Top Women in Health, Wellness and Beauty — Retailers

Tami Tollefson
Vice president of merchandising for beauty, Albertsons

Tami Tollefson has worked for Albertsons and Safeway for 37 years, the last 11 years in general merchandise and health and beauty care. She enjoys the challenge these categories bring. “They are complex, SKU-intensive, have unique shipping with inner cases, and present special merchandising needs in stores,” she said. Albertsons is a supporter of developing women’s network groups, so in addition to her merchandising responsibilities, she participates in both Women’s Network Group and Women’s Inspiration & Inclusive Network employee resource groups.

Naomi Duvall
President of consumer health and manufacturer services, Cardinal Health  

Naomi Duvall has worked in store operations from clerk to store manager, and has managed teams in retail pricing, planograms, marketing, category management and private brands. “I love being on the front lines of the shift to consumer driven health care, and helping to create the solutions and how retail can play in this new era,” she said. At Cardinal Health, she oversees merchandising, marketing, planning, space management and proprietary brand teams, as well as pharmaceutical prescription manufacturer marketing services teams.

Preety Sidhu
Vice president of marketing, Cardinal Health at-Home Solutions 

As leader of the Cardinal Health at-Home Solutions marketing team, Preety Sidhu manages e-commerce, customer experience, new solution development, campaigns, market insights and the brand. Sidhu is a change agent who led innovation, leveraging technology by developing a medical supply e-prescribing tool that simplified the process for patients to receive supplies for chronic conditions. She is one of the most prominent diversity and inclusion champions within the Cardinal Health culture, and sits on the company’s Diversity and Inclusion Council. 

Teresa Thompson
Pharmacy OTC buyer, Costco 

When Teresa Thompson began working at Costco in 1986, warehouse stores and their treasure hunt feel were still emerging concepts. As a buyer in Costco’s pharmacy department, she handles item selection for the warehouses located in the United States, and over the past 17 years, her responsibility has been the vitamin and supplement items within pharmacy. “After 33 years of being in the industry, the fast pace of retail continues to excite me,” she said. 

Maly Bernstein
Vice president of beauty and personal care, CVS Health 

Maly Bernstein is responsible for all beauty and personal care strategies, as well as merchandising and execution for CVS Pharmacy stores across the country. Among the innovations is the newest CVS BeautyIRL concept, which includes an in-store service partnership with Glamsquad; a Wonderwall of small beauty “treats;” new emerging beauty brands; a hair color matching system by e-salon; and holistic inclusion of personal care, hair care, nail care and skin care within the department.  

Debbie Krasnow
Senior director of managed care, Giant Eagle

Thirty years ago, Giant Eagle opened its first pharmacy in its Penn Hills grocery store in Pittsburgh, and Debbie Krasnow was one of the first pharmacists. Today, the chain has more than $1.4 billion in pharmacy sales across 215 pharmacies, and its pharmacist-led clinical programs helped the retailer earn recognition as an innovator by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. Krasnow, who is active in the Giant Eagle Women’s Business Resource Group, won the Giant Eagle President’s Award.

Leigh Shirley
Director of pharmacy operations, Giant Food Stores 

The 132 Giant and Martin’s Food Market pharmacy departments that Leigh Shirley oversees do much more than dispense medications. The pharmacies in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland administer thousands of immunizations and provide point-of-care health screening events, and each pharmacy location has a specially trained diabetes care pharmacist. Shirley, who is responsible for compliance with all regulations, encourages the team of 350 pharmacists to provide quality care, accurate prescriptions and professional counseling.

Tracy Bliss 
Business unit director for beauty, H-E-B 

Tracy Bliss considers H-E-B a “retail university.” Over the years, she has worked as the buyer for photo, Texas Backyard, toys and makeup. Each buying desk has been like a business school, with directors mentoring her. Today, Bliss leads the H-E-B beauty procurement team in the development of innovative customer experiences, including store format, promotions, and H-E-B Beauty Advisor Hospitality. Three of her four children are H-E-B employees as well. “It’s a family thing,” she said. “We must like this place.”

Angie Nelson
Group vice president of retail pharmacy, Hy-Vee 

Angie Nelson began her Hy-Vee career in 2001 as a registered pharmacist at a Des Moines, Iowa, Hy-Vee location. She went on to become a pharmacy manager, a store director and pharmacy supervisor. Nelson, who has overseen Hy-Vee’s central fill and managed care pharmacy for an entire Hy-Vee region, currently directs pharmacy operations at Hy-Vee. She has been named a top employee in the industry, as well as internally at Hy-Vee. 

Donna Tweeten
Executive vice president, chief marketing officer, chief customer officer, Hy-Vee 

Donna Tweeten oversees advertising, brand image, social media, sports marketing and public relations. She has been counseling companies on how to improve and evolve their brand for most of her 30-plus year career. She joined Hy-Vee in 2006, and in 2016, she became executive vice president, chief marketing officer/chief customer officer. Tweeten has received industry awards for her leadership in enhancing the customer experience — both in the store and online — and for leading adaptive branding, marketing and communications strategies. 

Colleen Lindholz
President, Kroger Health   

Colleen Lindholz oversees all of Kroger Health’s pharmacy, clinical, and nutrition operations and services — a team of more than 22,000 healthcare practitioners. She also is the lead architect of the company’s “Food as Medicine” strategy, successfully connecting customers’ grocery experience with their healthcare needs through innovations in recruiting, training and technology. The recipient of Kroger’s Chairman’s Award, Kroger’s Leadership Award, and Progressive Grocer’s Top Women in Grocery Rising Star Award in 2012, Lindholz joined Kroger as a pharmacist in 1995.

Lynette Ackley
Vice president for health, baby and beauty consumables, Meijer 

Lynette Ackley manages products and people at Meijer. She oversees a $1.7 billion annual business and leads a team of more than 50 members, which manages 25,000 SKUs across four departments and 75 categories. She has mentored and promoted multiple leaders. “I take pride in developing talent and future leaders to set up my team and the company for longer term success,” she said. She serves on the Retail Advisory Board for the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.

Summer Kerley
Vice president of clinical services and business development, Rite Aid  

Summer Kerley oversees clinical pharmacy initiatives at Rite Aid, focusing on adherence, immunizations, medication therapy management, or MTM, and diabetes care. With more than 18 years in the industry, she began her career at Winn-Dixie Pharmacy. In 2005, she joined the Eckerd team as a pharmacist, and joined Rite Aid in 2007 through the acquisition of Brooks/Eckerd Pharmacy. Kerley has held a variety of roles, including pharmacy district manager, clinical operations manager and director of clinical operations.

Jocelyn Konrad
Chief pharmacy officer, Rite Aid   

A registered pharmacist and retail pharmacy veteran with more than 25 years of experience, Jocelyn Konrad began her career in 1992 as a pharmacist at Thrift Drug Pharmacy. In 1997, she joined Eckerd Pharmacy as a district manager. In 2007, Rite Aid acquired Eckerd, and since then, Konrad has held a variety of roles. As chief pharmacy officer, she is responsible for pharmacy acquisitions, retail and pharmacy operations, asset protection, RediClinic, government and regulatory affairs, and new pharmacy initiatives.

Stacey Roberts 
Vice president of merchandising, Rite Aid  

What people see is important in retail, and Stacey Roberts is responsible for Rite Aid’s visual merchandising. She develops customer-centric planograms that create an engaging shopping experience. A Rite Aid veteran with nearly four decades of retail experience, she prides herself on putting customers and store associates first. Roberts is part of the development team for Rite Aid’s innovation center, which enables the company to test new products, store layouts and merchandise setup. 

Laura Shaw
Vice president of strategic initiative management and lean engineering, Rite Aid   

Laura Shaw has been with Rite Aid since 1995. As vice president of strategic initiative management and lean engineering, she oversees Rite Aid’s project management office, which focuses on ongoing strategic initiatives, including existing projects to grow adjusted EBITDA, increasing working capital and driving efficiencies. Shaw is focused on embedding lean methodology, which optimizes people and resources. Shaw led pharmacy operations and served on the Michigan Board of Pharmacy for eight years, including two years as chair. 

Karen Staniforth
Senior vice president of pharmacy, Rite Aid   

Karen Staniforth started her career as a pharmacist in Johannesburg, South Africa. She worked at Sandoz, now a part of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, overseeing retail sales operations. She joined Rite Aid after moving to the United States and has been with the chain for two decades. Staniforth led planning efforts and transaction services for Rite Aid’s asset purchase agreement with Walgreens Boots Alliance, and currently oversees Rite Aid’s pharmacy operations, government and regulatory affairs, clinical services, pharmacy initiatives and Health Dialog operations. 

Lori Flees
Senior vice president/general merchandise manager for health and wellness, Sam’s Club 

It is a bit easier to buy products online from Walmart, thanks to Lori Flees. She joined Sam’s Club after more than a year on Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce team, where she was responsible for the integration of Jet.com, Shoes.com, Moosejaw, ModCloth and Bonobos. Today, she leads the pharmacy, optical and hearing business within Sam’s Club’s 589 locations in the United States. 

Kimberly Frazier
Senior associate counsel, Sam’s Club 

Kimberly Frazier served in the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of captain, prior to attending law school. She provides day-to-day legal counsel to the Sam’s Club health and wellness teams, including pharmacy, OTC, optical, hearing, consumables and Walmart Clinics. In patient safety, she was instrumental in leading research and actions to support the fight against growing opioid addiction. This included implementation of the company’s seven day/100 morphine mg equivalents limit for initial prescriptions, and drafting the corporate guidelines for Narcan dispensed with every prescription.

Christina Hennington
Senior vice president/general merchandise manager for essentials beauty, hardlines and services, Target  

Christina Hennington is responsible for leading the merchandising strategy for all of Target’s 1,850-plus stores and its digital platforms. She works with key partners to operationalize the strategies across product, presentation, pricing, promotions and in the supply chain. Hennington joined Target in 2003. Since that time, she has held various merchandising and supply chain positions, including senior vice president of the health and beauty business at Target, as well as the end-to-end ownership of Target pharmacy and healthcare clinics.

Kristen Hanson
Vice president of merchandising, Tops Markets 

Kristen Hanson joined Tops Markets in 2016, and since then has played a key role in the chain’s turnaround, especially in its HBC and general merchandise business. Hanson has been credited with building a team and refocusing it for a difficult turnaround, following the chain’s emergence from bankruptcy in 2018. Her leadership has helped to reengage the pharmacy staff, and she has a track record of building profitable sales, developing new products and launching brands, while reducing operating costs.

Lauren Brindley 
Group vice president and general merchandise manager for beauty and personal care, Walgreens 

Walgreens has set a goal to become a preferred beauty destination in the United States, and Lauren Brindley is leading this multiyear, multistage transformational strategy. She has extensive global experience, and in 2007, she became country manager of Hong Kong and Taiwan for Boots Retail International. After the formation of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Brindley was promoted to group vice president for beauty and personal care in 2015, based in the United States.

Janis Levit
Director of pharmacy operations for the ACME division, Albertsons   

With 25 years of retail pharmacy experience, Janis Levit knows how to drive business profitability and patient health and wellness. Levit leads a team of 200 pharmacists in five states for Albertsons’ ACME Division, which includes ACME, Shaw’s and Star Market banners. She hires, develops and manages division personnel, such as pharmacy district managers, patient care service managers, patient care pharmacists and field evaluators. Levit is certified in travel health, medication therapy management and medical cannabis.

Julie Spier
Pharmacy director for the southern division, Albertsons 

The flu does not stand a chance against Julie Spier. Her southern division has the highest number of flu shots provided per store among all Albertsons divisions. The division also earned top scores in inventory management, customer satisfaction and other immunizations. After Hurricane Harvey, Spier arranged for a trailer in the parking lot of a Houston Randalls to dispense medications, while the flooded store was closed. She was elected to the Texas board of pharmacy in 2018.

Tonya Shackelford
Vice president of clinical services, Benzer Pharmacy

Tonya Shackelford has expanded immunization programs, created cross-training programs for employees, and delivered lectures at the University of Tennessee. At Benzer Pharmacy, she is responsible for developing plans to reduce overall healthcare costs, while optimizing patient outcomes. Her track record of success in disease state management, patient education, medication adherence and clinical vaccination programs gives her great insight to the financial decision-making of the company. Shackelford is a member of the Memphis Area Pharmacists Society, the Tennessee Pharmacist Association and the American Pharmacists Association.

Nicole “Nicci” Harrington
Senior director of pharmacy professional services, CVS Health 

When New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu needed a pharmacy executive to serve on the state’s Board of Pharmacy, he turned to Nicci Harrington. Harrington leads the CVS Safer Communities Program, which is designed to prevent prescription drug abuse. A graduate of the University of Rhode Island’s College of Pharmacy, Harrington routinely is called upon to partner with the CVS Health government affairs team to share her expertise with lawmakers. She has represented CVS Health at forums, speaking about the chain’s efforts to thwart prescription drug abuse. 

Grace Fisher
Regional pharmacy manager, Giant Food Stores 

The to-do list for Grace Fisher’s day includes recruiting pharmacists, seeing that each pharmacy is fully staffed, and making sure the pharmacies are compliant with their State Boards of Pharmacy and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Fisher has served on committees to help drive the business, increase profitability and improve the ways of working. She works with the Conner M. Holland Foundation, which assists families affected by pediatric cancer. Store teams held two pajama drives that contributed 2,000 pairs of pajamas to the foundation. 

Donna Montemayor
Senior director of pharmacy professional services, marketing and strategic initiatives, H-E-B 

Anyone who has ever received a flu shot in a store can thank Donna Montemayor. Twenty years ago, she was instrumental in designing and launching the pharmacy immunization program, providing flu, pneumonia and other critical adult and adolescent immunizations at the local H-E-B Pharmacy. The program became a model for other stores. Now, she provides leadership, strategic direction, expertise and daily management to the eight regional directors of pharmacy and H-E-B’s Pharmacy Operations Support Center. 

Amanda McIntosh
Pharmacy team leader, Store No. 288, Meijer 

Meijer Store No. 288 opened in 2016, and since then, Amanda McIntosh’s team has increased its pharmacy prescription count 25% to 30% every year and achieved consistently high customer satisfaction scores. The pharmacy serves a mixed urban and rural population of about 59,400 in Owensboro, Ky., providing vaccinations and health information, as well as medication and medical equipment. McIntosh also offers flu and other vaccinations to local state troopers, as well as at Crossroads Food Pantry, the Western Kentucky Correctional Complex and Kentucky State Penitentiary.

Stacia Schaeffer 
Pharmacy team leader, Store No. 254, Meijer 

Since store No. 254 opened in 2018 in Hudsonville, Mich., a town of 7,300, Stacia Schaeffer continually has made improvements to processes, resulting in low processing and prescription promise times. Her team has the best prescription promise times in its regional market, the Greater Grand Rapids area. She also has taken on such projects as training pharmacists, assisting other store team leaders, and piloting a new pharmacy software system for Meijer. Schaeffer received the Customer Focus Award in Meijer’s northern region.

Heather Schultz
Pharmacy team leader, Store No. 42, Meijer 

When Meijer rolled out its Consumer Drug Takeback Program, Heather Schultz made appearances on local Detroit TV and radio to educate the public in her region in Saginaw, Mich. As a team leader and a pharmacist, she works as an intermediary between the public, the medical system, and the business interests of the pharmaceutical and retail industries. When she was promoted to team leader in 2018, she created a culture change to improve employee satisfaction scores by over 95%. That same year, her team exceeded its immunization goals by 158%.

Shannon Blair
COO of RediClinic, Rite Aid  

Shannon Blair is the COO of RediClinic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rite Aid, where she leads the development of the corporate strategy and key initiatives. She oversees the day-to-day business operations of RediClinic locations and RediClinic Express sites inside Rite Aid pharmacies throughout the greater Philadelphia and New Jersey areas, as well as clinic locations inside H-E-B grocery stores in Texas. With more than 30 years of experience in health care, Blair previously worked in mental health and senior services facilities.

April Hopper
Manager of the Drug Information Center, Rite Aid  

April Hopper is the manager of Rite Aid’s Drug Information Center, which serves as an MTM call center and clinical resource for many cross-functional teams within Rite Aid. Hopper completed a residency in pharmacy practice in 2000 at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. She served as a clinical information specialist at the Drug Information Center at Rite Aid then transitioned to a lead clinical role in the Rite Aid Health Solutions PBM in 2006.

Mary Miller
Manager, clinical and pharmacy services, Rite Aid   

With more than 10 years of experience in community pharmacy, Mary Miller is responsible for the strategic planning and implementation of clinical programs that increase the scope of pharmacy practice, including contraceptive prescribing and point-of-care testing. At Rite Aid, she oversees the design and operation of a clinical tool incorporating patient care opportunities within the workflow. She also oversees the operations and execution of the medication therapy management programs, which have addressed gaps in care.  

Gayle Shields
Vice president of pharmacy and grocery nonfood, Southeastern Grocers  

Gayle Shields was born in the United Kingdom, grew up in South Africa and relocated to the United States 15 years ago. She joined Southeastern Grocers as vice president of pharmacy in 2017, and in 2018, she led the North Florida total store operations as a regional vice president. She currently leads the pharmacy and grocery nonfood merchandising teams. A licensed pharmacist in California and Nevada, she previously worked at Ahold Delhaize, Albertsons and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Jessica Covaci
Director of pharmacy compliance, Albertsons   

Playing by the rules is important. Jessica Covaci makes sure 1,800 Albertsons pharmacies across the country are compliant with state, federal and company policies. Covaci oversees the chain’s Pharmacy Field Evaluation Program, a team of 30 associates who audit each pharmacy four or more times a year. She improved and standardized the controlled substance management processes, which reduced the risk of controlled substance diversion. She also participates in National Association of Chain Drug Stores committees and working groups. 

Nikki Price 
Pharmacy director for the Denver/intermountain division, Albertsons 

To grow the pharmacy business and drive traffic, Nikki Price pursued unconventional partners, negotiated for locations within retail stores to occupy clinic/wellness center space adjacent to existing in-store pharmacies, and helped identify four pharmacy acquisitions in the Denver division. She promotes Albertsons and Safeway immunizations on radio and TV interviews, and helps coordinate remote immunization clinics in underserved areas. Price maintains partnerships with pharmacy schools to develop a pool of future pharmacists, and serves as a subject matter expert to the Colorado state legislature. 

Erin Shaal
Group director of specialty pharmacy, Albertsons  

The specialty pharmacy team of pharmacists, technicians and clerks that Erin Shaal oversees coordinates care and ensures patients successfully start and maintain their therapy on highly specific biological medications. Shaal worked to help the team achieve full URAC accreditation in 2018. She also made workflow and system changes to deliver efficiencies and improve key performance indicators. As a result, Albertsons Specialty Pharmacy improved scripts per hour processed and customer service scores, as well as reduced turnaround time. Shaal is an active member of the National Association of Specialty Pharmacies.

Audrey McCarthy
Senior category manager for consumer products and strategic global sourcing, AmerisourceBergen
In her more than 13 years with AmerisourceBergen, Audrey McCarthy's experience has included marketing with Good Neighbor Pharmacy and the consumer products team, which she joined five years ago. In her current role, McCarthy manages the Good Neighbor Pharmacy private-label brand, which encompasses more than 800 OTC products in 24 categories. McCarthy, who also has two children, has said her passion is "supporting independent pharmacies to stay competitive, grow their business and be profitable."

Meghann Chilcott
Chief technology and marketing officer, Benzer Pharmacy 

Now, even pharmacy has a podcast. Meghann Chilcott co-hosts a pharmacy podcast, called “Futuredose.tech.” A former pharmacy technician, Chilcott directs store technology optimization, marketing and business analytics at Benzer Pharmacy. She rolled out a new interactive voice response system to all corporate and franchise locations, and implemented a new social media strategy and online sentiment tracking. Chilcott speaks at events highlighting innovation and writes for such major publications as Forbes as a member of its technology council.

Gina Voneye
Vice president of marketing, Benzer Pharmacy  

After working the health beat at NBC, CBS and CNN, Gina Voneye moved to the marketing space, working on product launches on behalf of such clients as Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Kaiser Permanente. Today, she conceives, develops and directs the deployment of marketing strategies and brand messages throughout the broader B-to-B and B-to-C marketplaces. Voneye plays a pivotal role in keeping Benzer’s expansion efforts on an upward trajectory, as the corporation has more than 100 locations across the country.

Jessica Adams
Manager of regulatory affairs, Cardinal Health 

Jessica Adams entered the pharmacy profession as a volunteer at a local hospital. She decided to become certified as a pharmacy technician, and eventually earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Texas at Austin. In her current role, she is a subject matter expert on pharmacy technology and utilization of tools to advance access to pharmacist care services, assisting state boards of pharmacy, pharmacy associations, rural health associations, customers, coworkers, and other groups on regulatory matters.

Becky Dant
Director of professional services, Costco Wholesale Pharmacy 

Becky Dant launched and expanded the retailer’s pharmacist-prescribed contraception program at Costco. “It is an important way to increase access for women and allow pharmacists to practice at the top of their scope,” she said. Dant has been in the retail pharmacy industry for 15 years, and at Costco, her core responsibilities include developing and expanding clinical pharmacy programs for community pharmacy and overseeing pharmacy quality initiatives. She completed an acute care residency at Stanford Hospital and is board certified in ambulatory care pharmacy.

Lauren Bowers
Senior buyer for home cleaning, Dollar General 

Since joining Dollar General more than four years ago, Lauren Bowers has been responsible for product selection for oral care, diapers/wipes, baby HBC, first aid, eye care and foot care. The categories generate annual sales volume of $850 million. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Bower recently became senior buyer of home cleaning. She makes decisions that benefit customers, while also providing benefit to Dollar General, which has more than 15,000 stores in 44 states.

Kristin Frantz
Category manager for beauty and baby, Giant Food Stores   

Keeping up with trends is difficult, but Kristin Frantz and her team know what consumers want. The team has worked to bring new brands to Giant that are driving growth and has expanded Giant’s private-label offering. New programs for 2019 include a cosmetic brand, a hair accessories brand, a private-label product and a beauty marketing program. Also new are promotional strategies that are driving engagement among consumers. 

Emily Steinkamp
Brand manager for health and wellness, Giant Food Stores 

Among other responsibilities, Emily Steinkamp manages a team of five regional nutritionists and two in-store dietitians. These health ambassadors conduct store tours, classes and community events to empower customers and the chain’s 32,000 associates to live healthier lives. The wellness program for associates includes discounts on Guiding Star nutritious items, health fairs and regional initiatives. Steinkamp, who helped drive awareness of a new pharmacy app, represents Giant at the Consumer Goods Forum’s One For Good initiative. 

Crystal Lennartz
Vice president of pharmacy performance for Health Mart Atlas, McKesson 

For Health Mart Atlas, McKesson’s managed-care solution, Crystal Lennartz leads the team responsible for managing a high-performing pharmacy network across 7,100 pharmacies. Previously, she spent six years supporting the Health Mart franchise, most recently on its strategy team as chief pharmacist. For nearly 20 years, Lennartz has worked in and on behalf of community pharmacies. She is passionate about helping community pharmacy teams understand and improve their pharmacy performance and profitability.

Jenn Martin
Director of OTC health care, Meijer  

Jenn Martin is responsible for the OTC healthcare business at Meijer. She has been at Meijer for seven years in different merchandising roles for pet, OTC health care and HBC. She also helps to develop team members. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with many different leaders, many of them women, who have helped to push me and define my leadership style,” she said. “Now, I have the privilege to do the same and make an impact on many people in my organization.”

Katie Petti 
Director of central and specialty pharmacy, Publix Super Markets 

Katie Petti’s scope is closed-door specialty pharmacy, compounding pharmacy, central processing facility, central fill facility and mail order at Publix. The retailer’s specialty pharmacy supports all 1,130 stores and is licensed in all 50 states. Petti built a state-of-the-art facility and was able to obtain URAC accreditation. She also has enabled Publix to gain access to several limited-distribution drugs and several specialty networks, resulting in the specialty business growing year over year. 

Shelly Boyle
Regional vice president, Rite Aid  

Shelly Boyle oversees all Rite Aid pharmacies in the greater Pittsburgh area. She is responsible for profitable prescription and sales growth, while focusing on improving the health and wellness of Rite Aid’s customers. Boyle began her career at Rite Aid more than 14 years ago as a pharmacy intern, ultimately becoming a pharmacy manager and pharmacy district manager. Boyle holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Pittsburgh. 

Teri Schanck
Vice president of talent management, Rite Aid  

Teri Schanck has more than 15 years of retail experience and has taken on roles of increasing responsibility since joining Rite Aid as senior manager of curriculum design, and then taking on the role of senior director, talent management and development. Today, she is Rite Aid’s vice president of talent management, leads the talent acquisition and talent development functions, as well as company-wide associate engagement programs. Schanck previously held human resources roles at Highmark and Williams-Sonoma.

Prathibha Rajashekhar
Vice president/divisional merchandise manager for baby, OTC and health and beauty aids, Sam’s Club  

Since becoming the DMM for baby, OTC, and health and beauty aids, Prathibha Rajashekhar has grown the business at Sam’s Club. She is responsible for curating the assortment, which includes sourcing, cost negotiation, price strategy and replenishment. She and her team manage the assortment across the 599 Sam’s Club stores. Rajashekhar was previously responsible for transforming the data and analytics portfolio for Walmart’s global people division, and, before that, helped the company create a next generation supply chain strategy. 

Caroline Riogi 
Director of corporate compliance for health and welnness, Sam’s Club

When Caroline Riogi was a Sam’s Club pharmacy manager, her location won the internal Pharmacy of the Year award. Today, she is the primary compliance advisor to the health and wellness senior leadership at Sam’s Club, and is responsible for all compliance matters that impact the Sam’s Club U.S. retail pharmacy, vision and audiology service lines. Riogi is a member of the corporation’s inaugural “Women of Health and Wellness” program, in which four associates presented a strategic plan to senior leadership and worked to implement that plan.

Michelle Roszel 
Senior manager of clinical services programs, Sam’s Club Health and Wellness

Among Michelle Roszel’s accomplishments has been the implementation of comprehensive medical reviews, which are extended conversations Sam’s Club pharmacists have with patients who have more than one chronic illness and a high number of prescriptions. They discuss prescription management/adherence, condition management, and other important health needs. In 2018, Roszel’s work on this pilot helped bring Sam’s Club’s CMR completion rate to 82%. Roszel, who started as an intern while pursuing her Doctor of Pharmacy degree also created a specialty-at-retail diabetes program, which now is in 80 locations.

Amy Ellis 
Manager of pharmacy services, SpartanNash 

Once a pharmacy technician and now the manager of all customer-facing programs, Amy Ellis has been instrumental in the SpartanNash Care Squared program, which helps manage local employers with several disease states of their associates. She has helped create and promote Timely Meds, a patient packaging service to improve adherence. She also has implemented an embedded pharmacist program in physician practices to push the profession forward as a key member of the healthcare team.

Vallery Huston
Director of specialty pharmacy and clinical services, Southeastern Grocers 

Vallery Huston oversees all clinical services, immunizations, MTM, and Star Rating/performance metric results at Southeastern Grocers, which operates 290 retail pharmacies and one standalone specialty pharmacy in seven states. In her first two years at Southeastern Grocers, the chain doubled the annual influenza vaccine numbers and drove non-flu vaccine counts by more than 30,000 annually. HIV and hepatitis treatment communities are a large emphasis, and she promotes access to affordable medications for specialty pharmacy patients in rural areas.

Melissa Myles Edwards
Divisional merchandise manager, Ulta Beauty 

Responsible for a team of seven associates, Melissa Myles Edwards has reshaped many of the strategies for the mass skin care, sun care, hair removal, and bath and body departments that she oversees. Her focus on delivering newness and innovation has resonated well with the Ulta Beauty guests, and it shows in her sales results. She leads the ACTS Committee, which plans such fundraising events as golf outings, beauty basket auctions and charity races to raise money for charitable organizations that include the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  

Lauren Adams 
Healthcare supervisor, Walgreens  

When there was a hepatitis A outbreak in Kentucky, Lauren Adams reached out to county health departments, city officials, stores, the Walgreens corporate support team and wholesalers to set up immunization clinics at Walgreens stores and provide off-site vaccinations. The effort resulted in the company immunizing thousands of people. Adams, who is responsible for healthcare strategies in Kentucky and southern Indiana, also provides coaching and guidance to empower district managers around pharmacy and healthcare initiatives, which improves employee engagement and increases patient adherence to their prescription regimen.

Sarah Freedman
Manager of specialty pharmacy operations, Walgreens 

Over the 20 years that Sarah Freedman has been with Walgreens, she has worked as a pharmacist, pharmacy manager and in other leadership roles. She oversees pharmacist training, communications from the support center to the stores, drug access and fulfillment, and more. While the focus is on 320 community-based specialty locations, she also has oversight on the 3,000 Feel More Like You cancer support program locations and any specialty business that occurs at the 9,000 retail locations.

Rina Shah 
Group vice president of specialty and retail pharmacy operations, Walgreens 

Rina Shah helped develop a national, standardized and pharmacist-driven immunization program, which helped raise the national immunization rates and improve access to lifesaving vaccines. She also helped lead a specialty program that provided medication and patient assistance to millions of patients with special medication needs, including HIV, transplant, oncology and other disease states. Shah has been recognized as a Walgreens Champion of Champions, and in 2019, was a Crain’s Chicago Business 40 under 40 winner.

Emily Shafer
Manager of the office of clinical integrity, Walgreens 

Emily Shafer knows what’s in everything. Among her responsibilities, she oversees the review of clinical data related to ingredients and products used in Walgreens’ Feel More Like You cancer support program. She also has developed clinical guides for Walgreens immunization services, authored continuing education pieces on Cancer Basics, Beauty for the Cancer Patient, Naloxone Dispensing, and Medicare Star Ratings, as well as developed clinical training for Walgreens pharmacists for naloxone dispensing. She has been recognized as a Walgreens Champion of Champions. 

Megan Mistarz
Senior director of payer analytics and operations, Walgreens Boots Alliance 

With both Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees, Megan Mistarz has a background in legal, contracting, strategy, and payer analytics and operations. At Walgreens, she leads a division of 80 people with a broad set of responsibilities. The team supports analytics infrastructure, contract compliance, performance monitoring, proposal services, client services, specialty sales and payer operations She also leads the executive contract governance committee and plays a key role in pharmacy strategy.