Evan Thornberg (she/they)

Evan Thornburg currently serves as the Health Equity Special Advisor for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health in the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office and has previously served the City and residents of Philadelphia as the Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs and the Director of Training and Program Development of the Mayor’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Kenney Administration. Evan is an expert in intersectionality in systems of healthcare and public health, specializing in policy/legislation, equity-based program development and comprehensive training on health equity, health disparities, social determinants of health, and the inclusion of vulnerable populations in system-level redesign. Evan grew up between Philadelphia, PA, and Houston, TX, received her BA in American Studies/Civilizations from Ursinus College, and is completing a Master’s in Urban Bioethics at Temple School of Medicine.

Kate Hermans, Board Member, CEO & Founder, Hermans International LLC

Kate Hermans is an innovative global leader with a passion for building and accelerating the growth of businesses. She is known for her entrepreneurial and incisive ability to transform organizations and lead agile teams to drive exceptional financial outcomes. Kate’s accomplishments span across Biotech and HealthTech, bringing a unique ability to unlock commercial potential, through highly creative, often nonlinear approaches, from startups to large enterprises.

Currently Ms. Hermans is the CEO & Founder of an advisory firm for startup and early-stage enterprises that strategically positions companies to maximize their value creation.

Ms. Hermans is a Non-Executive Director for Ambrx Biopharma (AMAM), Board Director on the Advisory Board of Clue by BioWink, and serves on the Board of Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures. Additionally, she is a member of the Healthcare Executive Review Committee for Ben Franklin Tech Partners, a member of the Board of Directors for the Alzheimer’s Association, Delaware Valley Chapter, and the Advisory Board of the Women’s Resource Center. Ms. Hermans is an active speaker across multiple industry forums.

Most recently, she served as the interim CEO and President for Ambrx Biopharma. This was a board appointed position with a mandate to quickly reduce cash burn and drive a complete company overhaul, resulting in a strategic pipeline reprioritization, significantly reducing the operating complexity of the organization, and doubling the cash runway.

Previously Kate served as an investor and Chief Business Officer (Pharma), for 83bar Inc, as well as various executive commercial and operations leadership roles at Radius Health, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer/Wyeth, and Intel, working in the U.S., China, Africa, and globally. She has built, managed, and driven value creation across a diverse suite of businesses ($10M-$4B).

Kate received her Master’s degree in Finance and International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, as well as a BA in International Relations from Wheaton College, MA.

Jen Arches (she/her)

Jen Arches is Senior Director of Global Benefits at Comcast NBCUniversal. Jen’s role is focused on the strategy and design of Comcast NBCUniversal’s U.S. health plans covering 90,000 employees and their family members. Jen’s responsibilities include oversight of medical, pharmacy and clinical programs with a focus on improving member health, optimizing the member experience, and maintaining fiduciary responsibilities to employees and the business. Most importantly, Jen focuses on designing, implementing and measuring market-leading benefits that continue to attract and retain organizational talent while supporting business needs.

Prior to Comcast, Jen spent time in New York City working in benefits analytics within the financial industry at Morgan Stanley and Equity Healthcare (a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group). Jen began her career as an employer healthcare consultant at Buck Consultants in New Jersey and San Diego, CA.

Jen holds a B.S. in Mathematics from James Madison University and an M.P.H. in Healthcare Policy and Management from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Julie Kastner (she/her)

Julia Kastner is the Chief Product Officer at NeuroFlow, a behavioral health technology company that enables engagement, measurement, and triage of needs, empowering organizations to deliver mental health care population-wide. Julia, recently recognized by the Timmy Awards as the Best Tech Manager in North America, oversees product development and innovation strategy at the company.

Prior to NeuroFlow, her product management experience included a senior role at Monetate, an A/B testing and website personalization company. Julia also spent time as Senior Product Manager at General Assembly. Before working in product, Julia owned and operated her own e-Commerce fashion business, Eva & Paul. Julia received her MBA from Harvard University and an undergraduate Economics degree from McGill University.