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Who we are

Our Mission

HWNY was formed in 2014 to improve access to quality healthcare in underserved communities by helping organizations address critical health workforce challenges with human-centered workforce development solutions & services. We believe diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce development is the key to creating thriving communities.

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To achieve our Mission, we collaborate with local businesses, community organizations, industry leaders, and government to address systemic workforce challenges, including issues of inclusion, equity, diversity, accessibility, shortages, recruitment, and retention with our human-centered solutions & services.

For more than 20 years, our team has helped 100s of clients, including NYC H+H and SEIU 1199 address critical workforce challenges using our five-step human-centered workforce development framework.

Now more than ever, industry stakeholders need to better understand workforce needs, motivations, and desires to identify opportunities and offer solutions that grow, attract, and retain workers.

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors is comprised of powerful leaders in healthcare, education, and business. They represent and serve urban and rural communities across New York State and beyond. 

OFFICERS

Chair
David W. Felton
President & Chief Executive Officer (Retired) Crouse Community Center Nursing Facility

Vice Chair

L. Thomas Wolff, M.D.

Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus 
College of Health Professions
SUNY Upstate Medical University

Treasurer
Rodney Boula, MSHA, HCQI
Interim CEOAbbeville Area Medical Center

Secretary

Eve Van de Wal

Regional President
Excellus BlueCross BlueShield

MEMBERS

Dan Young
Senior Business Advisor
Empire Advocates

Mantosh J. Dewan, M.D.
President
SUNY Upstate Medical University Distinguished Service Professor Department of Psychiatry

Lenore L. Boris, JD, Ph.D., MS, BSN, RN
Dean
College of Nursing
St. Joseph’s Health

John B. Rudd
President and Chief Executive Officer (Retired)
Cayuga Medical Center
Cayuga Health System

Kent N. Hall, M.D.
SVP/Chief Physician Executive
Mohawk Valley Health System

Paul Dingman
Administrator (Retired)
Plattsburgh City School District

Allison A.N. Duggan, M.D., FACS
Plan Program Medical Director
Chief Clinician for Western NY
Elevance Health

David E. Rogers, Ph.D.
President
SUNY Morrisville

Charles N. Aswad, M.D., FAAFP, FACEM
Chief Medical Advisor
Emeritus Vice President & Chief Executive Officer Medical Society of the State of NY

Gerald R. Cayer
Chief Executive Officer
Lewis County Health System

Anne Richey
Executive Director
Cerebral Palsy Association of the North Country
Community Health Center of the North Country

Tricia A. Peter-Clark, FACHE
President/Chief Executive Officer
ConnextCare

Hazel Sanderson-Marcoux, R.N., Ed.D.
Former Associate Dean
Long Island University Brooklyn Center
School of Nursing

 

Our Team

Our team brings more than 100 years of combined experience researching, designing, developing, and implement human-centered, equitable, and inclusive workforce development strategies.

Richard Merchant

Chief Executive Officer
rkm@nahecnet.org

Christina DeLorenzo

Chief Financial Officer
(716) 790-2704
cdelorenzo@nahecnet.org

Tom McKee

Center Director, BQLI-AHEC 

tmckee@bqliahec.org

Christen Aldrich

Administration and Communications Manager
(530) 680-5501
christen@hwapps.org

Ashleigh McGowan

VP of Innovation & Design
(607) 423 9199
amcgowan@hwapps.org

Whitney Callaghan

Center Director, NAHEC whitney@nahecnet.org

Annabelle Fears

Center Director, CNYAHEC annabelle@cnyahec.org

Ben Aldrich

Director of Technology baldrich@hwapps.org

Bryn Donovan

Program Manager, NAHEC  bryn@nahecnet.org

Mahesh Satdev

Software Engineer 
support@hwapps.org

Kris Merchant

Director of Projects
kris@hwapps.org

Cari-Ann Balcombe

Program Manager, BQLI 
cbalcombe@bqliahec.org

Jessica Dennison

Program Manager, CNYAHEC
jessica@cnyahec.org

Tasnim Islam

Sustainable Impact Project Coordinator

tasnim@hwny.org

Judi Wesser

ISS Consultant jwesser@cnyahec.org
We don’t currently have any open positions, but we’re always looking to meet creative and passionate people.
If you’re interested to joining our mission-driven team of creative problem solvers, send us a message.

Key Partners & Brands

We collaborate with several partners and offer multiple brands to leverage areas of expertise and increase the value we each bring to the communities we serve. They are workforce development organizations, academic institutions, innovation and strategy consultants, and technology development agencies that provide cutting-edge programs, products, and services in their respective fields.

Time and cost-saving digital workforce development tools

Ready to maximize your recruitment, training, and retention potential?

Contact us to learn how we can help.

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