New York City June 3–4, 2025
Designing the future
of mental health care, together
Welcome to Ahead 2025: the invite-only event gathering executives across health plans, health systems, employers, AI and technology, policymakers, academia, and more to push boundaries, shift strategies, and make breakthroughs in mental health care.
Together, we’ll dive deeper to address the most pressing challenges, align expectations, and envision what really needs to happen to truly achieve quality at scale.
This is where mental health care moves forward. This is where we step Ahead.
Today’s mental health care leaders face unrelenting demands. While change is a guarantee, we can’t respond alone. Cross-sector collaboration is crucial, now more than ever.
Ahead 2025 is just around the corner. To help us ensure the best experience for you, please take five minutes to complete this survey by midnight on Friday, May 23.
Brian Brooks
Vice President, Behavioral Health
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
Jennifer Christian-Herman
Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health
Speakers and attendees
Hosts
Andrew Adams
Founder and CEO
Headway
Dr. Nworah Ayogu
Head of Healthcare Impact Thrive Capital
Bob Badal
Operating Partner a16z
Yasmine Belkacemi
Managing Principal, Payer Partnerships Headway
Dr. Nicole Benson
Medical Director
Headway
Dr. Dena Bravata
Co-Founder at Lyra Health; Advisor for Headway
Dasha Cherepennikova
Director, Product Headway
Olivia Davis
Chief Commercial Officer Headway
Erin Fitzgerald
Head of Communications and Payer Marketing Headway
Planning Ahead
© 2025 Therapymatch, Inc.
1
Attire
Casual — whatever makes you feel your best.
3
Accessibility
Please email [email protected] with any necessary accommodations. We plan to walk up to 10 minutes each day on city sidewalks and are happy to arrange transportation for you if needed.
4
Participation
This is an intimate, invite-only gathering, and every guest’s participation will help make it a success. Please be present for the full two days — especially in your small groups.
5
Travel planning
Arrive: Evening of Monday, June 2
Depart: Wednesday, June 4 anytime after 2 pm ET
(we recommend departing flights after 4 pm ET)
6
Hotel
Many attendees are staying at the Soho Grand Hotel.
Check-in is at 3 pm ET on Monday, June 2.
310 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013
7
Security
We’ll gather on June 3 and 4 at buildings with robust security. This is strictly an invite-only event. Your safety and privacy is crucial to us.
8
Press
This is a closed event. All conversations will be held under Chatham House Rules.
Agenda
Monday, June 2
Soho Grand
310 W Broadway
New York, NY 10013
6:30 - 8:30 pm
Welcome drinks
Optional
Tuesday, June 3
75 Varick Street, PH
New York, NY 10013
(5 min walk from Soho Grand)
8:30 am
Breakfast and registration
Please arrive no later than 9 am ET
9:30 am
Kickoff
Olivia Davis, Chief Commercial Officer, Headway
9:50 am
Keynote
Andrew Adams, Founder and CEO, Headway
10:30 am
The Art of Gathering
Priya Parker, Conflict Resolution Facilitator, Advisor, and Author of The Art of Gathering
11:30 am
Working together: Connections
You’ll be teamed up in small groups for these sessions — please commit to being present.
12:30 pm
Lunch break
1:15 pm
Mental health quality at scale: A profit center or a cost center?
Panel
Dr. Dena Bravata, Co-Founder, Lyra Health; Headway, Advisor
Stoddard Davenport, Principal & Healthcare Management Consultant, Milliman
Andy Kelly, SVP of Provider Enablement, Optum Behavioral Health
Dr. Taft Parsons, VP & Chief Psychiatric Officer, CVS Health
Julie Seibert, Associate VP, Behavioral Health, NCQA
2:00 pm
Break
2:15 pm
The future of integrated care: Medical-first or behavioral health-first?
Panel
Jennifer Christian-Herman, Vice President, Clinical Strategy & Programs, Blue Shield of California
Dr. Andrew Diamond, Chief Medical Officer, Amazon One Medical
John Doyle, Chief Strategy Officer, Aledade
Dr. Hossam Mahmoud, Regional Chief Medical Officer, Carelon Behavioral Health
Dr. Marc Watkins, Chief Medical Officer, Kroger Health
3:00 pm
Break
3:15 pm
Working together: Insights and opportunities
You’ll be teamed up in small groups for these sessions — please commit to being present.
4:15 pm
Day one debrief
Led by the Headway team
4:45 pm
Break
Free time before dinner
6:00 pm
Drinks and hors d'oeuvres at Fouquet's
Time to connect and unwind
7:00 pm
Seated dinner at Fouquet's
Private tables for small group conversations
Élysée’s Restaurant at Fouquet’s
28 Desbrosses Street
New York, NY 10013
(10 min walk from Soho Grand)
Tuesday, June 3
Wednesday, June 4
Headway
205 Hudson St, Floor 9
New York, NY 10013
(10 min walk from Soho Grand)
8:00 am
Breakfast
Please arrive no later than 8:45 am ET
9:00 am
Kickoff
Olivia Davis, Chief Commercial Officer, Headway
9:15 am
AI lightning talks and Q&A
Dr. Ainsley MacLean, former Chief Medical Information Officer / Chief AI Officer, Kaiser Permanente
Neil Parikh, Co-Founder, Slingshot AI
Yicheng “YC” Sun, Senior Portfolio Director, Healthcare & Wellbeing, IDEO
10:00 am
Break
10:30 am
Ahead - the video game
A surprise experience
12:15 pm
Looking ahead: Driving towards action
Led by the Headway team
1:00 pm
Lunch
Connect with peers and the Headway team
2:00 pm
Goodbyes
Dr. Ryan Connolly
Senior Medical Director - Behavioral Health
Independence Blue Cross
Renée Daley
Staff Vice President, Head of Product
Carelon Behavioral Health
Dr. Andrew Diamond
Chief Medical Officer
Amazon One Medical
Stoddard Davenport
Principal & Healthcare Management Consultant
Milliman
John Doyle
Chief Strategy Officer Aledade
Andrew DiGiacomo
National Provider Network Strategy
Evernorth Health Services
Miriam Ferreira
Vice President of Mental Well-Being
Aetna
Kara Ellinger
Staff Vice President, Commercial Product,
Care Ecosystem Solutions
Anthem
Dr. William Gordon
Chief Informatics Officer
CMS Innovation Center
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Dr. Gregory Harris
Senior Medical Director, Mental Health
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Andy Kelly
Senior Vice President of Provider Enablement
Optum Behavioral Health
Suzanne Kunis
President and Chief Executive Officer NovaWell
Dr. Ainsley MacLean
Former Chief Medical Information Officer & Chief AI Officer
Formerly Kaiser Permanente
Dr. Hossam Mahmoud
Regional Chief Medical Officer Carelon Behavioral Health
Dr. Donna Milavetz
Chief Medical Officer Cambia Health Solutions
Dr. Douglas Nemecek
Chief Medical Officer, Behavioral Health
Evernorth Health Services
Neil Parikh
Co-Founder Slingshot AI
Priya Parker
Conflict Resolution Facilitator,
Advisor and Author of The Art of Gathering
Dr. Taft Parsons III
Vice President & Chief Psychiatric Officer
CVS Health
Dr. Kyu Rhee
President and CEO
National Association of Community Health Centers
Emma Sagan
Vice President, Digital Product Strategy
The Cigna Group
Julie Seibert
Assistant Vice President Behavioral Health, NCQA
Yicheng “YC” Sun
Senior Portfolio Director, Healthcare & Wellbeing IDEO
Dr. Marc Watkins
Chief Medical Officer Kroger Health
Dr. Frank Webster
Chief Medical Officer, Behavioral Health
Health Care Service Corporation (Blue Cross/Blue Shield for Illinois, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Montana)
Brian Wheeler
Executive Vice President, Health Services
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Amit Kumar
Partner Accel
Meg McMenamin
Managing Principal, Payer Partnerships Headway
Scott Munro
Managing Principal, Care Partnerships Headway
Carly Nolen
External Affairs and Marketing Lead Headway
Kendall Pittinger
Managing Principal, Payer Partnerships Headway
Will Reed
Partner
Spark Capital
Melissa Reilly
Former Chief Strategy Officer, Evernorth Health Services,
Advisor for Headway
Adam Rhoda
Principal, Payer Partnerships Headway
Molly Stein
Head of Government Programs and Business Development
Headway
Charles Wong
Product Headway
Kareem Zaki
Partner
Thrive Capital
In partnership with
Pre-event form
Dr. Seth Feuerstein
Special Advisor to EmblemHealth; Faculty at Yale School of Medicine
Dr. Ayo Gathing
Chief Medical Officer NovaWell