Meet Our Executive Team and Board of Directors

Jim Beermann, CPA is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mass Advantage. With a strong background in executive leadership and finance, Jim brings a unique blend of strategic vision and financial expertise to his position. He drives the company’s growth in a competitive marketplace while also holding executive responsibility for all financial operations. Jim guides fiscal policies and ensures that all related activities and partnerships support our business goals effectively.

With over three decades of healthcare experience, Jim’s primary career focus has been within the Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial health insurance plan area of business and services. Prior to joining Mass Advantage, he has held numerous executive leadership roles in Finance, Operations, Network Operations and Contracting, and the Sales and Marketing arenas. Previously as president of a hospital-based Medicare Advantage plan, Jim skillfully guided the startup forward to achieving market-leading sales and three-year NCQA Accreditation.

Jim’s strategic leadership experience also includes regional executive roles at two Fortune 100 Health Plans. Under his watch--with responsibilities including network contracting and operations--both companies experienced significant, sustained profitability and growth.

Jim and Jackie--his wife of over 30 years--have two grown sons.

Gayatri Natarajan serves as the Chief Financial Officer at Mass Advantage, overseeing the company’s financial operations and leading the IT and Product teams. In her role she emphasizes fostering cross-departmental collaboration to drive strategic growth and innovation.

With extensive experience in financial management, accounting, and operations, Gayatri has a proven track record of enhancing organizational efficiencies and driving profitability. Prior to her tenure at Mass Advantage, she held key leadership positions in various industries, including health care, heavy equipment, and cannabis testing. In these roles, she successfully implemented new systems, optimized financial processes, and collaborated closely with senior leadership to enhance profitability.

Gayatri holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing and has successfully completed her CPA examinations. Her unique combination of technical expertise, strategic vision, and leadership ensures that Mass Advantage continues to deliver exceptional value to its members while upholding strong financial discipline.
 

Melissa Whitley leads the Medicare operations overseeing critical areas such as Enrollment/Eligibility, Medical Claims Adjudication, Utilization Management, Pharmacy Program Management, Call Center, and Supplemental Benefits.

With over 35 years of extensive industry experience, Melissa has worked across various segments, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial lines of business. Over the past 15 years, she has focused her expertise on Medicare Advantage operations, holding leadership positions at two of the largest national Health Plans. In addition, Melissa’s leadership extends to her role as an executive at a start-up Medicare Consulting firm leading operational teams, client services and business development efforts.

During her tenure, Melissa led operational and performance enhancements while successfully securing $20M in business development and overseeing relationships with over 120 clients. Her expertise extends to merger and acquisition activities, capital investment budget management, IT business ownership, a business plan development, compliance risks identification and remediation, leading large scale transformation projects, effectively managing delegates and vendors. Melissa is also recognized as a thought leader and spoken at many industry conferences on a variety of Medicare compliance topics.

Melissa holds an MBA in Business Administration with a concentration on Executive Leadership from Strayer University. She is also certified in Health Care Compliance (CHC).

Margaret (“Maggie”) Mood brings over 25 years of Medicare-focused success to her role as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. She’s experienced in all aspects of Medicare product sales and market growth: launching Medicare products, expanding regional access, leading sales teams to top performance, and cultivating warm, productive relationships among our community and business partners.  

Maggie’s broad experience includes a deep knowledge of product design, evolving marketing strategies and sales channels—the full spectrum for Medicare Marketing. A Worcester resident since 1985, she was a key player in Mass Advantage’s successful debut to Worcester County. Her talents remain critical to our rapid growth as we work to extend our plan’s reach and convenient access to high quality care for our friends and neighbors in Central Massachusetts.

Prior to joining Mass Advantage, Maggie orchestrated and oversaw all Medicare marketing strategy and sales channels at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. She also understands the realm of physician partnerships and recruitment as well, having coordinated managed care contracts for hospital-based medical groups early in her career. 

Besides leading numerous sales teams to top performance year after year, Maggie is deeply committed to mentorship and supports fellow professionals along their own career paths. She is also an active Board Member of RISE Health.

Maggie holds an MBA in Business Administration with a concentration in health care from Anna Maria College and a BA in Management from Worcester’s own Assumption University. 

Chandni Sud-Thavakumar serves as the VP, Performance Operations. Bringing over a decade of leadership experience in a diverse landscape of healthcare organizations including health plans, specialty & primary care entities, independent physician associations (IPAs), and accountable care organizations (ACOs). Chandni’s experience lies in operations and data analytics to drive insights and improve performance focused on quality and risk pillars. Chandni held roles overseeing performance operations at organizations such as Acardia.io, Evolve Practice Partners, and Independent Health. Chandni holds a Doctorate in Healthcare Administration from D’Youville University and a master’s in public health from the University of Rochester.

Eric Dickson, MD, MHCM, FACEP, is a Co-founder & Board Member of Mass Advantage and President and CEO of UMass Memorial Health, the largest not-for-profit health care system in central Massachusetts with $3.3 billion in annual revenue, 1,700 physicians and more than 16,500 employees. The system includes four owned hospitals on ten campuses with more than 1,000 licensed beds; four affiliated hospitals; 70 office-based community practices; a behavioral health services agency and hospital; six urgent care centers; and an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). UMass Memorial trains 650 residents and fellows annually and performs world-class research in partnership with the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Dickson also serves as a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. 

Prior to being named President and CEO of the health care system, Dr. Dickson served as President of the UMass Memorial Medical Group and senior associate dean at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. The UMass Memorial Medical Group is a subsidiary of UMass Memorial Health Care and is a 1,100-physician, 1,100-employee multidisciplinary medical group with revenues of over $535 million. He served as the head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and interim chief operating officer for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  

Dr. Dickson completed his medical degree and residency training in emergency medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and has a master’s degree in Health Care Management from Harvard University.  Dr. Dickson has served as a member of the Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners, lectures nationally on the use of the Toyota Production System in health care and is an active faculty member for the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, where he works with health systems around the world to reduce health care costs while improving quality.  Dr. Dickson is the Immediate Past Chair of the Massachusetts Hospital Association and this year will be the Board Chair Elect for the America’s Essential Hospitals, which is the national association for safety net hospitals.
 

Mr. Scully is a Co-founder & Board Member of Mass Advantage and a General Partner in the Healthcare Group at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS), having joined WCAS in 2004. In addition to his WCAS portfolio companies, Mr. Scully also serves on the Board of Directors of the Health Management Academy, a strategic partner of WCAS that provides research, knowledge sharing and leadership development to leading US health systems. Before joining WCAS, he was the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for three years and the President and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals for six years. He also served as the Deputy Assistant to the President and as the Associate Director of OMB under President GHW Bush from 1989 to 1993, and has practiced law at Alston and Bird; Patton Boggs; and Akin, Gump, Strauss Hauer and Feld. He is a Principal at the Lincoln Policy Group.

Jack Shields, Co-founder & Board Member of Mass Advantage and Founder & CEO of Shields Capital. Jack established Shields Capital in 2019 to build sustainable next-generation healthcare companies in partnership with championship-caliber teams. Over his career, Jack has built four highly successful companies in the fields of dialysis, oncology, radiology and pharmacy. Each was founded with affordable, high-quality care and better service at its core.

In 2012, Jack founded Shields Health Solutions, the nation’s leading specialty pharmacy integrator. Under Jack’s leadership, Shields Health Solutions grew from concept to $4B+ in annual revenue within 10 years. Walgreens bought a majority stake of the company in 2021, adopting the integrated model as a key component of its national strategy. Previously, Jack was President of Shields MRI for 20 years, building New England’s largest outpatient imaging provider.

In 2015, Jack was recognized as Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Over his career, he has created partnerships with 75 academic health systems consisting of over 1,000 hospitals in 43 states. Jack also serves as Founder and Co-Chairman of Waterline Ventures, a healthcare venture capital firm.

Jack’s civic responsibilities include co-founding the Brockton Boys and Girls Club, being a candidate for U.S. Congress in 1992, and serving as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Boston College High School. Jack is also a dedicated supporter of the University of Notre Dame, serving on multiple student-athlete advisory councils and establishing the Gold StandarND program to help student-athletes transition after sports. Jack also co-leads the Jack & Kathy Shields Family Foundation. 

Jack earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he played middle linebacker on the 1981 Sugar Bowl team. He holds a J.D. from Catholic University School of Law.