Airica Steed, Ed.D, MBA, RN, CSSMBB, FACHE, IASSC

"Appointed in 2022, Dr. Airica Steed is the first woman, first person of color and first nurse to serve as Chief Executive Officer and President for The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, one of the nation’s most highly regarded academic public health systems, caring for the people of Greater Cleveland since 1837.

Under her leadership, MetroHealth has grown into an $2 billion healthcare system with five acute and specialty-care hospitals, almost 9,000 employees and over 40 ambulatory care locations. MetroHealth provides care throughout the community, including at the county jail and inside dozens of schools with its nationally recognized School Health Program.

Historic and visionary, Dr. Steed is no ordinary leader. She has transformed MetroHealth with a people-first culture that incorporates intentional listening, collaboration and empowerment to best serve caregivers, patients and the community.

Fueled by her tragic personal experiences with America’s broken healthcare system, Dr. Steed is on the front lines of the fight to end healthcare inequities and injustice. As a proud fourth-generation nurse, she is relentless in her advocacy and her action to eradicate health disparities, zero out the death gap, lift the health and wealth of the community, and ensure that every person achieves their healthiest-possible life.

Before arriving in Cleveland, Dr. Steed’s accomplished and award-winning career as a healthcare executive included the spearheading of large-scale transformations that encompass more than $300 million in combined financial improvements, achieving top decile quality/safety performance outcomes, driving healthy profitable growth, and achieving groundbreaking advancements in health equity.

Dr. Steed has been recognized as one of Modern Healthcare’s “100 Most Influential Leaders in Healthcare,” “Top Women Leaders,” “Top 25 Minority Leaders in Healthcare,” “Top 25 Healthcare Innovators,” and an “Up & Comer.” Other awards include Diversity MBA Magazine’s “Top 100 Executive Leaders Under 50” and Becker's Healthcare’s “Women CEOs of Hospitals & Health Systems to Know,” “Top 130 Female Healthcare Leaders to Know,” and “Black Healthcare Leaders to Know.”

Dr. Steed is recognized as a strategic and visionary change leader, transformational architect and international expert in Lean Six Sigma, Malcolm Baldrige framework, and Big Four management consulting across academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, safety-net organizations, ambulatory clinics, multi-site clinically integrated healthcare systems, and Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Dr. Steed is a sought-after national and international speaker, published author, board member and faculty member spanning several organizations.

She holds a Doctorate of Education in Ethical Leadership, with distinction; Master of Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Nursing and numerous certifications including Master Black Belt and International Trainer in Lean Six Sigma and Fellow of American College of Healthcare Executives. She is currently pursuing a second master’s, in Global Development from Harvard University.

On top of her many honors and accolades, Dr. Steed’s most prized accomplishment is being a devoted mother to four children and two dogs."

Kim Williams, MD, MACC, MASNC, FAHA, FESC

Dr. Kim A. Williams Sr. became the 24th chair of the University of Louisville Department of Medicine since its inception in 1837. He also serves as the Legacy Foundation of Kentuckiana Endowed Chair in Health Equity. Dr. Williams specializes in cardiology, cardio-nutrition, cardio-rheumatology, cardio-nephrology, preventive cardiology and cardiovascular radiology, and is a past President of the American College of Cardiology, past President of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Black Cardiologists. He is also the founder of the Urban Cardiology Initiative in Detroit, MI, to reduce ethnic heart care disparities, and continues community-based efforts in Chicago at Rush University, including the H.E.A.R.T. program (Helping Everyone Assess Risk Today), screening for heart disease and intervening with education, nutrition and lifestyle changes. He has been a delegate for cardiology to the American Medical Association for over 20 years and has served as a consultant for the FDA and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. His current professional focus is on preventive cardiology, synthesizing data on cardiovascular risk and mortality due to nutrition, as an internationally recognized speaker. He has over 600 research and guideline publications, online resources, movies and lectures, most recently on the topic of cardionutrition, and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention. A native of Chicago's South Side's inner-city schools, and a former professional tennis player and national tennis coach, Dr. Williams has over 40 years of experience as an educator, researcher, and clinician focused on advocacy for nutrition, national and international health care disparities, health care delivery, and advanced access to cardiac imaging.