Business is all about forging strong and trusted relationships — it’s something we do naturally at WBL. We’re excited to supercharge the WBL networking experience for women leaders supporting our country’s most vulnerable populations through scholarships to the WBL Summit!
The WBL Boundless Scholarship was awarded to five inspiring women leaders and offers a supercharged Summit experience plus access to the power of WBL’s relationship capital™ for one year.
Honorees were selected from non-profit, private provider, or community-based organizations where executive career development funding may not be readily available. Honorees demonstrated they are making a significant impact in improving access, community services, or health equity.
Thank you to our Selection Committee of dedicated WBL members who reviewed the impressive applications received: Marina Bigsby, Cindy Chandler, Mary Flipse, Marie Lamont, Vikie Spulak, and Jhaymee Tynan.
CEO, AccessHealth
Palak Jalan, BDS, MPH, is the CEO of AccessHealth, a Federally Qualified Health Center system (FQHC) serving the Greater Houston area. Palak has played a pivotal role in transforming AccessHealth into a community-centered health home. With over a decade of experience in healthcare strategy and operations, her leadership spans financial transformation, operational expansion, care coordination, maternal and child health, digital transformation, and the integration of social determinants of health into clinical practice.
Recognized by the Texas Association of Community Health Centers (TACHC) and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)for her leadership, Palak is passionate about delivering measurable impact through mission-driven execution. Palak holds a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from India and a Master of Public Health from the UTHealth School of Public Health. She serves on various chamber and non-profit boards and continues to drive AccessHealth’s focus on value-based care, community partnerships, and fair access to care.
AccessHealth is a federally qualified health clinic system (FQHC) dedicated to providing high-quality, affordable care to individuals and families across every stage of life. With a focus on prevention, wellness, and whole-person care, AccessHealth offers comprehensive services including primary care, pediatrics, dental, behavioral health, women’s health, and specialty services. With 6 clinics and 11 WIC centers, AccessHealth is committed to improving community health outcomes all around Fort Bend and Waller County. Ensuring compassionate and accessible care for all, regardless of income or insurance status.
CEO, Community Dental Care
Karen Flanagan Kleinhans is a healthcare CEO with expertise in non-profit as well as for-profit health care. Her 30+ year career spans hospitals and health plans, as well as physician and dental organizations. With strong business acumen, her expertise includes strategy, growth, organizational transformation, clinical expansions, talent acquisition, leadership development, legislative advocacy, fundraising, value-based health care, and public/media relations.
Over the past eight years, Karen has led the transformation and evolution of Community Dental Care, growing the organization from a collection of clinics operating at a net loss into a successful, high-quality dental healthcare system where employees thrive, and donors know their contributions provide significant, positive community impact. Karen led this transformation by working with the board, leadership, staff, customers, and partners to transform and grow the organization to better serve its mission.
Karen is honored to be the recipient of the Women’s Health Leadership Trust 2025 Leadership Award, which honors a woman viewed as a distinguished leader by her team, peers, and business partners.
Community Dental Care is Minnesota’s largest non-profit dental provider of comprehensive dental care for people of all ages on public programs. With over 300 employees (including 55 dentists), five clinics in the Twin Cities, Rochester, and Buffalo, and an annual budget of $34 million, CDC’s mission is to provide culturally sensitive community oral health care, preventive education, professional training, and to advocate for access for all. Community Dental Care serves 126,000 patient visits across our clinics for people of all ages and abilities annually, and provides preventive education and services to children and families in 40 outreach locations, including schools, community service organizations, and medical clinics.
Chief Operating Officer, MedHaul
Nathalie Occean is the Chief Operating Officer of MedHaul, a Memphis-based digital health company dedicated to improving access to safe, reliable transportation for patients with complex medical needs. Originally from New Jersey, she earned her bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and her Master of Health Administration from the University of Memphis. She completed an Administrative Fellowship at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she became credentialed as a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ). Her leadership has been recognized as a Memphis Business Journal Healthcare Hero Finalist and Top 40 Under 40 Urban Elite Professional.
Passionate about opening doors for the next generation of healthcare leaders, Nathalie serves on advisory boards for the University of Memphis School of Public Health and Rutgers Health Administration and is active with the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE). She recently co-authored a case study on maternal and child health equity for the textbook Fundamentals of Healthcare Management: Theory and Practice (Springer Publishing). A trained tap dancer, she also serves on the board of Memphis-based non-profit New Ballet Ensemble & School. She deeply believes in the power of the arts to inspire, connect communities, and strengthen confidence and leadership in youth.
MedHaul is transforming access to care by enabling safe, reliable, and inclusive non-emergency medical transportation. The MedHaul platform helps health plans, healthcare providers, and clinical trial sponsors connect patients—including those who are low-income, elderly, disabled, or living in rural areas—with the transportation they need to reach critical medical appointments.
As a Certified B Corporation, MedHaul is committed to both social impact and operational excellence. With a growing presence across 15 states, the company specializes in assisted, wheelchair, and stretcher transport for chronically ill adults and children. By streamlining transportation management—from scheduling and tracking rides to insightful reporting—MedHaul delivers seamless solutions that enhance patient experiences, improve outcomes, and drive better healthcare delivery.
Executive Director, The PACE Place
Karen Rees, BSN, RN, is an experienced nursing leader dedicated to improving how older adults access and experience healthcare. With a background spanning hospice, care management, skilled nursing care, and healthcare informatics, she is passionate about expanding access to services that allow older adults with chronic or advanced illnesses to receive the support they need in the place they call home. Karen is deeply committed to ensuring healthcare delivery is coordinated, person-centered, and responsive to the evolving needs of the communities she serves.
PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) is a unique and innovative program that aims to keep frail and elderly adults in the community, safe and independent at home for as long as possible. It embodies a unique model of all-encompassing care that allows frail elders in our community to age safely within their homes. All PACE participants meet the nursing home level of care but can remain in the home they love with the support of the PACE interdisciplinary team (IDT). PACE programs support participants and families by acting as both the care provider and the insurance company, covering all Medicare and Medicaid benefits and any other benefits deemed necessary to maintain the participant’s overall well-being.
The PACE Place opened its doors to the northeast Florida community in March of 2020. At the PACE Place day center, participants can receive clinical services, therapy, meals, recreational activities, and personal care. In the home, PACE can provide skilled nursing and home health aide support, and some home-modification services deemed appropriate by the care team to support participant safety. PACE also offers care coordination services via scheduling and transportation to/from outside specialist appointments. Care management is critical for PACE participants, so it is the responsibility of the PACE IDT to develop an individualized plan of care and manage the delivery of that care across time and care settings, including any care provided by outside specialists.
CEO, Home Centered Care Institute
Julie Sacks is the Chief Executive Officer of the Home Centered Care Institute (HCCI), a national nonprofit organization focused on scaling home-based primary care and bringing it into the healthcare mainstream. In the role, Sacks is responsible for evaluating strategic opportunities and partnerships, developing relationships with donors and foundations, and serving as spokesperson for the organization, in addition to serving as the primary liaison to the HCCI board of directors. Sacks describes herself as someone who thrives working at the intersection of strategy and people—advising leadership and staff to achieve organizational alignment, growth, and impact.
Sacks brings a unique perspective to her work, one that has been shaped by a combination of business experience, clinical social work training, and nonprofit leadership. She is a creative problem-solver, naturally integrates data with emotional intelligence, and excels at simplifying complexity, fostering collaboration, and driving solutions that work in practice
Prior to joining HCCI, Sacks was senior director of programs and services and director of the National Young Onset Center for the American Parkinson Disease Association. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin then earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas at Arlington.
The Home Centered Care Institute(HCCI) is a mission-driven, collaborative non-profit with a goal of increasing access to home-based primary care (HBPC) or the “modern day house call,” thereby improving the quality of life for homebound, home-limited, and medically complex patients and their families. HCCI is passionately committed to its vision of bringing HBPC into the healthcare mainstream. In addition to being an authoritative source for clinical and operational best practices, HCCI is advancing the field of HBPC through education, consulting, research, and advocacy.