Meet Our Board Members
Steven L. Dawson
Chairperson of the Board
President, PHI
Steven Dawson is president of PHI — a national nonprofit that promotes the quality care through quality jobs sectoral strategy within the eldercare/disability services industry. He has helped lead PHI since its inception in 1992. Headquartered in the South Bronx, PHI’s staff members work nationally and in many states to improve the lives of people who need home and residential care—by improving the lives of the workers who provide that care. Within New York City, Steven serves on the board of worker-owned Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) and is the Chairperson of the Board of Independence Care System (ICS).
Mr. Dawson has co-authored with the Aspen Institute several national publications on health care employment issues, including Direct-Care Health Workers: The Unnecessary Crisis in Long-Term Care, and Sectoral Strategies for Low-Income Workers. He is also the author of the newly published Improving Jobs and Care: A National Sector Strategy, which describes PHI’s workforce strategy and school of thought. Along with Nancy Lundebjerg of the American Geriatric Society, he is Founding Co-convener of the national Eldercare Workforce Alliance.
Michael Elsas
Secretary of the Board
President, Cooperative Home Care Associates
Michael Elsas is President of Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA), a licensed home health care agency located in the South Bronx. With over 1900 paraprofessional workers and an administrative staff of nearly 100, Cooperative Home Care Associates has been nationally recognized for its unique worker-centered philosophy, which links quality jobs to quality home care services.
Prior to joining Cooperative Home Care Associates in 2000, Mr. Elsas was the Chief Operating Officer of the Visiting Nurse Association of Hudson Valley. From community liaison to President, Mr. Elsas has nearly 40 years of experience in the home care industry. His professional affiliations include: trustee of the 1199 SEIU Home Health Aide Benefit Fund, Catholic Charities and the Medical Society of New York. Mr. Elsas received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the C.W. Post Center of Long Island University.
Ann Berson
Vice President and Director of Public Policy
Alzheimer’s Association (Retired in 2009), NYC Chapter
At the time of her retirement in July 2009, as Vice President, Director of Public Policy, Ann Berson had been at the Alzheimer’s Association, NYC Chapter, since March 1992. At the Chapter, her responsibilities involved analysis of federal, state and local health and long-term care legislative proposals and regulatory initiatives, particularly in terms of their impact on persons with dementia, their families, and other caregivers. She also carried out advocacy activities and worked with other organizations and groups on issues of home, community, and residential care services and the role of Medicaid.
Prior to joining the Alzheimer’s Association, Ms. Berson was Executive Director of the Home Care Council of NYC, the umbrella organization of the Medicaid funded home attendant/personal care vendor agencies. From 1987 to 1990, she was Editor in Chief of the PRIDE Institute Journal of Long Term Care and Executive Director of the PRIDE Institute at St. Vincent’s Hospital. Ms. Berson has worked on issues of long-term care since 1975, when she joined the staff of the Moreland Act Commission on Nursing Homes and Residential Facilities, the statewide investigation of nursing homes.
Ms. Berson is a graduate of Connecticut College and holds a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the Hunter College Graduate School of Urban Planning.
Dan Bonoff
Partner, Goode Partners, LLC
Mr. Bonoff is a Partner at Goode Partners LLC, a private equity partnership that focuses on investments in the consumer sector.
Prior to joining Goode Partners, Mr. Bonoff worked at Apax Partners and Saunders Karp & Megrue. Mr. Bonoff has sat on the boards of directors of Adrenaline Family Entertainment, Comark Inc., Drive America Holdings, Elephant Bar Restaurants, Giftware Holdings, National Home Healthcare, Inc., Souper Salad and Voyager Hospicecare. Mr. Bonoff currently sits on the board of directors of Rosa Mexicano.
Mr. Bonoff received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeffrey M. Krauss
Managing Member, Psilos Group Managers, LLC
Mr. Krauss, Managing Member at Psilos, joined Psilos in March 2000 with a focus on investments in healthcare services, healthcare information technology, and medical technology. He currently serves on the boards of Verium, SmartPill, and HealthEdge.
Prior to joining Psilos, Mr. Krauss was a general partner at Nazem & Company, a New York-based venture capital firm, from 1990 to 2000, where he specialized in investments in the healthcare services and healthcare information technology segments. Prior to joining Nazem & Company, Mr. Krauss was an attorney with the law firm of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, where he specialized in private equity transactions and worked extensively on transactions originated by KKR. Prior to that, Mr. Krauss was an auditor with the accounting firm of Ernst & Young. Mr. Krauss is currently a volunteer with the New York City Investment Fund in the Fund’s Healthcare Sector Group. Mr. Krauss performs various services for the Fund, including representing the Fund on the boards of several portfolio companies.
Mr. Krauss graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the State University of New York at Albany and he graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. Mr. Krauss is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of New York, and is also licensed in the State of New York as an Attorney.
Terence J. Moakley
Consumer Advocate
For more than 30 years, Terry Moakley has been a leading advocate for transportation for people with disabilities. During the Vietnam War in 1967, he sustained a spinal cord injury in a stateside diving accident while serving in the United States Marines. About four months after his injury, Mr. Moakley became a member of the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association and began working with the United Spinal Association (formerly EPVA) in 1972.
Mr. Moakley was one of the plaintiffs in a New York State lawsuit that resulted in a 1985 victory to make the city’s subway and bus systems accessible to people with disabilities, including wheelchair users, and to begin a paratransit service for those who could not use mass transit. This win was a precursor to the transportation provisions in the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. Believing deeply that access to affordable, accessible mass transportation is a key component to a person with a disability leading an independent life, Moakley also helped to organize the New York City Taxis For All Campaign Coalition, which led to hundreds of accessible cabs operating in NYC and is active with the Association of Travel Instruction, a group that supports providers and teachers of travel training for seniors and people with disabilities.
In 1966, Mr. Moakley earned a B.A. in English literature from St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y., and in 1975 received his M.A. in English literature from Hofstra University in Long Island, N.Y. He has served on numerous boards and commissions, including the New York State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council, the New York State Rehabilitation Council, and the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission’s Disability Advisory Board.
Thomas K. Small
Attorney at Law
T.K. Small has decades of experience advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. He is a graduate of Long Island University and Brooklyn Law School. An attorney since 1994, he practices primarily in the field of Disability Law, representing both organizations and individuals.
Since 1999, Mr. Small has served as communications and policy consultant to the New York State Independent Living Council (NYSILC), where he assists in coordinating statewide advocacy efforts, formulating legislative strategies, delivering testimony to governmental agencies, and reviewing and interpreting pending litigation from a disability policy perspective. Previously, he was co-project coordinator of the NYSILC Housing Institute, which was created to promote accessible, affordable and integrated housing opportunities for people with disabilities. On behalf of individuals, Mr. Small fights for community-based services and pursues Americans with Disabilities Act enforcement through litigation and/or mediation.
Mr. Small is a member of numerous disability rights groups, including Not Dead Yet, ADAPT and Disabled in Action of Metropolitan New York. He is also co-host of a radio program on WBAI, 99.5 FM called “The Largest Minority,” which focuses on disability news and culture.
Bruce Vladeck
Senior Advisor, Nexera Consulting
Since 2009, Bruce C. Vladeck has been a Senior Advisor to Nexera Consulting, a leader in innovative healthcare solutions. Previously, Dr. Vladeck held many other prestigious positions in government and the private sector, including: Executive Director and Senior Health Advisor for Ernst & Young LLP; Interim President of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration; President Clinton appointee to the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare; President of the United Hospital Fund of New York; and Assistant Commissioner of the New Jersey State Department of Health. Dr. Vladeck also served as Professor of Health Policy and Geriatrics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York as well as on the faculties of Columbia University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Dr. Vladeck was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1986, where he chaired the Committee on Health Care for Homeless People. Among his many other honors Dr. Vladeck received the 1995 National Public Service Award and the 2005 Robert M. Ball Award of the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Dr. Vladeck is a member of the New York City Board of Health and a member of the Editorial Board of Health Affairs. He has published widely, perhaps most notably his book, Unloving Care: The Nursing Home Tragedy (Basic Books: 1980). He received his BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard College; and an MA and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
