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A group of business professionals, scholar-practitioners, and multidisciplinary experts from throughout the nation and abroad gathered for a robust discussion and exchange of ideas last week during the first ever meeting of the Iacocca Institute Executive Fellows.

The Executive Fellows are a group of leaders who share their experience, views, and expertise that will help advance the Iacocca Institute's mission to prepare the next generation of leaders to thrive in a global economy.

“This esteemed group of thought leaders and senior executives from diverse industries and countries enriches our programming with their expertise, insights, and research,” said Iacocca Institute Executive Director Scott Koerwer. “Through this series, they will contribute content, thought pieces, corporate access, and invaluable insights.”

More than a dozen Executive Fellows gathered via Zoom for the Jan. 30 meeting, the first in what will be an ongoing series of Executive Fellows Dialogues designed to facilitate idea exchange, share significant content, and generate thoughtful critique among members.

Each session will feature a different speaker from among the Executive Fellow ranks, sharing views and expertise from a specific topic in his or her field, but framed through the Institute’s global leadership mission. Those remarks are followed by a robust discussion, with each participant sharing their own valuable insights.

This week’s speaker was Mark Speicher, Senior Vice President of Research, Learning & Innovation at the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM). He provided insight into medical education and healthcare on different continents throughout the world. They discussed patient safety in healthcare and how the osteopathic philosophy aligns with many modern healthcare improvements worldwide.

“The similarity in many of the problems across healthcare systems around the world is striking,” said Speicher, who also previously delivered keynote remarks to the Mandela Washington Fellows during their visit to the Iacocca Institute in July.

“There's a great deal of similarity in what patients want and expect from their healthcare system, and there's a great deal of shared hope and also disappointment,” he said. “It’s easier to address some of these problems if we cooperate and collaborate to improve patient experiences worldwide.”

Launched in July 2024, the Executive Fellows foster a rich exchange of diverse perspectives that will enhance cultural competency and global awareness among the Iacocca Institute community, helping its learners, alumni, and extended network to develop a more nuanced understanding of national and international affairs and operate effectively in a globalized world.

By regularly providing insights into emerging trends and best practices from various industries, the network will create a dynamic forum that enables rapid dissemination of new knowledge and the cross-pollination of ideas that encourage innovative solutions to complex problems across different contexts.

After Speicher’s presentation, the Executive Fellows engaged in a group discussion about where global solutions could be most effectively implemented with minimal effort. Specifically, they identified health literacy and health disparities as key areas for improvement.

They discussed differences in care between systems with privately operated hospitals (funded in the U.S. by social security) and publicly-owned hospitals. The Fellows also highlighted path dependencies and vested interests as major barriers to healthcare reform.

“This discussion is a great example of the significant content we hope to discuss and tackle in this series moving forward,” said Executive Fellow Larry Starr. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmacy Systems Science at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine and the part-time Director of Applied Research for the Iacocca Institute.

“With healthcare, patient safety is such a critical issue, and Mark’s expertise has afforded us some valuable insights into the topic,” said Starr, who is also a consultant with Systems Wisdom, LLC, and an Adjunct Professor of Strategic Leadership at Thomas Jefferson University.

The meeting was called together by Lehigh alum Roland Kushner ‘G83 ‘94 Ph.D., an Executive Fellow who has served as the champion of this initiative for the Iacocca Institute.

Koerwer thanked Kushner and each of the Executive Fellows who participated in the inaugural meeting. In addition to Speicher and Starr, this included:

• Abhik Das, Partner at Three Hills Capital
• Fermín Ezquer-Matallana, CEO, Think Creative
• R. Kevin Grigsby, Senior Director at AAMC Member Organizational Development
• Elisa Aeki Johnson, Founding Partner at PBJ People Consulting & Coaching
• Roland J. Kushner, Professor of Business at Muhlenberg College
• Mickey Matthews, Managing Director at Stanton Chase
• Teresa Parejo-Navajas, Head of Sustainability at Iberia
• Bob Parker, Owner of The Pit Crew Challenge
• Bernhard Ries, Founding Partner at PBJ People Consulting & Coaching