Hackensack Meridian Health Welcomes Seven New Members to Board of Trustees

Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive health network, announced the appointment of seven new members to its Board of Trustees: Carmine Di Sibio, Mauricio Gutierrez, Carla Harris, Mike Heaney, Ralph Izzo, Judith Persichilli, and Fred Voccola. These distinguished individuals bring a wealth of experience and expertise in healthcare, business, and philanthropy to the Board.

“We are thrilled to welcome Carmine, Mauricio, Carla, Mike, Ralph, Judith, and Fred to our Board of Trustees,” said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, CEO of Hackensack Meridian Health. “Their diverse backgrounds and proven leadership will be invaluable assets as we continue to advance our mission to transform healthcare, while delivering exceptional care and improving the health of our communities.”

“We are confident that these new members will make significant contributions to our Board,” said Keith Banks, Chair of the Hackensack Meridian Health Board of Trustees. “Their expertise and commitment to our mission will be invaluable as we continue to grow and evolve.”

Board Member Biographies

Carmine Di Sibio is the former EY Global Chairman and CEO, one of the largest professional services organizations in the world. Prior to this role, Carmine served as the EY Global Managing Partner – Client Service, leading the execution of the organization’s global strategy. Having reached the EY mandatory retirement age, Carmine retired from EY on June 30 2024.

On 1 July 2024, Di Sibio joined as an independent director on the boards of PayPal and Prudential. Carmine is a member of the board of Focusing Capital on the Long Term to encourage a long-term focus in business that can drive inclusive growth. He plays an active role in the World Economic Forum (WEF), having served as a member of its International Business Council, and has been actively involved in developing a core set of metrics to help standardize disclosures around ESG.

Di Sibio earned a BA in Chemistry from Colgate University and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He serves on the boards of the Foundation for Empowering Citizens with Autism and Family Promise. Additionally, Carmine is a member of the Board of Trustees of Colgate University and a member of the Wake Forest University Business School Board of Visitors.

Mauricio Gutierrez served as president and CEO of NRG Energy, America's premier competitive power company, from December 2015 until November 2023. He joined the company in 2004 and helped build NRG from a regional wholesale generation business into a national, Fortune 500 energy company. Previously, he held the positions of Chief operating officer and Executive Vice president of commercial operations overseeing all commodities trading. He had also held several senior positions at energy merchant Dynegy and consulting firm DTP in Mexico City.

Gutierrez serves on the boards of Chipotle, Drexel University and Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP). He has also been a member of the Business Roundtable, Electric Power Supply Association and a board member of NRG Energy and NRG Yield

(Now Clearway Energy). He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad Panamericana and two master's degrees - one in mineral economics from the

Colorado School of Mines and one in petroleum economics from the French Petroleum Institute.

Carla Harris is a Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley. She was most recently a Vice Chairman responsible for increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the firm. She formerly headed the Emerging Manager Platform, the equity capital markets effort for the consumer and retail industries and was responsible for Equity Private Placements. In her 30+ year career, Ms. Harris has had extensive industry experiences in the technology, media, retail, telecommunications, transportation, industrial, and healthcare sectors. In August 2013, Carla Harris was appointed by President Barack Obama to chair the National Women’s Business Council. For more than a decade, Ms. Harris was a senior member of the equity syndicate desk and executed such transactions as initial public offerings for UPS, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Ariba, Redback, the General Motors sub-IPO of Delphi Automotive, and the $3.2 Billion common stock transaction for Immunex Corporation, one of the largest biotechnology common stock transactions in U.S. history. 

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Carla received an MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB in economics from Harvard University. Carla has also received Honorary Doctorates of Laws, Humanities and Business from Marymount Manhattan College, Bloomfield College, Converse College, Jacksonville University, Simmons College, the College of New Rochelle, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Babson College and Fisk University, Wake Forest University and Felician University respectively. Carla Harris is actively involved in her community. She is the past Chair of the Board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation and of The Executive Leadership Council, and sits on the boards of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), The Sesame Workshop, Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and is an active member of the St. Charles Gospelites of the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and the Mark Howell Singers. She is a member of the board of overseers of Harvard University and of the board of directors of the Walmart Corporation, Cummins Corporation and MetLife. She has been named to the New Jersey Hall of Fame (2015) and has received the Bert King Award from the Harvard Business School African American Alumni Association, the 2005 Women’s Professional Achievement Award from Harvard University, and many other awards. In her other life, Carla is a singer who has sold out concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theatre, and released 4 Gospel CDs:“O This is Christmas” (2021) “Unceasing Praise” (2011), “Joy Is Waiting”(2005), and her first CD entitled, “Carla’s First Christmas”(2000), was a bestseller on Amazon.com in NY. She is also an internationally renowned public speaker and the author of the books, Strategize to Win (2014), Expect to Win (2009) (Hudson Press) and of Lead To Win (2022).

Michael Heaney currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Deutsche Bank USA, and Deutsche Bank Trust Company.

Additionally Michael serves on the Board of TP ICAP in London as Senior Independent Director, and a member of Risk, Renumeration and Nominating / Governance committees.

In 2017, Heaney was chosen as the inaugural Chairman of the Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and served in this capacity until June 2021. In addition, he serves on Lafayette College's Board of Trustees.

Heaney worked in the Financial Services industry spending the majority of his career at Morgan Stanley, both in their New York and London offices. He retired after 28 years at the Firm, most recently serving as the Global Co-Head of Fixed Income Sales and Trading Division. Heaney was a member of Morgan Stanley's Firm Operating Committee and Firm Management Committee. He was also a member of the Firm Risk Management Committee, responsible for oversight of the complex risks of the company.

Heaney attended Lafayette College and in 1986 received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He received his Executive MBA in Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Ralph Izzo served as chairman and chief executive officer of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) from April 2007 through December 2022 and the company’s president since October 2006. Prior, Izzo was president and chief operating officer of Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G). He held several executive positions within PSEG’s family of companies, including PSE&G senior vice president – utility operations; PSE&G vice president – appliance service; PSEG vice president – corporate planning; and PSE&G vice president – electric ventures.

Izzo is the former chair of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Board of Governors of Rutgers University, and the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. He is currently a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee. He is on the board of directors of the Bank of New York Mellon, TerraPower LLC., Ovintiv Inc. and CMS Energy. He also currently serves on the boards of the Argonne National Lab, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, the Liberty Science Center and CERES.

Izzo received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in applied physics from Columbia University. He also received a Master of Business Administration degree, with a concentration in finance, from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management.

Judith Persichilli is an American nurse and health care executive and served as the 22nd Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health for the State of New Jersey. Prior to her nomination she was interim president/CEO of University Hospital in Newark. Governor Phil Murphy appointed Persichilli to direct the University Hospital in Newark in December 2018. In July 2019, she joined the cabinet of the Murphy administration as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and supervised the state's response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Persichilli served as CEO and President of Catholic Health East. Prior she also had the roles of Executive Vice President and of Acute Care and Executive Vice President, Northeast Division of Catholic Health East. She also served as the President of St Francis Medical Center in Trenton for eight years.

Persichilli received her nursing diploma from the St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing in 1968. She graduated from Rutgers University in 1976 with a bachelor of science in nursing, summa cum laude. She obtained a master of arts in administration, summa cum laude, from Rider College. Persichilli is one of the founding members of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. She is Director Emeritus of Hopewell Valley Community Bank. She also previously served on the Georgian Court University and Rider University Boards of Trustees.

Fred Voccola is a visionary CEO and seasoned board member who combines successful entrepreneurial acumen with operational expertise, at scale and across multiple industries, to create meaningful shareholder value. Fred’s board service spans software and internet companies, consumer-facing firms, and the growing AI industry. In addition to strong operating and M&A skills, as a director Fred brings passion and experience in enterprise strategy, cybersecurity strategy, product strategy, performance-based culture transformation, and go-to-market excellence. Currently, Fred serves on the boards of Kaseya, as well as Anima Biotech, the leading AI technology platform company for mRNA drug discovery. Previous board experience includes TeamDynamix (sold to K1), Club Ready (sold to ClubEssential), Board Effect (sold to Diligent) and MemberClicks (sold to Personify). 

As CEO of Kaseya, the global leader in IT and Cybersecurity software for SMBs, Fred has led the company’s transformation in less than a decade from a single-product company with $55 million in revenue in 2014 to a multi-product platform company with $1.5 billion in revenue today. During this transformation, Fred catalyzed tremendous profitable growth, both organically and inorganically, completing more than 14 acquisitions, including acquiring and taking private Kaseya’s largest competitor, Datto (NYSE: MSP). Kaseya currently employs more than 5,000 employees globally, and services over 50,000 customers worldwide.

Prior to Kaseya, Fred served at the highest levels of leadership in several software and internet companies, helping lead each to profitable exits. He was co-founder and CEO of Trust Technology Corp, and co-founder and President of Identify Software. Additionally, he served as President of Nolio, Inc, and General Manager of Brand Networks for Yodle.

A sought-after expert on topics including profitable growth, industry disruption, AI, cybersecurity strategy, crisis management, and business transformation, Fred is an active member of the Forbes Technology Council; a member of the Fast Company Executive Board; and a member of the Newsweek Expert Forum. He is also a regular guest in national media outlets including Bloomberg and Fox Business News. 

Fred is the founder and chairman of The Cooper Voccola Family Foundation, a Miami 501c3 organization that supports animal, veteran, and child welfare organizations. He is also a board member of the Monmouth County SPCA, the Hackensack Meridian Health Foundation, and the Zoo Miami Foundation. Fred holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.