NAMD Board Members

Melisa Byrd is the Senior Deputy Director / Medicaid Director of the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF). Throughout her career, Byrd has demonstrated strong leadership in public health administration, health care reform implementation, and program management across multiple states. In her current position, she advises on major policy and budget issues related to DHCF’s health care programs, leveraging her comprehensive background in both public and private health care sectors.

Melisa brings extensive health care policy expertise developed through her roles at the National Governors Association, as Policy Advisor to Louisiana’s Department of Health where she led insurance expansion efforts and post-hurricane health care rebuilding efforts, and as a Senior Consultant with Health Management Associates.

Melisa also currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the National Association of Medicaid Directors. She has been a member of the Board since 2022.

Cheryl J. Roberts is the Director of the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), which serves 2.1 million Virginia’s citizens with a $20 billion annual budget. She leads and supports the Department’s Executive Leadership Team, DMAS staff, programs, contracts, operations, and finance in their mission to provide access to health care coverage and high-quality health care. She has extensive experience in population health, managed care delivery systems and operations. Previously, she was the Deputy for Programs and Operations at DMAS, as well as health plan executives in both the Medicaid and commercial sectors. Cheryl is a graduate of the City College of New York and Rutgers University School of Law. She serves as the Governance Committee Chair for the National Association of Medicaid Directors. She is also on the executive committee for the National Association of State Health Policy.

Ms. Lisa Lee has over 20 years of experience with Medicaid programs.   Much of her career was spent in Kentucky State government with the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.  While at the Cabinet, Ms. Lee served in a variety of roles within the Department for Medicaid Services, including Member Services Representative, Director of Provider Services, Policy Analyst, Deputy Commissioner, and Commissioner.  In addition, Ms. Lee served as the Program Director for the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) for approximately 14 years.  During her tenure as KCHIP Director, she led a successful outreach campaign that resulted in coverage of an additional 60,000 eligible children within Medicaid and KCHIP.   In addition, Ms. Lee was instrumental in expanding Medicaid Services to childless adults in Kentucky as well as assisting with the creation of Kentucky’s successful state-based exchange, kynect.

Ms. Lee retired from state government in 2016 and worked as a healthcare consultant for three years before returning as the Commissioner for the Department for Medicaid Services. Shortly after returning to her current position, a public health emergency was declared due to COVID-19.  Under Ms. Lee’s leadership, the state of Kentucky was a leader in the nation in terms of Medicaid enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the national level, she participates in several workgroups aimed at improving the health of children and delivers a variety of presentations related to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Ms. Lee was one of six Medicaid Directors chosen to participate in the Medicaid Leadership Institute (MLI) class of 2022.  The MLI is a prestigious executive training opportunity for Medicaid leaders across the country.

Ms. Lee currently serves as a member of the Child and Family Health Steering Committee for the National Association of Health Policy and was elected President of the National Association of Medicaid Directors In April 2024.

Lee Grossman is the Medicaid Director for the Iowa Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). Prior to joining Iowa HHS, he served as Wyoming’s Medicaid Director for 2.5 years. Lee has over fourteen years of experience in state government working in Medicaid executive leadership and home and community-based services. Mr. Grossman is passionate about rural health care and supporting thriving rural communities. Lee holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Wyoming.

Henry Lipman serves as the Medicaid Director for New Hampshire and has been in that role since November 2017.

His relevant professional experience includes serving as a Hospital CFO, Board Chair of the NH Hospital Association, Board service for an FQHC and CCRC. As a hospital CFO he dealt with complex financial transactions, testified in federal court on financial and reimbursement matters involving Medicaid, and testified for the US Department of Justice in the Anthem-CIGNA Merger trial.

His educational background includes an MBA from Boston University, and BS in Health Care Management & Policy from the University of New Hampshire and is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives. He was the New Hampshire Business Review 2012 Financial Executive of the Year for Not-for-Profits.  In his hometown of Laconia, he served as a City Councilor and Council Chaired the Finance Committee for nine terms.

Emma Sandoe is the Director of Oregon’s Medicaid program. Prior to joining Oregon, Sandoe was the Deputy Director of Medicaid Policy at North Carolina Medicaid and has previously served as the spokesperson for Medicaid and HealthCare.gov at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and worked on ACA coordination at the Department of Health and Human Services Budget Office. She received her PhD in Health Policy focusing on Medicaid from Harvard University, MPH at the George Washington University, and undergraduate degrees from University of California, San Diego.

Dana Flannery, New Mexico Medicaid director, is a public health policy expert with over 20 years of experience managing Medicaid program design and behavioral health integration. She has overseen multi-billion-dollar budgets, secured significant federal funding, and led innovative program design, crisis response, and integrated health care implementation.

In New Mexico, Dana manages a $12 billion budget to provide Medicaid services to more than 800,000 members through four managed care health plans and fee for service delivery.

As an International Coaching Federation credentialed coach, an alumna of the first cohort of CHCS’ Medicaid Pathways Program and the 2025 Medicaid Leadership Institute, Dana is committed to developing future leaders in public health through strategic mentorship and succession planning.

Bill Hanna was appointed as Wisconsin’s Medicaid Director in January 2024. Most recently Bill served as Wisconsin’s Deputy Medicaid Director. He has 15 years of Medicaid expertise at both the state and local levels, including previous work at the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Dane County and Portage County Human Service agencies, and the DC Department of Health Care Finance. Bill was a Regional Director of Growth and Strategy at UnitedHealthcare supporting Medicaid HMOs in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Florida. He holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Lawrence University.

Sarah Aker serves as the Executive Director of the Division of Medical Services, overseeing North Dakota’s Medicaid program and serving more than 130,000 North Dakotans each year. Prior to joining North Dakota’s Medicaid program, Sarah served as the Medicaid Director in South Dakota. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and political science from the University of South Dakota. Sarah’s previous experience includes a leadership and advocacy role with the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations and various leadership roles in the South Dakota Medicaid program in the South Dakota Department of Social Services.

Stuart Portman serves as Executive Director for the Division of Medical Assistance Plans in the Georgia Department of Community Health. In this role, he oversees Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program operations in the state of Georgia. Previously, he served as Senior Health Policy Advisor on the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance for Ranking Member Mike Crapo. In that capacity, he handled all policies related to Medicaid and CHIP, and in the past has led policy development on the Committee on issues related to the ACA Exchanges, rare diseases, health taxes, and health information technology for Senators Chuck Grassley and Orrin Hatch. He also served as the Senior Healthcare Legislative Assistant and Legislative Correspondent for Senator Orrin Hatch, where he focused on Medicaid, FDA-related policies, and issues affecting individuals with disabilities. Stuart received his Master of Public Health degree specializing in health policy from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University and his Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Political Science from the University of Denver.

Emily Zalkovsky serves as Chief Medicaid and CHIP Services Officer and as the State Medicaid Director for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. She provides strategic direction and oversight for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), serving over 4 million Texans. Zalkovsky has 20 years of experience in health and human services policy and operations. She previously served as Deputy State Medicaid Director, where she worked closely with leadership to drive strategic initiatives, represent the division with stakeholders, and build the division’s workforce and culture. In addition, Zalkovsky served in a variety of staff and leadership roles at HHSC, including as a policy analyst for women’s health programs, the Director for Program Management for Medicaid managed care, and the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Policy and Program. In these leadership positions, she supervised development and ongoing administration of Medicaid programs and quality initiatives for children, pregnant women, older adults, and individuals with disabilities. Outside of state government, Zalkovsky worked as a health care consultant and in the nonprofit sector, focusing on housing and health policy. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Government and English and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.

Amir Bassiri is the Medicaid Director for the New York State Department of Health (the Department). He joined the Department in 2019 as Chief of Staff to the Medicaid Director and subsequently served as the Deputy Medicaid Director. As Medicaid Director, Mr. Bassiri is responsible for policy direction, day-to-day strategy, operations, and management for all New York State public health insurance programs, including the Medicaid and Child Health Plus programs, which provide health coverage to approximately half of New Yorkers. Mr. Bassiri also oversees the operation and performance of nine Medicaid Divisions comprised of more than 1,000 State staff, over 300 contracted staff, as well as the management of over 300 contracts, including some of the State’s largest technology, actuarial, and financial contracts. Prior to his work with the Department, he worked as a Senior Policy Advisor for Health in the Governor’s Office under the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services. Mr. Bassiri earned his B.A. in both Economics and Psychology from the University of California, Davis, before earning a Master’s in Social Work (M.S.W) from Columbia University.

Michelle Probert has been the Director of MaineCare, Maine’s Medicaid Program, since early 2019. MaineCare currently provides health care coverage to over 360,000, or one in four Mainers, including over 90,000 who have benefited from MaineCare expansion, implemented in January 2019.

In her prior role at MaineCare from 2011 to 2014, Michelle established the Department’s Value-Based Purchasing programs, which included one of the country’s first Medicaid Shared Savings ACO initiatives.

Michelle brings perspective to the Department from her time managing health strategy at Bath Iron Works (BIW), and as Chair for the Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine. She worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to implement broad-based, coordinated contract and payment reform across state-funded health and human services within the Secretariat, and in the early days of her career, was a family advocate for homeless families. She has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley. Michelle grew up in Maine and resides in Brunswick with her husband and two children.

Gary is the Director of Medicaid for the Department of Human Services, Government of the Virgin Islands. He coordinates, leads, and trains staff in the compliance of federal guidelines; creates relationships with providers and vendors to ensure access to medical care for the most vulnerable population. Gary also served as the Project Director, Ryan White Part B/ADAP and HIV Prevention Programs, Department of Health, and brought that program into compliance and generated a revenue stream with a PBM. Gary way managing Director, Insurance Brokerage Firm, Aon Corporation, Virgin Islands office. Gary is a 2020 Fellow of the Medicaid Leadership Institute.