People thrive in connected communities

As CEO of Intrepid Ascent, Mark leads our dynamic team to guide clients through digital transformation toward elevated community health. He engages directly with other leaders to advance shared goals for effective and equitable health services and to leverage technology for collaboration across sectors to address social drivers of health.

Prior to founding Intrepid Ascent in 2014, Mark played key roles in California’s implementation of federal programs to advance health IT. He received a B.A. from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and he serves on the Board of the California Association of Health Information Exchanges (CAHIE).

Personal Intrepid Ascents: In an upcoming visit to the Amazon, Mark and one of his teenage sons will be climbing up into their treehouse to sleep at night.

As the leader of our Technology Strategy Group, Alex provides strategic leadership in health IT systems and data management to our clients, leveraging more than 14 years of experience as a health care technical executive and systems architect. An expert in health information management, population health, and health data analytics systems, Alex helps our clients use their data as an asset for strategic planning and system redesign. He draws on his health IT expertise to focus on innovating effective and scalable solutions for integrating data, systems, people, and processes across the health care and social sectors to help communities better address the social determinants of health (SDOH) and to succeed in their goals to share data across sectors.

Prior to co-founding Intrepid Ascent in 2014, Alex served California’s East Kern County Integrated Technology Association (EKCITA) HIE as its inaugural chief architect and technology officer from 2007 to early 2013 and later as California Health Information Partnership and Services Organization’s (CalHIPSO) director of technology services. These roles with a pioneering health information organization (HIO) with one of the West Coast’s first HIOs and the nation’s largest Regional Extension Center (REC) during the foundational early days of mass EHR adoption shaped his view that there’s always room for innovation in the U.S. health care system, and that thinking outside the confines of convention are critical to successfully pushing the envelope toward better health. Currently based in our Brooklyn, N.Y., office, Alex was raised in rural California and received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: In an effort to simulate his favorite hikes in the High Sierras on the West Coast, Alex plans backpacking trips to every East Coast mountain he can find, taking him farther and farther afield from Brooklyn each time. Next on the list: Quebec!

A born problem-solver, Karen believes in the power of information to transform our health care system. She’s a recognized health privacy and security expert with more than 20 years’ experience and has a passion for tackling complex health policy issues. Over the past several years, Karen has worked closely with cross-sector data sharing initiatives to develop industry-leading data governance and policy frameworks to support community care coordination and collaboration. Our clients rely on Karen’s expertise in all aspects of health care and health policy, governance, and state and federal regulations to support the exchange of information and improve care delivery.

Prior to her work on policy analysis and regulatory compliance, Karen specialized in health care data analysis and decision support for payer and provider organizations. Karen earned her MBA from California State University, Sacramento and has a B.S. in health services administration from California State University, Chico. She is a volunteer and member of the board of directors for her local Senior Center, allowing her to leverage her work experience to serve the aging population in her community.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Karen’s personal intrepid ascent is traveling — she loves exploring new places near and far. Having recently relocated to southwestern Montana, she’s having fun discovering “the last best place.”

Danielle is passionate about advancing systems change to improve health outcomes through human ingenuity and shared learning. In her role leading Intrepid Ascent’s Community Change Group, Danielle harnesses her expertise in quality improvement, change management, and learning organizations to guide clients and their stakeholders through the evaluation, implementation, and adoption of technology with people at the center. Danielle recently led Intrepid Ascent’s development of the onboarding program for the Alameda County Community Health Record, as well as offering her expertise to other clients to support workflow redesign, training, onboarding, technology adoption, and evaluation.

Previously, Danielle led multiple large-scale quality improvement initiatives that trained clinicians and frontline staff to critically evaluate their system’s performance and identify opportunities to make fundamental change. Danielle holds a bachelor’s degree in physiology and neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego, and a Master of Public Health degree from Touro University California.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: When not working, Danielle loves spending time with family. On the weekends, you can find her chasing her boys around the playground and spending time in her garden.

As a member of Intrepid Ascent’s executive team, Tajalli provides strategic consultation and solutions on all people-related aspects of the business using a people-first approach. Main areas of focus for Tajalli are employee experience and engagement, operations processes, and all things company culture. She continuously seeks out creative solutions to support and foster a high-performing team, while championing Intrepid Ascent’s core values of integrity, creativity, humility, growth, and community. Her passion is planning company-wide events that bring the team together for learning, collaboration, team-building, and fun.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Tajalli is navigating the tenuous and exciting world of raising two teenage daughters. She also loves hiking, exploring new places, and watching movies.

Sokkim has an interdisciplinary focus that sits at the intersection of policy, systems, clinical interventions, and community-based services. She has more than 10 years of experience assisting providers across various health care and social service sectors with data-driven pathways to improvements in coordinated, patient-centered care. She regularly manages time-critical, high-stakes projects that often involve complex strategic issues and multidisciplinary stakeholder environments. Her recent projects include providing expertise to local and state public health departments for the prevention and management of chronic diseases as well as community information exchange (CIE)–related initiatives, including the Whole Person Care Pilots program, which seeks to coordinate health, behavioral health, and social services in a patient-centered manner in California.

Sokkim serves as the lead for the portfolio of state and local interventions under the California Department of Health Care Service’s California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, which seeks to transform and strengthen Medicaid in the state.

Prior to joining Intrepid Ascent, Sokkim played key roles supporting the implementation of Meaningful Use and California’s Medi-Cal EHR Incentive Program and developing innovative approaches to improving care coordination in the medication and pharmacy practice areas. She received her PharmD from the University of California San Francisco.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Sokkim’s personal intrepid ascent is spending quality time with her family and introducing her two young and very active children to new foods and places. Every day is an adventure!

Denise is passionate about collaborating with community partners to leverage data, solve inefficiencies, and push toward transformative health care delivery. With more than 20 years of experience in relationship management, Denise has cemented her keen communications skills, supported by diplomacy and tact when navigating complex business partnerships. She’s highly skilled in community collaboration with varied stakeholder groups, including executive leaders at partnering organizations, community stakeholders, and technology vendors. Before joining Intrepid Ascent, Denise served nearly a decade as the director of community service and then as chief engagement officer for the Rochester RHIO, one of New York State’s most successful regional health information exchanges (HIEs); in that role, she was responsible for executing RHIO’s mission and vision. Grounded in the world of data exchange is where she began her journey toward community change in support of health equity.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Living in Upstate New York, Denise soaks in the benefits of experiencing all four seasons, finding the most joy in autumn, hiking nature trails on brisk days, or unwinding with a good book and a cup of chamomile tea. No matter the season, Denise values quality time creating memories with family and friends. When she’s not working or spending time with loved ones, she’s on a quest for the next great record to add to her extensive vinyl collection.

Samuel is a self-described policy wonk with nearly a decade of experience in policy research and consulting. He currently serves as a senior consultant in the Policy Innovation Group and the firm’s lead behavioral health policy subject matter expert. Samuel is currently leading the implementation of California’s Medicaid behavioral health delivery system redesign in Santa Cruz, Merced, and Stanislaus counties through the Behavioral Health Quality Improvement Program (BHQIP). He also supports various firm-wide projects as a subject matter expert on information privacy laws/regulations, telehealth policy, data governance, and state and federal Medicaid policy. He brings to Intrepid Ascent a deep understanding of the safety net and a history of working closely with Medicaid and public sector stakeholders, having previously worked with the Center for Evidence-based Policy in Portland, Oregon, and the Center for Connected Health Policy in Sacramento, California. Samuel holds a Master of Social Work (MSW) with a concentration in policy and research from Washington University in St. Louis.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Samuel took up DJing as a passion project in March 2022. He spends most of his spare time and weekends spinning at San Francisco venues and clubs. His next ascent? Music production. Samuel is currently working on producing his own music.

Brian is a senior consultant with Intrepid Ascent and serves in the Technology Strategy Group. He specializes in systems architecture design and health data interoperability. He enjoys meeting with teams trying to solve complex problems that span beyond traditional health care delivery models and service organizations. Several of these projects seek to establish or expand community information exchanges (CIE), which have core goals of improving health outcomes, equity, and access to health care needs. Brian finds meaningful opportunities helping ensure health IT vendors provide software solutions relevant and efficient to community organizations with little resources and knowledge of implementation projects.

Previously, Brian served as a general manager in the U.S. Clinical Division of Eurofins Scientific, a global life science company. He managed and led the company’s largest clinical lab in California and third-largest in the United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he and his team rapidly built a COVID-19 PCR facility that quickly became one of the largest commercial testing facilities in the state with result delivery directly to a client’s cell phone in less than 24 hours. Before joining Eurofins, Brian served in the U.S. Marine Corps. During this time, he led units in several international locations, planning logistics, communications, and operations within harsh and remote environments. Brian received a B.A. in information technology from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and an MBA from Northeastern University with a double concentration in finance and high technology.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Brian has a proclivity for the challenging and untraveled paths in life and an affinity for observing other cultures. He has lived in 11 states in the United States and traveled to several countries across four continents. He hopes to continue the journey with seafaring and navigating a sailboat across the open ocean, often called bluewater sailing.

Katelyn equips our team with the data necessary to make informed decisions and the IT infrastructure to collaborate effectively in a remote environment. She combines a mix of creativity, curiosity, resourcefulness, and an excessive love of spreadsheets to engineer solutions and ongoing improvements to Intrepid’s information systems, tools, and processes. Her contributions include the development and management of a suite of dashboards summarizing financial, project, and resource utilization metrics and KPIs sourced from multiple data systems; a comprehensive review and consolidation of company IT systems; and the development of a complex model forecasting performance to inform strategic planning.

Passionate about health and social supports for the LGBTQIA+ community (see here) and the de-stigmatization of mental health, Katelyn has worked in operations roles supporting social justice and healthcare for over a decade. Her previousrole as a Consultant with Intrepid Ascentgives her a unique perspective on how best to support our consultants and clients. Katelyn received her BA in Political Science and History from the University of California, Berkeley.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: An avid baker, Katelyn challenged herself during the pandemic by opening a home-based bakery business in her spare time. After a very busy year fulfilling orders, she is now reclaiming the joy of baking, as an amateur. 

Alexandra has a passion for improving the health care delivery system in the United States. With more than eight years of experience in health care consulting, primarily working with safety-net organizations, she understands the impact that strategic health improvement initiatives can have on vulnerable populations. Alexandra joined Intrepid Ascent in August 2020 and leads strategic business development initiatives as business development manager. Previously, in her role as a consultant with Intrepid Ascent, Alexandra led several technology adoption engagements and provided technical assistance to local and state health departments in California for the prevention and management of chronic diseases.

Previously, she was a senior consultant at Los Angeles–based COPE Health Solutions, where she provided both project and account management and supported clients in strategic planning, transforming business models from fee-for-service to services that complement coordinated care risk models such as capitation or bundled payments. In that role, Alexandra developed assessments and evaluations for service line redesign and innovations and identification of opportunities for performance improvement. She’s a graduate of the University of Southern California, where she received her Master of Health Administration and a certificate in Management of Ambulatory Care Systems. She also received her B.S. in public health from San Diego State University. Alexandra hopes to be an active participant in our country’s health care reform and strives to create efficient structures to address social determinants of health.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Alexandra is a first-generation Croatian who loves to practice yoga daily, especially after a long day of work. In her free time, she’s usually plotting her next trip and has a bucket list of countries she plans to visit.

Lauren sought the public health sector to balance her optimism about practical health improvements with a desire to impact the people around her. As a consultant in the Community Change Group, she enjoys working with stakeholders to understand and better serve their unique needs regarding user onboarding and change management. She keeps processes in motion with a keen sense of project management and is focused on streamlining efforts the next time around. Whether she’s engaged with external or internal best practices, Lauren seeks to bring out the best of any organization. Before joining the Intrepid Ascent team, Lauren interned at the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency. Lauren earned her MPH at Johns Hopkins and B.A. in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Lauren recently attempted to hike California’s Mt. Tallac near Lake Tahoe, and the night before an unusual summer storm brought a few feet of snow to the whole mountain. Not wanting to miss out on the stunning views, Lauren and her friends hiked the mountain with no visible trail, turning a relatively easy summit into a full-day affair! She says it was 100% worth it.

As a consultant in the Policy Innovation Group, Rachel translates and applies complex policies at the community level. She also advises on data governance and helps craft innovative ways of enabling data exchange to promote cross-sector collaboration. As a subject matter expert on California’s Data Exchange Framework (DxF), Rachel walks clients through what this initiative means for their organization and the state’s data sharing landscape as a whole. Beyond policy, Rachel also guides programs through integrating new technologies into their workflows and provides project management support across client engagements. After finishing her B.A. in behavioral neuroscience from Colgate University, Rachel conducted mixed methods research focused on tobacco control and lung cancer stigma at University of California, San Francisco. She then completed her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in behavioral health from the University of San Francisco.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Rachel loves to challenge herself with baking and cooking. She has been using more physical cookbooks lately (both functional and good home decoration), and she loves to make meals with friends.

Jenny is a consultant in the Technology Strategy Group. She is passionate about health care data, public health, system design, and project management. She uses her experience in analytics, problem-solving, and communication to become a trusted advisor to both clinical and community partners. Jenny is committed to improving workflow processes, interoperability, and data sharing to better assist organizations in meeting the needs of their clients.

Prior to joining Intrepid Ascent, Jenny was a supervisor at the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) Center for Data Science Office. She led a team that improved operational efficiency, identified new workflows, and resolved technical issues. In that role, she also supported the maintenance, operations, and enhancement of DOH surveillance systems to support COVID-19 response operations. She’s a Registered Health Information Administrator and received her Master of Health Informatics and Health Information Management from the University of Washington.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Jenny is a Washington native who enjoys yoga and bouldering. She’s also a food enthusiast who loves to try new restaurants and boba (tapioca pearl tea) shops with her friends and family. In her spare time, she’s planning her next adventure. Jenny has visited nine countries and loves to learn about different cultures.

Desa brings with her a background driving community health transformation for underserved communities and has experience spanning local government and the health care sector. As an Analyst with the Policy Innovation Group, Desa carries on this momentum through supporting community needs assessments and project management efforts on diverse client engagements. Her joy in collaborative work captures her interest in addressing social determinants of health through a collective impact approach.

Desa previously was a community worker for the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, where she engaged in policy, systems, and environmental interventions for chronic disease and injury prevention grant–funded projects. She also completed an internship at Health Net where she worked on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma–informed care initiatives focused on Medi–Cal beneficiaries within a robust cultural competency framework. Desa earned her MPH with a specialization in Community Health Sciences from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and a B.S. in Health Science from California State University, Long Beach.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Currently splitting her time between Southern California and Northern Nevada, Desa enjoys visiting local coffee shops and most recently kayaking (beginner fun!) while enjoying the beautiful views of Donner Lake near Lake Tahoe, CA.

After nearly seven years at a New York-based health information exchange (HIE), Emily comes to Intrepid with an extensive understanding of data exchange’s impact on community collaboration. During her tenure there, she documented and developed process improvements of workflows, built and facilitated training for community participants, hosted external and internal employee HIPAA compliance training, and identified and developed new content for training during platform migrations. She understands the needs of a dynamic audience both in developing and facilitating community education events. Emily has worked extensively in the areas of customer support services, account management, and privacy and compliance where she’s built and monitored robust auditing portfolios. Emily holds a Masters of Science in Education from Nazareth College and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York, Geneseo.

With an advanced degree in education, Emily will use her passion for educating others while working as an Analyst with the Community Change Group. Emily will support content development and analysis along with project coordination across project activities and deliverables.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Emily spends most of her time outside of work chasing around her two- and three-year old children. When not toddler-wrangling, Emily enjoys reading, playing board games, and silence. Her current ambition is to hand feed the birds who frequent her backyard feeders.

Shelby serves as an Analyst in the Policy Innovation Group. She brings with her 4 years of health program coordination, data-centered evaluation, and customer service experience. With a background in health policy, healthcare data analytics, and quality improvement, she is excited to support Intrepid’s clients navigating the complex health information technology policy landscape. 

Prior to joining Intrepid Ascent, Shelby worked for the global health nonprofit Orbis International and then transitioned to a role in the Bureau of Equitable Health Systems at the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. While working at the Department of Health, she coordinated several primary care value-based care transformation initiatives and COVID-19 pandemic relief programs for BIPOC communities living in New York City’s outer boroughs.

Shelby received her Master of Public Health degree in Health Policy & Management with two graduate certificates in Applied Data Science and Health Management from the University of California, Berkeley. She also holds a BA in Political Science from New York University. 

Personal Intrepid Ascents: Shelby aspires to visit all 50 states and 100 countries (next up: state #34 and country #25)! When not out and about exploring new places, Shelby loves to take care of her ever-growing collection of houseplants.

As the people and culture coordinator, Allie helps with all aspects of Intrepid Ascent’s business and people operations from invoicing to talent recruitment and new employee onboarding. With a passion for helping others, her favorite part about being a member of the operations group is knowing she is directly impacting the growth of our team, projects, and clients. Allie earned her B.A. in communications from California State University, East Bay and has a strong background in process improvement, project management, operations, and administration.

Personal Intrepid Ascents: As an outdoor enthusiast, Allie enjoys exploring local trails with her dog, Winston, and finding new camping spots. When she’s not exploring the outdoors, she enjoys trying new restaurants, traveling with friends, and immersing herself in a good book.