Sonny Bloom has served as a management consultant for over 40 years, focusing on the private health-care industry and agencies within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS). His federal-related experience focused on health-care delivery programs supported by HHS and the National Institutes of Health and on national education programs operated by the U.S. Department of Education, including several National Center for Education Statistics initiatives. Mr. Bloom developed and provided technical assistance to hundreds of federal program grantees to improve their operational effectiveness.

For the private sector, Mr. Bloom designed and implemented operational, strategic, and financial strategies and analytical systems for major hospital systems, professional practices, and other service-delivery organizations across the United States.

During his consulting career, he served as chief operating officer at management consulting firms serving numerous federal agencies. He developed, co-owned, and ultimately sold two management services firms serving the health-care payer and provider sectors.

Mr. Bloom also developed and ran national provider and insurer reimbursement enhancement programs representing over a billion dollars annually in provider billings. These supported virtually every type and specialty of health-care provider in every state as well the leading commercial insurers in the United States.

Mr. Bloom has resided in suburban Maryland for the past 40-plus years. He served as president and chair of the Board of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington, DC, for several years during that time.

Jen Covich Bordenick leads Executives for Health Innovation (formerly eHealth Initiative), the preeminent convener of health and technology’s most influential leaders. Jen has shaped EHI into a prominent thought leadership organization that inspires innovative solutions in health.

Ms. Covich Bordenick builds coalitions of senior executives, researchers, and public policy experts to promote best practices; explores complex issues; and develops public policy. She has developed perspectives on health care privacy, security, analytics, virtual care, public health, and consumer rights in health care delivery.

During her career, she has held leadership roles in health policy, marketing, product development, health administration, and strategy at for-profit and nonprofit companies. Prior to joining EHI, Ms. Covich Bordenick managed strategic marketing for health security solutions at OpenNetwork Technologies; led pharmaceutical and health care industry relations at MicroStrategy, Inc.; spent four years at the National Committee for Quality Assurance as Director of Policy and Product Development, developing national quality standards for health care organizations; and began her career at the George Washington University Medical Center and Health Plan, working on quality management initiatives, clinical pathways, and health care administration.

Currently, Ms. Covich Bordenick is a Project Investigator for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to ensure the privacy and equitable use of consumers’ health-related information. Ms. Covich Bordenick has served as co-chair of the Federal Health Information Technology (HIT) Policy Committee’s Strategy and Innovation Workgroup, a member of the HL7 Board of Directors and Leadership Advisory Council, and a member of the Diabetes Collaborative Stakeholder Panel.

Ms. Covich Bordenick is an adjunct faculty member, is a course director, and teaches students pursuing a Master of Public Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University (GW). She received her master’s degree in human resource development and completed coursework in the health administration doctoral program at GW. She always looks forward to her next snorkeling adventure, trip to Italy, and glass of wine. She resides in Maryland with her husband, two teens, and always loyal mini goldendoodle.

Ron Dweck is chair of Paley Rothman’s Corporate practice group and a member of the Tax group, the Nonprofits group, and the Science & Technology group. Mr. Dweck acts as general counsel to a number of companies, including large and small corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and business organizations in various fields. As such, he knows a great deal about many different practice areas and applies that knowledge to better serve his corporate clients. His corporate work includes preparing and negotiating a wide variety of business contracts, as well as counseling related to executive compensation, corporate governance, and risk and litigation management. He has extensive experience in structuring and negotiating business and financing transactions, including the sale, merging, and acquisition of companies; reorganizations; and private placement funding.

He served as Co-President of Paley Rothman for several years, stepping down in 2013. Prior to joining the firm, he was an attorney with the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, representing the U.S. government in tax cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

Ms. Blank serves as Synergy’s Human Resources Managing Principal, a position she has held since December 2014. She has worked in the employment field for more than 25 years. Ms. Blank began her career interning at the Department of Labor. Since that time, she has held HR leadership positions in various industries including real estate, medical, and not-for-profit. Ms. Blank holds a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College, Columbia University, as well as a law degree from George Washington University where she focused on Employment Law and ERISA. She has been a member of the Maryland bar since 2001, and a member of the Society of Human Resource Management since 2005. 

Ms. Brown serves as Synergy’s Senior Principal for Accounting, a title she has held since March 2022, after having been promoted through its Accounting Department over the course of her career. In 2025, Ms. Brown celebrated her 20th year of service at Synergy. Ms. Brown resides in Montgomery County, MD. She attended Montgomery College to study accounting and has worked in accounting and finance at several corporations for approximately 40 years. Ms. Brown also contributes to corporate operations for Human Resources, Billing/Contracts, and special events. Ms. Brown currently supervises a team of accounting professionals. 

Ms. Freer is a project management professional with extensive experience planning and managing all activities for multiyear, multitask order, multimillion-dollar contracts for Federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Administration for Community Living. She has project management expertise in meeting contractual requirements, developing and reconciling budgets, executing contracts with vendors and consultants, and delivering high-quality products on time and within budget. Ms. Freer is adept at planning scientific meetings of all sizes and levels of complexity. Her international meeting experience includes planning conferences in Beijing, China; Toronto, Canada; and Mumbai, India. She is the recipient of Synergy’s Glen Fischer Achievement Award. 

Ms. McCarthy is an award-winning health communications expert with over 25 years of experience managing and directing large, complex task order contracts, national campaigns, initiatives, and programs for public health issues, including underage drinking, substance use, behavioral health, and treatment and recovery intervention. She manages Synergy’s portfolio of health communications and policy contracts for clients, including the National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She leads a matrixed team of health communications specialists who provide strategic counsel, research and evaluation, campaign and materials development, and outreach to support the mission of Federal clients. Under her leadership, Synergy—on behalf of its clients—has garnered numerous awards, including the coveted Hermes Creative Platinum and Gold Awards, Videographer Award of Excellence, and MarCom Platinum and Gold Awards.  

Maggie Bray has more than 20 years of design experience creating print, Web, and multimedia products for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She was the lead designer for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) flagship periodical, NIDA Notes; NIDA’s peer-reviewed research journal, Addiction Science & Clinical Practice; and the Institute’s Research Report Series. Ms. Bray’s work received the 2011 NIH Plain Language and Clear Communication Award. Under her direction, Synergy’s design group won three American Graphic Design Awards in 2015; one American Package Design Award in 2017; two Communicator Awards from the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts in 2014; 13 Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Awards from the National Association of Government Communicators in 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2017; and three AVA Digital Awards in 2014.

Dr. McClellan Dumolga is a senior health communication professional and researcher with 15 years of experience in leading health communications efforts to reach a diverse array of audiences, including healthcare providers, grantees, community-based organizations, campaign partners, state and local public health agencies, educators, and lay audiences. She earned her Ph.D. in public health with a concentration in health promotion and behavior at the University of Georgia's College of Public Health. She managed several national federal public health campaigns, including the CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together and Act Against AIDS HIV Treatment Works. Her research interests include health communications, health disparities, and maternal and child health. She currently serves as the deputy project manager for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Public Awareness Support contract, developing public-facing campaigns to improve behavioral health.

Mr. Goodman is the assistant director for editorial services in Synergy’s Communications Division and manages copyeditors and Section 508 compliance experts. He maintains employees’ workload schedules, monitors professional performance, and oversees day-to-day editorial operations. Mr. Goodman also conducts substantive copyediting across all Synergy contracts, including the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of War, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Additionally, Mr. Goodman updates and copyedits monthly reports and other project progress reports, performs substantive edits and grammar/style edits across all contracts, and proofreads for typographical errors and style issues with myriad contract-specific style guides. He also edits and prepares proposals, corporate marketing materials, and business development materials; updates and edits materials to be used in proposals and presentations; and edits press releases, project descriptions, and other copy needed for posting on Synergy’s intranet. Additionally, Mr. Goodman formats documents and presentations in MS Word and PowerPoint. Mr. Goodman has more than 20 years’ experience editing Federal contract work.

Ms. Grayton serves as the project director on the Technical Support Services for Drug-Free Workplace Programs contract under the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Division of Workplace Programs in its policy oversight of the Federal Drug-Free Workplace Program. With more than 20 years of experience in Federal contract management, Ms. Grayton has served as both project director and deputy project director for multiple Federal agencies. Notably, she led a large, multisite randomized clinical trial for the National Institutes of Health and oversaw all phases of the study—from instrument and protocol development to data collection, analysis, and dissemination of findings and products. She also directed a national, 7-year multisite cohort study examining trajectories of multiple health behaviors from adolescence into emerging adulthood and managed complex mixed-method program evaluations.

Her experience in child and adolescent health–related research has strengthened her expertise in technical assistance; program evaluation; and quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method data collection and analysis. Ms. Grayton has managed data collection projects with study populations ranging from fewer than 100 local participants to 2,700 nation participants. For all of these studies, she actively participated in training both office and national field staff in a range of data collection procedures, including anthropometric measurement, blood collection, parent interviews, child assessments, and classroom observational techniques.

Mr. Grobe has extensive experience managing and coordinating work with multiple Federal agencies. As the program manager for the U.S. Department of War Education Activity’s (DoWEA) Evaluation Technical Assistance Center, he works closely with representatives from DoWEA and grantees from their seven regions. The Center provides technical assistance and reporting support to DoWEA grantees. He previously served as the project director for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Logistical Support contract for which he coordinated meeting activities with the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the education departments and ministries from 21 APEC member countries.

Ms. Holbrook is a skilled project manager and meeting planner with over 20 years of experience working with government and private organizations. She possesses extensive knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the Federal Travel Regulation, the U.S. Department of Health &Human Services’ conference request and approval process, and internal agency regulations related to program oversight, planning, logistics coordination, and administration. Ms. Holbrook is adept at planning in-person, virtual, and hybrid scientific meetings of various sizes and levels of complexity. She was recently selected by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) director to receive the 2025 NIDA Director’s Award of Merit in recognition of her outstanding service to NIDA in organizing and executing impactful meetings.

Mrs. Janelle Williams Hughes serves as Project Director for the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center. She joined the Synergy team in 2007, and has since supported the work of multiple Federal agencies contracts, including more than six U.S. Department of Education centers, offices, and programs; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its Administration for Children and Families, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and several institutes within the National Institutes of Health; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; and U.S. Department of Transportation. In her current role, she directs the creation and implementation of a multi-tiered project management plan that aims to enhance the federal government’s mission to provide technical assistance and training to state, territorial, local, and tribal education and emergency management agencies on key safety and security topics. She oversees content development for and management of various resource types; plans and hosts live and virtual meetings; and leads the development of print, HTML and mobile tools. During her time in this role, the REMS TA Center has been featured in various news outlets and various state-based media sources, sites, blogs. Mrs. Hughes also represents ED and REMS TA Center as a speaker at both virtual and live public-facing events focused on a variety of topics—natural hazards, biological hazards, technological hazards, and adversarial- and human-caused threats—and hosted in collaboration with federal and national partner.

With over 22 years in the IT field, Kiran Jagga specializes in IT infrastructure management and cybersecurity. His expertise includes designing, implementing, and maintaining secure network systems and managing cloud resources on Azure and AWS. He develops network architecture plans, ensures compliance, and monitors network performance to optimize configurations. Kiran Jagga also provides advanced technical support, focusing on threat protection, data loss prevention, and compliance monitoring. He is well-versed in virtualization and automation, including creating and managing virtual machines and leveraging serverless computing solutions. Additionally, Kiran Jagga implements business continuity plans and uses infrastructure as code for efficient infrastructure management. 
His goal is to build a secure and scalable IT infrastructure that supports organizational growth, adhering to industry standards and driving innovation and efficiency.

Ms. Kang is a public health attorney with expertise in the regulation of alcohol, cannabis, and other substances. Her 30 years of experience include project management, policy analysis, and report writing. She collaborates with social scientists, website developers, and government agencies to develop cross-jurisdictional data sets that measure the effect of legal policy over time. Ms. Kang currently serves as deputy project director and lead research attorney on the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Alcohol Policy Information System contract. Ms. Kang has also performed legal research and analyses for the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Report to Congress on Preventing Underage Drinking, and the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act. 

Cynthia (Cindy) Kunz is the deputy director of strategic communications for the Support for Drug-Free Workplace project. From 1991 to 2024, Ms. Kunz worked with The CDM Group, where she created the Drug-Free Workplace Resource Center and directed the support project. She joined Synergy in 2024 when the company was awarded the Support for Drug-Free Workplace project, and she continues to assist Federal agencies in implementing Executive Order 12564; to brief new agency drug program coordinators; and to manage a panel of subject matter experts in chemistry, forensic toxicology, medicine, laboratory operations, Federal employment practices, and drug policy. A mediator by training, Ms. Kunz also managed Kunz and Company, a collaborative practice of mediators, facilitators, and arbitrators.

Mr. PoVey is a certified substance abuse prevention specialist and a trained Community That Cares facilitator with decades of experience coaching community engagement techniques and implementing evidence-based prevention programs. Prior to joining Synergy, Mr. PoVey worked for JBS International, where he provided technical assistance to Health Resources and Services Administration grantees under the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program. For 32 years, he served the state of Utah as the prevention administrator of the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health and as a provider of adult and youth clinical services. He was a member of Utah’s first Underage Drinking Prevention Workgroup and contributed to the development of the Parents Empowered campaign and project. Mr. PoVey has served on several advisory boards, including the boards of research projects such as the Community Youth Development Study and the board of the Center for Prevention Implementation Methodology for Drug Abuse and HIV. He was the president of the National Prevention Network, a member of the CADCA Coalition Advisory Committee, and a guest member of the Society for Prevention Research’s Board of Directors as a liaison between prevention practice and research.

Ms. Roberts serves as project director for the Title IV, Part A Technical Assistance Center and previously directed the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center. Overseeing national centers on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, Ms. Roberts ensures seamless administration of services to client constituencies, including local education agencies, schools, institutions of higher education, state education agencies, community partners, and the larger education community. Since 2004, Ms. Roberts has worked in the fields of education and public health policy, facilitating training, product development, and systems improvement across a breadth of subject matter, including emergency management for schools, health and mental health services provision, school safety and violence prevention (including threat assessment), alcohol and drug use prevention, well-rounded educational services, effective uses of technology, and the provision of mentoring and other youth-development strategies for populations ranging in age from birth to adult. She leads the development of a wide portfolio of technical assistance tools and resources, including virtual and live training programs, desktop and mobile applications, comprehensive websites, resource libraries, and written publications. Ms. Roberts facilitates the integration of subject matter expertise with practical application that promotes collaboration among state, local, and Federal practitioners and the development of critical resources for the field. Ms. Roberts has written and produced numerous training manuals, publications, issue briefs, toolkits, and guidance documents for use nationwide on all aspects of school preparedness, alcohol and drug prevention, technology, community strategic planning, and more. 

Ms. Vukovic is a certified government meeting professional with more than 20 years of proven proficiency in managing multitask, multiyear, multimillion-dollar logistics support contracts for Federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the Department of War Education Activity, the U.S. Department of State, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Since 2016, she has served as project director on numerous ED contracts, with a total value exceeding $10 million. She holds a virtual event & meeting management certificate and has project management expertise in budget planning and administration, client relations management, cost control, process improvement, and technical/strategic planning. Ms. Vukovic is proficient in applying the Federal Travel Regulation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and client-specific meeting guidelines. Since joining Synergy in 2006, she has managed over 200 in-person and virtual meetings, conferences, workshops, seminars, peer reviews, and grant reviews. Her international meeting experience includes managing the G8’s Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative meetings in Qatar, Morocco, Jordan, and Tunisia in 2012. Ms. Vukovic received Synergy’s Employee of the Year Award.  

Dr. Whitten is an award-winning writer with more than 25 years of experience reviewing and summarizing biomedical science and health-related research. Dr. Whitten works primarily with Federal contracts that address pulmonary and cardiovascular research, prevention of adolescent alcohol use, the health of women, and behavioral health and wellness. She currently supports the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), accurately captures the proceedings of scientific conferences and workshops, and develops executive summaries for the external community and detailed notes for program staff to help guide strategic decision making. As a medical writer, she has worked closely with program staff members on publications and presentations. For an NHLBI expert workshop, materials prepared by Dr. Whitten served as the foundation for a published article titled “Proceedings from a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Workshop to Control Hypertension” (PMID 35259237). Dr. Whitten was Synergy’s lead writer supporting the Task Force on Maternal Mental Health as it developed the National Strategy to Improve Maternal Mental Health Care and the accompanying report to Congress. In other work focused on women’s health, Dr. Whitten supported manuscript development for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) and co-authored peer-reviewed publications (e.g., “Research on Women’s Health: Ready for the Future” and “Sex as a Biological Variable [SABV]: A Five-Year Progress Report and Call to Action,” both published in The Journal of Women’s Health). She served as an acknowledged medical writer of two articles on maternal health: “The Intersection of Maternal Morbidity and Mortality and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States,” published in Current Women’s Health Reviews, and “Using the Ecological Systems Theory to Understand Black/White Disparities in Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States,” published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. Demonstrating her plain language skills, Dr. Whitten served as the writer on the award-winning (Gold MarCom and Communications Award of Excellence) ORWH booklet Maternal Morbidity and Mortality: What Do We Know? How Are We Addressing It? She also penned the Guest Blog Intimate Partner Violence: Raising Awareness, Taking Action. Previously, Dr. Whitten wrote content and developed materials for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), garnering praise with a Silver NIH Plain Language/Clear Communication Award. Her work at NIDA contributed to other prestigious awards, including an AVA Digital Award and a National Association of Government Communicators Award.

Jennifer (Jenny) Wood joined Synergy in November 2024 as a senior implementation specialist supporting the national “Talk. They Hear You.”® underage drinking prevention campaign of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. With more than 25 years of leadership experience in public service, Ms. Wood brings deep expertise in behavioral health, public policy, and cross-system prevention strategies. In her current role, Ms. Wood provides national implementation leadership for the campaign and works with Federal partners, state agencies, and community organizations to expand prevention capacity and integrate evidence-based tools into local systems. She delivers national presentations, training, and technical assistance to support parent engagement, early identification, and collaboration across prevention, education, healthcare, and behavioral health sectors. She also helps guide strategic partnerships and supports alignment of campaign efforts with broader public health priorities.