8:00 a.m. Championing Physician-Lead Healthcare
* CME Pending
PAI’s efforts to help physicians succeed and thrive
Join Kelly Kenney, CEO of the Physicians Advocacy Institute, as she takes you through the PAI’s ongoing efforts to champion fair and transparent payment policies through direct federal-level advocacy, healthcare marketplace research, and litigation. Working closely alongside state medical societies, PAI has a pulse on pressing issues such as healthcare consolidation and practice acquisition. The PAI also supports physicians through its robust online resource hub to help practices successfully navigate the complex payment programs that add to administrative burden and physician burnout.
About Kelly Kenney, Chief Executive Officer, Physicians Advocacy Institute and Principal, K2 Strategies
For over thirty years, Kelly Kenney has devoted her professional life to advocacy on issues that impact physicians and their patients. As CEO of the Physicians Advocacy Institute, Kelly leads PAI’s efforts to champion the interests of physicians and patients at the national level. PAI was established in 2005 through a court-approved settlement of multi-district class action lawsuit that several state medical associations and individual physician filed against many of the nation’s health insurers for unfair payment policies. PAI’s mission is to advance fair and transparent policies and practices to sustain the practice of medicine. In addition to lobbying Congress and federal regulatory entities, PAI conducts and publishes health care research and develops educational tools for physicians to help them succeed in a rapidly evolving practice environment. PAI’s Board of Directors is comprised of CEOs of nine state medical associations - including the Nebraska Medical Association - and a Kentucky physician.
Prior to joining PAI, Kelly served as Director of the AMA’s Advocacy Resource Center and State Government Affairs Division for over a decade. In that role, Kelly led a team of health care attorneys to develop and implement numerous state legislative and regulatory campaigns on behalf of the AMA and its component medical associations across the nation.
Kelly holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from James Madison College at Michigan State University and a law degree from the University of Michigan. She and her husband Crane have four children.
1:45 p.m. Diversity and Inclusion: Worth More Than Gold
sponsored by:

* CME Pending
There is compelling research that diversity increases the competitive advantage of companies, enhances creativity, and elevates employee engagement. Despite this, there is still resistance to workplace diversity.
Through engaging personal narratives, Dima shares the many different types of diversity beyond race and gender, and covers its proven benefits. She provides the audience with tools to enable them to increase diversity in their teams and focus on attracting, engaging, and retaining diverse talent. The audience gains new understanding of managing resistance, tracking progress, and creating a climate that celebrates diversity in their company.
About Dima Ghawi:
For decades Dima Ghawi has worked with diverse teams around the world, creating inclusive corporate cultures and elevating employee engagement. She led teams in 19 countries for IBM, Merrill Lynch, and Intuit, and developed a keen expertise in meeting the demands of an expanding global workforce.
While she is best recognized by her global influence, her Fortune 20 corporate leadership experience, and the prestigious awards that she has received, there is a painful and transformative part of her story to be told.
Born in Turkey, raised in Jordan, Dima grew up surrounded by Middle Eastern culture and values. Fiercely constrained by her culture, community, and family expectations, she was taught that her path was predetermined. She had no voice or identity as a woman; and her worth was decided by the judgment of others.
Her courage through oppression and her resiliency birthed an unstoppable determination to rise above the life that she was born into, to escape confinement, and dare to create a new life for herself. Despite the continuous risk to her life and safety Dima earned her BA in Economics from San Diego State University and an MBA from the University of San Diego, becoming the first woman in her family to receive an advanced education. The power of her story reached an astonishing 58M viewers on Goalcast in 2020, ranking her video as the second-most viewed ‘Inspiring Women’ video in their history.
Ghawi is now the President and Founder of her own global talent development consulting company dedicated to working with and speaking to corporate groups on leadership, employee engagement and people empowerment. She speaks to the leaders, the visionaries, and the rebels who are ready to shatter their limitations. Through her incredible personal and professional experiences, she inspires, educates and empowers everyone who crosses her path.
3:00 p.m. Inspire Medicine Speaker Series
*CME pending
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