2025 PBGH Member Retreat
Monterey Bay, California
2025 PBGH Member Retreat
Thank you to all who joined us at the PBGH 2025 Member Retreat in Monterey, California! During this annual event, benefit decision makers and executive leaders from PBGH member organizations gathered in an intimate employer and purchaser-only setting to share best practices, challenges, and progress toward achieving a more affordable, high-quality, and equitable health care system.
Our 2025 theme focused on embracing change through active engagement, persistence and collective action. In addition to educational sessions and inspiring keynote speakers offering actionable strategies for purchasers, the event was filled with fun social activities and productive networking opportunities.
Some of the key takeaways from the event included the importance of data access, the need to be unwavering in contract negotiations, the appropriate use of AI, and how employers are innovating to improve population health and well-being.
Watch the highlight video from the PBGH 2025 Member Retreat:
Thank you to our Members, Speakers, and PBGH Staff for making #PBGH25Retreat a success!
Keynote Speaker
Cassandra Worthy is Founder & CEO of Change Enthusiasm Global, a well-respected Leadership Development and Consulting company. She is a former Fortune 100 Innovation Leader, highly dynamic speaker & presenter, chemical engineer, but above all else the world’s leading expert on Change Enthusiasm®. Through her corporate experiences, she has not only endured but THRIVED during major change challenges. This endurance was thanks to the creation and cultivation of her strategy of Change Enthusiasm®. In her dynamic keynotes and workshops, with wit and infectious energy, she now teaches this unique strategy with world-class business leaders across any and every industry, from CPG to Retail to Insurance to Health Care…just to name a few. Recently named as one of the world’s Top 50 keynote speakers by Real Leaders Magazine, Cassandra is a two-time TEDx speaker, sharing her authentic message of resilience to millions all over the world.
Featured Speakers
Christin E. Deacon is a nationally recognized expert in public and private sector health policy, known for her fearless advocacy and transformative approach to employer-sponsored health benefits. As the former Assistant Director for the State of New Jersey’s Division of Pensions and Benefits, she oversaw one of the largest public sector health plans in the nation—serving over 800,000 lives and managing billions in healthcare spend. During her tenure, Deacon led some of the most ambitious cost-containment and transparency reforms in the country, taking on entrenched interests across insurers, PBMs, and health systems. Her work has become a model for state and municipal purchasers nationwide seeking to drive value, accountability, and equity in health care.
Dr. Dexter Shurney leads the strategy and execution of Blue Zones research initiatives and scientific partnerships. Dexter is a population health innovator and is board certified in Preventive Medicine, Public Health, and Lifestyle Medicine. He’s the former Chief Medical Officer of Adventist Health, the Immediate Past-President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, former faculty at Vanderbilt University, and former Chief Medical Director/Executive Director of Global Health and Wellness at Cummins, Inc. Former roles Dr. Shurney has held include Chief Medical Director / Executive Director for Global Health Benefits and Corporate Wellness for Cummins, Inc., and Chief Medical Director, Employee Health Plan for Vanderbilt University and Medical Center.
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