
Jennifer Bright, MPA
Executive Director
Jennifer Bright, MPA
Jennifer Bright is Executive Director for the Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI). Mrs. Bright brings over two decades of health care policy, issue management, patient advocacy and executive leadership to the position. Jennifer is also the founder and President of Momentum Health Strategies, where she works with clients to promote integrated behavioral health care, patient engagement, quality improvement in hospitals and prevention of healthcare-associated infections. She most recently served as Executive Director for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), a non-profit medical society representing physicians, advanced practice nurses, and researchers with expertise in healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention. Jennifer’s prior executive leadership at the National Mental Health Association (now Mental Health America) focused on advancing policy initiatives at the state and local level. Her career has also included issue analysis and strategic issue management for corporate clients at state-focused lobbying firms. Jennifer earned her degree in political science from Trinity College, Washington, D.C. and her master’s degree in Public Administration from The George Washington University, concentrating on policy analysis and program management.

Todd Bentsen
Director of Communications
Todd Bentsen

Mark Linthicum, MPP
Director of Scientific Communications
Mark Linthicum, MPP
Mr. Linthicum is Director of Scientific Communications for the Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI), where he brings both scientific training as a researcher and expertise in communications and strategic planning to bear on the scope of IVI’s activities. Mr. Linthicum has over 10 years of experience in health policy and public health, with experience in policy-facing research in diverse therapeutic areas, including oncology, hepatology, infectious disease, and nutrition. His work has been published in leading journals of economics, medicine, and health policy including JAMA Oncology, Health Affairs, Chest, and Health Services Research. He earned his Master’s degree in public policy from the University of Southern California and his bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lisa Malecha, MBA
Chief Financial Officer
Lisa Malecha, MBA

Erica de Fur Malik
Director of Membership and Patient Engagement
Erica de Fur Malik

Melanie Ridley
Director of Fundraising
Melanie Ridley
Melanie served as Director of Fund Development for Essential Access Health, a statewide association dedicated to advancing sexual and reproductive health through policy, programs and clinical research. During her more than ten years at the organization, Melanie managed full lifecycle of federal and state grants and funder relationship management. Prior to this, Melanie worked with Mental Health America, a national advocacy organization, leading training and technical assistance projects to support state mental health planning councils and state policy and advocacy initiatives.

Judy Thomas
Operations Manager
Judy Thomas

Richard Xie, PhD
HEOR Research Manager
Richard Xie, PhD
Richard Xie, PhD is a health economist with a track record in leading and conducting health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) studies to inform the design of public health policy and valuation of innovative pharmaceutical therapies. Dr. Xie is the HEOR Research Manager at the Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI). Prior to joining IVI, he was an HEOR consultant at the Analysis Group, managing a portfolio of studies to demonstrate the value for novel therapies for clients in the pharmaceutical industry. His experiences also included working as a Health Policy Researcher at the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, where he examined policy questions in medication nonadherence, health disparities and the evaluating innovation in healthcare. Dr. Xie’s work were published in leading peer-reviewed medical journals including JACC, Journal of General Internal Medicine, and PLOS One. Dr. Xie received his PhD in Economics from the University of Southern California.