fair Pricing Act. Senator Krueger has made reforming and modernizing New York State’s government, political process, and tax policy the central goals of her legislative agenda and is one of New York’s most recognized advocates for transformative and good-government reforms. 

As the health care lobbyist for the AFL-CIO, Tom works with Congress to improve health care coverage for America’s working families. His work focuses on employment- based health insurance, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Tom has 30 years of healthcare policy experience in a career that spans from managing providers to government service to policy advocacy. At AFL-CIO, he has lobbied on healthcare issues for 15 years and served for seven years as a trustee on the board of the AFL-CIO Health and Welfare Fund, a multi-employer health plan providing health coverage to labor organizations. Before joining AFL-CIO, Tom lobbied on Medicare and Medicaid issues for the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and the American Psychiatric Association. He also served as Director of Government Relations for the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. Tom received his master’s degree from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Amanda Lewis is a partner at the law firm Cuneo Gilbert Flannery & LaDuca, LLP, where her practice focuses on pro-competition policy and litigation on behalf of clients ranging from labor unions to other non-profits and businesses. She joined the firm after spending nearly a decade at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where she led numerous healthcare merger investigations and litigated several successful merger challenges such as Staples/Office Depot and Sysco/U.S. Foods. 

For the last few years of her FTC tenure, Ms. Lewis served on detail to Congress as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee’ Antitrust Subcommittee, where she led the Subcommittee's healthcare work, overseeing legislative hearings and a successful, bipartisan markup of four healthcare antitrust bills, resulting in the enactment of two new laws: the CREATES Act and the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act. Prior to joining the FTC, Ms. Lewis worked as an attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and clerked for Judge Lawrence McKenna of the Southern District of New York. Ms. Lewis received her B.A. from New York University in 2002 and her J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2008.

Julie Menin was unanimously elected Speaker of the New York City Council on January 7, 2026. She has led the Council’s efforts to advance economic and housing growth while launching the nation’s largest municipal college savings program, expanding half-price transit discounts, and creating an office to lower healthcare costs.

After her small business was decimated on September 11th, Julie helped guide Lower Manhattan’s recovery as a non-profit founder and Chair of Manhattan Community Board 1. Julie then led the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs and the Office of Media and Entertainment. In 2020, she served as Census Director, when New York finished first among all major cities. Julie is also an attorney and a former adjunct professor at Columbia University, from which she graduated magna cum laude.

As President and CEO of Purchaser Business Group on Health, Elizabeth Mitchell advances PBGH’s strategic focus areas of advanced primary care, functional markets, and purchasing value. Mitchell leads PBGH in mobilizing healthcare purchasers, elevating the role and impact of primary care, and creating functional healthcare markets to support high-quality affordable care, achieving measurable impacts on outcomes and affordability.

At PBGH, Elizabeth leverages her extensive experience in working with healthcare purchasers, providers, policymakers, and payers to improve healthcare quality and cost. She previously served as Senior Vice President for Healthcare and Community Health Transformation at Blue Shield of California, during which time she designed Blue Shield’s strategy for transforming practice, payment, and community health. Mitchell also served as the President and CEO of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), a network of regional quality improvement and measurement organizations. She also served as CEO of Maine’s business coalition on health (the Maine Health Management Coalition), worked within an integrated delivery system (MaineHealth), and was elected to the Maine State Legislature, serving as a State Representative.

Elizabeth served as Vice Chairperson of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee, Board and Executive Committee Member of the National Quality Forum (NQF), Member of the National Academy of Medicine’s “Vital Signs” Study Committee on core metrics and a Guiding Committee Member for the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network.

Elizabeth holds a degree in religion from Reed College and studied social policy at the London School of Economics. She is a mom of four and grandmother of Clementine and Poppy.

Frank Pallone, Jr. is serving his 18th full term in the U.S. House of Representatives. Pallone represents New Jersey's 6th Congressional District, which covers most of Middlesex County, as well as the Bayshore and oceanfront areas of Monmouth County. Throughout his career, Pallone has fought to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, protect and strengthen Medicare and Medicaid, and make the country's food system safer. Pallone has also fought to protect New Jersey's environment, including protecting our coast from dangerous offshore drilling, holding corporate polluters accountable for Superfund clean ups, and bolstering coastal resiliency. He is also a champion of the state's commercial and recreational fishing industries. Pallone is the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee – the oldest continuous standing committee in the House that has one of the broadest jurisdictions of any congressional committee. The Committee's jurisdiction includes, but is not limited to, issues pertaining to healthcare, energy, environment, commerce, food and drug safety, consumer protection, and communications and technology.

In 2010, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Pallone played a key role in
authoring and passing the Affordable Care Act. During the 117 th Congress (2021-2022), as Chairman of the full Committee, Pallone was a leader in the fight to pass the Inflation Reduction Act—the most significant climate law in our nation's history. The law will also lower prescription drug and healthcare costs for millions of Americans, while finally empowering Medicare to negotiate the cost of lifesaving prescription drugs for seniors, which Pallone has championed for years. Pallone was also instrumental in the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that has delivered federal funding to New Jersey to bolster the state's electric vehicle infrastructure, invest in safe drinking water, and deploy affordable broadband. It also tackles dangerous PFAS chemicals and funds Superfund and brownfield cleanups. In addition, he also helped usher into law the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen our economy and boost our domestic manufacturing industry. In a federal spending bill for fiscal year 2023, Pallone fought for the inclusion of legislation that provides the Food and Drug Administration with the tools and resources it needs to oversee the cosmetics industry, which he first proposed over a decade ago. He also successfully pushed for provisions to provide continuous coverage for children and new mothers through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Pallone also continues to advocate for New Jersey, securing community projects in Middlesex and Monmouth County that will help rebuild infrastructure, promote public health, and bolster educational funding. He has also led efforts to successfully ban offshore drilling and ocean dumping to protect New Jersey’s coastline. He works constantly with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete multiple beach replacement projects at the Jersey Shore.

Pallone began his political career in Long Branch, where he was born and still resides. He was elected to the Long Branch City Council in 1982. In 1983, he was elected to the state Senate, representing the Monmouth County coastline. He was re-elected in 1987. On November 8, 1988, Pallone was elected to the House of Representatives from New Jersey's former Third District, which included parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties. After a new Congressional district map was adopted in 1992, Pallone was elected to represent the Sixth District that included large portions of Middlesex and Monmouth Counties in November of the same year.

Manny Pastreich has dedicated his career to improving working conditions for service workers. In December 2022, Manny became President of the 185,000-member strong 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Previously, Manny served as Secretary-Treasurer and Director of Bargaining for 32BJ. In this role, he participated in bargaining every major 32BJ contract, helping win wage increases, strengthening members’ health and training benefits and expanding job protections for the 32BJ members in NY, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and beyond.

Manny’s work has led to thousands of members being organized into SEIU and 32BJ. He led the research for the 1992-1996 Justice for Janitors campaign in Washington D.C., which saw janitors and allies blocking bridges and major arteries. He also played a key role supporting 32BJ’s successful organizing of tens of thousands of security officers and airport workers in the 2000s.

In the 1990s, he also worked as a researcher supporting SEIU’s organizing and bargaining across the country before being the research director for the AFL-CIO on the United Farm Workers’ strawberry worker organizing campaign. He worked another three years with the AFL-CIO, coordinating multi-union campaigns in the airline and airport sectors.

Manny is the Union Chairperson of the Building Service 32BJ Benefit Funds.

Assembly Member Amy Paulin has served the 88th New York State Assembly District (Scarsdale, Edgemont, Eastchester, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, Pelham, Pelham Manor, and parts of New Rochelle and White Plains) since 2001. 

A full-time legislator, Assembly Member Paulin annually ranks among the state’s most productive and successful lawmakers. Over 350 of her bills have been signed into law to date. Her diverse legislative agenda includes healthcare, education, reproductive rights, child welfare, support for families, domestic violence prevention, sex trafficking elimination, government reform, sustainability, animal welfare, and gun control. She served as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Energy from 2013-2017, working to encourage renewable energy and ensure our electricity grid is reliable, and as the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions from 2018-2022, where she championed expanded broadband access, public transportation, and utility resiliency. She currently chairs the Assembly Committee on Health. 

Assembly Member Paulin was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany, holds a Master’s degree, and has completed doctoral course work in Criminal Justice from SUNY-Albany. For over forty years she and her husband, Ira Schuman, have lived in Scarsdale, where they raised their children, Beth, Sarah, and Joey.

Wendell Potter is unique in American journalism and advocacy—and uniquely able to influence public policy and media coverage across a broad range of issues about healthcare and money in politics. A former investigative reporter, Washington correspondent and corporate executive, Wendell delivers an insider’s perspective into those issues as editor-in-chief of his HEALTH CARE un-covered newsletter, host of The HEALTH CARE un-covered Show, and through the nonprofit work he leads.

Since leaving his 20-year career as an executive at two of the world’s largest healthcare corporations—Cigna and Humana—Wendell has testified before Congress numerous times to explain how the health insurance industry really works. He made headlines during his first appearance as a whistleblower when he described in Senate testimony how health insurers “confuse their customers and dump the sick, all so they can appease their Wall Street Investors.”

Wendell is also a bestselling author and journalist whose work has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, and many other media outlets. In addition, he is the founder and president of the Center for Health and Democracy and leads the Lower Out-of-Pockets (LOOP) NOW coalition, which works with policymakers, employers, and health benefits consultants to reduce the unsustainably high deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements that burden millions of American families. He also has helped produce four documentaries that delve into various aspects of the U.S. healthcare system.

State Senator Gustavo Rivera represents the 33rd District in the Northwest Bronx. Throughout his legislative career, he has passed more than 70 bills into law, protecting civil rights and addressing health inequities in our communities.

In 2018, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins appointed Senator Rivera as the Chair of the Senate Health Committee. He has since passed several measures to eradicate medical debt from our state, expand health coverage for older, undocumented New Yorkers, and extend coverage for new mothers for a full year after giving birth.

Senator Rivera is the main sponsor of the “New York Health Act," which would establish a universal, single payer health care system in New York. He also sponsors the bill to establish and regulate Overdose Prevention Centers to help New Yorkers struggling with substance abuse.

Howard serves as President of the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc. For four decades, he has represented the real estate industry in labor negotiations, participated in thousands of arbitrations, as well as represented employers before federal, state, and NYC courts and administrative agencies. Notably, he was a counsel of record before the Supreme Court of the United States in 14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett, a seminal labor case that cemented arbitration as a foundation of organized labor relations.

Howard is also an officer and trustee on the SEIU 32BJ Funds and the Local 94 IUOE Funds and Committees and is active in the funds’ governance. The International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans (IFEBP), which educates trustees and administrators of employee benefits plans, awarded Howard the designation of Master Trustee and Master Administrator.

A regular speaker in industry and legal professional circles, Howard volunteers extensively. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the IFEBP in 2024, the 34th Street Partnership in 2021, the Project Outreach in 2013, and The Bridge in 2012 and its Executive Committee in 2017. Howard has been honored by Project Outreach, The Bridge, and SSDSRV for his commitment and devotion to these organizations.

A graduate of Hofstra Law School, Howard is admitted to practice law in New York State, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Howard is also member of the New York State Bar Association and the Real Estate Board of New York.

Lynn Schulman grew up in Forest Hills and is a long-time community and LGBTQ activist. With decades of leadership in health care advocacy and progressive causes, Lynn was elected to the City Council because she has a vision for how to bring about the change we need in our Queens communities. An attorney by training, Lynn has devoted her career to public service and held a broad range of executive positions in government, private industry, and the non-profit arena.

In her community, Lynn served as a Vice-Chair on Community Board 6 for more than 20 years. She is also a former member of the 112th Precinct Community Council and the Board of Directors of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, Lynn served as an appointed member of the Community Education Council for District 28, where she focused on combating school bullying, increasing student access to music and art programs, and enhancing education opportunities for the youth in our city’s public school system.

James Slater Solomon is a father, educator, public servant, and cancer survivor. On January 15, 2026, he was sworn in as the 50th Mayor of Jersey City following a historic election that delivered a decisive mandate for change in New Jersey's second-largest city. James was first elected to the Jersey City Council in 2017 in an upset victory against the political machine. On the Council, he built a reputation as a tireless advocate for working families, fighting for affordable housing, stable property taxes, and an end to sweetheart deals for developers. His commitment has always been to make Jersey City a place that supports all our families—not just the well-connected.

James met the love of his life, Gabrielle Ramos-Solomon, in graduate school, where they bonded over a shared commitment to making the world a better place. They married in August 2015. Two months later, James was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Today, he is blessed to be completely healthy. James earned his Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and his Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College. He has proudly served as an adjunct professor at New Jersey City University, St. Peter’s University, and Hudson County Community College, where he has helped prepare the next generation of public servants. As Mayor, James is committed to turning the page on corruption and delivering a government that works for the people of Jersey City—making the city more affordable, improving public safety, fixing basic services, and creating opportunity for every resident.

James and Gaby are the proud parents of three beautiful daughters.

Zirui Song, M.D., Ph.D., is a Professor of Health Care Policy and Medicine at Harvard Medical School and general internist at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he practices primary care and on the inpatient teaching service. His work focuses on the health and economic effects of public policies and private sector interventions in the healthcare system. This includes payment reform, Medicare financing, healthcare prices, employer programs, and private capital investments in care delivery. His related work examines issues in primary care and public health.

Dr. Song has worked on Medicare payment policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with state policymakers on issues around healthcare access and affordability. He is an Associate Editor of JAMA Health Forum and Editorial Board member of Health Affairs and Health Services Research. Dr. Song leads the Health Policy track of the MGH Internal Medicine Residency and serves as Director of Admissions for the Harvard Ph.D. program in Health Policy. He also teaches health policy courses for Harvard Medical and Dental students, Mass General Brigham residents, and Harvard Executive Education. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and National Academy of Social Insurance. 

Dr. Song received a M.D., magna cum laude, and Ph.D. in Health Policy (economics track) from Harvard, with a fellowship at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He received a B.A. in Public Health Studies with honors from Johns Hopkins University.

Nick Stefanizzi is the Chief Executive Officer of Northwell Direct, where he leads the strategy, growth, and performance of Northwell Health's direct-to-employer business. Since its launch in 2020, he has guided the organization to significant growth, managing more than $2 billion in employer healthcare spend for over 300,000 employees and family members across more than 70 employers and labor unions in the New York metropolitan area. Under his leadership, Northwell Direct established the nation's largest direct healthcare contract while delivering more than $150 million in savings for clients.

Prior to Northwell Direct, Nick served as Chief Administrative Officer and Interim CEO of Formativ Health and held several leadership roles across Northwell Health. His achievements have earned recognition from Crain's, Modern Healthcare, and Becker's. Nick holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University and an MBA in Healthcare Administration from Hofstra University and serves on several healthcare advisory boards.

Senator Bryan Townsend represents the 11th Senatorial District, which covers the Southern Newark, Delaware area, including portions of Bear and Glasgow. Bryan and his wife Lilianna, a fellow attorney and a first-generation Vietnamese American, are the proud parents of two young, spirited sons Logan and Landon.

Bryan is the son of a retired Newark police officer and a retired public school teacher. He graduated from Glasgow High School in 1999 before attending the University of Delaware (economics/philosophy/biology), the University of Cambridge (Chinese studies), and Yale Law School.

After law school, Bryan returned to Delaware to clerk for Chancellor William Chandler III of the Delaware Court of Chancery. He then became an attorney focused on Delaware corporate litigation, and has represented Delaware businesses of all sizes, as well as children in foster care, victims of domestic violence, and a veteran with service-related disabilities.

Bryan also has volunteered with the Christiana Volunteer Fire Co., Special Olympics Delaware, the Food Bank of Delaware, and Big Brothers Big Sisters Delaware. He was first elected to the Delaware Senate in 2012. The Senate Democratic Caucus elected him Majority Whip in 2018. He has served as Majority Leader since 2020.

Bryan currently serves as chair of the Senate Labor Committee and vice chair of the Senate Judiciary, Senate Health & Social Services, Senate Executive, and Legislative Council committees. He is also a member of the Senate Housing & Land Use and Rules & Ethics committees.

Jim Wood represented California's North Coast in the State Assembly from 2014-2024, after serving as Planning Commissioner, Councilmember, and Mayor for the City of Healdsburg. As Chair of the Assembly Health Committee for eight years, he tackled healthcare access, affordability, and workforce issues. He now serves on the board of directors of the California Health Care Foundation and in an advisory role with the UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies. Prior to his election to the State Assembly, Jim owned and operated a family dental practice in rural northern California and is a nationally recognized expert in forensic dentistry.

Jessica Zhang is Senior Policy Manager at the 32BJ Health Fund, where she develops and advances policy strategies to make healthcare more affordable for 32BJ members and their families. Her work focuses on addressing high hospital prices and the business practices that drive rising healthcare costs.

Jessica helps lead the Health Fund’s work to translate its experience as a healthcare purchaser into policy solutions at the state level in New York and New Jersey. Her work has included developing policies to curb excessive hospital prices, advance fair and site-neutral payment for routine services, and improve oversight, transparency and accountability for healthcare markets. She works with policymakers, researchers, employers, unions, consumer advocates, and other partners to build the evidence and coalitions needed to advance these reforms.

Prior to joining the 32BJ Health Fund, Jessica worked on healthcare quality improvement and population health research at a Montefiore Health System federally qualified health center in the Bronx, as well as analyses to support program evaluation at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She holds a dual MPA/MPH from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and Mailman School of Public Health.