AEPC Leadership Team

With a work history in health care economics and delivery systems going back over 30 years, Suzanne M. Daniels, Ph.D. is recognized as a distinguished leader committed to quality care and responsible, transparent fiscal management. Under her direction at AEPC, the complex process of vendor selection, auditing practices, and developing innovative benefit delivery models is based on sophisticated analytics meshed with concern for real-life positive outcomes.  She is passionate about wellness, and has developed AEPC member education presentations on topics such as hospital patient safety and specialty pharmacy.

Daniels is well-versed in working within coalition environments: as Senior Vice President at the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) she expanded purchaser participation to create a coalition representing over 4.5 million covered lives in 85 health plans nationwide. At the Greater Detroit Area Health Council Daniels led the development of a managed care evaluation tool that provided a cross-market health plan evaluation process for multi-state Fortune 100 companies.

Daniels currently presides as Committee Chair for several United Auto Worker (UAW) Health and Welfare Trusts and VEBAs. Equally experienced with the public sector, Daniels created a new business model for the Public Employee Trust (PET), as well as developing an alternative health benefits delivery model for Michigan public education employees.

Daniels is a sought-after speaker and consultant for projects and organizations as wide-ranging as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the International Foundation of Employee Benefits, the Disease Management Association of America and the Michigan State Medical Society. She has provided testimony and technical expertise to legislators and state agencies, including officials on both sides of the aisle.

An AEPC founding member, Philip Schloop’s history frames his leadership as the current chairman of the organization. Throughout his 40-year career in organized labor, government, and health organizations, Schloop has tirelessly worked to assure working families have a voice in the complicated world of health care. Now retired, Schloop started out as a boiler operator in the Detroit Public Schools and rose to the rank of International Vice President of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). As the Business Manager of IUOE Local 547, a 6,000 member Local with over 250 public and private sector contracts throughout Michigan, Schloop was an early innovator in creating and working within coalitions to leverage workers’ collective power. He is the past chair of the Coalition of Unions for the city of Detroit and the Coalition of Unions at Michigan State University. He was a founding member of the Detroit Casino Council and member of the Detroit Public Schools Coalition.

Having served on the boards of a Taft-Hartley Benefit Trust and a public employee VEBA, Schloop sharpened his expertise in the health care arena through participation in International Foundation of Employee Benefits initiatives and as a board member of the Greater Detroit Area Health Council.

With a keen understanding of how government institutions impact workers, Schloop has served as chair of the Governor’s Labor Management Committee, and also on the Michigan OSHA Health Standards Commission. Additionally, Schloop has worked closely with state legislators on key issues affecting his members. In 2006 he successfully ushered the Michigan Boiler Registration Bill through the full House of Representatives, creating consistent and proper standards to protect the public as well as members of the trade.

Heather Carman has a wealth of health care management experience, currently working as Director of Customer Relations for the Michigan Conference of Teamsters Welfare Fund (MCTWF).  Her work includes research and compliance, client statistics and service performance matrices, along with many other aspects of health care management such as eligibility systems and employee enrollment processes. Heather has extensive experience developing and delivering presentations, writing health care articles, and other communications with clients and vendors.

Before working for the Michigan Conference of Teamsters Welfare Fund, Heather was a Plan Manager for BeneSys, a company specializing in Taft-Hartley Trust Fund management. At BeneSys Heather was responsible for all aspects of administration and compliance for several Taft Hartley Trusts and VEBAs, including benefit plan design review and cost containment. Heather sat on the corporate committee on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which was responsible for compliance and implementation of the law as it affected BeneSys clients.

Heather is literally a life-saver, at one time having been in charge of supervising, hiring and training lifeguards in Marine City, Michigan.

Rick Isaacson is a Trustee for the Budd Company Health and Welfare Trust which provides health care benefits for retirees and their surviving spouses of the Budd Company.

Rick has a wealth of experience representing the interests of retired union workers through his participation in the Voluntary Employee Benefits Associations (VEBAs) for a number of other groups including UAW Dana, UAW St. Joseph, and UAW Automotive Components Carrier (ACC).

A member of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union since 1977, Rick began his union career as a Plant Committeeman, moving on to become Plant Chair and then Local Union President. In 1998 he became a Servicing Representative in UAW Region 1, and in 2000 he moved to UAW International Headquarters, Solidarity House, where he led the Independent Parts Sector (IPS) Department. Rick was named Administrative Assistant to the President of the UAW in 2013 and served in that position until his retirement in 2018.

Rick has negotiated national contracts, serviced those contracts, and participated in all levels of policy and administrative functions of the UAW. His long and rewarding career is a source of personal pride and inspiration to continue striving for a better life for working people.

Johnny Mickles is a Field Representative with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Michigan.

AFT Michigan is a statewide union of 96 locals and 35,000 members working for K-12 and intermediate school districts, community colleges, universities, and municipal government. Johnny began his career as a Field Representative in February 2004.  He currently works with 20 locals throughout the state, where his many duties include negotiating and servicing contracts.

Johnny also serves as a Trustee for the Public Employee Trust, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Johnny taught American history in the Detroit Public Schools and has been a member of Detroit Federation of Teachers AFT Local 231 since 1996, where he served as Building Representative.

Tim Ochalek, now retired from a career spanning 38 years with the Bricklayers and Allied Crafts (BAC) Local 2, worked as a business agent representing tile, marble and terrazzo members throughout southeastern Michigan. Tim negotiated and serviced labor contracts, and also served as a Trustee on the Pension and Health and Welfare Funds for the Local. Before working as a business agent, Tim was an instructor at the Local’s Education Center, where he specialized in tile work.

Tim started attending AEPC meetings in the early days to learn as much as possible about the complex and constantly changing landscape of employee benefits. He realized AEPC’s coalition approach was a good fit with labor union philosophy, as it clearly demonstrated the power and benefit of coming together for the collective good.  With so much institutional knowledge about AEPC and the benefits industry in general, having Tim on the Board helps shape the big picture moving forward.

Nancy R. Papet is President of Papet-Westley & Associates LLC, a licensed insurance agency advising and managing employee benefits for clients. Before beginning her own agency, Nancy had a successful 25-year career with Aetna in positions including Manager of the Small Business Market for the Great Lakes Region, and Sales Manager for Established Business. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Business Management.

Nancy’s experiences include contract administration, technical reviews, benefit design, funding, and claims administration for employers, Taft-Hartley union-management groups, and associations.

Nancy is a proven expert in limited access disability and health care design and administration. Using managed care medical plans and managed disability plans, she has reduced disability and health care costs for clients. In conjunction with a major retail employer, Nancy developed Michigan’s first managed disability program.

Nancy is certified in the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) for individuals and small groups and has completed HIPAA Privacy & Security Training. After a technically difficult course, Nancy earned certifications in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), Self-Insurance, and Wellness from the National Association of Health Underwriters.

Gary J. Petroni has spent over 30 years planning and evaluating the organization, delivery, and financing of health care as well as the dynamics of health status within communities.

Currently, as the Executive Director of the Southeastern Michigan Health Association (SEMHA) and the Center for Population Health (CPH), Gary is responsible for the leadership of a 65-year-old non-profit which is dedicated to improving community health by providing grant management services, leadership development, health research, planning, health assessment activities for private and public sector organizations throughout the region.

Gary’s professional responsibilities have included regional liaison and consultant to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services for Community Health Assessment activities, the Uninsured Task Force, and Certificate of Need (CON) program activities.

Governance activities include: member of the Board of the Greater Detroit Area Health Council, and trustee on several UAW Health and Welfare Retirement Trusts.

Memberships include the Association of Health Services Research, American Public Health Association, Michigan Society for Health Care Planning and Marketing and the Michigan Association for Evaluation.

Prior to joining SEMHA, Gary served as Director of Research and Information System for the Greater Detroit Area Health Council (GDAHC), 1985-1995.

Renee Rivard is the Director of Compensation and Benefits in Human Resources at Michigan State University (MSU). In this role, she leads the strategic planning and directs on-going administration of benefits, compensation and classification.

Renee began employment at MSU in January 2001. Before that time she spent 16 years in a variety of human resources management positions at St. Lawrence Hospital and Sparrow Health System, directing Labor Relations, Benefits, Compensation and HR Information Systems.

In addition to her broad human resources management experience, Renee holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Northwood University.

Carl Weiss is the Executive Director of the Metropolitan Detroit Bureau of School Studies, a nonprofit organization located within Wayne State University that serves K-12 public school districts in the metropolitan Detroit region.

 Prior to his arrival at the Metro Bureau, Carl spent his entire professional career as a public school educator in Michigan. His 35 years in education include 19 years teaching middle and high school science and math as well as sixteen years as a district level administrator. Carl completed his career in public education serving for five years as the Deputy Superintendent of Curriculum and Human Resources for Dearborn Heights School District #7 (2001-06) and for seven years as the Superintendent for Romulus Community Schools (2006-13).

Carl is well-networked with school administrators both within the southeastern Michigan region and across the state. While at Romulus, Carl served as President of the Middle Cities Education Association (statewide organization of 34 school districts; 2012-13), President of the Wayne County Superintendents’ Association (2009-10), Secretary-Treasurer for the Tri County Alliance for Public Education (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties; 2010-2012) and was a Region 9 (Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties) representative on the Michigan Association of School Administrators Council (2010-2012).

Dawn Reck is Senior Director of Client Engagement with Remedy Analytics. An expert in pharmacy benefits management, Dawn’s excellence in client management across national accounts is based on a solid foundation.

Dawn has over 30 years of pharmacy experience and has held multiple roles across the industry, including as a pharmacy technician at retail pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, and home health care. She has vast experience working in managed care and consulting.

At a large consulting firm Dawn managed over 25 clients across lines of business including direct self-funded employers, union and EGWP clients. Her responsibilities included managing day-to-day requests, interpreting analytical data, reporting benchmarks/trends and development/delivery of clients plan performance.

Her vast industry experience spans PBM vendor evaluation and procurement, PBM contracting and negotiations management, plan design and analysis, analytic reporting, and pharmacy benefit consulting.