Martin C. Nowak

President of Nowak & Associates

Martin C. Nowak is President of Nowak & Associates, a healthcare and business consulting firm. He has more than forty years' experience in healthcare; twenty-three of those years at the C-Suite level. From 2002 to 2005 he was Chief Planning and Strategy Officer for the UAB Health System; from 1998 to 2002 he was interim then appointed Chief Executive Officer of UAB Hospital; and, from 1981 to 1998 he served in various executive hospital positions including Chief Executive Officer of St. Clair Regional Hospital and Administrator of the UAB Psychiatric Hospital. From 1992 to 1994 he served as the Associate Executive Director for Information Systems at UAB Hospital. With recognized success, Mr. Nowak has directed hospitals from 90 to 1008 beds; budgets exceeding $1.5 billion revenue; and workforce exceeding 5,000 employees. Mr. Nowak has considerable consulting experience in all facets of healthcare delivery. Mr. Nowak has served on numerous boards including the Alabama Hospital Association from 2001 to 2005. The recipient of numerous awards, Mr. Nowak was named a “Top 100 Who's Who in Healthcare” by the Birmingham Business Journal (2002 and 2007) and received the “Distinguished Service Award” from the Alabama Hospital Association (2002). In 1991 he was selected as a Top 40 under 40 in Birmingham. He is Chair of the SOS Foundation which provides scholarships to Jefferson County citizens in health disciplines. Mr. Nowak is a frequent public speaker and is often sought for opinion by news media. He has been cited and interviewed on many occasions by healthcare trade journals. From 2003 - 2011 he served via gubernatorial appointment on the Alabama State Health Coordinating Council. He co-authored the health care strategic plan for indigent residents of Jefferson County, Alabama. Mr. Nowak is a Mentor in the UAB Collat School of Business Innovation Depot and the UAB Graduate School of Health-Related Professionals. In 2005, he was named the first Outstanding Alumnus of UAB's School of Natural Science and Mathematics. In 2014 he was named Alumnus of the Year by the UAB Graduate School of Health Administration. And, in 2018 he was named UAB Distinguished Biology Alumnus. Mr. Nowak is a consultant to individuals seeking the best physicians and hospital for specific diagnoses. He advises venture funds by reviewing and providing subject matter expertise related to healthcare and other business opportunities. He advises and develops business plans and proposals for entrepreneurs and inventors. He provides advisory guidance to business start-ups and inventor's pursuit of placing intellectual property inventions into the marketplace. Mr. Nowak works with law firms providing advisory and subject matter expertise in health-related matters, medical malpractice, and related cases. From time to time, he also serves as an expert witness. Mr. Nowak has been a principle in several startup companies and is locally recognized for his entrepreneurial spirit. He holds several patents including two medical claims data mining processes to illuminate poor quality, fraud, and other issues in care delivery. He has licensed another commercial product patent to a national firm. Mr. Nowak earned both B.S. and M.H.A. degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

 

Cindy Collier

Founder & President, Collier Leadership Consulting, LLC

As a proven senior-level business leader, Cindy has over 30 years of experience in the business and corporate environment. She has led agile transformation initiatives and change management efforts for business and technical teams, implementing agile principles and practices to drive organizational change. She is an advocate for leadership development and professional growth, and is the founder of Collier Leadership Consulting, LLC. She left her corporate position to launch her business and pursue her passion full time.  Cindy's passion is to train, mentor, and coach senior and emerging leaders who desire to enrich their lives through personal growth and leadership development, empowering them to reach their full potential. Cindy is an accomplished speaker and trainer, and is recognized as a Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest personal public speaking distinction in Toastmasters International. She was elected Chairperson for her corporate Women in Leadership business resource group where she served for three years, so she understands the issues emerging leaders and women in leadership positions face. She is a certified leadership coach, trainer and speaker on the Maxwell Executive Leadership Team. She traveled with John Maxwell and the Maxwell Leadership Foundation to facilitate transformational leadership workshops in Costa Rica. Further, Cindy is a certified Emotional Intelligence practitioner and a DISC personality assessment and behavior analysis consultant. The most exciting thing about all of this for her is helping other people like you reach their full potential through leadership training and personal growth. Cindy is a graduate of The University of Alabama. On a personal note, she has five married daughters and seven grandchildren (with another grand on the way), and in her leisure time she enjoys spending time with her family.