2023 Virtual Forum Speakers
Ignite Speakers
Kimara Ellefson
Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs
Medical College of Wisconsin
As the national director of strategy and partnerships for the Kern National Network for Flourishing in Medicine (KNN), Kimara fosters long-term engagement with individuals and groups across the healthcare ecosystem and society. She also provides operational leadership for the KNN program office while helping to shape strategic plans for expanding the KNN’s work and influence. Kimara’s three-part leadership philosophy—put people first, seek to understand, and get to yes—supports strong relationships and inspires collaboration. Prior to her national director role, Kimara spent more than 20 years in a variety of other leadership roles, including interim vice president of human resources and faculty affairs at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). Her expertise in relationship building and organizational development allowed her to play an integral part in shaping executive recruitment, talent acquisition, and staff and faculty development. Her visionary leadership and
acumen also have helped position MCW as a national model for productive, cost-effective integration of Faculty Affairs and Human Resources. Kimara recently was recognized with the Distinguished Service Award, MCW’s highest honor, reflecting her ability to lead transformative institutional change in the academic medicine setting.
Her experiences and skills have earned Kimara national leadership roles with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Faculty Affairs as an elected member of the National Steering Committee and as Chair of the Program Planning Subcommittee. Additionally, she co-authored a chapter in “Closing the Gender Pay Gap in Medicine” and has shared strategies and presented nationally on salary equity, career development, and personal/professional thriving in the field of medicine.
Kimara holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and a Master of Business Administration, and she is currently pursuing her EdD. Ultimately, she endeavors to influence cultures and relationships through systems change in a way that helps all flourish.
Holly Gooding
Medical Director, Adolescent Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine
Dr. Holly Gooding is co-director of the Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in the Health Professions. She is also the Medical Director of Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine.
Dr. Gooding received her medical degree from the University of California San Francisco with a concentration in Medical Education and her master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. She then completed residency in Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. In addition to teaching adolescent health to interprofessional learners across the
education continuum, her educational interests include evidence-based teaching, professional identify formation, and faculty development.
Neil Mehta
Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of CWRU
Neil Mehta, MBBS, MS, is a Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of CWRU. He is also the Jones Day Endowed Chair in Medical Education at the Cleveland Clinic where he also serves as the Director of the Center for Technology-Enhanced Knowledge and Instructions (cTEKI). He is a staff physician in the Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the Cleveland Clinic. He is the founding co-course director of the “Transforming your Teaching with Technology” course at the Harvard Macy Institute. He is deeply interested in the areas at the of intersection of medicine, education and technology while always putting the content and pedagogical knowledge ahead of technology knowledge.