MEET PHA’S TEAM
CONTACT US: 301-565-3004
President & CEO

Matt J. Granato, LL.M., MBA
President & CEO x741
Matt has more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit and health care associations. Before his leadership role at PHA, Matt was CEO of an obstetrics medical society focused on high-risk pregnancies. During his tenure, Matt worked to increase the organization’s influence in the obstetric space to meet the needs of providers and their patients. His accomplishments included a new strategic plan that emphasized advocacy, research and provider and patient education. He doubled the organization’s revenue, increased resources for patients and specialists, and focused on diversity and inclusion to fill volunteer leadership opportunities and new professional staff positions. Matt also has experience in member services, marketing, and program and service expansions from his 13-year tenure at a transfusion medicine trade association. Matt worked in government relations, international law and human rights before dedicating his professional life to nonprofit associations. Matt has a bachelor’s in international relations, a master’s in law and a master’s in business administration.
Executive Team
Tess Esposito
Vice President, Finance x751
Tess provides strategic oversight and collaborative leadership for PHA’s finance and accounting functions. She leads the finance department and is responsible for financial management, budgeting, investments, treasury, accounting systems, information technology, contracts and grant management. Her 20-plus years of experience as a chief financial officer for U.S. and international nonprofit organizations includes financial and grant management for the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs. Tess has Bachelor of Science in accounting and a Master’s of Business Administration in international management from Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.
Elizabeth Joseloff, Ph.D.
Vice President, Quality Care & Research x759
Elizabeth leads PHA’s efforts to promote quality care and advance research through PHA’s accredited Comprehensive Care Centers, patient registry and research initiatives. Her department oversees health care professional and community educational programming. Before joining PHA, Elizabeth was the director of Integrative Biology at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, where she managed basic research and industry-sponsored drug development programs. Her prior experience includes scientific research at biotechnology companies and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She received a doctorate in cancer biology from the University of Arizona.
Katherine Kroner
Vice President, Advocacy and Patient Engagement, x749
Katie leads patient education, patient outreach and support, policy and legislative advocacy, and treatment access for PHA. Katie began her PHA career in 2005 after earning a Master of Social Work from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She previously was senior director, advocacy and treatment access. Before earning her MSW, she worked in a variety of community organizing roles, including as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio’s Youth Empowerment Program.
Karen Smaalders
Vice President, Communications & Marketing x750
Karen leads the Communications and Marketing department, which manages the PHA brand, web, print, social media and e-communications, as well as PHA’s marketing and advertising efforts. Karen started her career as a journalist, working for newspapers and magazines. Since then, she has directed communications and marketing for a variety of nonprofit organizations and higher education, including the International Association for the Study of Pain, the American Diabetes Association, the University of Washington and Seattle University. She holds a B.A. in mass communication from the University of California, Davis, and a Master in Nonprofit Leadership from Seattle University.
Advocacy and Patient Engagement
Seker Anderson
Administrative Assistant, Patient & Caregiver Programs x757
Seker Anderson provides administrative support within PHA’s Patient & Caregiver Programs department. He also resources PHA patient/caregiver outreach events.
Abby Sickles
Patient & Caregiver Programs Program Manager x777
Abby connects patients and caregivers to PHA’s educational and support resources. She manages PHA’s support resources, including in-person support groups, telephone support groups, email mentors, support line and Facebook groups. Abby works to grow these programs to provide support to community members across the country. Abby also assists in planning programming for PHA’s Biannual Conference.
Jaeger Spratt
Advocacy and Treatment Access Coordinator, x758
Jaeger Spratt coordinates the Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s grassroots advocacy network. The network empowers people affected by pulmonary hypertension to affect change with elected officials. They also help community members with managing copay assistance, choosing insurance and other treatment-access issues. Jaeger received a Master of Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has federal policy and legislative advocacy experience with the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Communications & Marketing
Linda Busche
Director, Content Strategy and Development
x760
Linda Busche is editor of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s flagship publications, the weekly newsletter PHA News, and the quarterly magazine, Pathlight. She manages digital and print content creation and strategy, including patient education materials, campaigns and other publications. A seasoned communications professional, she is a former journalist who covered health care, business, education and government. In her previous roles at nonprofit organizations, she has launched several websites and set the direction for external communications to various audiences. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Lauren Intrieri
Communications and Marketing Coordinator x780
Lauren plans, crafts and monitors content on PHA’s social media platforms and email campaigns. She collaborates with the communications team to create and execute campaigns with the goal of informing and helping the online pulmonary hypertension community, as well as spreading awareness.
Jim Wetherill
Web & Communications Manager x742
Jim manages PHA’s websites, email campaigns and other online communications. He supports all PHA departments to use web communications tools to meet their needs. Jim has prior experience in building and managing web communication projects for nonprofit health care organizations.
Development
Tonya Hall
Director, Fundraising Events, x762
Melissa White
Director, Individual Giving
x755
Melissa White oversees individual giving for Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA)’s development department. She builds relationships to expand the PHA donor base while leading monthly and annual giving programs. She offers strategic, mission-aligned engagement opportunities with PHA partners including individuals, organizations and foundations. Her nonprofit background includes fundraising for the National Foundation for Cancer Research and Susan G. Komen. Prior to this, she was a TV news reporter and anchor, appearing on ESPN. Melissa has a Bachelor of Science in journalism from the University of Maryland and a Certificate in Fundraising Management (CFRM) from Indiana University’s Lilly School of Philanthropy.
Finance
Randall McLeod
Associate Director, Database & Finance x748
Randall oversees PHA’s donor database, The Raiser’s Edge. Randall serves PHA by ensuring all data is entered in a timely and accurate manner, and maintaining accurate records for all constituents. Randall assists the staff with any issues related to the database, and trains staff on how to use the database to serve their needs most effectively.
Leonard Schneider
Finance & Data Entry Associate
Leonard works with the PHA’s finance team to maintain its donor database. He ensures that constituent information, relationships and merchandise orders are up to date. Leonard also assists with monthly financial reporting and reconciliation.
Meetings
Pat Reilly
Meeting Planner x803
In his role as a Meeting Planner, Pat manages full logistics for PHA On the Roads, Corporate Committee, Board, Scientific Leadership Council, and the PHCC/PHPN committee meetings. He also manages exhibits for the Biannual Conference as well as the Conference/Symposium mobile apps. Pat also partners with the Senior Manager, Meeting & Conference Planning on a variety of other logistics.
Operations & Administration
Bianca Woodard
Office Administrator x746
Bianca is PHA’s first line of communication, connecting patients, caregivers and health care professionals from the pulmonary hypertension (PH) community with PHA’s staff. From answering PHA’s phone lines to managing store orders and helping with mail donations, she answers any questions that come her way or will direct callers to the appropriate staff member. She has a passion for helping others, takes pride in her work and loves the fact that she can truly make a difference here at PHA.
Quality Care & Research
Zan Laughlin
Director, Quality Care & Research x776
Zan Laughlin manages the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA)’s health care professional education programs, including continuing education and practice management, and supports PHA’s research initiatives. Before joining PHA, she worked for the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, participating in malaria and iron deficiency research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Zan has a Bachelor of Science in human nutrition from Colorado State University and a Master of Public Health in epidemiology from The George Washington University.
Cynthia L. Martin
Program Director, PHCC Accreditation Program x804
Cynthia manages Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center (PHCC) accreditation and PHA Patient Registry (PHAR) operations to improve quality care for people with pulmonary hypertension. Her responsibilities include implementing and managing PHCC accreditation/re-accreditation processes and site enrollment for the PHAR. In her prior roles at the National Committee for Quality Assurance, Cynthia managed recognition and accreditation programs.
Jill Zajac
Professional Education Program Manager x744
As Professional Education Program Manager, Jill manages PHA’s live and online continuing education programs for health care professionals, including PHA’s largest biannual signature events, PHA’s PH Professional Network Symposium and PHA’s International PH Conference & Scientific Sessions. As well, Jill manages all content for PHA Online University, PHA’s online CME/CE platform. Jill works to ensure that PHA creates and delivers high-impact educational opportunities to PH-treating health care professionals to increase the knowledge and competence in treating pulmonary hypertension.