Team

Tech and Integration

Operating Partner

Senior Advisor

Dr. Coye serves as Executive in Residence at AVIA, the nation’s leading network for health systems seeking to advance care delivery transformation through the deployment of digital solutions. Dr. Coye serves as the Executive Sponsor for the Medicaid Transformation Project. In addition, she advises technology developers, investors, national health systems, and policy makers about disruptive technologies and business models in healthcare.

Dr. Coye is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), and a member of the boards of Amedisys (AMED), Ginger, ConsejoSano, and Curai. From 2005-2018, Dr. Coye served on the board of directors of Aetna, Inc. She has chaired the boards of PATH and the American Public Health Association, and served on the boards of the American Hospital Association, the American Telemedicine Association, Big White Wall, Cholestech, The California Endowment, and the China Medical Board.

Between 2010-2015, Dr. Coye was the Chief Innovation Officer for UCLA Health, where she led the health system in identifying strategies, technologies, products and services to support the large-scale transformation of healthcare.

Previously, she served as Founder and CEO of HealthTech, a non-profit education and research organization that became the premier forecasting organization for emerging technologies in healthcare. In earlier positions, Dr. Coye has also served as Commissioner of Health for the State of New Jersey, Director of the California State Department of Health Services, and Head of the Division of Public Health Practice at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.

Venture Partner

Oren is a thought leader in healthcare innovation, value-based delivery, and telemedicine.

Oren is passionate about the prioritization of patient care and the sustainability of the healthcare system by leveraging digital health workflows and solutions. He serves as Director of Telehealth for Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an organization with over 500,000 virtual visits. As Medical Director of the 1,900+ physician organization, Oren works across all specialties to support, strategize, and implement digital health solutions.

He has previously co-founded and served as Chief Medical Officer of BIDMC OnDemand, a state-wide virtual urgent care platform. Oren is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and associate professor of medical education.

Operating Partner

Dr. Mike Phillips currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at Rise Health, a Despierta portfolio company.

Dr. Phillips was previously Managing Partner and Director at Intermountain Ventures, where he directed business development and venture investment for the Intermountain Venture Fund. Dr. Phillips has also served as the Chief of Outreach and Clinical Services at Intermountain Healthcare supporting outreach, telehealth, and clinical shared service design and deployment.

Prior to joining Intermountain, Dr. Phillips practiced as a clinical neuroradiologist at Cleveland Clinic since 2002. He was director of business development in the Cleveland Clinic Imaging Institute and served on the Cleveland Clinic Board of Directors and as the co-chair of the Care Affordability Task Force, identifying and developing ways to improve efficiency and lower the cost of care.

Dr. Phillips earned his medical degree from Columbia University and his undergraduate degree from Amherst College. He completed a radiology residency at John Hopkins Hospital and a neuroradiology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned an MBA from the University of Michigan.

Operating Partner

Howard Gold serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Managed Care and Business Development Officer at Northwell Health, New York State’s largest healthcare provider and private employer, with more than 74,000 employees.

Mr. Gold oversees all business matters related to managed care and business development, including contractual relationships with third-party payers. Prior to joining the health system in 1995, he was vice president-vice provost for strategic planning, The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center.

From 1991-1993, Mr. Gold was executive director of Governor Cuomo’s Health Care Advisory Board. Prior to that, he held several positions with the New York State Office for People with Development Disabilities (OPWDD), culminating in his serving as deputy commissioner, office of policy and planning.

Mr. Gold received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and his master’s degree from the New School for Social Research.

Operating Partner

Jeremy Schwach is an entrepreneur and executive with experience building and scaling strong teams. He founded his first profitable company, a student transportation firm, as a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As an executive at Epic, the Electronic Medical Record giant, Jeremy ran large implementations and served on the implementation executive team.

Jeremy joined Bluetree’s founder in 2013 to help the early-stage health tech-enabled services company find its footing. After assuming the role of CEO that same year, Jeremy led Bluetree through nine years of rapid growth, building the company from 4 to over 600 employees and partnering with all 10 of the top health systems in the country. In 2019, Jeremy sold the company to Tegria, a subsidiary of $20b Providence Health and spent 2½ years working with the leadership team on integration and M&A activities.

Today, Jeremy spends his time working with early-stage startups and scaling companies. He invests out of his early-stage technology fund, is a partner in a healthcare-focused venture studio, advises several healthcare services and technology companies including a large Behavioral Health company in which he is an owner, and serves on the board of cela, MHP, and HDM. Additionally, Jeremy is an advisor and benefactor of the workforce development non-profits YearUp and Coop Careers. He is also a mediocre road biker.

Head of Expert Network

Margie is a community organizer-turned research scientist-turned private equity consultant with extensive experience in creating welcoming environments that push teams, communities, and leaders to grow. Before starting her PhD research she helped found and grow the social network and programs for Invisible Children, the social movement responsible for Kony 2012. Fueled by her experience there she studied what makes ideas “stick,” and how do we convert that stickiness into action. This was the focus of her research.

She began working with clients shortly before defending her dissertation, consulting with organizations who were interested in finding and activating their customer base. From there, she worked with communities all over the world designing experiences and operations that efficiently motivate and activate people towards a specific goal. Recognized for her ability to do this well, she began working for a private equity firm as their principal consultant for their portfolio.

With Despierta, Margie presently spends her time organizing and activating communities, focusing on values of warmth, collaboration, – especially during a company’s early stage. She still advises other companies and also advises other organizations including an ISP and Broadband provider, a foundation, education startups, a technology company, and more. She also runs a small and scrappy freelance cooperative to help clients scale quickly. In her free time she loves fixing up her 200 year old farmhouse, and learning anything about cooking.

Operating Partner

Joseph Whitner is a serial entrepreneur and investor focused in digital health & healthcare. Joseph is currently Co-Founder of Rise Health and serves as Chief Strategic Officer.

Previously, Joseph founded Mastermind Health, a digital health consulting and advisory incubator for Seed and Series A companies to propel growth. He played a key role in launching Miami’s first digital health fund in 2016 with a portfolio of 30+ companies and has an angel investment portfolio of 12 companies with 5 exits.

He is a contributor to the Beacon Council – Health & Life Science Committee, Beacon Tech Innovators Committee, and Miami Venture Capital Association (MVCA) in addressing initiatives for building sustainable businesses in South Florida.

Joseph is driven toward optimizing and transforming healthcare with a focus on constructing back-able investor narratives, hiring/finding key executives, addressing key strategic business development needs, developing financial models and incorporating best in class technology towards execution.

Fertility Partner

Eduardo Hariton is an Ob/Gyn and infertility specialist. He received his medical training at Harvard, where he completed a combined MD / MBA at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School and his Ob/Gyn residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed his fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of California, San Francisco and practices clinically at the Reproductive Science Center of the Bay Area. He is the VP of Strategic Initiatives at US Fertility and the Managing Director of the USF Innovation Fund. He combines his clinical and business backgrounds to treat patients and think creatively about how to improve the care they receive when seeking fertility services.