Leadership Team

Chris Riopelle

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Chris is the co-founder and CEO of Strive Health. Since 2018, Strive has grown to serve over 145,000 patients across 50 states, managing nearly $5 billion in medical spend. 
 
Strive’s innovative clinical model has reduced hospital admissions by 41%, re-admissions by 30% and total cost of care by 20%, benefiting patients, providers and payors alike. With a team of over 700 “Strivers,” Strive has been recognized as a best place to work and is backed by top investors, including NEA, CapitalG (Alphabet), CVS Health Ventures and Town Hall Ventures. 
 
Chris’ career in healthcare includes senior executive roles at GeriMed, Gambro, DaVita, LaVie Care Centers and NorthStar Anesthesia. Additionally, he’s been recognized as a Most Admired CEO by the Denver Business Journal and an E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year. Chris also serves on various boards, including Engine, a tech company that’s revolutionizing unmanaged travel, United Vein and Vascular Centers, an investor backed vascular care company, and the Crested Butte Land Trust, which protects and stewards open lands for vistas, recreation, wildlife and ranching in Gunnison County, Colorado. 
 
Chris holds a BA in Economics from Albion College and a JD/MBA from the University of Detroit Mercy. He lives in Colorado with his wife of 28 years and 16-year-old daughter. In his free time, Chris enjoys boating, biking and skiing. 

Paul Marchetti

President

As Strive’s President, Paul oversees operations, customer success and growth.

Before joining Strive, Paul served as President of CarelonRx at Elevance Health, where he led the pharmacy division through substantial growth, increasing its value to over $35 billion in three years as well as acquiring key assets like BioPlus, Paragon Healthcare and Kroger Specialty Pharmacy.

Earlier in his career, Paul held senior executive roles at New Century Health, Aetna and United where he drove revenue growth, managed national provider and value-based networks, scaled clinical operations and strategic M&A efforts.

Paul has a BAS in Healthcare Administration and Management from Springfield College and an MBA in Healthcare Management from the University of New Haven.

Jen Browne

Chief Operating Officer

As COO, Jen oversees day-to-day operations and execution of business strategies.

Prior to her promotion to COO, Jen was Strive’s President of Market Operations. Her extensive background includes expertise in quality and risk adjustment, disease management operations and medical expense management. Early in her career, Jen held positions at DaVita Medical Group, Advisory Board and Novant Health. She also served as the Senior Vice President of Population Health for Optum where she managed a portfolio of over 1.2 million patients. 

Jen lives in Denver with her husband, Tristan; daughter, Harlow; and son, Lander. In her free time, Jen enjoys hiking, camping, backpacking and hot yoga classes.

Orin McIntosh

Chief Financial Officer

Orin currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Strive, managing the complete finance function including financial planning and analysis, healthcare economics and actuarial, accounting and treasury, financial and management reporting and investor relations.

His finance career spans nearly two decades, the majority of which has been in healthcare finance supporting Medicare Advantage, Managed Medicaid and other government programs. Orin has deep expertise in value-based care, having driven profitable growth for both health plans and provider groups while overseeing medical economics, revenue optimization, financial projections and market performance.

Prior to joining Strive, Orin most recently served as National CFO of Medicare Advantage for Aetna, a CVS Health company. Before that, he served as the Illinois Medicaid CFO for both Aetna and Centene, as well as Regional Medicare Advantage CFO for Humana. Orin started his healthcare finance career on the provider side, as a corporate finance director at ConcertoHealth.

Orin holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Orin spends much of his free time enjoying the outdoors with his wife and two young daughters. In the fall and winter, you can always find him cheering on the Michigan Wolverines football and basketball teams. He currently resides in the Chicagoland area.

Keith Bellovich, D.O.

Chief Nephrologist

As Strive’s Chief Nephrologist, Dr. Bellovich partners with the clinical leadership team to drive the development of clinical programs, establish best-practice protocols and oversee a team of providers dedicated to delivering high-quality, evidence-based care for people living with kidney disease.

Prior to joining Strive, Dr. Bellovich served as Chief Medical Officer at Henry Ford St. John Hospital in his hometown of Detroit. He also served as Medical Director of acute kidney care across eight Michigan hospitals, where he provided extracorporeal therapy and led clinical investigations focused on kidney disease.

He is the immediate past president of the Renal Physicians Association and has been actively involved with the Kidney Care Quality Alliance, Kidney Care Partners and the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Liaison Committee on Certification and Recertification.

Dr. Bellovich began his career in private practice at St. Clair Nephrology in Michigan. He earned his medical degree from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his nephrology fellowship at Henry Ford Hospital. He recently completed a Master of Business Administration at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Tom Hawkes

Chief Technology Officer

Tom is an experienced healthcare leader with nearly 20 years of expertise across the value-based care spectrum. His previous roles include Chief Information Officer and Chief Product Officer at Caravan Health and Senior Vice President of Product at Signify Health, where he supported over 200 health systems and 1 million patients in Medicare Shared Savings Programs and Accountable Care Organizations. Tom played a key role in the acquisition of Caravan Health by Signify Health and the subsequent sale of Signify to CVS Health, demonstrating his strong track record in healthcare strategy and technology.

Tom has held leadership positions at renowned healthcare organizations, including Kaiser Permanente, the Hawaii Permanente Medical Group, The Queen’s Health System and Queen’s Clinically Integrated Physician Network. At Kaiser, he implemented advanced analytics and digital population health solutions, helping the organization rank in the top 10 nationally for healthcare quality. After more than a decade of developing and driving change from within health systems Tom pivoted to support health systems externally during the last eight years in the transition from fee-for-service to value-based-care with his work at Caravan, Signify, CVS and now Strive.

With a strong background in technology and data science, Tom has consistently championed digital transformation initiatives, including building pop health and provider enablement platforms. His passion for improving patient outcomes, reducing inefficiencies and advancing value-based care drives his leadership as CTO of Strive.

Tom holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michele Paige

Chief Growth Officer

As Strive’s Chief Growth Officer, Michele leads the Sales, Customer Success, Patient Experience, Product and Marketing teams to drive sustainable, strategic growth for the company.

Her career spans pharmacy, medical and care delivery, with a focus on creating connected, customer-centric care experiences built on advocacy and support. With two decades of experience across multiple Fortune 500 organizations, Michele has built deep expertise in product strategy, digital transformation and value-based care models, generating significant growth in both traditional and alternative care delivery settings.

Prior to joining Strive, Michele led Product and Digital Strategy for CarelonRx at Elevance Health, overseeing the product portfolio expansion and digital experience transformation. Before that, she served as VP & General Manager of Evernorth Direct Health at Cigna, leading an Advanced Primary Care Practice and Health Coaching business, and as Vice President and Global Head of Customer Relationship Management, driving the organization’s transformation toward a customer-centric model.

Michele holds a Master of Arts in International Affairs with a concentration in International Marketing and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature — both from The George Washington University.

Michele resides in Livingston, New Jersey, with her husband Steven and their two children.

Sumair Akhtar, M.D., MHCDS

Chief Clinical Officer

Dr. Akhtar is Chief Clinical Officer at Strive. As a board-certified internist and primary care physician, his expertise and career are focused on building and scaling care delivery models for complex patients.

Dr. Akhtar received his medical degree from the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He subsequently completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He attended the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he received a Masters in Healthcare Delivery Science. He has over 10 years of experience as a hospitalist and primary care physician.

After completing his training, Dr. Akhtar joined Iora Health, where he was a medical director and primary care physician for Iora’s Las Vegas market. Thereafter, he transitioned to Caremore and Aspire Health, where he led the East Region as Regional Chief Medical Officer. He oversaw global risk Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid, high-risk commercial, and home-based palliative care business lines with markets in fourteen states. Most recently prior to joining Strive, Dr. Akhtar was Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota’s Chief Clinical Officer over its non-health plan diversified business. In that role, he expanded the home-based palliative care unit and launched an advanced primary care service line for Livio Health, a care delivery business focused on high-risk patient populations that was sold to Lifespark in 2022.

Jon Kweller

General Counsel

Jon brings decades of experience practicing health care law for leading provider organizations to his role as Strive’s chief legal officer. Jon has dedicated his entire career to health law. He feels passionate about helping patients access the quality care they deserve.

Before joining the Strive team, Jon served as general counsel and chief legal officer for HealthCare Partners, which became DaVita Medical Group, and for Landmark Health, now part of Optum. He has also served in legal and compliance roles for an array of other leading medical groups, dialysis providers, and health systems, including Gambro Healthcare.

Jon earned his undergraduate degree from Connecticut College and his law degree from Cardozo School of Law. He also holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree – for specialized graduate training – in Health Law from the Loyola University of Chicago.

Jon and his wife of more than 23 years live in Southern California and also enjoy spending time in Park City, Utah. Their son is an undergraduate student at Emory University.

Outside of work, Jon enjoys staying physically active through hobbies like hiking, skiing, and running.

Dave Thornton

Chief People Officer

Dave leads the strategy and processes related to building and retaining an exceptional team of Strivers. During his first year, he helped Strive grow its employee base by 600%. He’s also the architect of Strive’s corporate-culture initiatives and a champion of Strive’s DEI initiatives. 

Dave joined Strive from Evolent Health, where he served as Chief Talent Officer, helping expand the company from 20 to 3,500 people with an award-winning culture. Previously, he was with AOL for eight years. During this time, the company shifted to a media and advertising company, undergoing a significant cultural change. David brings extensive experience driving corporate values, culture and growth and is instrumental to Strive Health’s ongoing success.

Dave loves the outdoors and spends his time golfing, hiking, climbing and running when he’s not working. He enjoys spending time with his son and daughter and watching their basketball and soccer tournaments.

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Amit Trivedi

Chief Actuary

With nearly three decades of healthcare industry expertise, Amit brings deep experience in actuarial science, underwriting and medical economics to his role as Chief Actuary. At Strive, he leads the actuarial function, providing strategic guidance on risk management, pricing and financial planning that drives organizational growth and stability.

Throughout his career, Amit has served as Chief Actuary at several prominent healthcare companies, including Beacon Health Options, Prospero, Landmark and Tomorrow Health. He has also contributed his expertise at Evolent Health and Oliver Wyman. Amit has comprehensive knowledge in Medicare Advantage programs, value-based contract structures and population health management — critical areas shaping the future of healthcare delivery and financing.

Amit has a bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Bristol and maintains fellowships with both the U.K. Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and the U.S. Society of Actuaries.

Based in Fairfield, Connecticut, Amit lives with his wife and their dog, Benji. His two daughters are pursuing careers in medicine and global public health. When not focused on actuarial challenges, Amit enjoys international travel, exploring new cuisines and the occasional game of pickleball.

Will Stokes

Co-Founder & Advisor

Will has spent his career focused on the launch and growth of transformational healthcare businesses. Will started his career as a Strategy Consultant in Deloitte Consulting’s healthcare practice, where he worked with some of the largest healthcare companies in the country to make internal and external investments in clinical and business model innovation. He then joined Oxeon’s Venture Studio, where he worked to build healthcare technology and services companies from scratch. Will spent his first year at Oxeon as a primary architect in the build of Empiric Health, an analytics-enabled service that optimizes physician decision-making, developed in partnership with Intermountain Healthcare. Through his work with Empiric, he gained experience taking a company from concept to launch and was ready to apply this experience to a new problem in healthcare. After Empiric launched, Will set to work exploring the kidney care space, looking for ways to fill the gaps in care while aligning value in the system for all participants. From this work, the idea for Strive Health was born. Will led the initial funding and launch of Strive from within the Oxeon Venture Studio.

When he’s not focused on healthcare innovation, he’s outside in the mountains, lamenting another disappointing Tennessee Titans football season, or planning the next trip abroad with his wife.

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