Certificate Program

Jenni Gudapati PhD, MBA, RN, Director for Boise State University’s Value-Based Healthcare Program. She created and is lead faculty for the 2023 CAHME | George & Regina Innovation Education Award winning Master in Population & Health Systems Management Degree. She co-chaired the Healthcare Transformation Council of Idaho’s Telehealth Task Force, and was selected to serve on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospice & Home Health Quality Reporting Program & Health Equity Structural Composite Measure Development Technical Expert Panel resulting from her passion for better Population Health Management and dedication to closing the gap in rural/urban care disparity. Jenni has served on both state and national boards and has been very active in collaborating with both state and federal healthcare and legislative leaders, presented at State and National Association Conferences on Population Health Management, Telehealth, Innovative Healthcare Delivery & Payment Models and is currently working on her PhD in Public Policy and Administration.

Cheryl Powell is passionate about innovation in Medicare and Medicaid to improve access, population health, value, person-centered care, and outcomes. She brings over two decades of experience in public health care programs to her role as Principal Researcher at Mathematica where she provides advisory services to state Medicaid programs. Cheryl’s expertise includes Medicaid financing, value-based care, population health, and alignment of innovative IT solutions and payment methodologies to effectuate the mission of public healthcare programs.  

Prior to joining Mathematica, Cheryl held a variety of leadership roles within the healthcare industry.  As the Vice President for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) business unit at Ad Hoc, she led digital services, data analytics, and technical innovation for programs for CMS including Healthcare.gov, Medicaid Data Connect, and quality payment programs as well as API data sharing. At MITRE – the Health Federally Funded Research and Development Center – she led strategic engagement and delivery for CMS’s Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS), the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Center for Medicare (CM) including Agency’s Medicaid IT, rural health, and hospital price transparency initiatives.  As Associate Partner at Truven Health Analytics/IBM Watson Health, she provided leadership for Medicaid and Medicare value-based care, financing, technical assistance, and program integrity programs.

Honored to have served as a public servant, Cheryl’s career includes a 16-year tenure as a national leader in Medicaid and Medicare at CMS. There she oversaw CMS’ IT budget and investment portfolio, ensuring that CMS IT solutions aligned to and enhanced its mission and priorities. She served as the first Deputy Director of the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office (Duals Office), where she not only led national person-centered care and integration of services through policy and program alignment; but she also set up the office, which continues to serve as a cornerstone to all alignment activities today. Additionally, Cheryl’s roles as Technical Director for Medicaid financing; Director of Medicaid Benefits, Eligibility and Managed Care; and Deputy Director of Medicaid State Demonstrations and Waivers further established her as a national Medicaid leader.

Cheryl has a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. She graduated as an Echols Scholar from the University of Virginia, summa cum laude and phi beta kappa, with a BA in psychology.  

Vennard Wright is the President and CEO of Wave Welcome, a leading digital transformation and IT optimization firm headquartered in National Harbor, MD, which partners with organizations to align technology and cybersecurity initiatives with corporate strategic outcomes.

Prior to founding Wave Welcome, his professional experience was comprised of multiple executive leadership roles including serving as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Vice President of Operations for Iron Bow Technologies, CIO for WSSC Water, CIO for Prince George’s County Government (MD), and Director of Technology for Hillary Clinton during her successful United States Senate re-election campaign and subsequent 2008 Presidential Campaign.  In addition, he held the distinction of being the Chief Technology Officer and Technical Organization Delivery Manager for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), which was subsequently acquired by Hewlett Packard (HP).

Because of his leadership in the technology industry, he has received numerous awards, authored dozens of articles, and spoken publicly on many topics, ranging from the importance of experiential learning in our educational systems to the changing role that artificial intelligence and automation plays in future career prospects.

In acknowledgement of his efforts to align educational curriculum with the needs of industry, he has served on the advisory boards for the Prince George’s County Public School System, Prince George’s Community College, Bowie State University, and the Universities at Shady Grove. He is also a Board Trustee for Capitol Technology University.  He is an active believer in the tangible benefits of Conscious Capitalism and applying similar techniques to provide solutions for some of the most vexing social and human capital challenges in the Washington DC Metropolitan region and across the nation, including the cultivation of greater diversity at the C-level.

As a complement to his decades of IT leadership experience, Vennard brings an equal amount of hands-on experience in working with young people through myriad avenues.  His volunteer experience includes mentoring students in hybrid settings and, as a Roadrunners Club of America (RRCA) and USA Track & Field (USATF) certified coach, he has coached a host of young athletes into NCAA scholarships.

Vennard Wright resides in Clinton, MD as husband to his beautiful wife, Janelle, with whom he shares four amazing children.

Mark Florian is responsible for the oversight of all actuarial and underwriting activities. Arriving at PacificSource in 2007 as an actuarial analyst, Mark has served in progressively responsible roles, joining the executive management team in 2015.

Mark is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a member of the American Academy of Actuaries. Mark earned his B.S. in chemistry from Gonzaga University. Outside work, Mark enjoys basketball, music, and spending time with his wife and four daughters.

Lutana Haan, EdD, RRT, is the associate dean for the College of Health Sciences at Boise State University. Prior to her current role, Haan served as chair of the Department of Respiratory Care. Haan has a bachelor of science degree and a master of health science degree from Boise State. She earned her doctorate in educational leadership at the University of New England in Portland, Maine. Haan is a Registered Respiratory Therapist. Before coming to Boise State she worked in sleep medicine primarily diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea in the pediatric through geriatric populations.

Her role in the college includes representation on community and college boards and committees and works to support online programs. She supports our college communication and faculty in residence program.  She works closely with our value-based healthcare programs.

Haan’s teaching and research interests include sleep medicine, high-fidelity simulation, and other innovative teaching approaches. Haan’s creativity has involved her in several medical device innovation opportunities.

Her family is a big part of her life; she and her husband have three children who enjoy much of Idaho’s outdoors.