Advisor's Profile

Martha is an independent board member and advisor, focusing on health tech with deep ties in the behavioral health space. Martha is an experienced CEO and P&L owner who has created, grown, and scaled healthcare businesses both domestically and internationally. She utilizes an innovative strategic approach to setting direction, building high performance teams, mentoring rising leaders, uncovering key value creation levers, and delivering exceptional financial results.   As a successful advisor, she brings authenticity, passion and financial discipline to develop industry leading strategies.  She has built diverse businesses by recruiting top talent and fostering a culture of innovation at all levels. Martha’s extensive experience with large payers, as well as working closely with start ups and integrating acquisitions gives her a unique perspective in today’s healthcare marketplace.

As a board member and CEO advisor, Martha is using her deep knowledge of the healthcare industry to help develop businesses focusing on disruptive ideas that transform the way care is provided.  She is a founding board member and board chair of PsychHub, an educational and training platform start-up founded by Patrick Kennedy and Marjorie Morrison, combining clinical research and the art of storytelling to support mental health, substance use and suicide prevention.  Martha is a board member and advisor to several start-ups in the both the medical and behavioral health spaces, with a focus on quality, early intervention, and evidence-based practices, including as board chair for Ascellus in the worker’s comp space, Coriell Life Sciences, a leader in the pharmacogenomic space; InStride, Mindstrong, Alma, and Cortica all in the behavioral health space. Martha is an advisor for several companies and EHIR (Employee Health Innovation Roundtable) – helping the world’s largest employers and health plans assess emerging solutions to health and wellness needs.  Martha is an Executive In Residence with .406 Ventures, helping them to identify target investments, grow existing assets, and bring new LPs into their portfolio.  In addition, Martha is a member of Project Sunflower, an innovative network of strategic investors bringing the female point of view to private equity deals.

Prior to moving into board roles, Martha was a 30-year veteran at two of the country’s largest health plans, United HealthGroup and Aetna. At UHG she was CEO of Optum Behavioral Health, where she spent 5 years strategically developing high-impact integrated care for over 35 million members. She more than doubled the revenue through organic growth, acquisitions, and digital innovation after foundationally rebuilding a more efficient and market leading business. Her customers included commercial, Medicaid, and Medicare businesses as well as other large payers.

At Aetna, Martha was New England Market President, growing revenue by establishing ACOs across multiple states, entering into the first health care exchanges, and reestablished Aetna’s presence in Boston. Prior to this, she successfully built Aetna’s Global Benefits business. She grew the international business from its earliest stage through both M&A and organic growth, creating the industry’s largest provider of expat benefits. Martha’s international experience includes deep immersion in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Dublin, London, and Dubai.