2017 Hospital Board

Meet the board of directors for Children’s Minnesota. An asterisk (*) denotes people who serve on both the hospital and foundation boards.

Martin L. Bassett
CEO and president, The Walman Optical Company
Vice Chair, Board of Directors of Children’s Minnesota

Martin L. Bassett has been the president and CEO of the Walman Optical Company, a national wholesale optical firm, since 2001. Prior to that, Mr. Bassett served Walman Optical in the areas of finance and operations. He also serves as a director of The Walman Optical Company, Hydrogel Vision Corporation and The Vision Council of America.

From 2008-2012, Mr. Bassett served as director of Christopher & Banks Corp. He is also a member of the World Presidents’ Association (WPO) and The American Institute of CPA’s.

Mr. Bassett holds a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from the University of Minnesota.

Bruce P. Shay
Executive vice president, Securian Financial Group
Treasurer, Board of Directors of Children’s Minnesota

As executive vice president, Bruce has served more than 30 years at Securian Financial Group. He is accountable for all aspects of Group Insurance, Retirement Plans and Individual Annuity businesses at Securian. In addition to providing strategic direction and leadership to each of these business units, Bruce is actively involved in numerous enterprise activities.

Bruce joined Securian management in 1985 in the Retirement Plans Division. He held several sales and management positions with Securian Retirement before being named senior vice president. In 2010, Bruce was promoted to executive vice president, Securian Financial Group. Since joining Securian, Bruce has been involved in strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, enterprise risk management and product distribution/business development. Bruce obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Robert (Bob) I. Bonar, Jr., Dr. H.A.*
CEO, Children’s Minnesota

Bob Bonar was appointed CEO of Children’s Minnesota in December 2014. With hospitals in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, Children’s is one of the largest pediatric hospital systems in the country, serving children throughout the upper Midwest.

Throughout his career, Mr. Bonar has been focused on improving quality outcomes, establishing strategic partnerships within the community and furthering access to pediatric care for people from all backgrounds and walks of life. Prior to Children’s, Mr. Bonar served as president and CEO of Seton Family of Hospitals and CEO of Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas. He also held senior leadership roles at pediatric health systems in Oklahoma, Virginia and South Carolina, and served in instructional roles at several university medical centers across the country.

Mr. Bonar holds a doctorate in health administration and policy from the Medical University of South Carolina, earned master’s degrees in administrative disciplines from West Virginia University and the University of Oklahoma. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from West Virginia University.

Alvin Abraham
Executive Director, KIPP Minnesota

As executive director of KIPP Minnesota, Alvin Abraham oversees KIPP North Star Academy and KIPP North Star Primary college preparatory charter schools in North Minneapolis. Prior to Mr. Abraham’s current role he served as principal of KIPP North Star Academy. Before joining KIPP, Mr. Abraham served as a teacher and principal in schools in Houston, Texas. He also currently serves on the Advisory Board of Teach For America’s The Collective.

Russell Becker*
CEO and president, APi Group, Inc.

Russ Becker is the president and chief executive officer of APi Group Inc., the billion-dollar holding company for 42 independent construction and construction-related businesses. Becker began his career as a field engineer with Cherne Contracting. In 1994, Mr. Becker joined Ryan Companies as project manager on Liberty Paper’s Greenfield Recycled Fiber Paper Machine project. The $80 million project was delivered under budget and three months ahead of schedule. Upon project completion, Jamar offered Mr. Becker its manager of construction position. His career grew from manager of construction to vice president to president. Jamar’s revenues reached from $24 million, when Mr. Becker started, to $60 million in 2002. He held the role of president until he was promoted to president of APi Group, the parent company of Jamar, in 2002.

Since Mr. Becker assumed the role of CEO in 2004, APi Group has grown to more than $2 billion in annual sales and owns more than 42 companies specializing in fire protection, low voltage and industrial and specialty construction. He also serves on the board of directors of Dunwoody Institute and is an active member in the Young Presidents’ Organization. Mr. Becker resides with his wife, Trish, and three sons in Dellwood, MN. He is active in his passion for hockey; coaching youngsters to high school-age hockey teams.

Gary Blackford*
Healthcare Executive

Gary Blackford has over 30 years experience leading health care services and technology companies. He most recently served as chairman and CEO of Universal Hospital Services, Inc. for more than 13 years. Mr. Blackford currently sits on a number of public, private and not-for-profit healthcare boards, including the Children’s Minnesota Foundation Board, Wright Medical Group, N.V., Halyard Health, Inc., Enteromedics, Inc. and PipelineRx, Inc.

Matt Furman
Chief communications officer, Best Buy Co., Inc.

Matt Furman is Best Buy’s chief communications officer. Furman ensures that Best Buy’s great story — where it’s been, where it’s going and how it’s going to get there — is told with consistency, clarity and passion, and that it is heard by the people who matter most to the company’s ongoing success. In this role, Furman oversees employee communications, public relations, executive communications, government affairs, corporate responsibility and community relations. Furman joined Best Buy in 2012 and is a member of the company’s executive management team. Prior to Best Buy, Furman was the vice president of corporate affairs at Mars Chocolate, the world’s largest chocolate company and the manufacturer of such iconic brands as Snickers, M&M’s and Dove. Before joining the chocolate business, he held leading communications positions at Google and CNN. He also held senior communications roles in the administration of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former President Bill Clinton. Furman has his juris doctor from the American University School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton. He is admitted to practice law in several jurisdictions, including before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kelly Lemieux, MD
Primary Care Pediatrician, Wayzata Children’s Clinic; Vice Chief of Staff, Children’s Minnesota

Kelly Lemieux, MD, is a primary care pediatrician and owner at Wayzata Children’s Clinic. She is also the Children’s Minnesota vice chief of staff, and a director on the Children’s Health Network board and past chair of its clinical operations and performance committee. Dr. Lemieux currently volunteers at Bridge for Youth, where she performs intake health assessments on homeless youth and provides recommendations for ongoing medical care. She was previously on the board at St. David’s Center for Child and Family Development. Dr. Lemieux completed medical school in 1992 and pediatric residency training in 1995, both at the University of Minnesota.

Lynn Littlejohn
Director of Community Affairs, Mortenson Construction

Lynn Littlejohn is the Director of Community Affairs with Mortenson Construction and has been with the organization since 1996. She serves as the liaison with clients, community organizations, minority and female businesses, governmental agencies, unions, advocacy groups and public officials. Her role involves promoting the company in existing and new markets by providing guidance and assistance with business development and designing and implementing progressive community participation plans for the employment of women and people of color and business opportunities for minority, female and other businesses. Lynn has extensive experience in the areas of equal employment and affirmative action having worked in the public sector as an Enforcement Officer with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and a Contract Compliance Specialist with Hennepin County. Lynn is involved with several professional organizations including the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), American Contract Compliance Association (ACCA), American Association for Affirmative Action (AAAA), and the ABC Diversity Professional Peer Group. Lynn is very active in the community having served on numerous boards including the YWCA , Twins Community Fund, National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC), Association of Women Contractors (AWC), Dunwoody Academy, Twin Cities Rise! and Alexandra House. Lynn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and resides in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Paul H. Marvin
President, Marvin Windows and Doors

Paul Marvin is the President of Marvin Windows and Doors. Mr. Marvin joined the family business in 2006, and is part of the fourth generation of his family to own and run the century-old business, which traces its roots to a grain elevator and lumberyard that his great-grandfather George Marvin first managed in Warroad, Minn. in 1904.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Marvin founded TLC Student Transportation, providing school bus transportation for students at private and charter schools, as well as for various community outreach programs serving families and children of the Twin Cities. He ran the company from 1998 until it was sold in 2006.

Mr. Marvin currently serves on the board of directors for The Marvin Companies.  He is a 1997 graduate of The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., where he received a bachelor’s degree in economics. Born and raised in Warroad, Minn., Mr. Marvin is a proud and active community member in his beloved northern Minnesota hometown, where he currently resides with his wife Maureen and their six children.

Bonnie Speer McGrath
Senior Strategic Advisor, TruScribe

Bonnie Speer McGrath is senior strategic advisor for TruScribe, a whiteboard video animation production studio and software company. Previously she served as a board director and founding president of the division that launched TruScribe and TruGlyph software. She is also an advisor to two medical startup companies, Tiumed and Brain Health Technologies. Earlier in her career she founded Speer Software Training and was an executive at Kaplan. Ms. McGrath founded the Ladies Who Lead group for CIOs in the legal industry and previously served on the boards of KIPP, Teach for America and Storyworks OnDemand.

Richard Migliori, MD
Executive vice president and chief healthcare officer, UnitedHealth Group

Richard Migliori, MD is executive vice president and chief healthcare officer of Health Services for UnitedHealth Group. Dr Migliori is responsible for ensuring clinical excellence and linking that excellence to practical clinical outcomes and robust business results. Health Services consists of three business segments: OptumInsight, OptumHealth and OptumRx. Dr. Migliori also serves as chief healthcare officer of UnitedHealth Group Alliances, a division of UnitedHealthcare Medicare and Retirement. Dr. Migliori is responsible for the Health Care Transformation on behalf of AARP. Dr. Migliori joined UnitedHealth Group in 1996. He brings to his current executive position over 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector, including time as CEO of four diverse companies. Under his leadership at UnitedHealth Group, Dr. Migliori spearheaded the design, organization and management of national health care delivery networks.

He has previously served on the Harvard University / Kennedy School of Government Health Care Delivery Policy Committee. He is a member of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons and the Advisory Committee on Transplantation advising the Secretary of Health and Human Services on public policy for human organ transplantation. He has published more than 35 articles on topics ranging from continuous quality improvement methods in a clinical setting to surgical oncology and solid organ transplant. Dr. Migliori holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from Brown University and completed a National Health Research Fellowship in immunology, transplantation and oncology funded by the National Institutes of Health. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery.

Richard T. Murphy, Jr.
President and CEO, Murphy Logistics

Richard T Murphy, Jr., ASLA, is the president/CEO of Murphy Logistics, a supply chain logistics services organization that provides distribution, transportation, warehousing and value-added services for domestic and international clients. He is the fourth generation of Murphys to run the enterprise since its founding in 1904. Richard is a member of the University Of Minnesota Carlson School Of Management’s Supply Chain & Operations Advisory Board, the College of Design Board, and past executive committee chair of the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS). He was also chair of the global Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and board member of the International Warehouse Logistics Association.

Richard is also a licensed landscape architect, past president of the American Society of Landscape Architects – MN Chapter, and this winter will teach his twenty-fifth year in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. His MLA is from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and his BLA, BED and MBA are from the University of Minnesota. Richard’s expertise ranges from logistics and transportation to design and real estate development.

Stephen Nelson, MD
Chief of Staff, Children’s Minnesota
Children’s, pediatric hematology-oncology

Stephen Nelson, MD, attended medical school and completed his pediatric residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia. His pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship was completed at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Dr. Nelson joined the hematology/oncology program at Children’s of Minnesota in 1993. He is the co-director of the Vascular Anomalies Center. His interests include caring for patients with sickle cell disease and working to decrease racial health care disparities.

Tom Tefft
Former Senior Vice President, Medtronic

Tom Tefft was the Senior Vice President and President of Medtronic’s $2B Neuromodulation business from 2009 to 2016 where he oversaw the research and development, operations, and sales and marketing for products used in the treatment of chronic pain, movement disorders, overactive bladder and urinary retention, and gastroparesis. Prior to this role Tefft held numerous finance leadership roles at Medtronic including Corporate Controller, Vice President Finance for the Cardiac Rhythm Management business and Vice President and Controller for Europe, Africa and Middle East based in Belgium and Switzerland. Tefft spent 10 years at Price Waterhouse prior to joining Medtronic in 1992. Tefft currently serves on the board of directors of POPS! Diabetes Care, the American Nurses Foundation and the Deans Advisory Board at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business. Tefft received his Bachelors of Arts degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tefft and his wife Julie live outside St. Paul, MN and are parents of three adult children.