Purchasing Power for Aging Services Professionals

Board of Directors

Value First is governed by a board of directors. Board members are elected by the stockholders of Value First. The current board members are listed below.

Thomas Akins

Mr. Akins currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of LeadingAge North Carolina, a position he has held since 2010. He has 15 years experience in aging services and was a 2007 Fellow with the inaugural LeadingAge Leadership Academy program and continues his service with them as national President of the LeadingAge Alumni Network. He has been extensively involved in public policy, having worked for the Kansas Legislature and for a United States Congressman.

Janegale Boyd

has served as a director of Value First since June 24, 2010, the date on which Value First was incorporated. Ms. Boyd, a registered nurse, currently serves as president and chief executive officer of the Florida Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, a position she has held since 2001. Before that, she held senior positions with Humana. She also has served two terms as a member of the Florida legislature. Ms. Boyd received her nursing degree form Tallahassee Community College.

Joanne Handy

Ms. Handy, a registered nurse, currently serves as the President and CEO of Aging Services of California. Prior to that, she held CEO roles with the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston and the Institute on Aging in San Francisco. She is active nationally in the aging and home care arenas and just completed her term on the national Board of AARP. She holds a BS degree from Rutgers University and a Master’s in Nursing from University of California San Francisco.

Dave Herbel

has served as a director of Value First since June 24, 2010, the date on which Value First was incorporated. Mr. Herbel has worked in the healthcare industry for approximately 27 years, beginning his career in an acute care hospital system in southeastern Michigan. He currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Aging Services of Michigan, a position he has held since 2006. He currently sits on a number of state and national work groups and non-profit boards. He has previously served as a member of the White House Council on Aging. He received a bachelor of science in administration degree from Central Michigan University.

Gayle Kvenvold

has served as a director of Value First since June 24, 2010, the date on which Value First was incorporated. Ms. Kvenvold currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of Aging Services of Minnesota, a position she has held since 1989. Before that, she served as executive vice president of Aging Services of Minnesota. In her capacity of president and chief executive officer of Aging Services of Minnesota, Ms. Kvenvold also serves as an officer and director of each subsidiary of Aging Services of Minnesota, including Aging Services Group, Inc., which will manage the Value First GPO under the proposed Management Services Agreement. She received a bachelor of arts degree from St. Cloud State University and a master of social work from the University of Minnesota.

George Linial

has served as a director of Value First since June 24, 2010, the date on which Value First was incorporated. Mr. Linial currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of the Texas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, a position he has held since 2001. Before that, he held a variety of executive-level and leadership positions in the healthcare field. Mr. Linial received a bachelor of science degree in community health from the University of Illinois-Champaign and a master of public health degree in health education/policy from the University of North Carolina.

Katrinka (Katie) Smith Sloan

has served as a director of Value First since January 10, 2012. Katrinka (Katie) Smith Sloan is Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President, of LeadingAge. In this position, she is the key leader for all of LeadingAge’s operations, membership-related initiatives and services and strategic planning.

Sloan also serves as the Executive Director of the International Association of Homes and Services for the Ageing (IAHSA), a global network of ageing services organizations committed to quality of life for people as they age.

At LeadingAge, Sloan is responsible for building stronger and more effective relationships among the association’s key stakeholders, including state associations and their leadership, member organizations, and strategic affiliates. She leads the Association’s consumer strategy. She is also responsible for managing the operational aspects of the Association to enable the Association to grow and ensure its financial strength.

She joined LeadingAge in April 2002, after having served in a number of key leadership positions at AARP. As a member of AARP’s senior leadership team, Sloan was responsible for major social marketing initiatives to carry out the association’s strategic priorities in health and wellness, economic security, and consumer protection.

Sloan has a strong commitment to the consumer movement, and serves as secretary-treasurer of the Consumer Federation of America and a member of the Board of the Center for the Study of Services/Consumer Checkbook. She also serves on the Board of Directors of ValueFirst, a group purchasing company serving the aging services field. She has a master’s degree from The George Washington University and a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College.

Debra Harmon Zehr

has served as president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Association of Homes and Services for the Aging since 2006. She has been with the association since 1995 and has served in a variety of capacities including executive vice president, vice president of public policy and director of government affairs. Ms. Zehr is a registered professional nurse and has worked in long-term care, acute care and ambulatory health care settings. She received her nursing education from Southeast Missouri State University, a bachelor of interdisciplinary studies degree from Governors State University, and a masters of arts degree in gerontology from Wichita State University.