2018 Advisory Board

Currently Irving is Vice President of Marketing & Retail Sales at Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. He is responsible for marketing communication and marketing research, direct and retail marketing for the Group and Individual Area. In addition, to direct marketing inbound call center operations for various product lines he has responsibility for retail store operations as well as mobile marketing, direct sales field representatives and all direct marketing efforts; including Direct Response TV, Direct Mail, Direct Inbound marketing and digital marketing.

Prior to his role at Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina he was Mass Marketing Manager at another insurance company and has spent 42 years in the insurance industry starting as a college agent trainee for a large west coast mutual. He also was a full time adjunct marketing instructor at the University of New Orleans where he taught Junior and Senior Marketing courses.

In addition to his executive career, Irving has served as the Chair for many industry summits and conferences and has presented at over 35 on various healthcare and marketing topics, and has established himself as a thought leader in the field of healthcare & marketing. Irving is a former member of; United States Chess Federation national marketing committee , University of New Orleans MBA Corporate Advisory Board; and Former South Carolina State Chair for the March of Dimes Ride and currently serves on the Board of the South Carolina Senior Sports Classic.

Irving obtained his Bachelors of Science in Marketing from The University of New Orleans. He also holds an MBA from the University of New Orleans. Irving is a Fellow with the Life Management Institute and a Fellow with the Academy for HealthCare Management.

Kim currently leads the Product team for the Group Segment at Humana. The team is focused on delivering value to our customer through innovative capabilities and services that create a healthier and more productive workplace. The product team spans the customer experience from development and compliance through positioning and go to market for our commercial medical, dental, vision, life and disability, and workplace voluntary benefits customers.

With 22 years of experience at Humana, Kim has held positions in all lines of the commercial business, including small group, large group, specialty and individual, with roles in strategy, marketing, product, and P&L; leadership. Prior to joining Humana, Kim gained experience by working at an ad agency, NBC-affiliate TV station, and nonprofit. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from UW-Eau Claire in Journalism and has post graduate studies at Concordia University in Organizational Communication. She has attended executive leadership programs at Harvard Business School for strategy and at Stanford Graduate School of Business in Finance. In addition, Kim is a Wisconsin Licensed Insurance Agent, Health and Accident.

Kim has served on boards supporting the community and industry, including LIMRA, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Green Bay, De Pere Chamber, Green Bay Chamber Strategic Planning Executive Committee, and LIVE 54218. Kim and her husband Tom live in De Pere, Wisconsin. She has two daughters, Kate, a freshman in High School, and Anna, a freshman in college. As a family, they enjoy time on the water as avid water skiers and look forward to snow for time on trails snowmobiling throughout Wisconsin.

Mr. Jensen is Vice President for Independent Care Health Plan (iCare) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Independent Care is a licensed Wisconsin insurer serving special needs individuals through a Medicaid SSI MCO, a Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plan (MA-SNP) and a Fully-Integrated Dual Eligible SNP (FIDESNP).

Mr. Jensen is responsible for all of iCare’s sales, marketing, public relations and new business development activities. Mr. Jensen reports to iCare’s President and CEO.

Previously, Mr. Jensen was Corporate Strategy and Compliance Officer for Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, a staff-model HMO consistently ranked among NCQA’s top ten nationally. Throughout his career, Mr. Jensen has developed many commercial and government-sponsored managed care products. Mr. Jensen began his career in advertising, working on national brands such as Famous Footwear, Mercury Marine and Miller-Coors.

Mr. Jensen holds an MBA in marketing and a BA in journalism from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He participates in workgroups and research studies sponsored by the National Health Policy Group’s SNP Alliance, the National Quality Forum (NQF), the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) and the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS). Previously, Mr. Jensen participated in Wisconsin’s WIRED for Health information exchange initiative.

Lawrence Kissner is the CEO of Aetna Better Health of Illinois, a $1.7 billion dollar health plan serving more than 230,000 Medicaid beneficiaries. Aetna Better Health has contracts in IL that cover almost every population including ABD, LTSS, MLTSS, TANF, ACA, and Duals members. We are also one of two plans that manage the Colbert Consent Decree which assists nursing home residents to move back to the community.

Prior to joining Aetna, Mr. Kissner was most recently the Commissioner of Medicaid for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and was instrumental in leading the state to a position of national prominence by smoothing out the transition from fee-for-service (FFS) to managed care, expanding Medicaid, and helping to build a fully functional health benefit exchange. While serving as the Commissioner, Lawrence participated in the prestigious Medicaid Leadership Institute with five other Medicaid Directors from around the country.

Previously, Mr. Kissner was CEO of Magnolia Health Plan in Mississippi, Vice President of National Accounts and Large employers at Independence Blue Cross, and President and CEO of UnitedHealthcare in Kentucky.

Denise J. Pesich, Chief Marketing Officer of Affinity Health Plan, is responsible for ensuring that all marketing communications convey its unique brand voice, with messaging that engages their members/customers. Prolific in all mediums, from digital and print to broadcast and collateral, Ms. Pesich leads multi-disciplinary teams of professionals in brand, communications, digital strategy, advertising, creative services, public relations, signature events and corporate meetings, strategic development, consumer and member engagement, and a range of partnerships and initiatives. She has developed campaigns that have revolutionized the customer experience, engaging and supporting Affinity’s healthcare mission.

An innovative, creative marketing executive with superior leadership and problem-solving abilities, Ms. Pesich has more than 25 years as a results-driven senior executive in the nonprofit and corporate space. Before joining Affinity, Ms. Pesich served as Vice President of Communications and National Spokesperson at Girl Scouts of the USA, leading her teams to numerous public successes and accolades. She served as chief architect, developer and executor of the boldest advocacy and fundraising effort dedicated to girls’ leadership in the nation’s history. As the iconic organization mobilized communities of champions to advance the world-changing impact of female leadership on the advent of its 100th anniversary, Girl Scouts of the USA was named Equitrend Youth Brand of the Year and earned Fast Company’s Innovation Uncensored Brand of the Year in 2012. Prior to Girl Scouts, Ms. Pesich capped a near 20-year career as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Development for the United Ways of Tri-State consortium, helping to establish the New York-based footprint for United Way of America.