VBSR Advocacy Breakfast: Healthcare Checkup
What does it look like when businesses use their collective voice to create positive change?
Join VBSR members, legislators, advocates, and state leaders for our annual VBSR Advocacy Breakfast, a morning of connection, conversation, and action focused on building a just, thriving, and transformative economy together.
This year, we’re continuing the conversation on healthcare and exploring how we can work together toward a more sustainable healthcare system in Vermont. We’ll also look at VBSR’s advocacy work over the past year and the priorities we’re building together for 2027.
Our morning begins with networking over breakfast and local coffee at 8:30 AM, followed by programming from 9:00–11:30 AM at Hula Lakeside.
Highlights include:
- A look at how Vermont’s healthcare landscape has changed over the past year
- Candid conversations with healthcare leaders, including:
- Emily Brown, J.D., Executive Director, Green Mountain Care Board
- Christine Dodson, Co-Founder + Chief Executive Officer, Ava Pods
- Liz Hunt, CEO, Green Mountain Surgery Center
- Dr. Umair Malik, Founder, Blue Spruce Health
- Beth Roberts, President & CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont
- Rustam Sengupta, Founder, Tutktu Care Inc.
- A healthcare innovation panel featuring VBSR member businesses working to address healthcare gaps
- VBSR advocacy in action, including a look at our 2026 policy wins and our priorities for 2027
- Opportunities to share what matters to you, connect with policymakers, and explore how you can use your business voice to help create positive social and environmental impact in Vermont.
For decades, VBSR members have used the power of business to advocate for a Vermont that works for people, communities, and the planet. With a commitment to social equity, environmental responsibility, and economic development, VBSR has led many legislative successes including: Marriage Equality, Child Care, Sick Leave, Ban the Box, Climate Action, Food System and Clean Water Investments, and more.
Business has a voice in Vermont’s future. You don’t have to be a policy expert to be an advocate. You just have to show up!
Meet the speakers!
Emily Brown, J.D., Executive Director, Green Mountain Care Board
Emily Brown became GMCB's Executive Director in August 2025. She previously served as Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner of Insurance at the Department of Financial Regulation, where she managed the Insurance Division and led initiatives to improve access, affordability, and accountability in Vermont’s insurance system. An attorney with deep policy and regulatory expertise, Emily has held leadership roles at the state and national level, including with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. She holds a law degree from Vermont Law School and a bachelor’s degree in political science from New York University.
Christine Dodson, Co-Founder + Chief Executive Officer, Ava Pods
With more than 25 years of experience in strategic branding and operations, Christine is a recognized expert on privacy infrastructure, telehealth access, and workplace and public-space design. She's held management positions at JDK, Grey Advertising in New York City, and State Street Corporation in Boston.
Liz Hunt, CEO, Green Mountain Surgery Center
Liz Hunt is Vice President of Ambulatory Services at MedHQ/Avanza Health and a lead advisor and board member of Green Mountain Surgery Center in Colchester, Vermont. Prior to her role at MedHQ/Avanza, Liz served as CEO at Green Mountain Surgery Center, Vermont's only physician-owned multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center, where she lead the facility through a period of growth and change. Throughout her leadership, GMSC continually ranked among the best ASC's in the country and one of Vermont's Best Places to Work. Her goal is to drive practical, lasting change in how Vermont delivers surgical and outpatient care. Her continued seat at GMSC gives her a direct line to put those ideas to work.
Liz came to ASC leadership from the clinical and commercial sides of surgery. She began her career Architecture and Engineering then transitioned into clinical imaging at UVM Medical Center and later worked in surgical device sales with Stryker Orthopedics.
Liz is graduating from the Champlain College MBA program next month, and she holds a BS in Healthcare Administration from Champlain College. She also holds a certificate in Organizational Leadership and Executive Management from Harvard Business School Online and an AS in Architecture and Building Engineering from Vermont Technical College, which informs her work in facility planning and OR design.
Liz serves on the Green Mountain Care Board Advisory Committee and the Lake Champlain Chamber. She is active in ASCA and has been featured in ASC Focus Magazine.
Dr. Umair Malik, Founder, Blue Spruce Health
At Blue Spruce Health, we’re changing the way healthcare works—putting you first every step of the way. No rushed appointments. No insurance hassles. Just care designed around your needs. Good primary care is about access, trust and relationships, and our direct primary care model allows us to be available 24/7, offer meaningful savings on labs and generic medications, and spend unrushed time listening and supporting your health journey.
Blue Spruce Health was founded from Dr. Umair Malik’s desire to fully embrace his profession as a physician and restore the physician patient connection that has been lost in modern medicine. Direct primary care allows him to devote more time to his patients and remove the barriers created by deductibles, co pays and insurance restrictions.
Dr. Malik is a Board Certified Family Physician who has practiced in Newport, Vermont for ten years. He earned his medical degree, Magna cum laude, from St. George’s University through an international program in England, the West Indies and the United States, and completed his residency at Case Western Medical Center in Cleveland, OH with a focus on public and global health. His work in Guatemala and Thailand strengthened chronic disease management in local communities. He also has advanced training in medical aesthetics and growing interests in aging well and functional medicine.
A native of Montreal, Dr. Malik is proud to call Newport home. He is fluent in French, Urdu and Hindi, has studied several additional languages, and enjoys caring for patients of all ages with a no nonsense approach to health and wellness. He is the recipient of the Visionary Culture Award at Hint Summit 2026.
Beth Roberts, President & CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont
Beth Roberts, MBA, is President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont. Respected as a passionate, no-nonsense leader with a credible voice in decision making, Beth sees opportunities and works cross-functionally to develop and implement strategies that drive organizational growth.
Before joining Blue Cross VT, Beth served as President of the Beth Israel Lahey Health Performance Network, a clinically integrated network of physicians, clinicians and hospitals committed to improving population health by providing high-quality, cost-effective health care to the patients and communities it serves.
Previously, Beth was President of Commercial Business at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, a non-profit health services company with more than two million members. In this role, Beth strategically grew a $4 billion line of business to serve a broad portfolio of customers. Her leadership and ability to foster teamwork, break down barriers, and eliminate silos, were central to the successful union of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s and Tufts Health Plan’s commercial business as Point32Health.
Earlier in her career with Harvard Pilgrim, and after more than 20 years in successful leadership roles there, Beth served as Senior Vice President, Commercial Business. Under her leadership, the organization became the second-largest health plan in New Hampshire by entering new lines of business, forming unique partnerships and implementing a strategic approach to business development.
With proven commitment to her community, Beth has led and served on the boards of many organizations, including The RiverWoods Group, a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Exeter, New Hampshire. In addition, she has been recognized for her leadership by the New Hampshire Business Review and Business New Hampshire.
Beth earned a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University and her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Southern New Hampshire University. She is a Certified Health Insurance Executive by America Health Insurance Plans.
Beth has two children and resides in Stowe, VT with her husband Michael. She enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and leads an active lifestyle that includes cycling, hiking, and boating.
Rustam Sengupta, Founder, Tutktu Care Inc.
Rustam Sengupta is the founder and CEO of Tuktu (www.tuktu.us), a marketplace that helps families find trusted, vetted local companions for loved ones who need non-medical support. It is live across Canada and is now growing in the US, starting in Vermont.
Rustam has spent his career at the meeting point of technology, climate, and impact. He started in mergers and acquisitions at Deloitte, then worked on international development projects with the United Nations and GIZ, the German development agency. He later became a Director at Sustainable Development Technology Canada, one of Canada's largest clean tech funds, and he founded, ran, and successfully exited Boond, a solar company serving communities in Asia and Africa. He also managed research projects at Johns Hopkins University and has taught at the University of British Columbia. Today he teaches business at the University of Vermont and Champlain College.
He sits on the board of the EarthON Foundation, a non-profit that brings climate solutions to marginalized communities. He mentors founders on business models, marketing, and fundraising, and he has written books on impact investing and social enterprise. He speaks often at conferences and universities.
Rustam lives in Vermont with his wife, an academic at the University of Vermont, and their 13-year-old son. Dinner table talk often turns to aging in place, the environment, and sustainability.
Thank you to our host sponsor!
Hula is a technology-driven coworking campus, business incubator, and venture capital fund focused on elevating Vermont-based start-ups and entrepreneurs from its fourteen-acre parcel along the shores of Lake Champlain.
If you’re interested in sponsoring this event, please contact VBSR’s Membership & Development Manager, Jeremy Gerber at jeremyg@vbsr.org.