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Meet the Selection Committee

New England’s UnitedHealthcare Champions Selection Committee consists of community leaders who appreciate the contributions made to our community by people 65 and older. The Selection Committee reviews applications submitted through this website and makes the final determination on the individuals selected. 

Laura Davie

Laura Davie

Director of Long-Term Care and Aging, University of New Hampshire 

The moment is now to change the conversation about aging, to embrace the opportunities growing older has for us as individuals and for our society. For ten years, the Center on Aging and Community Living has hosted Age of Champions, an annual intergenerational health fair, which emphasizes the dividends of aging. UnitedHealthcare’s Champions Program is an opportunity to spotlight the dividends of aging for all of New England. I am excited to support the UnitedHealthcare Champions Program and especially to hear the many stories that will be shared.

-Laura Davie

Eric Herbek

Eric Herbek

Chief Managed Care Officer, Mass General Brigham 

Mass General Brigham is building the integrated academic healthcare system of the future with patients at its center…transforming care and making care more affordable, improving outcomes and expanding our impact regionally, nationally and globally. While our patients come from all ages, nationalities, and walks of life, increasingly older Americans make up an important part of our patient population. Mass General Brigham is pleased to celebrate all of our patients of all ages, and in particular is pleased to recognize older adults who demonstrate their ability to achieve great things not in spite of their age, but because of their age!  

-Eric Herbek 

Jess Maurer

Jess Maurer

Executive Director,  Maine Council on Aging 

I’m participating in the Champions Program because it’s critically important that we intentionally acknowledge the contributions older people are making every day to our workforce, communities, and economies. This program disrupts many of the cultural stereotypes we have about older people and demonstrates that life can be full at any age as long as we keep fully living it. 

-Jess Maurer 

John Madondo

John Madondo

Chief Executive Officer, UnitedHealthcare 

The contribution of older adults to our communities is often underappreciated and often unrecognized. I'm excited to be taking part in the New England Champions program. The lived experience and wisdom of our older adults makes them very valuable partners and contributors when we are trying to solve problems that plague our communities. Our older adults are very big contributors to improving the health of our communities, sometimes as caregivers themselves, as thought-leaders, volunteers, teachers etc. The recognition of our older adults highlights them as assets in the communities we serve. 

-John Madondo

Doug Wenners

Doug Wenners

Chief Executive Officer, Optum at Home

It’s an honor to be part of the Champions Program and its recognition of older adults who are making a difference in our communities. As our friends, family and neighbors age, society too often leaves them behind. Nothing exposed this unfortunate reality more than the COVID pandemic. The Champions Program is an opportunity to recognize those people who built the communities we live in with the respect, honor and dignity they deserve. 

-Doug Wenners

Jess Maurer

Deremius Y. Williams

Senior Vice President, Payer Strategy and Innovation 
Yale New Haven Health System