Celebrating Leaders Moving Our Industry Forward
2ND ANNUAL PRESENTATION OF AWARDS
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026 Hotel Del Coronado Coronado, CA
About the Work Comp Changemaker© Awards The Work Comp Changemaker ©Awards are not lifetime achievement honors. Instead, they recognize emerging and established professionals who, over the past 2–5 years, have demonstrated: • Courageous leadership and innovation • Measurable impact and industry-wide influence • Integrity, collaboration, and resilience A commitment to pushing the workers’ compensation system forward in meaningful ways.
HOW HONOREES WERE SELECTED
Our committee includes a strong mix of workers’ compensation professionals, hand-selected for their experience, industry perspective, and unwavering integrity. Our multi-phase selection process balances community insight with mission alignment and includes three key rounds:
ROUND 1: PEER NOMINATIONS Each advisory committee member nominates exactly five individuals who exemplify the spirit of a changemaker. Nominations are based on established criteria focused on integrity, innovation, leadership, and positive contribution to our workers’ compensation ecosystem.
ROUND 2: ADVOCACY ROUND Committee members review all nominees and select two people they did not originally nominate. This selection process identifies our Catalysts (finalists). Then, each committee member reaches out to their chosen nominees, interviews them, and delivers short oral presentations about them to the committee. Each presentation is followed by a group discussion, which helps the committee surface new insights and better understand the nominee’s contributions—especially when members are less familiar with their work.
ROUND 3: RANKED SCORING After hearing all advocacy presentations, committee members rank every Catalyst. These rankings form the foundation of our scoring model and determine the honorees.
2026 Advisory Committee
Caryn Siebert
Stuart Colburn
Dionne Lacey-Artis
Downs Stanford, PC
Optum Workers’ Compensation & Auto Injury Solutions
Shareholder
VP–National Director Carrier Engagement
Chief Business Officer
Jennifer Morris Jones
Gallagher Bassett
Debra Livingston
Mollie Kallen
Founder & CEO
Partner
VP–Business Development
Cranfill Sumner Law Firm
The IMA Group
ReEmployability
Melissa Steger
Hon. Robert Rassp
Drew McGhee
Executive VP-Business Development WorkCompCollege.com
Presiding Judge
Lead Client Strategist
WCAB Los Angeles District Office
IVM Group
Yvonne Guibert VP–Education Strategy Institutes of Health
Rafael Gonzalez Partner
Cattie & Gonzalez PLLC
Thank You Sponsors
2026 Work Comp Changemaker© Honorees
Hidden Gems
Dr. Leslie Cadet, MD, MPH, QME Founder & CEO
Brooks Rehabilitation
Catherine Benavidez
Anthony Culpepper, Jr.
Founder
Injury Management Organization
Clinical Health Psychologist
Southern Behavioral Medicine Associates PLLC
Kirsten Kaiser Kus Capital Member
Downey, Lenkov, Milstein and Kus Law Firm
Workers’ Comp Case Manager
Ascend Occupational Medicine Consulting
Changemakers
Geralyn Datz, PhD, MP
Nicholas Fonner
Steven Feinberg, MD, MPH Medical Director
Feinberg Medical Group
Roberta Serena Mike
Senior Field Claim Adjuster
Strategic Comp/Workers’ Compensation Career Mentorship Group
Partner
Employer Defense Group/AAWCP
Kimberly George
Agnes Hoeberling
Global Chief Brand Officer
Chief Client Officer
Sedgwick
AvonRisk
Dave Taylor
Licia Thompson-Young
Charter Communications
Licia Thompson Coaching and Consulting LLC
Sr. Director of Workers’ Compensation
Founder and Leadership Retention Strategist
Please take a moment to congratulate the 2026 Work Comp Changemaker© nominees, catalysts, and honorees! Our advisory committee noticed their work and believes it's making our industry better!
Celebrating Leaders Moving Our Industry Forward