Speakers
Jennifer DeCubellis
Before joining America’s Essential Hospitals in September 2025, Jennifer served as CEO for Hennepin Healthcare System, an integrated system of care that includes a nationally recognized Level I Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center, a 484- bed academic acute care hospital, as well as a clinic and specialty care system located in Minneapolis and across Hennepin County.
Prior to that Jennifer was the Deputy County Administrator at Hennepin County, the largest County in Minnesota, representing over 24% of the State’s residents. Jennifer oversaw the Health and Human Services line of business inclusive of; the County’s Health Plan (Hennepin Health, a managed care organization), Public Health, Federally Qualified Healthcare Clinics, the Medical Examiner’s office, Housing, Addiction services, Mental Health services, Disability services, Education and Employment, Income Assistance, and Child/Adult protection.
Jennifer has a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Clinical Psychology and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education (emotional and behavioral disorders) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Jennifer has been an innovation leader at the National and State level. She has more than 30 years in public program administration working across all areas of Health and Human Services with an emphasis on public policy, program redesign, system transformations, and quality improvements to ensure positive patient outcomes alongside prudent financial management.
Lauren Pierce Flickinger
Lauren is a Partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, where she focuses on investing in health care technology companies and leading strategic initiatives with health care systems and payers. She serves on the boards of Cardiosense, Kivo, Boomerang Medical, At Home Harmony, and Vircho Health, and is a board observer at Rx Redefined, GoCheck, Wesper, and Carallel. Lauren leads Hatteras Health Innovations (HHI), a platform designed to work with Hatteras’ strategic health system partners to source, diligence, and support health care innovation.
Prior to Hatteras, Lauren was a vice president in investment banking at Morgan Stanley, advising on mergers and acquisitions and public and private capital markets transactions. She previously worked in economic and infrastructure consulting, advising the World Bank and other international financial institutions. Lauren holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dawn Heisey-Grove
Dr. Dawn Heisey-Grove has spent her career finding new ways to innovate with health organizations using the best technology. As Global Health Lead for AWS Skilling and Social Impact, she brings deep expertise in public health systems, health informatics, and technology-driven solutions to advance health equity and resilience at a global scale. Dawn's health experience spans the full spectrum of public health — from federal agencies to state and local jurisdictions. She previously led innovation teams at MITRE and began her career as an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Dawn has published over two dozen articles in leading journals and holds degrees from the University of Maryland, Boston University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Daniel Kortsch
Dr. Daniel Kortsch is Associate Chief of AI and Digital Health at Denver Health and a double board-certified physician who continues to care for patients of all ages, with a focus on medically underserved communities in Denver.
His leadership spans enterprise, state, and national initiatives in health AI. He has served on the Colorado Governor’s legislative task force on healthcare AI and continues to contribute to efforts advancing responsible AI adoption. He has chaired the Epic Cosmos Governing Council, is a published author, and has contributed to Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) publications that help shape standards for health AI governance.
Dr. Kortsch is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado where he serves as principal investigator on multiple grants, teaches, and mentors trainees. He has also advised with VC and digital health startups. Across these roles, he works to advance innovation that improves healthcare delivery and patient outcomes