Biographies

 

Robert A. Cohen

Managing Partner

Robert A. Cohen is Founder and Managing Partner of AllianceBenefits, a Mid-Atlantic based employee benefits services firm that specializes in providing health plans and group employee benefits to small/mid-size employers all the way to the Fortune 50 corporation. Rob has over 25 years experience as a health care and employee benefits professional in the mid-Atlantic region. He works closely with business owners and executives, gaining an in depth understanding of company goals, employee culture, and the business model to best meet client needs. Rob is very effective in assessing the cost/benefit of company plans and identifying opportunities for improvement.

 Prior to founding AllianceBenefits, he served as vice president of  human resources for Computer Data Systems, Inc., director of compensation and benefits for Washington Gas Light Company, and director of data consulting with Health Management Strategies, International (formerly a division of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of the National Capital Area, now CareFirst). 

Prior to his career in human resources and employee benefits, Rob was the sports producer for National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition.  He also spent three years as a broadcast associate at ABC Sports in New York. 

Rob has a masters of hospital and health services administration at Central Michigan University, a M.Ed. at the University of Maryland in human resources development, and a B.A. also at the University of Maryland in Speech - Radio, Television and Film.

Rob served on the board of directors of the HR TechNet Organization (President), Network to Improve Community Health (Treasurer), Pindell Wood HOA (President), Oseh Shalom Synagogue (VP), Kaiser Permanente (broker council), and CareFirst Blue Cross & Blue Shield (broker council).  He also served on the board of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Aetna-US Healthcare advisory Board, Maryland Health Care Coalition, Merck advisory board, SmithKline Beecham advisory board, GlaxoWellcome advisory board, Schering-plough advisory board and the Howard County Chamber of Commerce.

Rob is married with two girls. He resides with his family in Fulton, Maryland.

Marcia P. Friedman

Executive Partner

Marcia Friedman is an Executive Partner at AllianceBenefits.  She has 40 years experience in the health insurance industry.  Prior to joining Alliance Benefits, she was a  Consultant with three of the largest Third Party Administrators in the country providing self funded health plans to large employers.  She is well versed in all aspects of underwriting, plan design, risk management, communication and implementation of  employee benefit plans.  She was a Senior Marketing Executive with Health Care Service Corporation (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois), Managing Consultant with Trigon Administrators (TPA division of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Virginia), and  Marketing Manager of Employee Benefit Plans, Inc. where she worked with large employer groups.   Marcia’s clients have included associations, hospital consortiums, non-profit organizations, unions, government, education, and corporate entities ranging from manufacturing to aerospace engineering.

After working for  three of the largest Blue Cross Plans, Marcia owned and operated an insurance agency in the Chicago area for 9 years before relocating to the Mid-Atlantic region.  She has extensive experience in all disciplines of employee benefits.  Early in her career she held positions in Human Resources providing training in claims adjudication, contract administration, customer service and career development while working for Carefirst, Inc.

Marcia has a long career with a focus on consumerism in health care.  While in Chicago she was one of three founding directors of  Consumer Health Resources Center in Northbrook, Illinois focused on assisting critically ill patients locate specialty care when faced with life threatening or disabling conditions.  The center provided medical searches, referrals and counseling to affected families at no cost or a nominal fee.  Claims assistance was also provided at no charge to clients.

Marcia has advocated for health care consumers throughout her career.  She has served as a speaker to numerous groups including insurance industry professionals, clients and community senior centers.    

Marcia served as Vice Chairman of the Private Industry Council SDA district 26 in Illinois.  She is a member of St. Andrews Methodist Church and has served on the finance committee.  Marcia is married with three daughters and two grand daughters.

 

Hunter Adair

Partner, Retirement & Exec Benefits

Hunter is a Partner at AllianceBenefits and works with businesses to provide planning solutions to improve and develop the areas of Qualified and non Qualified retirement plans.  He works with the owners, executives and key people to create supplemental executive benefits and seamless risk management .  He has an expertise in developing  life and disability plans for key person, buyout,  stock redemption and liquidity planning.  Hunter develops relationships with clients and works closely with them on creation and implementation of these plans.   He is a qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table. Hunter resides in Baltimore with his wife Christine and their son.

Raymond Chan

VP, Business Development

Raymond is the VP of Business Development at AllianceBenefits. Before joining Alliance Benefits, Raymond developed sales offices for the Metro DC area, where he specialized in voluntary benefits and cross selling insurance products.  Raymond focused his attention on consumer driven health plans and voluntary insurance products to help businesses reduce costs effectively and broaden their benefits portfolio. He has experience servicing small and large businesses to include some of the Fortune 500 companies in the area.
Mr. Chan received his B.S. degree in Economics from University of Maryland and volunteers as a Wish Ambassador for the Mid-Atlantic Make-A-Wish foundation.

 

 

Cybil Bell

HR/Employee Benefits Manager

Cybil is the Human Resources/Employee Benefits Manager at AllianceBenefits. She provides administrative support to the day-to-day operations. Cybil is customer focused and an effective HR support to the organization.  She has over 16 years of experience in customer service and sales with 11 years of experience in human resources and management.  She has worked closely with Human Resources for the past five years to develop custom programs for various companies. 

Prior to working for AllianceBenefits, Cybil was the Mid Atlantic Area Manager for Juicy Couture. There she helped develop a program to recruit, hire and retain top talent for the company. Cybil is detail oriented, organized and highly motivated to be successful. These qualities have helped her to achieve her career goals. 

Cybil is married with a son and resides in the Annapolis area. 

Maureen Bretz

Benefits/P&C Consultant

Maureen is the Benefits/P&C Consultant at AllianceBenefits.  Her responsibilities include the request, comparative analysis and presentation of client proposals, account maintenance, management of existing renewal policies, installation of new policies, and reconciliation of billing or benefit administration issues.

Prior to joining AllianceBenefits, Maureen developed a career over 11 years as Portfolio Manager of Money Market and Fixed Income Securities for The Calvert Group.  She developed and implemented strategies to manage flagship portfolios, and along with her management team, set precedence for successfully hedging municipal portfolios with treasury options and futures. Her portfolios received the highest performance ratings from Morningstar and Lipper.  She received her Series 7 and Chartered Market Technician I & II. 

Maureen also has several years of management experience within a service and performance related industry for which she received an award for excellence and dedication in achieving standards for quality of service.

She also served on the Missions committee and Missions Support Subcommittee of her church for several years as coordinator of missions conferences and events, support to 54 missionary families, manager of database, financial reporting and publications.
Maureen is the mother of three and resides in Fulton, Maryland. 

Patricia Brown

Director, Worksite Benefits

Patricia is the Director of Worksite Benefits at AllianceBenefits. She directs all activities related to Worksite Benefits for clients including proposal development, carrier relations, client communication and employee enrollment. Products include traditional voluntary programs such as Accident, Disability and Critical Illness as well as other programs.  Her experience provides her with the ability to work efficiently, offering the day to day administration and management of our voluntary product services. Patricia is licensed to market Supplemental products for local and multi-state employers.  Prior to this role Patricia owned a full-service insurance agency in Colorado.

Tedd Smith

Advisor and Human Resources consultant

Tedd is an advisor and human resource consultant for AllianceBenefits.  Tedd began his consulting practice in April, 2009.  Having worked on “startups” and merger/acquisition integrations, Tedd has developed an extensive understanding of organization culture, redefining business strategy, helping people adapt to a changing environment, and structuring organizations to achieve success.   Tedd enjoyed a successful corporate career with Aetna, Inc., one of the top 3 health insurers in the US as an internal consultant from 1994 to 2009.   Tedd was responsible for consulting services to enhance leader’s capability and capacity to execute business strategies and leverage human capitol.  Tedd worked in banking from 1982 to 1994.  He has had a succession of management positions with increasing responsibilities in customer service, operations, and human resources.  Tedd has served as an adjunct teacher for Essex Community College in Maryland and the American Institute of Banking.  He has also been a public speaker and facilitator for many education and human resource affiliations.  Tedd has established himself as an effective organization development practitioner with a BA from the University of Virginia and advanced studies from Michigan State University and the American Institute of Banking.  He is currently a member and volunteers with Chesapeake Human Resources Association and SCORE (affiliated with the Small Business Administration) coaching business leaders.

 

John Lefkowits, PH.D

Director, Work/Life Programs 

John is the Director of Work/Life Programs at AllianceBenefits. He has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is a licensed psychologist in Maryland. John is also a former sports psychologist for University of Maryland Sports Medicine and a regular contributor to Howard County Business Journal. He is co-founder of a multidisciplinary health care practice. John is on the Board of Advisors at Howard County NeoTech Incubator and Board of Directors at Columbia Association Medical Advisory Board.

Ian Summer

 Long Term Care Specialist

Ian is the Long Term Care Specialist for AllianceBenefits. He has 30 years experience as a Small Business Owner and 10 years as a VP of a major national department store chain.  Ian has a B.S.in Marketing from The American University located in Washington D.C. He was Captain in the US Army and is a Vietnam Veteran.

Meghan Tieff

 Director, Wellness

Meghan is the Director of Wellness at AllianceBenefits. She is a nationally known fitness model who has graced the pages of Cosmopolitan, In Style, Shape, Muscle and Fitness Hers and Oxygen magazines, just to name a few.  She has a series of successful fitness DVDs available worldwide, and is also frequently seen as the Under Armour “underwear girl.”

Meghan believes that anyone can achieve anything they set their mind to, and she loves to empower people with the knowledge that they are in control of their own health, fitness and happiness. Her motto is “your body is the product of your thoughts.”

Meghan is certified in National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), International Sports Science Association (ISSA), Power Pilates, Zumba, Checchetti Council of
America, Cycle Reebok Foundation Training and Cardio Kickboxing.

Meghan is married with a son and resides in the Annapolis area.