Hospital Board

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

Gary Blackford*
Health Care Executive
Vice Chair, Children’s Minnesota Board of Directors

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 health care boards, including the Children’s Minnesota Foundation Board, Wright Medical Group, N.V., Halyard Health, Inc., EnteroMedics, Inc. and PipelineRx, Inc.

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.

Alvin Abraham
Dean, Dougherty Family College, University of St. Thomas

Alvin Abraham is the founding dean of the Dougherty Family College at the University of St. Thomas, which welcomed its inaugural class of students in August 2017. Abraham started his career as an elementary educator with Teach for America and then continued teaching in Houston, Texas. A proven leader, Abraham quickly ascended into educational administration as an assistant principal then principal in Houston. Abraham relocated to Minneapolis in 2012 to lead KIPP Minnesota. Abraham holds a B.S. from Texas A&M University and a M.Ed. from the University of Houston. He also currently serves on the board of directors of Great MN Schools, the leadership council of MN Comeback, and the national advisory board of Teach for America – The Collective.

Hayes Batson*
President & CEO, Tinket

Hayes Batson is president and CEO of Tinket, an early stage scheduling software company. During his career as a consumer digital, health and education entrepreneur, he has built numerous products and businesses, working closely with private equity, regulators and politicians. In addition, Mr. Batson has worked in corporate finance at William Blair & Company and management consulting at McKinsey & Company. Mr. Batson is chairman of the Children’s Minnesota hospital board and a member of the Children’s Minnesota foundation board. He is also a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He received his MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and his bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. He and his wife Alicia Kunin-Batson reside in Saint Paul, Minnesota with their two children.

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.

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.

Marc H. Gorelick, MD*
President and CEO

Marc Gorelick, MD, was appointed chief executive officer of Children’s Minnesota in December 2017. He joined Children’s in March 2017 as president and chief operating officer. He is deeply committed to identifying sustainable ways Children’s can continue to deliver exceptional care in an evolving health care environment.

Dr. Gorelick previously served as Executive Vice President and COO of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.  A pediatric emergency medicine physician by training, his prior experience includes faculty positions at Medical College of Wisconsin and University of Pennsylvania, and clinical and leadership roles at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, AI DuPont Hospital for Children, and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.

His education includes an A.B. degree in history from Princeton University, an M.D. degree from Duke University, and a Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Gorelick trained in pediatrics at Children’s National Medical Center, and in pediatric emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Gorelick’s interests include running, cycling, and paddling; homebrewing; and playing the tuba.

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
Vice President of Community Affairs, Mortenson Construction

Lynn Littlejohn is the Vice President of Community Affairs and Development with Mortenson and has been with the organization since 1996.  She serves as the organization’s 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, workforce development and designing and implementing progressive community engagement 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 diversity and inclusion 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 a board member for Children’s Minnesota Hospital and has previously served as a board member for the Minneapolis YWCA, Minnesota 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 holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business.

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

Raised by two entrepreneurs, Bonnie Speer McGrath received an early education in business that has served her well in all aspects of her life.

After working in London with Arthur Young, and New York at Chase Manhattan Bank, she discovered an unmet market need in technology training and at the age of 24 started her first company called Speer.  Speer pioneered technology training for bankers and lawyers and expanded to 350 trainers serving 40% of the nation’s premier banks and law firms. She eventually sold that business to Kaplan and the Washington Post, a signature milestone in her career.

Most of Bonnie’s career, she was fortunate to balance leading a company with motherhood. But when she and her husband added a fourth child –her role as a mother required every ounce of her. Their adopted Russian daughter was 11 when she joined the family. Sweet, kind, and beautiful, she had never owned a pair of shoes, used shampoo or read a book. There were no roadmaps or obvious answers to help her adapt. Instinct, sheer will, and the diagnosis of a hearing loss, helped Bonnie assemble services and rally a team to help her daughter reach remarkable heights.

Bonnie returned to the work force as President of TruScribe, a whiteboard video animation production studio and software company that launched a creative communications tool called Squigl. She is currently the Managing Director and co-creator of The Abbay, an annual educational experience for leading CEOs and their spouses with entertainment inspired by the Super Bowl. She is also an advisor to two medical startups and a YWCA board member. In her spare time, she hosts edutainment events on topics of interest to her. She recently hosted 85 businesswomen to celebrate and support the launch of four new women-led ventures.

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

Richard Migliori, MD is executive vice president and chief health care 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 health care 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 health care 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.

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.