Welcome to the 2026 TRUST Annual Forum!
Our annual Forum is our signature event focused on inspiring and connecting women leaders in the health care industry. We are so glad you are here!
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Agenda:
- 4:30: Networking
- 6:00: Seating & Welcome
- 6:10: Dinner
- 6:40: Program
- President’s Welcome
- Award Recognition
- Keynote Speaker
- 8:00: Program Closing
WHL TRUST Forum Award Winners:
Jean Harris Award: Jeannine M. Rivet, MPH, BSN, RN Honorary Doctor of Laws, FAAN
Jeannine Rivet is an active board member, advisor, mentor, and coach. Retired Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group, Jeannine worked with and on behalf of all business segments in areas focused on strategic business relationships, clinician advancement, culture, and social responsibility. Previous roles at UnitedHealth Group include CEO of UnitedHealthcare, CEO of Ingenix, and CEO of Optum. Before joining UnitedHealth Group, Jeannine held various other managed care and nursing positions.
Jeannine received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Minnesota for her advancement of nursing and health care through public service. She also received a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University and holds a B.S. in Nursing from Boston College. Jeannine practiced as a registered nurse for several years before entering the managed care industry.
She is on numerous business boards and advisory councils and is a mentor to businessmen and women. She has been recognized by AAHP, Boston University School of Public Health, Fortune magazine, Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys, Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal, Minnesota’s City Business, Minnesota Women’s Health Leadership TRUST, Twin Cities Business magazine, Linkage, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, and the American Heart Association – Twin Cities. She also is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She is a driving force in challenging the industry to enhance health and well-being through information, collaboration, and the advancement of optimal health care.
Mentor of the Year Award: Jennifer M. Olson
Presented by Fathom Consulting
Jennifer M. Olson is a transformational healthcare executive, award-winning strategist and respected board leader with over two decades experience driving enterprise-level impact in complex health systems and early and mid-stage companies.
Jennifer is the CEO-founder of BlueInnovo Advisors, a strategic advisory firm reshaping healthcare by bridging operational excellence with bold, future-focused strategy and innovation. Her primary passion is within the women’s and children’s spaces, but her objective is to improve healthcare with curiosity, courage and transformation in the workplace.
A former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Children’s Minnesota, Jennifer played a pivotal role in leading the $1.1B pediatric system vital operations. The foundation of Jennifer’s career was built on innovation and consultation, beginning with her work as a Management Engineer at the University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics, and much more deeply at Deloitte Consulting in the Healthcare and Strategy Practice.
Jennifer’s influence extends beyond the C-suite. She’s served on national boards including AXIONs, the International Society for Pediatric Innovation (iSPI), and the advisory board for Daily Human. She is mentoring faculty with the Creative Destruction Lab Health and Wellness track in Madison, WI, guiding numerous startups annually. Jennifer is also faculty for the Center for Professional Education and Development with the University of Wisconsin Madison School of Business, and for the Wisconsin Hospital Association.
Jennifer holds an MBA in HR and Management with a focus on Health Care, with a BBA in Finance, both from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Originally from Eau Claire, WI, she now splits her time between healthcare innovation and cheering on the Packers and Badgers with her husband Jon and dog Tigger.
Collaboration & Partnerships Award: Kate Shaughnessy, MHA
This award honors a woman who builds impactful partnerships—whether within an organization or through external collaborations—that advance shared goals and create mutual benefit.
Kate is a strategic healthcare leader recognized for advancing enterprise transformation across population health and ambulatory care within complex health systems. She brings a systems-level approach to translating strategy into action—designing and leading initiatives that improve access, advance health equity, and deliver measurable outcomes in value-based care.
Kate holds a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, with a minor in Global Public Health, and is both a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Prosci Certified Change Practitioner. A trusted advisor and collaborative leader, she is known for aligning partners across disciplines, navigating complexity, and leading with both data and empathy. Kate is deeply committed to advancing equitable, patient-centered care and building systems that better serve communities.
As a Population Health Advisor at Hennepin Healthcare, Kate leads cross-functional initiatives that drive operational performance and sustainable, system-wide change. She partners with clinical, operational, and administrative leaders to align priorities, optimize care delivery, and implement scalable solutions that strengthen both enterprise performance and frontline impact. Passionate about developing people and partnerships, she finds purpose in building connections that inspire meaningful and lasting change.
Community Engagement Award: Kiara Ellis, MSW
This award recognizes a woman who is actively advancing the health and well-being of the communities where we live and work.
With more than a decade of experience advancing health equity across Minnesota’s health ecosystem, she leads institutional strategy that strengthens community partnership, research workforce development, and equitable cancer outcomes.
Since 2016, Kiara has built and scaled the Office of Cancer Impact & Equity from the ground up—shaping its vision, operational infrastructure, and cross-functional alignment across research, education, and community engagement. She provides executive oversight of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE), Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC), community-based participatory research funding, and enterprise-wide equity initiatives that ensure cancer research is responsive to the needs of Minnesota’s diverse catchment area. Under her leadership, the center has expanded statewide partnerships, implemented workforce pathway programs, and launched high-impact public education campaigns, including an Emmy-nominated initiative translating cancer prevention science into accessible community tools.
Kiara served six years as Chair of the Minnesota Cancer Alliance’s Cancer Health Equity Network, convening more than 100 organizations to advance the Minnesota Cancer Plan through an equity-centered framework. She is also the founder of the National Cancer Center Community Impact Forum, a national convening advancing best practices among NCI-designated cancer centers.
Her leadership reflects a clear conviction: health equity is not aspirational, it is operational. Through partnership, lived experience, and disciplined strategy, she continues to strengthen institutional accountability, expand opportunity, and center communities most impacted by cancer in meaningful solutions.
Innovation Award: Lynn Tanner, PhD, PT
The Innovation Award honors a woman leading disruptive advancements in health care that improve health outcomes, enhance patient experience, elevate provider engagement, and deliver measurable business impact.
With 24 years in pediatric rehabilitation, Lynn combines deep expertise in clinical care, research, operations, and digital health innovation, including building cancer rehabilitation and telerehabilitation programs from the ground up. Under her leadership, the YourSteps® Pediatric Rehabilitation Platform received the 2024 American Physical Therapy Association Pediatric Practice Fair Innovation Award and was shortlisted for the 2025 World Summit Award in Health & Wellness. An award-winning leader and global speaker with 30+ peer-reviewed publications, she brings firsthand insight into clinical workflows and system-level transformation to drive adoption of innovative pediatric care solutions.
Leadership Award: Becca Miller
The Leadership Award honors a woman recognized by her team, peers, and business partners as a distinguished and impactful leader.
Becca Miller is a senior healthcare leader with more than 23 years of experience driving customer experience, operational excellence, and equitable access to care. In her current role, she leads enterprise-wide strategies to improve access to blood and marrow transplantation, strengthen provider and patient engagement, and advance health equity for ethnically diverse patient populations.
Throughout her career, Becca has been recognized for her ability to translate complex market insights, policy shifts, and patient needs into scalable programs and partnerships. Her work spans strategic planning, experience design, process optimization, and cross-sector collaboration with health systems, advocacy organizations, and technology partners. She has played a key role in initiatives such as Pathways to Transplant, modernizing access models, and reducing barriers to life-saving care.
A certified change management professional, Becca is deeply committed to innovation as a catalyst for meaningful, sustainable change. She is known for building high-performing, inclusive teams and for leveraging data-driven decision-making to improve outcomes for patients, providers, and communities.
Beyond her role at NMDP, Becca is an active mentor in the community, supporting youth, college students, and career professionals as they navigate education, career pathways, and leadership development.
Becca is based in Minnesota and is passionate about creating programs and partnerships that expand access to healthcare to communities across the U.S.
Ally in Healthcare: Karen Svendsen
Honoring partners beyond traditional healthcare who have made meaningful contributions to the wellbeing of patients, providers, and communities.
Karen has served as Vice President of Programs at Pinky Swear Foundation since July 2016, where she provides strategic leadership and oversees the distribution of financial assistance to families navigating a child’s cancer diagnosis. She shapes program strategy and cultivates strong partnerships with hospitals and social workers nationwide, collaborating with more than 200 pediatric oncology hospitals to ensure families receive timely, critical support. Karen is truly energized by collaborative work and is committed to creating meaningful, lasting change in the communities they serve, always grounded in compassion and care for all.
Prior to joining Pinky Swear Foundation, Karen devoted more than 30 years to nonprofit leadership and service. At Children’s Home Society & Family Services, she held multiple roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of Early Childhood Care & Education, Director of Child Education & Youth Services, Center Director, Parent Educator, and Early Childhood Teacher. She also served as Director of Operations at YWCA of Minneapolis, where she strengthened programs and operations to better support children and families. Her work has consistently focused on improving the lives of children and families.
Karen has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from University of Minnesota – Duluth, and a Certification in Professional Project Management from the University of St. Thomas.
Emerging Leader: Dr. Francie Broghammer
Recognizes a high-performing woman who consistently demonstrates strong leadership qualities and clear potential to assume formal leadership roles within the health care industry. She leads by example, inspires and influences others, and takes initiative to drive positive outcomes within her organization or community.
Dr. Francie Broghammer is a psychiatrist and physician executive serving as Medical Director of Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center (AMRTC), Minnesota’s flagship state psychiatric hospital. AMRTC serves the highest-acuity patients in the state, caring for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness whose needs exceed what many other settings are able or willing to manage.
Her leadership centers on modernizing public psychiatric care through high-reliability principles and strong interdisciplinary collaboration, with equal emphasis on safety and access to evidence-based treatment. Her work has focused on reducing harm, strengthening management of complex behavioral crises, and growing clinical capacity through expanded access to care, education, and development of interventional psychiatric services. During a period of unprecedented strain on Minnesota’s mental health system, this sustained performance helped secure $75 million in legislative bonding to expand the hospital by 50%, marking the hospital’s first capital expansion in decades.
Dr. Broghammer completed medical school and residency training at the University of California, Irvine and earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame. She is completing her Health Care MBA at the University of St. Thomas this spring.
She and her husband are raising three young children, who keep life full and perspective close at hand.
21ST Century Pinnacle Leader Award: Barbara Walcyk-Joers
Barbara Walczyk-Joers has served as President & CEO at Gillette Children’s since late 2013. A leader in pediatric specialty care, Gillette provides specialized care to children who have complex, rare, or traumatic conditions affecting musculoskeletal or neurologic performance.
With more than twenty-five years of healthcare experience, Ms. Joers has a focus on strategic performance and organizational change management as well as health policy and advocacy. She has served in leadership roles in a variety of pediatric and adult healthcare settings, including academic healthcare centers, community health systems, and independent children’s hospitals.
A recognized thought leader in healthcare, Ms. Joers has been recognized as a transformative healthcare leader, one who appreciates and enjoys the complexities of navigating an ever-changing health care environment, while working to assure individuals’ health and wellbeing are the focus.
Ms. Joers is a member of the Board of Directors of the Medical Alley Association and 2026 Special Olympics USA Games. She is also an active participant in other organizations including the International Hospital Federation.
Ms. Joers studied acute care hospital administration at Marymount University. She holds a Master’s in Health Services Management and Policy from George Washington University and completed The Wharton School Corporate Governance certificate.
Keynote Speaker: Jessie Diggins
We are thrilled to welcome Minnesota’s own — Olympic cross-country ski champion, world-class athlete, author, and advocate.
Jessie made history with her unforgettable, come-from-behind Olympic gold medal performance in PyeongChang and has since become the most decorated American cross-country skier in history. But Jessie’s story goes far beyond medals.
Known for her grit, joy, and ability to “go deep into the pain cave,” Jessie speaks candidly about resilience, mental health, leadership, and the courage to push past limits. In her memoir Brave Enough, she shares her journey through adversity and growth, offering powerful lessons on perseverance, self-belief and showing up fully.
A passionate environmental advocate and committed mentor, Jessie embodies the values of strength, humility and giving back, making her a meaningful voice for the our community and beyond.
The Women’s Health Leadership TRUST is a community of more than 400 women leaders across the health care ecosystem, sharing insight, expertise, and support. Membership is built on meaningful connections and opportunities for personal and professional growth. Explore membership and see what’s coming up next!