Board of Directors

Kyla Hoskins, Board Secretary | Human Capitol
Kyla is Broad Resident, Human Capital at Denver School of Science and Technologya Program Director. She was formerly at Trailhead Institute for Public Health Innovation, advancing innovation and collaboration in public and environmental health. And before that, some of her prior positions include working as a consultant at PA consulting and also at Connect for Health Colorado, Colorado’s health insurance marketplace for individuals and small businesses. During her four years with Connect for Health Colorado she held various policy, operations and public affairs positions. She is a passionate advocate for system-wide transparency for healthcare consumers and finding creative and sustainable ways to make healthcare more affordable to the broader populous. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Creighton University and a masters of public health from George Washington University.

Christy Blakely, Board Member | Health Consultant
Christy is a health consultant and serves on several nonprofit boards including NICHQ Early Childhood Education CoIIN Project, Family Engagement Lead. She was Executive Director of Family Voices Colorado from 2000-2012, an organization that advocates for children and youth with special health care needs. She has a masters degree in Special Education from Purdue University. Her and her husband Todd, parented a daughter with significant disabilities. Lauren, now 35 years of age, was born prematurely and was oxygen deprived at birth. Having degrees in the field of special education gave Christy insights into the world of special needs, and over the years she teamed with insurance companies, doctors, families, schools, advocates, professionals, therapists, hospital staff, policy makers and state agencies to provide for her daughter and advocate for many other children with special needs. She has learned and shared her learning in assistive technology, systems navigation, service delivery systems, public and private health insurance, policy, law and most importantly resources and funding with people around the State of Colorado and nationally. Parenting Lauren and her other daughter, Allison, brought Christy’s professional experiences an added personal dimension. Christy defines herself as a positive, strategic thinker, a life long learner, a relationship builder and a change agent. She has a passion to work with families to navigate today’s complex healthcare systems.

Barry Danielson, Board Treasurer | Real Estate Investor
Barry Danielsen is currently a real estate investor and developer along with his wife of over 30 years. For the 20 years prior to these endeavors, he ran a consulting practice where he advised investors, owners and brokers regarding financial considerations of acquisition, disposition and development opportunities in commercial real estate. Barry served on the boards of St. Anne’s Episcopal School (PK-8) in Denver; the High Mountain Institute in Leadville which is primarily an academic and wilderness semester school for motivated college-bound juniors; and Big City Mountaineers, a non-profit out of Golden that offers transformative wilderness mentoring expeditions for under-resourced urban youth. Barry earned a B.S. of Business Administration from the University of Colorado and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of Denver. He is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Colorado. A native of Denver, Barry enjoys all forms of skiing, backpacking, hiking, climbing 14ers, and yoga.

Michael Booth, Board Chair | The Bawmann Group
Michael is a strategic communications consultant, journalist and moderator, who brings 30 years of experience in finding the right methods and the right audiences for delivering the most useful and accurate information on policy and social needs. He is currently a senior counselor and consultant with The Bawmann Group, a communications firm with longtime ties to Denver-area health care and nonprofit leaders. He also consults, writes, edits and hosts forums for some of Colorado’s most prominent nonprofits, including the Colorado Health Foundation, Mental Health Center of Denver, The Colorado Trust, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, and more. Booth was previously a 25-year writer for The Denver Post, specializing in health care, public policy and major projects in every corner of the state. While at The Denver Post, Booth was an integral part of two different Pulitzer Prize-winning teams in breaking news. A Colorado food crisis in 2011 led to authorship of the Colorado Book Award-winning “Eating Dangerously,” with Jennifer Brown. Still, family time is always first, and this family of six (and a half, if dog-inclusive) spends it participating in and watching sports, hiking and skiing Colorado’s great outdoors, traveling to see more family and searching for the perfect Instagram shot. “All the Fourteeners” is on the bucket list.

Phillip Chung, Board Member │ Evaluation and Research Consultant
Phillip is an evaluation and research consultant with 20 years of experience working at or with nonprofit organizations, foundations, and academic institutions. His research interests centers on patient and consumer representation in health organizational governance and the implementation of community-based approaches to improving health systems. He has experience developing single and multi-site evaluation initiatives, as well as translating complex research findings to diverse audiences. Formerly, Phillip was the Assistant Director for Research, Evaluation and Strategic Learning at The Colorado Trust where he managed the development and implementation of multi-year evaluation initiatives, designed approaches to assess the progress and results of grant strategies, and oversaw internal and external strategies to foster systematic opportunities for learning. He has served on the board of directors for Colorado African Organization and as an advisory member for The Denver Foundation’s Basic Human Needs committee and the National League of Cities’ Expanding Healthcare Access for Children and Families. Phillip has a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and a PhD in Health and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Colorado Denver.

Sara Kraeski, Board Vice-Chair│ Chief Financial Officer
Sara is the Chief Financial Officer for Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, a Rocky Mountain regional law firm located in Denver, Colorado. She works with the firm’s Executive Committee to oversee the firm’s financial management, risk management, and client relations programs, including practice economics, legal matter management, and client satisfaction initiatives. Sara joined Davis Graham & Stubbs in 1992 and was a partner in the firm prior to assuming an administrative management position. As a practicing lawyer, she specialized in corporate transactions, representing clients in public and private securities offerings, merger and acquisition transactions and corporate financings. Sara received her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her M.B.A. in Health Care Management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1992.

Sharon O’Hara, Board Member | Director
Sharon rejoins the CCHI board after a 2 ½ year break. Sharon has a proven track record in state level advocacy, legislative and regulatory initiatives as well as educational programs to address health and social issues. She currently directs the work of the Chronic Care Collaborative, a Colorado-based collaborative of 34 voluntary health organizations. In representing the 1 in 4 Coloradans with a chronic disease the Collaborative joined with other groups to pass the bi-partisan legislation that established the state based exchange, called Connect for Health Colorado, and more recently to pass network adequacy regulations that closely mirror model regulations from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Sharon recently retired after ten years as Executive Vice President at the MS Society Colorado-Wyoming Chapter and an accomplished career in executive leadership and management of nonprofit and health care organizations. Sharon was appointed five years ago to that Board by the Governor to represent consumers. She has demonstrated success and expertise in development of networks and community partnerships, working with state and local policy makers to address accessible and affordable health care.

Joe Rogers, Board Member | Data Sciences Manager
Joe Rogers is a Data Sciences Manager with a decade of successful experience in the healthcare nonprofit space. Joe specializes in healthcare data, insurance, and management. A strong believer in the servant model of management, Joe works to support his team towards greater empowerment and fulfillment. Family keeps Joe busy, but he can also be found gardening, at the gym, or on a Netflix binge.

Monserrath Vera, Board Member | Healthcare Consultant
Monserrath is a healthcare professional, and management consultant, who brings 14 years of experience in the healthcare arena. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Regis University in Human Resources Management with a Minor in Health Care Administration. As well, a Master’s degree from the University of Denver in Healthcare Management, Concentration in Global Health Program Management and Certification in Policy & Regulations. Also, she earned a Diploma in Medical Coding and an Associate degree in Project Management. Her experience in the public health area started, more than 20 years ago, as part of the MIDUVI (Ministry of Urban Development and Housing of Ecuador) team, providing training to the rural native communities in the Andean region of Ecuador. She found directly the lack of public services, the lack of health services in indigenous areas, the lack of personal hygiene, and the negligence in food preparation due to the lack of water for human consumption. Therefore, this experience deeply impacted her view, regarding the lack of effective and balanced work in the public health zone towards these communities. Her experience in the healthcare field within the US, started at Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation serving families in economic vulnerability through a program that helps families in needs, where she learned from mistakes in daily habits are due by lack of knowledge, lack of education, and neglect of the people. As well, she has been a high devoted for the volunteer job, as she served for more than three years at Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver at the optional cosmetic surgery department. After that, she has been participating as a volunteer in the cure for breast cancer with the Susan Komen Foundation since 2014. She worked for Colorado Access an organization that works directly with Medicaid patients, her role there was crucial to managing the education and training for medical providers to serve better the Medicaid consumers. She is foundress the community of Ecuadorian residents in Colorado and serves on the Board of directors of this association. As a Board member of the Colorado Consumers Health Initiatives (CCHI); across this entity, she is looking forward to serving the Coloradoan community through her inputs to improve the access to services of health consumers.