Realize the value of every voice.

We are steadfast in placing consumer voices at the core of health care design, delivery and impact. Partnering with organizations to connect with consumers as experts by experience is central to our vision and a core component of our own business model, structure, and strategy.

Leadership Team

Melinda Karp

President and CEO

Gia Catanzarite

Senior Advisor, Consumer and Community Engagement

Janet Peluso

Senior Advisor, Finance, Procurement and Accounting

Governance

We see further because we stand on top of the progress made by others who have gone before us, working tirelessly for change.

CACP has intentionally created a structure that brings together lived and professional expertise. We are proud to sit among and listen to seasoned and passionate individuals who fuel our vision and bring solutions and perspective to matters that may otherwise slow us down.

Board of Directors

Jenny McGuigan Babcock

Jenny McGuigan Babcock is the Association for Community Affiliated Plan’s (ACAP) Senior Vice President for Medicaid Policy and Director of Strategic Operations. She also spent over four years as ACAP’s Vice President for Exchanges. In 2010, she served the Eligibility and Enrollment team within the Office of Health Insurance Exchanges in the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO, now known as CCIIO), focusing primarily on the interplay between Medicaid and Exchange coverage. Before joining OCIIO, Jennifer served as ACAP’s Director of Policy, working primarily on Medicaid and CHIP health plan issues. Previously, she worked on policy related to Medicaid, CHIP, the uninsured, and private health insurance in the Office of Health Policy for the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) at the Department of Health and Human Services.

She has also held positions with CHIP at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as special assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Health Care Financing at the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and as an associate consultant with The Lewin Group in Falls Church. Jennifer also served as an MPH Fellow at the Consumer Health Foundation in Washington, D.C., and as Executive Director of the Lovelight Foundation, an anti-poverty organization in Detroit. She has a Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan, Department of Health Management and Policy, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Jenny was recently given an award for Excellence in a Federal Issue Campaign by the Professional Women in Advocacy for her work to require states to report on pediatric quality measures in CHIP and Medicaid.

Dr. Nazlim Hagmann

Allison Matters Taylor

Allison Taylor served as the Medicaid Director for Indiana’s Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA). In this role she oversaw the Medicaid program, which delivers health care coverage to nearly 2 million Hoosiers through fee-for-service and managed care delivery systems. She was responsible for all aspects of Medicaid operations, strategic planning, access, quality, and overall program performance. Prior to this role, Allison served as FSSA’s General Counsel, overseeing the legal portfolio of the broader human services agency. Before joining the state, Allison was a health law attorney with Hall, Render, Killian, Heath & Lyman, representing health care clients on regulatory, legislative, administrative and compliance matters.

Allison is President of the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) and has served on the NAMD Board of Directors for several years. She is a 2017 fellow of the Medicaid Leadership Institute (MLI) through the Centers for Health Care Strategies and is on the National Advisory and Policy Development Committee of Advancing Health Equity – Leading Care, Payment and Systems Transformation. Allison is committed to delivery system innovation with a focus on maximizing alignment and coordination. Having assisted health care providers with navigating the state and federal regulatory landscape in prior roles, she maintains a focus on administrative ease and business process transformation. She believes firmly in the power of collaboration and the opportunity for government and industry to partner and transform the way we serve Hoosiers.

Allison graduated from DePauw University and Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Stella Tran

Consumer Advisory Council

Laura Carroll

Pamela Corcoran

Nohora Gutierrez

Nohora Gutierrez is a single mother of a disabled veteran, a caregiver of an elderly father with AFib, triple bypass, orthopedic joint surgeries, and rheumatoid arthritis conditions, a patient managing the invisible symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and a retired Human Resources Analyst with a Masters of Science in Industrial/Organizational Psychology living in South Florida over 50 years.

As a lifelong learner, she attended MS live events and webinars, in-person and virtual interactive support groups, and joined MS networks to participate in diverse MS research studies. Her goal evolved from individual level involvement in MS research to group level recruitment for a wider multifaceted approach in MS research participation. She joined the iConquerMS research network, is a member of the RIDE (Research, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity) Council, and the Next Steps Committee.

She is also an MS activist with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and AARP advocate for healthcare policy changes on the affordability and availability of specialty medicine for patients with chronic illnesses. Her belief in the power of patient-centered research to enhance overall quality of life is evident in her personal participation as a dedicated champion for diversity and inclusion in MS research.

Her vast experience in utilizing the healthcare systems for her father, daughter, and herself have extensively broadened her passion for active community engagement as both a consumer and family advocate. She strives to positively impact the healthcare service delivery through her participation in organizations actively engaged in partnerships between healthcare systems and people with lived experience (PWLE) in underrepresented communities. Based on her lived experience as a patient and caregiver, she is involved as a National Consumer Scholars with the Camden Coalition, Community Advisory Board with the Kessler Foundation, Patient Voice Panel with the Arthritis Foundation, Panel Member with the M3 Global Research, and Study Advisory Group-CARE IN MS Study with the Langone Health.

Brandee Brewer Hicks

Dionne Stalling

About CACP

CACP is a nonprofit working to improve the health care system by working directly with health care sector organizations around the country, helping them realize the value of every voice and put the voices of people with lived experience at the heart of strategy and operations.

We partner with bold, forward-thinking organizations to fulfill the intent of their mission, driving immediate progress by reimagining an organization’s strengths and assets. We help them move beyond simple consumer participation to build intentional, complementary connections with those who have lived experience, creating rewarding partnerships.

We guide organizations in shifting from merely hearing consumers to deeply understanding them. Our practices help embed lived insights into organizational decision-making, leading to enduring solutions that work for everyone.

CACP is also advancing the field as we collaborate and share our expertise with coalitions such as INSPIRE and the Alliance for Person-Centered Care, focusing on consumer and community engagement, and we partner with the Special Needs Plan Alliance, driving education and policy development to improve care. Together, we are igniting transformation for health care organizations and the consumers they serve!

Bold, forward-thinking organizations we’ve worked with:

Mission and Vision

People with lived experience belong where organizational decisions are made.

Our Vision

We envision a health care system that recognizes and values the lived experiences of individuals with complex health and social needs, fosters deep collaboration between experts by experience and experts by training, and builds trust while sharing power to co-design solutions that improve outcomes, enhance experiences, and manage costs.

Our Mission

To drive meaningful and enduring change in health care by embedding the real-world insights of people with lived experience into every level of organizational decision-making.

Our Commitment

We are people in service to people, ﬁnding common ground as a
foundation for relationships.
We track our biases and assumptions, acknowledging them to keep from hindering progress and connection.
We defer to the lead of people with lived experience, ﬁnding authentic methods and approaches for engagement design.
We see people with lived experience as vital to both process and insight.
We compensate partners and people with lived experience fairly for the tangible and intangible costs of working with us.
We are comfortable being uncomfortable.
We put accountability to the community ﬁrst.
We are dedicated to understanding and producing solutions that put people with lived experience at the center.

our services

Support with group, therapy and mental health with hands and help, people together talking about problem and crisis. Psychology, healthcare and trust, respect and community in counseling for trauma

Contact us

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Email

[email protected]

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Address

1167 Massachusetts Avenue,
Arlington, MA 02476