Nancy Davenport-Ennis

Chief Executive Officer & President

NANCY DAVENPORT-ENNIS, CEO, cancer survivor, is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF), a policy organization headquartered in Washington, DC that seeks to improve access to care through regulatory and policy initiatives at the state and federal levels, and the Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Newport News, VA that provides direct patient services through professional case management in order to resolve patient access issues. PAF received over 6 millions contacts for services in FY2005/2006. Both organizations were established in 1996 by Davenport-Ennis and her husband, John H. Ennis.

Davenport-Ennis has been appointed to and currently serves on several national committees including an appointment by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a Commissioner on the American Health Information Community (AHIC), serving as the Consumer Empowerment Working Group Co-Chair. She also serves on the Director's Consumer Liaison Group (DCLG) for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee (MCAC) as a voting member for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the C-Change Committee on the Access to Quality Cancer Care Team, One Voice Against Cancer, the Virginia Governor's Government and Regulatory Reform Task Force, Virginia Attorney General's Regulatory and Government Reform Task Force-Healthcare Working Group, Health Information Technology Council for Virginia, and the Mayor's Committee on Medicaid and Physician Recruitment in Newport News, VA. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Friends of Cancer Research (FOCR), the Advisory Board for the Intercultural Cancer Council, external Board of Review for the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, MO, the PRR Advisory Board for Oncology Times, In-Touch, Coping and Managed Care and Cancer Magazines. She has served as a Congressional witness before the Senate and House committees addressing access issues confronting patients.

Throughout her career in patient advocacy, Davenport-Ennis' expertise has been sought by national and local media outlets for input on access issues confronting patients, reflecting the value of case management and/or legal interventions. Articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, US News and World Report, USA Today, Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, The Daily Press, The Virginian Pilot, Inside CMS, Family Circle Magazine, Parade Magazine, Readers Digest, Prevention Magazine, Self Magazine, All You, Real Simple Magazine, Glamour Magazine, Nursing Spectrum, Business Week, Hematology Oncology Times, Physicians Practice Magazine, Coping Magazine, Women and Cancer, and American Family Physician Monograph on Cancer. In addition, she has been featured on the NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, CBS affiliate stations, and the Lifetime Network.

Ms. Davenport-Ennis is the recipient of the 1989 Outstanding Young Woman of America

Award, the Association of Community Cancer Centers Advocate of the Year Award, and the U.S. Oncology Medal of Honor Award. She was appointed to the Governor's Commission on the Uninsured in Virginia. Davenport-Ennis was named as a Paul Harris Fellow by the National Rotary Foundation. She holds a B.A. Degree in English from Campbell University. She resides in Yorktown, Virginia with her husband, John H. Ennis, Jr. and has two daughters and four grandchildren.

Jim Gottlieb

Executive Vice President of Government Affairs

Jim Gottlieb joined NPAF in May 2007 to lead the foundation's government affairs activities.

Jim is a seasoned political strategist and legislative advisor with more than thirty years experience in government relations. Gottlieb will manage outreach efforts in Washington, D.C. and will spearhead NPAF's government affairs activities designed to work with Members of Congress and their staffs to find solutions to patient access issues, as well as work with other D.C. based patient groups with similar issues and interests.

Most recently before joining NPAF, Gottlieb served as Chief Management Consultant of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), a non-profit medical research institute dedicated to the study of memory and memory disorders. During his time at BRNI, Gottlieb served as a strategic policy and advocacy advisor, and managed the restructuring of a multimillion dollar medical research facility for the study of brain disorders. While in this role Gottlieb also served as legal counsel and policy advisor to the Institute's Chairman and CEO.

Gottlieb has also served as a Strategic Management Consultant to the George Washington University Medical Center's Center for Health Services & Policy.

Gottlieb also brings to NPAF more than twenty-six years of Capitol Hill experience, having served as a committee Staff Director & then Chief of Staff to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV) beginning in 1992. From 1977 to 1992 he worked for Representative Ted Weiss (D-NY) and the House Committee on Govewrnment Operations (now Committee on Oversight & Government Reform). Prior to Capitol Hill, he practiced law in New York City.

Gottlieb holds degrees from Michigan State University (BA-Business Administration), New York University (MA-Education) and New York Law School (JD).

Amy Boivin

Director of Government Affairs

Amy Boivin is Director of Government Affairs. Ms. Boivin responds to proposed legislation, tracks and analyzes federal legislation and communicates potential impact and trends to NPAF Executives, and generally coordinates federal government affairs activities in the Washington DC office. Prior to joining National Patient Advocate Foundation, Ms. Boivin worked as a Legislative Associate at a state government affairs firm in Washington DC, where she focused on health policy. Ms. Boivin gained additional experience in the district office of United States Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and in the Rhode Island state legislature. Ms. Boivin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Roger Williams University.

Emily Brown

Advocacy Manager and Legislative Assistant

Emily Brown is the Advocacy Manager and Legislative Assistant for the National Patient Advocate Foundation. She collaborates with our National Volunteer Coordinators to help recruit and communicate with NPAF's roster of volunteers who serve as State Policy Liaisons and within the larger Advocates Network. As Advocacy Manager, Emily helps to guide health care policy reform through the use of these grassroots advocacy programs and encouraging direct communication with state and federal legislators.

As Legislative Assistant, Emily contributes to NPAF's government affairs activities by examining and responding to proposed federal legislation, in consideration of its potential impact on patient populations. Emily holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Virginia Tech, where she studied Political Science and French.

Kim Williams

Office Manager, Staff Assistant

Kim Williams is the Office Manager and Staff Assistant for the National Patient Advocate Foundation. Ms. Williams conducts research on policy issues and legislation for NPAF Executives as well as provides support for directors and managers in the team with various projects and programs. As office manager, she ensures efficient and effective operations of the office on a day-to-day basis, as well as assists in planning meetings and special events.

Previous to joining the National Patient Advocate Foundation, Ms. Williams worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator and Office Manager in the healthcare setting. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville where she also studied Biology and Nursing.

Marleise Brosnan

Health Policy Fellow 

Marleise Brosnan is a Health Policy Fellow with National Patient Advocate Foundation.  Marleise is currently pursuing a graduate degree in health advocacy at Sarah Lawrence College.  Prior to graduate school Marleise held the position of Head of Human Resources for Macquarie Holdings (USA) Inc.-a wholly owned subsidiary of Macquarie Bank Limited, a diversified international financial services firm headquartered in Sydney, Australia.  She has also held senior HR positions in the financial sector including Warburg Pincus LLC, PIMCO, John W. Henry & Company Inc., and Ziff Brothers Investments.  Marleise holds a bachelors degree in Accounting from the State University at Brockport. 

Melynda Obergfell

Special Projects Manager, Office of the President

Ms. Melynda Obergfell holds the position of Special Projects Manager. Ms. Obergfell attended the University of Texas at San Antonio, majoring in pre-pharmacy. She completed her internship at the Fort Sam Houston Pediatric pharmacy in 1987. She then began her career with Eckerd Corporation, focusing on pharmacy technician training, development, and recruitment of pharmacists and managerial candidates for the district.

In 1989 she moved with her family to Europe, working for the Webco General Partnership Brokerage firm, based out of New York.

In 1994, Ms. Obergfell returned to the United States residing in Newport News, Virginia. She resumed her career in pharmacy with the Rite-Aid Corporation. Obergfell accepted a regional position as Regional Administrative Assistant to the Operations Manager at Eckerd Corporation in 1999. Ms. Obergfell assisted in the operational coordination of services for 121 stores in 5 states, including Virginia, Washington DC, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. She also served as co-chair of the annual charity golf tournament for the Children's Miracle Network.

Ms. Obergfell is also a member of the Patient Advocate Foundation's Leadership Team and served as the Executive Assistant to the CEO for 5 and 1/2 years before being promoted to her current position.

Luke Barlowe

National Volunteer Coordinator

Col. Barlowe has worked with NPAF since 2003. As National Volunteer Coordinator, he is largely responsible for the recruitment of, and communication with, NPAF's volunteer State Policy Liaisons and the larger list of volunteer advocates in the Advocates Network. He will also help plan logistics for NPAF conferences and mobilizes the organization’s volunteer advocates for these events. Col. Barlowe directs national volunteers to respond to political initiatives in their states and involves them in Washington D.C. activities, while also serving as a State Policy Liaison in Kentucky.